Congo crisis
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The Congo Crisis was a crisis that happened in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between 1960 and 1965. It began shortly after the country had become independent. It had been a colony of Belgium before. The country became independent on June 30, 1960. The crisis began almost immediately after the country had become independent. Unofficially, it ended when Joseph-Désiré Mobutu controlled all of the territory. When the country became independent, there was hope and optimism, but there were also many challenges. Directly after independence, the central government was led by Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Congo is a large country, and there are many ethnic groups. Some parts of the country also wanted to become independent of the Congo. There were ethnic conflicts. Lumumba had to solve all of these issues.
As with many other conflicts in Africa, other countries also entered the conflict. They had economic interests and wanted to get control over natural resources. In the Congo crisis, this interference played an important role. These countries were Belgium, the United States, and the Soviet Union. It was the era of the Cold War, which was also marked by such proxy conflicts.
Lumumba tried to get the support of the Soviet Union. This led to more tensions with other countries. Later in 1960, Lumumba was dismissed from office, under murky circumstances. This led to more instability. President Joseph Kasa-Vubu asked Belgium for help. Congolese army leader Colonel Joseph Mobutu seized power in a coup in 1960. Western Powers backed Mobutu, as they saw him as a stabilizing force. The conflict then escalated into a fully-blown proxy conflict with many different factions, which were each supported by different powers. Lumumba was captured in 1961. Later he was murdered. This murder is believed to have been helped by Belgium. Possibly the CIA was involved too. This led to more instability.
The Congo Crisis led to a lot of instability for a long time. In the end, there was the authoritarian rule of Mobutu Sese Seko, who would dominate Congolese politics for decades.
Even after decades, the Congo still has problems related to this crisis. Some of these problems are regional tensions and widespread corruption.
This article "Congo crisis" is from Simple English Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Congo crisis.
