The Congo Crisis: an International Perspective

The Congo Crisis: An International Perspective There is a need to take advantage of the change that has taken place in the Congo, however tragic that has been in its coming. – Paul Kagame As the third largest country in Africa and blessed with a large endowment of natural resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo possesses great opportunity to develop itself into a successful nation. However, the great abuses of the Congo’s colonial rulers and the lack of central unity across its vast territory left the nascent republic to be taken advantage of by various forces, both inside and outside the country. From the first colonization of the area under King Léopold’s reign of terror as his personal colonial venture, to the Belgians rapid handover of independence after only five months notice, the position of the Congo as colonialism’s worst legacy led to the volatile state present at independence in 1960 which resulted in the Republic of Léopoldville being reduced to six years of civil war and secessionism known as the Congo Crisis. The Congo Crisis and its effect on the Congo is of utmost importance especially in respect to the First and Second Congo Wars, current conflicts which have cost millions of lives and involved up to twenty five armed groups and eight African nations. To that end, this essay will seek to analyze how outside interests effected the development of the 1960-1966 Congo Crisis and to research this internal conflict in its international context. There were several reasons behind the breakdown in order upon the Congo’s independence: the devastating treatment of the land by its colonial masters and the abrupt move towards independence with little provision made for a smooth transition of power, the lack of political unity in a government split by wider Cold War politics, European and business interest support of secessionist movements in the Congo’s resource rich, yet distant provinces and underlying ethnic disputes in this vast nation.

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