Editing Democratic Republic of the Congo

{{Infobox country|name=Democratic Republic of the Congo|native_name=République démocratique du Congo<br>Repubilika ya Kôngo ya Dimokalasi<br>Republíki ya Kongó Demokratíki<br>Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo<br>Ditunga dia Kongu wa Mungalaata|image_flag=Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.png|image_coat=Coat of Arms of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.png|capital=Kinshasa|mode_of_production=Semi-feudalism|government_type=Unitary Bourgeois Republic|leader_title1=President|leader_name1=Félix Tshisekedi|leader_title2=Prime Minister|leader_name2=Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde|motto=Justice – Paix – Travail|image_map=Map of DR Congo.png|official_languages=French<br>Kituba<br>Lingala<br>Swahili<br>Luba-Kasai|established_event1=Kingdom of Kongo|established_date1=~1390 CE|established_event2=Belgian colonization begins|established_date2=17 November 1879|established_event3=Congo Free State forms|established_date3=1 July 1885|established_event4=Independence from Belgium|established_date4=30 June 1960|established_event5=Republic of Zaire forms|established_date5=27 October 1971|established_event6=Bourgeois democracy established|established_date6=30 July 2006|area_km2=2,345,409|population_estimate=108,407,721|population_estimate_year=2022|currency=Congolese franc}}{{Distinguish|the [[Republic of the Congo]], a neighbouring country}}

The '''Democratic Republic of the Congo''', colloquially known as '''Congo-Kinshasa''', '''DR Congo''', '''the DRC''', is a nation in [[Africa]]. It is the largest country in Central Africa, and the second largest in [[Africa]] in general. The DRC shares a border with the [[Republic of the Congo]], the [[Central African Republic]], [[Uganda]], [[Rwanda]], [[Burundi]], [[Tanzania]], [[Zambia]], [[Angola]], and [[South Sudan]]. 

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has historically been the victim of [[Europe|Western]] [[imperialism]] and [[colonialism]]. From 1885 to 1908, the area which would be the modern DRC was under the brutal and [[Genocide|genocidal]] rule of the so-called "[[Congo Free State]]", which was under the despotic absentee-control of the [[Belgian]] [[Leopold II of Belgium|Leopold II]].<ref>{{Citation|author=Adam Hochschild|year=1998|title=King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa|title-url=https://books.google.com/books/about/King_Leopold_s_Ghost.html?id=VLuKAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=9780395759240|trans-lang=English}}</ref> In modern times, the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to suffer from economic exploitation and unequal exchange, with atleast twenty-five mining corporations, often of [[Canada|Anglo-]][[United States of America|American]], [[European Union|European]] orgin.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is presently a member of the [[United Nations]], the [[Non-Aligned Movement]], the [[African Union]], the [[East African Community]], the [[Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa]], the [[Southern African Development Community]], and the [[Economic Community of Central African States]]. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also projected to be a part of the [[East African Federation]], should it form.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=eac.int|title=Quick Facts about EAC|url=https://www.eac.int/eac-quick-facts|retrieved=2022-7-23|quote=8 April 2022
The Democratic Republic of the Congo accedes to the EAC Treaty}}</ref>

== Nomenclature ==
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, like its neighbor, the [[Republic of the Congo]], is named after the [[Congo River]].<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=Wiktionary|title=Democratic Republic of the Congo|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo#English|retrieved=2022-7-23}}</ref> Occasionally, the nation, along with the river itself, are archaically and informally called "[[Republic of Zaire|Zaire]]".

== History ==

=== Kingdom of Kongo (1390–1885) ===
Before European imperialism, from around the year 1390 CE, the region that would become the modern-Democratic Republic of the Congo was under the rule of a centralised monarchical state, known by modern historians as the Kingdom of Kongo. Based from the city of Mbanza (in what is now [[Republic of Angola|Angola]]),<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=South African History Online|title=Kingdom of Kongo 1390 – 1914|date=2016-5-18|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/kingdom-kongo-1390-1914|retrieved=2022-7-24|quote=The Kingdom of Kongo was a large kingdom in the western part of central Africa. The name comes from the fact that the founders of the kingdom were KiKongo speaking people, and the spelling of Congo with a C comes from the Portuguese translation. Kingdom was founded around 1390 CE through the political marriage of Nima a Nzima, of the Mpemba Kasi, and Luqueni Luansanze, of the Mbata, which cemented the alliance between the two KiKongo speaking peoples. The Kingdom would reach its peak in the mid 1600s. The Kingdom of Kongo would eventually fall to scheming nobles, feuding royal factions, and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, initiating its eventual decline.

The Kingdom was centered around the great city of Mbanza Kongo, located in what is now northern Angola, (location: 6°16′04″S 14°14′53″E), which was later renamed to São Salvador.}}</ref> the Kingdom of Kongo likely formed from a single, smaller realm, that later would form into a commonwealth of city-states, headed by a single centralized authority. The Kingdom of Kongo would reach its economic and political hight during the 16th century CE, gaining a large amount of economic wealth via its part in the, at the time, growing [[Transatlantic Slave Trade]].

The Kingdom of Kongo would later decline, likely do to internal instability among its [[ruling class]], and would ultimately become victim to European expansionism.<ref>{{Citation|author=John Thornton|year=2001|title=The Origins and Early History of the Kingdom of Kongo, c. 1350-1550|title-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3097288|page=89-120|publisher=Boston University African Studies Center|doi=https://doi.org/10.2307/3097288|volume=34|trans-lang=English}}</ref>

=== Congo Free State (1885–1908) ===
During the late 19th to early 20th century, the area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was under the rule of the Congo Free State. A product of the [[Berlin Conference]] of 1884-1885 (in which Africans were given  little-to-no representation), the Congo Free State was effectively the personal fiefdom of [[Leopold II of Belgium]] (who never even set foot in the territory, ruling from [[Europe]]).

The Congo Free State was infamous for its genocidal acts against the native populations, and brutal exploitation of the local resources, particularly ivory, rubber, and minerals. During this period, it is estimated that many millions of men, women, and children were killed.

The Congo Free State would later be directly annexed by the [[Kingdom of Belgium]] in 1908.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=ajuntament.barcelona.cat|title=The Free State of the Congo, a hidden history of genocide|url=https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/gabinetpostal/lestat-lliure-del-congo-un-genocidi-a-lombra/?lang=en|retrieved=2022-7-30|quote=Force Publique acted simultaneously as an army of occupation and as a police force which served the interests of the trading companies. The Force had to deal with several rebellions, which were put down with horrifying savagery. In practice, the Free State of the Congo was an enormous concentration camp.

During the 1890s, and thanks to the widespread use of slaves, a more reliable transport network was built up, thus making it possible to export even more of the Congo’s natural resources. The construction of these infrastructures, all created exclusively for personal interests, resulted in the deaths of many workers of all ages. Their working days were long and hard, and required an enormous amount of physical effort. According to historical documentation, between five and 10 million people died as a result of the colonial exploitation under the rule and administration of King Leopold II and his functionaries.}}</ref>

=== Belgian colonialism (1908–1960) ===
During the direct colonial governance of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1908 to 1960, many of the Leopold-era policies of repression and brutal exploitation were slowly eased, and some small developmental projects, mostly in the form of infrastructure, took place in the Belgian Congo. However, [[imperialism]] still continued in full-force during the Belgian rule, and oppressive systems of racial segregation remained in place for the remainder of the colonial administration.

The long-term economic development of the modern-day DRC was further stunted as a result of the Belgian education policy. The colonial government made use of [[Christianity|Christian]] clergy (which has historically been used as an instrument to uphold the existing societal order) to maintain the white-supremacist rule. The Christian clergy failed to provide meaningful education to the people of the Belgian Congo, restricting any form of higher-education to those who were already members of the church exclusively, and greatly discouraging all other natives of the Belgian-ruled Congo to find any other form of education.

Ultimately, by the end of the Belgian administration in 1960, the extreme colonial exploitation, usage of reactionary religion, and general mismanagement resulted in there being no engineers nor physicians, and only sixteen native African university graduates out of a population of more than thirteen million.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Jessica Achberger|newspaper=The Ultimate History Project|title=BELGIAN COLONIAL EDUCATION POLICY:
A POOR FOUNDATION FOR STABILITY|url=https://ultimatehistoryproject.com/belgian-congo.html|retrieved=2022-8-14|quote=Perhaps most crucially, the lack of centralized education left the new nation in a stunted state of growth.   Across the African continent, educated Africans had often played a key role in the independence movements and these leaders had then stepped in to govern the new nations which emerged in the 1960s.  In many of these new African states, a uniform educational system had helped to promote national unity and identity---both of which were desperately needed as the colonial map had created artificially constructed nations that had numerous different and even competing ethnic groups.}}</ref>

=== Immediate post-colonial period and the Congo Crisis (1960–1971) ===
Following a large increase in the activity of native separatist movements and militant organisations in the Belgian Congo, as well as massive pro-independence  demonstrations in the capital city of the colony, Léopoldville (modern-day Kinshasa), the colonial government finally capitulated, holding talks with native figures and agreeing to allow the colony to be made independent and for a new state, known as the Republic of the Congo, to be formed, which would hold bourgeois-democratic elections. In June 1960, [[Patrice Lumumba]] became the country's first prime minister and called for political and economic liberation against imperialism.<ref name=":12">{{Citation|author=[[William Blum]]|year=2002|title=Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower|chapter=A Concise History of United States Global Interventions, 1945 to the Present|isbn=9781842772201|publisher=Zed Books Ltd|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=29EED3C6906FF165E08303B9EAF66B4F|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedas5bwprytpzcih6tof3ipede5uzmcvt47tfzwp4cptdau6vmjpy?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Rogue%20State_%20A%20Guide%20to%20the%20World%27s%20Only%20Superpower-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282002%29.pdf|page=117}}</ref>

Almost immediately after the post-colonial bourgeois democracy was created, and after the first president of the Republic of the Congo, [[Joseph Kasa-Vubu]] was elected into his office, the newly-created republic faced a political crisis, commonly known as the [[Congo Crisis]]. During this crisis, the power of local separatist movements increased, a rival government formed, and support for [[Communism|revolutionary socialists]] grew.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=François Soudan|newspaper=The Africa Report|title=DRC: How the CIA got Patrice Lumumba|date=2021-1-13|url=https://www.theafricareport.com/58653/drc-how-the-cia-got-under-patrice-lumumbas-skin/|retrieved=2022-8-15}}</ref> The mineral-rich region of Katanga, whose resources were still owned by Belgium, seceded. In September 1960, the [[United States of America|United States]] overthrew Lumumba, and he was assassinated in January 1961.<ref name=":12" />

During 1965, [[Joseph-Désiré Mobutu]], then a Lieutenant General in the national military, as well as a [[fascist]] and hardline [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]], overthrew the [[liberal]] government, creating a fascist dictatorship. This coup d'etat was greatly supported by the United States of America, whose [[Bourgeoisie|ruling class]] had an interest in creating a servile government which would repress communists and give the [[imperial core]] access to the country's vast natural resources.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Stephen R. Weissman|newspaper=Foreign Affairs|title=What Really Happened in Congo
The CIA, the Murder of Lumumba, and the Rise of Mobutu|date=2014|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/democratic-republic-congo/2014-06-16/what-really-happened-congo|retrieved=2022-8-15}}</ref> In 1971, the country was renamed to the Republic of Zaire.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Natasha Tworoski|newspaper=PASA|title=Democratic Republic Of Congo: A Brutal History of Conflict|url=https://pasa.org/awareness/drc1/|retrieved=2022-8-15|quote=In the 1950’s, protests and riots lead to the country gaining its independence from Belgium and in 1960, Patrice Lumumba was elected prime minister. It seemed like things would finally improve for the Congolese.

However, the DRC has a huge abundance of natural resources such as copper, diamonds, cobalt, gold, uranium and oil. Lumumba’s resistance to Western powers’ attempts to continue mining lead to the West backing his opponents. In 1961 he was arrested, tortured and publicly executed. After a period of uncertainty, a man named Mobutu Sese Seko emerged as the president of DRC. Friendly to western powers, he built an extravagant life for himself with the money that came from foreign mining, including building himself palaces, collecting Mercedes-Benz and taking regular shopping sprees to Europe. When the Cold War with Russia came to an end in the 90’s, the United States and other countries became less dependent on the DRC for oil and Mobutu’s wealth drastically dwindled while he simultaneously began to face health concerns.}}</ref>

=== Republic of Zaire (1971–1997) ===
The Republic of Zaire under Mobutu's regime, existing until 1997, was characterised by a highly dictatorial government, extreme anti-communism, and a rampant kleptocracy, with rates of bribery and embezzlement of government funds being particularly high.<ref>{{Citation|author=Steve Askin; Carole Collins|year=2007|title=Review of African Political Economy|title-url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056249308704005|section=External collusion with kleptocracy: can Zaïre recapture its stolen wealth?|page=72-85|quote=For 28 years, Mobutu Sese Seko has carefully and thoughtfully refined his system for transforming the public resources of Zaïre into private wealth, while using bribery, coercion and violence to thwart all movements for change. The consequences of his system, commonly known as ‘kleptocracy’ or government by theft, are well known: immiseration of the people; destruction of the nation's infrastructure; enrichment of Mobutu and his collaborators; the transformation of Zaïre into the prime staging ground for foreign intervention against other African nations. This article will focus neither on the consequences of kleptocracy nor the growing opposition which, for the past three years, has aggressively but so far unsuccessfully challenged Mobutu's rule.|publisher=Taylor & Francis Group|doi=https://doi.org/10.1080/03056249308704005|series=57|volume=20|trans-lang=English}}</ref> The fascist government was also greatly supported by the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|Western bloc]], including by United States of America,<ref name=":0" /> the [[French Republic]],<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=The New York Times|title=France Is Again Strengthening Ties With Zaire|date=1977-4-17|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/17/archives/france-is-again-strengthening-ties-with-zaire.html|retrieved=2022-8-17}}</ref> and the Kingdom of Belgium.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=BCC|title=Belgium link in Lumumba death|date=2001-10-16|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1660615.stm|retrieved=2022-8-17}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author=Eduard Bustin|year=1987|title=The Foreign Policy of the Republic of Zaire|title-url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0002716287489001006|doi=https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716287489001006|volume=489|trans-lang=English}}</ref> While most of the country lived in [[poverty]], Mobutu became a multibillionaire.<ref name=":12" />

In 1977, [[Jimmy Carter]] airlifted [[Kingdom of Morocco|Moroccan]] troops to Zaire to put down a rebellion.<ref name=":12" />

The fascist regime ended in the late 1990s, during the [[First Congo War]], when after a large withdrawal of NATO support, major ethnic tensions, and foreign intervention, Mobutu's dictatorship was overthrown, and the country was remained to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a bourgeois-democratic government being created.<ref>{{Citation|author=Peter Abbott|year=2014|title=Modern African Wars (4): The Congo 1960–2002|title-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j6ajCwAAQBAJ|quote=n the 1970s, during the ruinous 30-year dictatorship of General Mobutu, periodic rebellions required the hasty insertion once again of Belgian and French paratroops to save European lives. From the mid-1990s the country split again, becoming the battleground for the largest African war in history, as armies and rebel groups from Rwanda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Namibia and other countries crossed into the Congo to support one side or the other, or simply to loot the rich resources. Major operations ended – or paused – in 2002, but the old hatreds and constant lure of the Congo's natural resources continue to boil over into periodic outbreaks.|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9781782000778|trans-lang=English}}</ref>

=== Congo Wars (1997–present) ===
Rwanda and Uganda invaded the Congo in 1996 with US support and pillaged its natural resources, including gold, diamonds, tantalum, and niobium. They installed [[Joseph Kabila]] as the puppet ruler of the Congo and displaced half a million people from the Ituri region. Rwanda began a second invasion in 2022 and has also supported the [[M23]] rebel group.<ref name=":02">{{Web citation|author=Maurice Carney|newspaper=[[Black Agenda Report]]|title=A Quarter Century of a Western-backed War of Aggression Against the Congolese People|date=2022-06-17|url=https://blackagendareport.com/quarter-century-western-backed-war-aggression-against-congolese-people|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822215618/https://blackagendareport.com/quarter-century-western-backed-war-aggression-against-congolese-people|archive-date=2022-08-22|retrieved=2022-09-08}}</ref><ref name=":03">{{Web citation|author=[[Jeremy Kuzmarov]]|newspaper=[[CovertAction Magazine]]|title=International Court of Justice Ruled that Uganda Must Pay $325 Million in Reparations to the Democratic Republic of Congo—But What About U.S. and UK?|date=2022-05-19|url=https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/05/19/international-court-of-justice-ruled-that-uganda-must-pay-325-million-in-reparations-to-the-democratic-republic-of-congo-but-what-about-u-s-and-uk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822215632/https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/05/19/international-court-of-justice-ruled-that-uganda-must-pay-325-million-in-reparations-to-the-democratic-republic-of-congo-but-what-about-u-s-and-uk/|archive-date=2022-08-22|retrieved=2022-12-24}}</ref>

== References ==
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:African countries]]
[[Category:Global south]]