No UN Intervention in Katanga

MerryPrankster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katanga

WI the UN never intervened to force Katanga back into Congo/Zaire, or the Katangans were able to eject the UN from the region militarily.

Would Katanga, being reasonably homogenous and well-endowed with natural resources, become an oasis of calm and (to an extent) prosperity in the midst of the misery that is sub-Saharan Africa? Or would it develop problems all its own?

I personally think the UN intervention was a mistake--why keep the Belgian Congo together if nobody wanted it to be part of Belgium in the first place?
 

benedict XVII

MerryPrankster said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katanga

WI the UN never intervened to force Katanga back into Congo/Zaire, or the Katangans were able to eject the UN from the region militarily.

Would Katanga, being reasonably homogenous and well-endowed with natural resources, become an oasis of calm and (to an extent) prosperity in the midst of the misery that is sub-Saharan Africa? Or would it develop problems all its own?

I personally think the UN intervention was a mistake--why keep the Belgian Congo together if nobody wanted it to be part of Belgium in the first place?
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Have you ever seen a small country with an immensely rich underground (a "geological scandal" as some had put it) live in stability for a long time? Especially if its protecting power is a small and distant nation?
 

MerryPrankster

benedict XVII said:
Have you ever seen a small country with an immensely rich underground (a "geological scandal" as some had put it) live in stability for a long time? Especially if its protecting power is a small and distant nation?
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Hmm...that could be tricky. But who among the bordering countries could threaten Katanga? Most of them are rather weak themselves.
 

benedict XVII

MerryPrankster said:
Hmm...that could be tricky. But who among the bordering countries could threaten Katanga? Most of them are rather weak themselves.
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You don't really need to have threatening neighbors. You can have a lot of internal fighting, coups, civil wars, etc. All clans supported by the various powers with an interest in the region: US, SU, France, Belgium, Lybia, South Africa, etc. Mozambique or Tanzania could be enticed by some ot those to play a role as "protectors" of Katanga...
 

wkwillis

benedict XVII said:
Oil? Not much. Kasai and South Kivu also had quite a bit of mineral resources. But all dwarfed by Katanga
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I was thinking of the Kongo tribal area of Zaire, Angola, and the French Congo. They have quite a lot of oil, quite a lot of diamonds, and several percent of the world's entire hydroelectric capability at Inga. Not to mention the Congo gorge as one of the world's best harbors, and railroad access to the Congo river and the lumber, minerals, and agroproducts upstream.
 

Melvin Loh

Well, the massive ONUC debacle in Congo/Zaire during the early 60s was pretty much the Bosnia/Somalia of its day, which turned off the UN and major powers from conducting such extensive pint'l peace-enforcement ops until the Cold War's end. If Katanga doesn't happen, would there be perhaps less of a stigma against such extensive PKOs, or would there be some other largescale crisis involving UN forces, such as perhaps if the Cyprus conflict got worse ?

BTW, the white mercs fighting for the Katangans during 1960-61 gave ONUC a real thrashing initially, since their airforce was initially unopposed and were able to conduct strafing and bombing runs against the unprotected UN troops until the Indians, Swedes and Ethiopians provided some airpower support in the form of Canberra light bmrs, Saab and F84 Thunderstreak ftrs. Maybe if the UN had been even slower to respond in providing strong reinforcements, the Katangans could well have run the Blue Helmets out ?
 

benedict XVII

Melvin Loh said:
BTW, the white mercs fighting for the Katangans during 1960-61 gave ONUC a real thrashing initially, since their airforce was initially unopposed and were able to conduct strafing and bombing runs against the unprotected UN troops until the Indians, Swedes and Ethiopians provided some airpower support in the form of Canberra light bmrs, Saab and F84 Thunderstreak ftrs. Maybe if the UN had been even slower to respond in providing strong reinforcements, the Katangans could well have run the Blue Helmets out ?
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Nobody wanted Katanga to be independent except for the Belgians and the South-Africans. They were doomed at the end of the day.
 

MerryPrankster

benedict XVII said:
Nobody wanted Katanga to be independent except for the Belgians and the South-Africans. They were doomed at the end of the day.
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What about the Katangans themselves? Did they want to be part of the new Congo state?
 
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