Glory and Dignity - A Congo Timeline
- Thread starter GiantMonkeyMan
- Start date
Enjoying this.
I'm (just) old enough to remember this unfolding on the news. It was way too complicated for me to follow properly, but I remember feeling sorry for Lumumba, for whom nothing seemed to be going right.
It's a fascinating subject for a timeline because all manner of outcomes are plausible given the number of players (both internal and international) all acting at cross-purposes with each other.
An aside: Gizenga and Kalonji are still alive.
I'm (just) old enough to remember this unfolding on the news. It was way too complicated for me to follow properly, but I remember feeling sorry for Lumumba, for whom nothing seemed to be going right.
It's a fascinating subject for a timeline because all manner of outcomes are plausible given the number of players (both internal and international) all acting at cross-purposes with each other.
An aside: Gizenga and Kalonji are still alive.
It looks like the Congo is becoming a virtual UN protectorate for the time being. That will give the country a chance to get on its feet after Belgium's shameful neglect of education and infrastructure, and might also provide the support necessary to carry through with land reform. The longer the UN stays, though, the more likely it is to inspire resentment, especially if it becomes actively involved in ousting the chiefs and landlords.
Katanga is starting to look ominous - it's avoided secession thus far, but the provincial government is asserting a great deal of independence, and it's backed by Belgian troops. Hopefully a conflict setting Belgium and Katanga against the ANC and the UN, as in OTL, can be avoided.
Katanga is starting to look ominous - it's avoided secession thus far, but the provincial government is asserting a great deal of independence, and it's backed by Belgian troops. Hopefully a conflict setting Belgium and Katanga against the ANC and the UN, as in OTL, can be avoided.
GiantMonkeyMan
Banned
I think OTL Congo never really got a chance to be anything except a pariah state, thrust immediately into instability, corruption and civil war. At least in this timeline, the government is a little stable and slowly progressing into something more so all ties with UN member states will be coming from a different position and probably stronger for it.I wonder if the ONUC mission gave Congo the chance to improve diplomatic skills, to strength ties with ONUC mission cooperative countries (Ethiopia, India)
BTW, great update. Can't wait to see the result of the Lumumba's agrarian reform, if i can call it like that
Yes, OTL was tragic for the Congo and Lumumba and it's such a fascinating period. Thanks for reading.
Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it.
In this timeline the legitimacy of the Lumumba government is without question so the UN has more motivation to fully support the MNC. However, key members of the UN such as Britain, the US and France have key interests in the Congo that run contrary to some of the more radical goals of the nationalists and socialists within the Congolese cabinet. It's an awkward situation for the UN personnel on the ground who might want to help the Congolese directly but will be getting different orders from above.
I figured Katanga and Kasai would be inevitable trigger points for conflict due to the ethnic tensions and the ambitious leaders who rose to power there. We'll see how it progresses in future updates.
Also, thanks to everyone who's responded. It's really nice to read comments and know people are enjoying.
Just found this and read through it. I love it when I find a solid non-Euro/US centered TL. I'm very interested in seeing where this goes. Congo as the other "C" in the first alt BRICCS* meeting a few decades down the road? I remember being horrified learning in 2004 about the "African world war" the Second Congo Civil War that I had never heard about when it was current events so it's nice to read a TL where that and most of the ugliness in the earlier decades will be explicitly avoided.
Also, I shiver every time Mobutu is mentioned, he's a dangerous specter lurking in the background of events.
*(Brazil, Russia, India, China, Congo, South Africa)
Also, I shiver every time Mobutu is mentioned, he's a dangerous specter lurking in the background of events.
*(Brazil, Russia, India, China, Congo, South Africa)
GiantMonkeyMan
Banned
Reform and Revolution
"In our African tradition, there are never two chiefs; there is sometimes a natural heir of the chief, but can anyone tell me that he has ever known a village which has two chiefs?" - Joseph Mobutu
The Chiefdom Dissolution Law was to date one of the most difficult the Lumumbists had to fight to put into place within parliament and then be ratified in the senate. The federalist wing of the MNC party was vehemently against the law and broke party line by organising against it but by this point the nationalist and socialist wings in parliament were firmly in dominance. It faced a harder time getting ratified in the senate where Moise Tshombe had secured most of his power, however Tshombe had always been somewhat of a paper tiger put into place at the good will of Lumumba who had wanted to present the image of a united national government by including the CONAKAT leaders who held such sway in Katanga and enough senators followed Vice President Joseph Okito's lead, a Congolese nationalist who was a close friend of Lumumba.
Chefferie, meaning 'chiefdom', was a system of local government still lingering in place since the colonial era. The Belgian colonial administration, emulating somewhat the Romans of antiquity, educated the sons of tribal chiefs to act as their intermediates in governance and the chiefs basked in the wealth they could accumulate from colonial preference. Not all of the chiefs were corrupt, some being hugely popular within their local ethnic grouping and some working tirelessly to improve the lot of the people under their dominion, but largely it was a system Lumumba and the rest of the new petite bourgeois political class considered primitive and outdated. The MNC parliament wanted to put into place a new centralised bureaucracy hired particularly from the graduates and trainees of the Lovanium University in Leopoldville; individuals who held Lumumba in high regard.
The chiefs held dominance due to local customary laws that varied across the nation and Mpolo, in trying to build a unified justice system, found difficulty in this field. Similarly, Joseph Lutula's attempts to reform agriculture was faced with a multitude of ancient claims to land and tribute that cut into the ability of the state to profit from the vast crop potential that farming in the Congo could yield as well as acting as a burden to the peasant work force of the land. The new law would strip most of the privileges of the chiefs, put into place a new bureaucratic layer and open up the lands of the smallholder landlords to modernised agricultural companies and peasant collectives to exploit.
The law immediately put Lumumba and the central government at odds with the tribal chiefs throughout the Congo who would still retain hereditary titles but none of the associated material gain. In Kivu in particular, where the Belgians had relied on the Chefferie system to the greatest effect, the tribal leaders were able to garner great support in opposition to the changes in the law. Local MNC offices were attacked in Bukavu and Gaston Soumialot, Minister of Justice in the Kivu Regional Assembly, was assassinated in his home along with his family after he started implementing the beginnings of the changes.
Anicet Kashamura, the Kivu Regional President and a member of the CEREA party allied to the MNC, was effective in quelling the fears of the tribal chiefs, giving chieftains preference when land went to tender and successfully assuaging the majority of fears by implementing an effective and tactful local bureaucracy. The commander of the ANC within the region, Lieutenant-General Nicholas Olenga, had been given his position due to his closeness to Lumumba and his friendship with Lundula and he effectively utilised the forces under his command to break up the worst of the unrest.
There was also a layer of Congolese who supported the law. Kambere Mumumba was a MNC politician with great support amongst the Nande tribe constituency and argued, correctly, that the new system would open up more freedom for agricultural workers and give them more disposable income. Local businessman Mwana Ntabe-te-Musingo was also a great supporter, recognising the opening up of tribal land to tender gave the emerging Congolese businessmen an opportunity to seize prime locations for cash crops such as coffee, and he actively campaigned throughout his area in support of the government's policy.
Similarly, major support was found from the burgeoning trade union movement. Since independence, the trade union movement in the Congo had been rapidly growing. The strikes and workers' struggles for better conditions were ripe conditions to bring a new layer of workers into the relatively young organisations, particularly in the civil servants' and teachers' union, the Confederation des Syndicats Libres du Congo, which had grown to 300,000 members at the turn of the year, particularly as the Lumumba government invested in and expanded upon education and a unified government network. Trade unionist Siwo dia Banza actively worked alongside the central MNC politicians to recruit workers both to new administrative positions and his trade union simultaneously.
Of course, Lumumba knew that the main opponent of his would come from Albert Kalonji in Kasai. Perhaps cynically, he was hoping Kalonji would foolishly put himself in a position to be impeached and relieved of his position of power by refusing to implement the law in any form. Joseph Ileo, one of Kalonji's main allies in the federalist wing and the President of the Leopoldville Regional Assembly, had kept relatively quiet about the law, considering there was much support for the changes in the Leopoldville Region but Kalonji was the son of a tribal chief himself. It was an attack on his own privilege as much as anything.
Not even a year old, the Republic of the Congo faced its first major crisis as Albert Kalonji declared the secession of the Republic of Kasai in a flash of violence.
----
Running out of decent pictures, lol. Anyone want to help me make a map for the Republic of Kasai? Anyway, the first major flash point has sparked. Crises in the Congo, Kalonji has made his move.
"In our African tradition, there are never two chiefs; there is sometimes a natural heir of the chief, but can anyone tell me that he has ever known a village which has two chiefs?" - Joseph Mobutu
The Chiefdom Dissolution Law was to date one of the most difficult the Lumumbists had to fight to put into place within parliament and then be ratified in the senate. The federalist wing of the MNC party was vehemently against the law and broke party line by organising against it but by this point the nationalist and socialist wings in parliament were firmly in dominance. It faced a harder time getting ratified in the senate where Moise Tshombe had secured most of his power, however Tshombe had always been somewhat of a paper tiger put into place at the good will of Lumumba who had wanted to present the image of a united national government by including the CONAKAT leaders who held such sway in Katanga and enough senators followed Vice President Joseph Okito's lead, a Congolese nationalist who was a close friend of Lumumba.
Chefferie, meaning 'chiefdom', was a system of local government still lingering in place since the colonial era. The Belgian colonial administration, emulating somewhat the Romans of antiquity, educated the sons of tribal chiefs to act as their intermediates in governance and the chiefs basked in the wealth they could accumulate from colonial preference. Not all of the chiefs were corrupt, some being hugely popular within their local ethnic grouping and some working tirelessly to improve the lot of the people under their dominion, but largely it was a system Lumumba and the rest of the new petite bourgeois political class considered primitive and outdated. The MNC parliament wanted to put into place a new centralised bureaucracy hired particularly from the graduates and trainees of the Lovanium University in Leopoldville; individuals who held Lumumba in high regard.
The chiefs held dominance due to local customary laws that varied across the nation and Mpolo, in trying to build a unified justice system, found difficulty in this field. Similarly, Joseph Lutula's attempts to reform agriculture was faced with a multitude of ancient claims to land and tribute that cut into the ability of the state to profit from the vast crop potential that farming in the Congo could yield as well as acting as a burden to the peasant work force of the land. The new law would strip most of the privileges of the chiefs, put into place a new bureaucratic layer and open up the lands of the smallholder landlords to modernised agricultural companies and peasant collectives to exploit.
The law immediately put Lumumba and the central government at odds with the tribal chiefs throughout the Congo who would still retain hereditary titles but none of the associated material gain. In Kivu in particular, where the Belgians had relied on the Chefferie system to the greatest effect, the tribal leaders were able to garner great support in opposition to the changes in the law. Local MNC offices were attacked in Bukavu and Gaston Soumialot, Minister of Justice in the Kivu Regional Assembly, was assassinated in his home along with his family after he started implementing the beginnings of the changes.
Anicet Kashamura, the Kivu Regional President and a member of the CEREA party allied to the MNC, was effective in quelling the fears of the tribal chiefs, giving chieftains preference when land went to tender and successfully assuaging the majority of fears by implementing an effective and tactful local bureaucracy. The commander of the ANC within the region, Lieutenant-General Nicholas Olenga, had been given his position due to his closeness to Lumumba and his friendship with Lundula and he effectively utilised the forces under his command to break up the worst of the unrest.
There was also a layer of Congolese who supported the law. Kambere Mumumba was a MNC politician with great support amongst the Nande tribe constituency and argued, correctly, that the new system would open up more freedom for agricultural workers and give them more disposable income. Local businessman Mwana Ntabe-te-Musingo was also a great supporter, recognising the opening up of tribal land to tender gave the emerging Congolese businessmen an opportunity to seize prime locations for cash crops such as coffee, and he actively campaigned throughout his area in support of the government's policy.
Similarly, major support was found from the burgeoning trade union movement. Since independence, the trade union movement in the Congo had been rapidly growing. The strikes and workers' struggles for better conditions were ripe conditions to bring a new layer of workers into the relatively young organisations, particularly in the civil servants' and teachers' union, the Confederation des Syndicats Libres du Congo, which had grown to 300,000 members at the turn of the year, particularly as the Lumumba government invested in and expanded upon education and a unified government network. Trade unionist Siwo dia Banza actively worked alongside the central MNC politicians to recruit workers both to new administrative positions and his trade union simultaneously.
Of course, Lumumba knew that the main opponent of his would come from Albert Kalonji in Kasai. Perhaps cynically, he was hoping Kalonji would foolishly put himself in a position to be impeached and relieved of his position of power by refusing to implement the law in any form. Joseph Ileo, one of Kalonji's main allies in the federalist wing and the President of the Leopoldville Regional Assembly, had kept relatively quiet about the law, considering there was much support for the changes in the Leopoldville Region but Kalonji was the son of a tribal chief himself. It was an attack on his own privilege as much as anything.
Not even a year old, the Republic of the Congo faced its first major crisis as Albert Kalonji declared the secession of the Republic of Kasai in a flash of violence.
----
Running out of decent pictures, lol. Anyone want to help me make a map for the Republic of Kasai? Anyway, the first major flash point has sparked. Crises in the Congo, Kalonji has made his move.
This TL about a country who had such assets look promising but TTL resembles to OTL: Kasai seceded, Tschombe is taking more and more autonomy and mercenaries are being hired.
I just hope this kleptocrat of Mobutu ends killed in a fight.
I just hope this kleptocrat of Mobutu ends killed in a fight.
a map of the regions, for anyone interested.
also, a OTL map on the different secessionist regions during the early 60s.
GiantMonkeyMan
Banned
There's going to be some ugliness (as you could tell from the next update), I think it's unavoidable in such a place as the Congo, but overall I definitely aim to stabilise the region to a far greater effect in order to avoid some of the tragedies of OTL. Thanks for reading and responding!
Thanks Pio2013, I appreciate your ongoing support.
There have been some unavoidable events but overall the Congo is a much calmer place than OTL and Lumumba's position is far stronger. Obviously, with so many figures and powers vying to dominance, there's going to be unavoidable conflict. I hope you keep reading on into future updates and thanks for adding to the discussion.
Thanks for posting these, zeppelinair, for perspective. Reagent has kindly agreed to make map for me with the relevant information to TTL. The Kasai secession has come at a different time and in different conditions so it's good to sometimes get a visual of what's happened. Thanks for reading and your support!
Thanks, Reagent. And, again, thanks for agreeing to put some time into making a map for my timeline. I've always thought the maps in your timeline were very well made so I can't wait to see what you come up with.
----
The next update will detail the opening moves of Kasaian secession and I'll hopefully be able to post it up sometime next week. I was hoping to work on it over the easter weekend but I got offered overtime at work and I'm too prole to pass up on some extra money.
GiantMonkeyMan
Banned
Civil War in Kasai: Part 1
Decolonization, which sets out to change the order of the world, is, obviously, a programme of complete disorder. - Frantz Fanon
Whilst Lumumba and his allies had successfully been securing power in the capital, Albert Kalonji hadn't been idle in his regional authority of Kasai. The Regional Assemblies, of which Kalonji had been elected president in Kasai, had proven to be a dead-end for political power as the central government had acted with cunning in their attempts to limit and minimise regional federalisation of power. The federalists of the MNC had wrongly put their hopes not in the central government but in the local authorities but soon found themselves with power slipping through their fingers.
The strikes at Tshikapa and the growing unrest with other workers in Kasai revealed two things to Kalonji: the unreliability of the ANC commanders (particularly Lieutenant-General Léonard Mulamba, who had refused to assist Kalonji in any way and Kalonji now considered the man a mortal enemy) and the ineffectiveness of the Belgian soldiers at securing power (perhaps Kalonji was being short-sighted here considering Évariste Kimba's use of Belgian soldiers to secure his own power base in Katanga but that route had largely been blocked since the Tshikapa massacre). The ethnic violence, particularly between the Luba tribe which Kalonji's father was officially the head, and the Lulua was a source of much contention for Kalonji and he blamed many of the deaths on the failures of the central government.
That wasn't to say that Kalonji completely ignored the ANC and the Belgians in his grab for power merely that he also recognised the need for his own security for his power base. For months he had been bribing local ANC commanders, particularly those of the Luba ethnic group, and, through companies such as the Sociètè Minièrè de Bakwanga, was securing the services of mercenary groups to break strikes and undermine the central government. French mercenary Bob Denard became one of Kalonji's main advisers and through his efforts a paramilitary force of white mercenaries and a native ancillary military organisation was formed to secure Kalonji's power (and therefore Denard's source of money).
Robert Denard was a well travelled French soldier, serving with the French Navy in Indochina and Algeria and as a Colonial policeman in Morocco. A vehement anti-communist, in 1954 he took part in a plot to assassinate French Prime Minister Pierre Mendès-France due to his stance of withdrawal from French colonial territories but was arrested and imprisoned for just fourteen months. He had been invited to the Congo by Roger Faulques to serve as a part of his mercenary organisation but Denard soon found himself in the favour of Kalonji and at the head of most of the mercenary activity in Kasai. He dismissed Lumumba as a Soviet puppet and thought the removal of white colonials from political positions a huge mistake. His forces were vital in securing and pacifying the diamond mines near the town of Lodja, avoiding a repeat of the massacre at Tshikapa by singling out the leaders of the strike to make examples of them.
Bob Denard
Through foreign mining and investment companies, huge amounts of weapons, ammunition and even armoured vehicles found their way into the hand of these private military organisations to arm supporters of Kalonji. Even with this massive increase in weaponry, Kalonji knew that he was in a tenuous position if the central government ever decided to crackdown, particularly if the UN troops supported loyal ANC forces in purging Kasai of armed dissenters. The Chiefdom Dissolution Law was the lynch-pin that secured Kalonji wider support in Kasai and made him believe he could successfully break away Kasai into an independent nation.
As the law was being debated in Parliament, Kalonji was actively meeting with local tribal leaders to secure their support to great effect. Bope Mabiinc ma Mbek was the head of the Bakuba tribe and pledged support for Kalonji and Bope Mobinji Kena, officially 'King' of the Kuba Kingdom polity within the Kasai region, was also largely sympathetic to stopping the law. Their supporters were swiftly armed by Denard's men and several Bakuba officers in the local ANC were brought on-board. Other tribal heads found themselves hit by the prospect of loosing most of their individual economic and political power and would side with Kalonji in the opening stages of secession.
On June the 4th, 1961, just a month shy of a year since the ceremony that declared the Congo an independent nation, Albert Kalonji declared the Republic of Kasai a separate state. Larry Devlin, the head of CIA operations in the Congo, wrote in his memoirs years later, "Kalonji jumped the gun. We were preparing to support his efforts to break from Lumumba but he trusted no-one but Denard. I should never have introduced them."
White mercenaries, mutinous ANC troops and Kalonji's paramilitary militia rapidly acted to break the hold of the central government. The Tshikapa mines were out of reach, secured by UN troops and loyalist ANC forces, but key mining interests were swiftly taken into the separatists hands. Mulamba was murdered, hacked to pieces in the streets of Luluabourg by a mob as his ANC troops fled or joined the separatists. Kalonji was named President of the new nation and declared all the reforms of the Lumumba government reversed. Civil war gripped the Congo.
----
Decolonization, which sets out to change the order of the world, is, obviously, a programme of complete disorder. - Frantz Fanon
Whilst Lumumba and his allies had successfully been securing power in the capital, Albert Kalonji hadn't been idle in his regional authority of Kasai. The Regional Assemblies, of which Kalonji had been elected president in Kasai, had proven to be a dead-end for political power as the central government had acted with cunning in their attempts to limit and minimise regional federalisation of power. The federalists of the MNC had wrongly put their hopes not in the central government but in the local authorities but soon found themselves with power slipping through their fingers.
The strikes at Tshikapa and the growing unrest with other workers in Kasai revealed two things to Kalonji: the unreliability of the ANC commanders (particularly Lieutenant-General Léonard Mulamba, who had refused to assist Kalonji in any way and Kalonji now considered the man a mortal enemy) and the ineffectiveness of the Belgian soldiers at securing power (perhaps Kalonji was being short-sighted here considering Évariste Kimba's use of Belgian soldiers to secure his own power base in Katanga but that route had largely been blocked since the Tshikapa massacre). The ethnic violence, particularly between the Luba tribe which Kalonji's father was officially the head, and the Lulua was a source of much contention for Kalonji and he blamed many of the deaths on the failures of the central government.
That wasn't to say that Kalonji completely ignored the ANC and the Belgians in his grab for power merely that he also recognised the need for his own security for his power base. For months he had been bribing local ANC commanders, particularly those of the Luba ethnic group, and, through companies such as the Sociètè Minièrè de Bakwanga, was securing the services of mercenary groups to break strikes and undermine the central government. French mercenary Bob Denard became one of Kalonji's main advisers and through his efforts a paramilitary force of white mercenaries and a native ancillary military organisation was formed to secure Kalonji's power (and therefore Denard's source of money).
Robert Denard was a well travelled French soldier, serving with the French Navy in Indochina and Algeria and as a Colonial policeman in Morocco. A vehement anti-communist, in 1954 he took part in a plot to assassinate French Prime Minister Pierre Mendès-France due to his stance of withdrawal from French colonial territories but was arrested and imprisoned for just fourteen months. He had been invited to the Congo by Roger Faulques to serve as a part of his mercenary organisation but Denard soon found himself in the favour of Kalonji and at the head of most of the mercenary activity in Kasai. He dismissed Lumumba as a Soviet puppet and thought the removal of white colonials from political positions a huge mistake. His forces were vital in securing and pacifying the diamond mines near the town of Lodja, avoiding a repeat of the massacre at Tshikapa by singling out the leaders of the strike to make examples of them.
Bob Denard
Through foreign mining and investment companies, huge amounts of weapons, ammunition and even armoured vehicles found their way into the hand of these private military organisations to arm supporters of Kalonji. Even with this massive increase in weaponry, Kalonji knew that he was in a tenuous position if the central government ever decided to crackdown, particularly if the UN troops supported loyal ANC forces in purging Kasai of armed dissenters. The Chiefdom Dissolution Law was the lynch-pin that secured Kalonji wider support in Kasai and made him believe he could successfully break away Kasai into an independent nation.
As the law was being debated in Parliament, Kalonji was actively meeting with local tribal leaders to secure their support to great effect. Bope Mabiinc ma Mbek was the head of the Bakuba tribe and pledged support for Kalonji and Bope Mobinji Kena, officially 'King' of the Kuba Kingdom polity within the Kasai region, was also largely sympathetic to stopping the law. Their supporters were swiftly armed by Denard's men and several Bakuba officers in the local ANC were brought on-board. Other tribal heads found themselves hit by the prospect of loosing most of their individual economic and political power and would side with Kalonji in the opening stages of secession.
On June the 4th, 1961, just a month shy of a year since the ceremony that declared the Congo an independent nation, Albert Kalonji declared the Republic of Kasai a separate state. Larry Devlin, the head of CIA operations in the Congo, wrote in his memoirs years later, "Kalonji jumped the gun. We were preparing to support his efforts to break from Lumumba but he trusted no-one but Denard. I should never have introduced them."
White mercenaries, mutinous ANC troops and Kalonji's paramilitary militia rapidly acted to break the hold of the central government. The Tshikapa mines were out of reach, secured by UN troops and loyalist ANC forces, but key mining interests were swiftly taken into the separatists hands. Mulamba was murdered, hacked to pieces in the streets of Luluabourg by a mob as his ANC troops fled or joined the separatists. Kalonji was named President of the new nation and declared all the reforms of the Lumumba government reversed. Civil war gripped the Congo.
----
Somehow I knew Denard would get involved sooner or later.
Kasai's attempt at secession was fairly weak in OTL, and the ANC was able to subdue them on its own. Here, the Congo is a stronger state, and the MNC has done a good job covering its flank by calming the dissent in Kivu, but Kalonji has also laid better groundwork than he did in OTL, and the dissolution of the chefferies is a prime flashpoint.
I wonder how strongly the Belgians will back Kalonji's move - they didn't really support Kasai in OTL, but in TTL there's no Katanga war (yet) and Kalonji's rebellion gives them a chance to consolidate their influence in a key region. Also, which way will the Luba jump? They're strong in Kasai, but they also live all over the Congo, and they're probably aware that joining either side is likely to have repercussions on their community.
BTW, I'd recommend van Reybrouck's Congo to you if you don't already have it.
Kasai's attempt at secession was fairly weak in OTL, and the ANC was able to subdue them on its own. Here, the Congo is a stronger state, and the MNC has done a good job covering its flank by calming the dissent in Kivu, but Kalonji has also laid better groundwork than he did in OTL, and the dissolution of the chefferies is a prime flashpoint.
I wonder how strongly the Belgians will back Kalonji's move - they didn't really support Kasai in OTL, but in TTL there's no Katanga war (yet) and Kalonji's rebellion gives them a chance to consolidate their influence in a key region. Also, which way will the Luba jump? They're strong in Kasai, but they also live all over the Congo, and they're probably aware that joining either side is likely to have repercussions on their community.
BTW, I'd recommend van Reybrouck's Congo to you if you don't already have it.
GiantMonkeyMan
Banned
There are quite a few interesting mercenary figures that got involved in the Congo Crises. I was going to go with either Hoare or Denard but the latter just seemed like the perfect reactionary to contrast with the pro-Lumumba forces.
Yes, Kalonji's got more support this time around and built up a bigger force to back his machinations but, as you said, likewise the MNC is far more prepared to respond.
The Belgians have an important role in the Kasai secession but perhaps not in the way you'd be expecting. Kalonji, in this timeline, has built up a strong Luba support base in Kasai, particularly in response to the dissolution of the chefferies which he has spun to be an attack on tribal identity (which, in a roundabout way, it is). A lot of the Luba who have been involved in recent conflicts with the Lulua have been supported by Kalonji and more than a few armed and integrated into his private army.
The books I've read are Ludo De Witte's 'The Assassination of Patrice Lumumba' and Larry Devlin's 'Chief of Station, Congo' both of which are interesting in different ways. As well as other things like the occasional snippet I can find on google books, Sartre's 'Colonialism and Neocolonialism', Fanon's 'The Wretched of the Earth' for some of the general feelings about the atmosphere of decolonisation and whatever internet sources I can find.
I've not got a huge amount of funds, I'm a minimum wage prole, and books about the Congo are rare enough that there aren't a huge selection in the library or they're going to be expensive. If you see anything I've written that you think holds a flawed understanding or perhaps you hold some supplementary information, don't hold back from posting it, please. This whole timeline is a learning experience for me as much as anything.
Hmmm, offering their services as "brokers" in order to regain influence in the Congo through the back door? If that happens, I have a feeling that Lumumba will say thanks but no thanks.
Maybe not so roundabout as all that - the MNC still has a Marxist core, and I'm sure it's had its share of anti-tribal rhetoric along with the more conciliatory actions.
GiantMonkeyMan
Banned
Already the worst instances of OTL have been avoided and the newly independent Congolese government are in a far more secure position. Thanks for reading and commenting.
The 'marxists' and socialists Lumumba has amongst the Congolese Parliament are proving to be his most stalwart allies but they are, ultimately, one faction amongst many. The land reform had two aims for Lumumba and the nationalists: to attack some of the position of power that the aristocratic tribal leaders enjoyed and also to open up the land the tribal leaders held sacrosanct for development and investment. Some of that requires anti-tribal rhetoric to justify it but fundamentally it's an economic reason.
Map
To go with this map, below is a table giving the correspondence between some pre- and post-Colonial city names:
Bandundu Banningville
Bukavu Costermansville
Djokupunda Charlesville
Goma
Ilebo Port-Francqui Francquihaven
Isiro Paulis
Kalemie Albertville Albertstad
Kananga Lualabourg Lualaburg
Kikwit
Kindu Kindu Port-Émpain
Kinshasa Léopoldville Leopoldstad
Kisangani Stanleyville Stanleystad
Kolwezi
Likasi Jadotville Jadotstad
Lubumbashi Elisabethville Elisabethstad
Lukutu Elisabetha Elisabetha
Lusanga Leverville Leverstad
Mbandaka Coquilhatville Cocquilhatstad
Mbanza-Ngungu Thysville Thysstad
Moba Baudoinville Boudewijnstad
Mobayi-Mbongo Banzyville Banzystad
Mbuji-Mayi Bakwanga
Ubundu Ponthierville Ponthierstad
And, as a related question, will the toponims be modified integally or only some egregious cases (e.g. Leopoldville) will be chandeg
And will the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. interviene more in the TTL Congo Crisis?
To go with this map, below is a table giving the correspondence between some pre- and post-Colonial city names:
Bandundu Banningville
Bukavu Costermansville
Djokupunda Charlesville
Goma
Ilebo Port-Francqui Francquihaven
Isiro Paulis
Kalemie Albertville Albertstad
Kananga Lualabourg Lualaburg
Kikwit
Kindu Kindu Port-Émpain
Kinshasa Léopoldville Leopoldstad
Kisangani Stanleyville Stanleystad
Kolwezi
Likasi Jadotville Jadotstad
Lubumbashi Elisabethville Elisabethstad
Lukutu Elisabetha Elisabetha
Lusanga Leverville Leverstad
Mbandaka Coquilhatville Cocquilhatstad
Mbanza-Ngungu Thysville Thysstad
Moba Baudoinville Boudewijnstad
Mobayi-Mbongo Banzyville Banzystad
Mbuji-Mayi Bakwanga
Ubundu Ponthierville Ponthierstad
And, as a related question, will the toponims be modified integally or only some egregious cases (e.g. Leopoldville) will be chandeg
And will the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. interviene more in the TTL Congo Crisis?