WI Independent Katanga

Deleted member 94680

They would need a "great power" backer, the pseudo-support from Belgian "business interests" wasn't enough. OTL Katangan independence failed due to everyone that "mattered" not wanting them to succeed. Being seen as an attempt to create a Belgian Puppet State definitely didn't help.

How do you make America support Katangan Independence though?
 
They would need a "great power" backer, the pseudo-support from Belgian "business interests" wasn't enough. OTL Katangan independence failed due to everyone that "mattered" not wanting them to succeed. Being seen as an attempt to create a Belgian Puppet State definitely didn't help.

How do you make America support Katangan Independence though?
simple: the Katangans say they're fighting communism :p
 
I wonder if an independant Katanga would be able to keep the industries it had. Katanga was a very important area for mining industries. Even the Uranium used for nukes during WW2 came from Katanga. How would the katangan economy be compareded with OTL?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Congo_in_World_War_II#Uranium
http://theconversation.com/the-link...and-hiroshima-a-story-of-twin-tragedies-64329

What would Katangas demography look like? Would they be Christan, animists or syncretists? Would they keep French as a lingua franca? Would the population be more educated than in OTL? Would life expectancy be higher? Would birth rates be the same? If Katanga were more developed than in OTL, then it might attract migrants from the neighbouring countries.

What would be Katangas relations with former colonial power, Beligium? Aswell as Katangan relations with USA, UK, China, France, Germany, Soviet Union, South Africa and the rest of africa?

Would the settler population be more likely to stay in an independant Katanga, than a Katanga incorporated into the Democratic Republic of Congo?
 

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That’s very possible if Lamumba survives and pushes the Congo into the Soviet camp.
Would they even be able to survive long term if that happens . Once Zambia gains independence , Katanga with the exception of the still Portuguese Angola will be surrounded by soviet allied states.
 
Would they even be able to survive long term if that happens . Once Zambia gains independence , Katanga with the exception of the still Portuguese Angola will be surrounded by soviet allied states.
Maybe if Katanga was blocaded by a soviet allied states, then Katanga itself could become soviet allied while keeping its independance?
 
Would they even be able to survive long term if that happens . Once Zambia gains independence , Katanga with the exception of the still Portuguese Angola will be surrounded by soviet allied states.

That depends on how a much Lamumba led, Pro Soviet Congo draws US attention to Africa.
 
Maybe if Katanga was blocaded by a soviet allied states, then Katanga itself could become soviet allied while keeping its independance?
Wouldn't work as Katanga won't be recognized by a Lamumba lead Congo

That depends on how a much Lamumba led, Pro Soviet Congo draws US attention to Africa.
That could work for a while but if the MPLA still gains control of Angola, Katanga is entirely surrounded
 
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They find a meteorite of a precious metal and create an entire industry based on it, then change their name to Wakanda and elect a Jew named Stan Lee as their president.
 
The French might have protected tshombe. He was a devout Christian. He was pro western, and committed to a flat tax. He might have created a relationship with the rest of the Congo, thus averting the rise of Mobotu.
 
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