Congo, Republic of the: Postcolonial History

Full independence was achieved on Aug. 15, 1960, with Fulbert Youlou as the first president. Forced to resign after a revolt in 1963, he was succeeded by Alphonse Massamba-Débat. In 1964 the new president founded a Marxist-Leninist party and proclaimed a noncapitalist path of economic development. A Five-Year Plan was initiated, and the state sector of the economy in agriculture and industry was expanded. Tensions between the government and the army grew, and in 1968, Marien Ngouabi, an army commander, seized power. He followed his predecessor's socialist policies but created his own Marxist-Leninist party, the Congolese Workers party (PCT). An attempted coup in 1972 provided Ngouabi with a reason to purge opponents. Ngouabi was assassinated in 1977 after being unable to contain the growth of the popular opposition movement.

Ngouabi's successor, Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango, was expected to reestablish military control over the PCT. He instead attempted to dissolve the PCT congress, a move that the trade unions protested. Amid accusations that he had embezzled government funds, Yhombi was ousted from the PCT and in 1979 Col. Denis Sassou-Nguesso became head of state.

Sassou-Nguesso maintained a politically neutral course in international affairs, seeking ties with both capitalist and Communist countries (the Congo signed a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union in 1981, as it continued to benefit from French investment). The PCT-appointed congress reelected Sassou-Nguesso president in 1984 and 1989. A dramatic decline in petroleum prices resulted in severe unemployment in 1988 and 1989.

In 1992, voters approved a new constitution establishing multiparty rule, and Pascal Lissouba won the country's first democratic presidential election. Disputed parliamentary elections in 1993 led to bloody fighting between progovernment forces and the opposition (both largely ethnically based groups). Following a Jan., 1994, cease-fire, tribal militias began disarming; the following year some opposition members were included in the government. Unrest continued, however, with full-scale civil war breaking out in June, 1997. Presidential elections scheduled for July were cancelled, and by October the forces of Sassou-Nguesso, aided by Angolan troops, had captured Brazzaville and Lissouba had fled the capital. Sassou-Nguesso was installed as president, but fighting continued into 1999, when a cease-fire was signed.

In the Pool region in the south, however, fighting erupted with rebel militias in 2002–3; a new peace deal did not lead to disarmament as intended. The militias remained in control in some areas in the south and turned to criminal activities to support themselves; fighting broke out in the capital in Oct., 2005. Meanwhile, in Mar., 2002, Sassou-Nguesso was elected to a seven-year term as president, but the vote was marred by irregularities. A new peace accord was signed with the Pool region rebels in Apr., 2007, and the following month their leader was given a post in the government.

Legislative elections in mid-2007 were won overwhelmingly by parties allied with the president; most opposition parties boycotted the polls, which were criticized by many observers. Sassou-Nguesso was reelected in July, 2009, in balloting that was boycotted by some in the opposition and was reported to suffer from a low turnout (despite official figures of 66%). In mid-2012 the governing party and its allies again won a majority in the legislative elections.

In 2015 a referendum approved permitting the president to run for a third term (age and term limits had barred him from running); the opposition boycotted the vote. Sassou-Nguesso subsequently (Mar., 2016) won a third term in an election again denounced by the opposition and criticized internationally for irregularities. In the months before and after the election the government arrested a number of prominent opposition leaders.

In 2016 government forces began an operation against resurgent rebels in the Pool region. Fighting continued into 2017 and displaced tens of thousands before a peace agreement was signed in Dec., 2017. The July, 2017, legislative elections were won by the governing party, which was the only party to run candidates in a majority of the constituencies.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Postcolonial History
• Early History through Colonialism
• Government
• Economy
• Land and People
• Bibliography

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