AKADEMI SCHES
FORUM FÜR
AUSSENPOLITIK ÖSTERREICH
GRAZ - INNSBRUCK - KLAGENFURT - LINZ - SALZBURG - VIENNA
UNITED NATIONS YOUTH AND STUDENT ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRIA
ACADEMIC FORUM FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS - AUSTRIA
UNION
ACADEMI QUE
DES AFFAI RES
ETRANGERES AUTRI CHE
VIENNA INTERNATIO NAL
HISTO RIC M O DEL UNITED NATIO NS
( HIST O M UN)
09
-
13
M a r ch
2008
Preparation Paper
Security Council 12 July 1960
Decision on Congo
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Your role at HISTOMUN
As HISTOMUN delegate of the Security Council your task is to address a problem that the Security Council
has already resolved in the past and find a better solution. In our case the topic is the Security Council’s
decision at 12 July 1960 concerning its decision on the Congo.
You will not have the advantage of knowing what has happened after the Security Council addressed this
issue. You have to pretend to be a Security Council delegate in 1960, and particularly, to have the same
knowledge as these delegates. The true challenge of HISTOMUN is that you know the content of the original
Security Council’s resolution, but you have to try to negotiate a better and more effective one with your fellow
delegates.
The aim of this Preparation Paper
This Preparation Paper should be treated as a start to your own research.
It is a guide to what you are expected to do at HISTOMUN. It will give you some valuable background
information to set the scene and give you a frame of reference for your own research. It also includes a list of
sources that might help you to prepare for the conference.
Keep in mind that HISTOMUN requires that each participant submits a Position Paper before the conference
starts. The guidance on how to write such a Position Paper (policy statement of the country that you
represent) is available on the HISTOMUN website http://www.histomun.org/afahissue2008.htm. To give
yourself the chance to write a great position paper that will be a vital and effective reference for you at the
Conference, you should start your research early. If you face any difficulties or have any questions, don’t
hesitate, just email your chairs [email protected]. As well have in mind that the position paper will help
you not only for your opening speech at the conference but also throughout the sessions of HISTOMUN
2008 to apply your strategy.
Congo: Which country are we talking about?
To avoid confusions we would like to clarify about which country we are referring to at HISTOMUN 2008.
There are actually two countries which are called Congo and these are just divided by a river called Congo
(where both countries have their names from).
At HISTOMUN we will be talking about the country that is called today (2007) the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (or also sometimes referred as Congo-Kinshasa). Please do not confuse it with the Republic of the
Congo, which was a former French colony, and which is also known today as Congo-Brazzaville.
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Source: http://geology.com/world/republic-of-the-congo-map.gif
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (the Congo we refer to at HISTOMUN) used to be a Belgian colony
until its independence on 30 June 1960. Confusingly, this country was called Congo or Belgian Congo when
it used to be a colony, and on independence it was called the Republic of the Congo. During HISTOMUN we
will therefore, refer to this country either with its in July 1960 official name – the Republic of the Congo – or
just simply by calling it the Congo. These names will also be used in this Preparation Paper.
Timeline
1877: Henry Morton Stanley, an American journalist, reaches the mouth of the Congo river, and returns to
Europe with the aim reclaiming the Congo basin for Great Britain
1878: Taking advantage of Britain’s lack of interest in the Congo, the Belgian King Leopold II sets up the
Comité d’Études du Haut-Congo (CEHC) for a feasibility study on colonizing the Congo basin.
1879: The CEHC becomes the Association Internationale du Congo (AIC), an international organization with
its own flag (a blue standard with a single gold star in the middle) and Stanley leads its expedition to acquire
as much land as possible for Leopold.
22/04/1884: The United States of America becomes the first country in the world to recognize King Leopold’s
claims to the Congo.
26/02/1885: At the closing ceremony of the Berlin Conference a letter from the AIC informing the conference
of its recognition as a sovereign state by the major powers is warmly welcomed by the delegates.
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29/05/1885: The Congo Free State (CFS) is officially established by royal Belgian decree.
28/12/1891: The first anti-colonial resistance led by King Msiri’s against Leopold’s rule is ended by his
assassination.
18/10/1906: Establishment of the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga (UMHK), the giant mining company, with
Belgian and British capital.
1908: The 23-year Leopoldian regime ends, as the Congo Free State becomes the Belgian Congo, a colony
of Belgium.
1916: The Force Publique (FP) defeats German troops and occupies Rwanda and Burundi.
06/04/1921: Simon Kimbangu begins a prophetic ministry in Lower Congo, which leads to his arrest and life
imprisonment, and gives rise to religious protest as one of the means of anti-colonial resistance.
1923: As Ruanda-Urundi, Rwanda and Burundi become a mandated territory of the League of Nations under
the administrative control of Belgium.
1925: Belgium annexes the mandated territory to the Congo to create a single administrative entity known as
Congo Belge et Ruanda-Urundi.
1931: Pende uprising, one of the major rural revolts in the Belgian Congo, takes place in the Kwilu region
against the economic hardships imposed by the colonial state and the concession companies.
December 1941: UMHK mineworkers’ general strike begins in Jadotville and ends with the massacre of over
hundred strikers in Elisabethville.
1945: Ruana-Urundi becomes a UN trust territory under Belgian supervision.
1946: Joseph Kasa-Vubu, a Kongo intellectual, gives a lecture in Leopoldville on ‘the right of the first
occupant’.
1948: The process of assimilating Africans or évolués (the educated, westernized, middle class) begins in
the Belgian Congo with the introduction of the ‘social merit card’.
1950: Abako is established as an association for the promotion of Kongo language and culture.
1952: The assimilation process continues with the introduction of the status of ‘matriculation’ or the
designation of a certain category of évolués as honorary Europeans.
1954: A controversy takes place about the establishment of public schools because of the politicized
évolués, who are now beneficiaries of the importation of Belgian political organizations and quarrels in the
colony.
1955: King Baudouin’s I visit to the Congo and his willingness to listen to the voices of the évolués help to
strengthen those advocating political liberalization and power sharing with the African elite within a ‘BelgoCongolese community’.
February 1956: Belgian professor Van Bilsen’s pamphlet with a ‘thirty-year plan for the political
emancipation of Belgian Africa’ is published in French translation. It is welcomed by a group of Catholic
évolués; many others are suspicious though.
23/08/1956: Abako, in the meanwhile presided by Kasa-Vubu, rejects the plan and publishes a countermanifesto calling for ‘immediate independence’.
1957: Abako wins a clear victory in the municipal elections in Leopoldville.
20/04/1958: At his inauguration as mayor of Leopoldville, Kasa-Vubu calls for the recognition of the Congo
as a nation.
October 1958: Patrice Lumumba, Joseph Ileo, Cyrille Adoula and Joseph Ngalula found the Mouvement
National Congolais (MNC), a nationwide political party which intended to be non-tribal.
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December 1958: Top officials of the MNC attend the All-African People’s Conference in Accra, Ghana.
28/12/1958: Lumumba holds a mass rally in Leopoldville, to report to the nation on the Accra conference and
to agitate for independence.
04/01/1959: Popular uprising for independence in Leopoldville.
13/01/1959: The Belgian king and government announce their willingness to consider independence for the
Congo.
April 1959: The first conference of Congolese political parties is held in Luluabourg.
July 1959: King Mutara Rudahigwa of Rwanda dies in mysterious circumstances.
October 1959: Adoula, Ileo and Ngalula cause a split in the MNC, resulting in two wings, respectively led by
Lumumba (MNC-L) and Albert Kalonji (MNC-K).
11/10/1959: The Luba-Baluba war erupts in the Kasai province.
29/10/1959: The MNC-Lumumba Congress in Stanleyville is followed by popular insurrection. Lumumba is
arrested and is relegated to Jadotville prison.
02/11/1959: A Hutu uprising turns into a veritable pogrom against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the FP occupies the
territory.
December 1959: Most political parties boycott elections for local government councils.
20/01/1960: The Roundtable Conference on Congolese independence is held in Brussels.
20/02/1960: The Conference decides for the Congo to obtain a total and unconditional independence on 30
June 1960. Lumumba is freed from prison.
26/04/1960: The Economic Roundtable Conference, held in Brussels to determine the economic future of the
country, is virtually relegated to secondary importance by most political parties.
May 1960: Elections for provincial assemblies and the national parliament are held. The MNC-L wins, while
the Parti National du Progrès (PNP) which was favoured by the Belgians was second.
June 1960: Political jockeying following national elections results in Lumumba becoming prime minister and
Kasa-Vubu the ceremonial head of state.
30/06/1960: The Republic of the Congo is declared independent. It shared a name with the neighboring
Republic of the Congo to the west, a French colony that also gained independence in 1960. They were
normally differentiated by also stating the name of the relevant capital city, so Congo-Léopoldville versus
Congo-Brazzaville.
On the same day King Baudouin hold a speech praising Leopold II as a ‘genius’. This speech was widely
seen as patronizing and disregarding the brutality of the period of Leopold II. Lumumba is answering in an
anti-colonial speech that ‘we are no longer your monkeys’.
05/07/1960: Mutiny of FP soldiers against their white officers plunges the new state into crisis. The soldiers
attack the white population in Leopoldville who have to flee to Brazzaville and Stanleyville. The reputation of
the new government is tarnished as they are not able to control their own soldiers.
08/07/1960: The Congolese army is ‘Africanized’ and Joseph Mobutu is appointed General and
Commander-in-Chief. The army is now called Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC).
10/07/1960: Unilateral Belgian military intervention worsens the crisis. Belgium argues that it has to secure
the safety of its citizens. Even though the danger was real, Belgium violated the national sovereignty of the
newly established state.
11/07/1960: With Belgian economic and military support, Moïse Tshombe, president of the Katanga
provincial government, declares the secession of the province from the Congo. Katanga is one of the richest
and most developed areas in the Congo.
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12/07/1960: President Kasa-Vubu and Prime Minister Lumumba appeal to the United Nations for UN troops
to protect the country against external aggression and to restore its territorial integrity.
Traveling back in time
TODAY: 12 July 1960
Keep in mind that participating at HISTOMUN involves traveling back in time. The HISTOMUN Security
Council will address the same problem under the same circumstances as the original Security Council in
1960.
From now on: this Preparation Paper refers with the term TODAY to 12 July 1960.
Recent developments in the Congo (until today: 12 July 1960)
Faced with increasing instability, the Belgians held a ‘Roundtable Conference’ earlier this year (1960) in
Brussels for the leaders of the different Congolese parties. The Belgians agreed to independence but tried to
negotiate for a transitional period of three to four years. The Congolese insisted that independence be
granted immediately and the most that they would concede was a few months. In the end it was agreed to
hold elections in May with a transfer of power one month later in June. The experience of the French in the
ongoing Algerian War for independence was something the Belgians desperately wanted to avoid. After
some power struggle after the elections a new government could be formed, which was not favored though
by Belgium. Nevertheless on 30 June Belgian Congo gained independence and is now known as the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Today, 12 July 1960, just twelve days after Congolese independence has been proclaimed, the SecretaryGeneral of the UN, Dag Hammarskjöld, receives a telegram signed by both the President and the Prime
Minister of the new state, appealing for military assistance. It is stating that “the essential purpose of the
requested military aid is to protect the national territory of the Congo against the present external aggression
which is a threat to international peace.” Obviously, Joseph Kasa-Vubu, the President, and Patrice
Lumumba, the Prime Minister, are referring to Belgium, the former colonial power, formally as an aggressor.
The reasons behind the telegram have started with the mutiny of the Force Publique (FP), because of
extremely low pay rates and a general lack of advancement in early July. They have hold a protest meeting
and demanded the Belgian’s dismissal. The Congolese have seized arms in the capital, Leopoldville, and
have driven out their Belgian officers. Lumumba tries to control the situation as he ‘Africanized’ the FP. He
renames it the Congolese National Army (ANC) and dismisses the Belgian officers. The measures don’t
work, fighting breaks out in the Katanga province. Moreover the Belgian officers are overwhelmed by
soldiers in Luluabourg, the capital of the Kasai province. Tens of thousands of Europeans are hold under
threat to their lives.
Belgium is alarmed and sends immediately troops for the security of its citizens – without the permission of
the new government in the Congo. Moreover the Belgians are supporting the secession of the richest
province in the country, Katanga. The president of the region, Moïse Tshombe, has declared yesterday, 11
July, the independence of the center of the country’s mineral wealth. It seems that the Belgians try to divide
the country and thereby continue their rule. As well it looks like that Belgium has seen sovereignty and
independence of the Republic of the Congo rather as a gift than a right. Consequently independence shall be
given back to ‘the right owner’.
Initially the Congolese have appealed to the United States of America for military help; President Eisenhower
is, however, somewhat indifferent. On the one hand he doesn’t want the country to be supported by the
Soviet Union (another Cuba has to be avoided), on the other hand he doesn’t want to start a fight with the
Soviet Union and the US shouldn’t be accused of reinstating colonialism in Africa. Mr Eisenhower suggests
not to act unilaterally but rather to address the UN.
Mr Hammarskjöld has shown himself willing to use creative diplomacy in the past at Suez and in the
Lebanon. Now he decides to use Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time of the UN history. It enables
him as Secretary General to bring a matter before the Security Council even though not being a member
state. He does so and calls for a special meeting of the Security Council concerning the issue at stake.
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Questions a resolution should answer
How will the Security Council react?
What is happening with the independence claim of the provincial government of Katanga which is backed by
Belgium?
Will the whole region fall in the crisis as well?
Is there a new front of the Cold War going to be opened?
References and further reading
A broad range of literature about the crisis in the Congo around 1960 exists, although usually it is covering
both - the time before 12 July 1960 and afterwards. As a consequence you will always deal with the time
after the meeting of the Security Council. It will not matter too much as you should be aware of what
happened afterwards in the country. Always have in mind though that at the conference you can’t refer to
any knowledge that was gained after the date we are dealing with.
Even though, you should try hard to find your own material you will find below some general guidance for
your research about the topic. This is, of course, just a suggestion; you don’t have to use the material below.
Abi-Saab, Georges (1978). The United Nations Operations in the Congo, 1960-1964. London, Oxford
University Press.
Clark, J.F. (1994). Collective Interventions After the Cold War: Reflections on the UN Mission in the Congo,
1960-64, in: Journal of Political Science Vol. 22, 95-114.
Dayal, Rajeshwar (1976). Mission for Hammarskjold: The Congo Crisis. London, Oxford University Press.
Dunn, Kevin C. (2003). Imagining the Congo: The International Relations of Identity. New York, Palgrave.
(focus on p.1-113)
Gibbs, David N. (2000). The United Nations International Peacekeeping and the Question of ‘Impartiality’:
Revisiting the Congo Operation of 1960, in: The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 38 (3/2000), 359382.
Haskin, Jeanne M. (2005). The Tragic State of The Congo: From Decolonization to Dictatorship. New York,
Algora Publishing. (focus on p.1-38)
House, Arthur H. (1978). The U.N. in the Congo: The Political and Civilian Efforts. Washington, University
Press of America.
Lefever, Ernest W. & Joshua, Wynfred (1966). United Nations Peacekeeping in the Congo 1960-1964.
Washington, Brookings.
Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges [ed.] (1986). The Crisis in Zaire: Myths and Realities. Trenton, Africa World
Press.
Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges (2002). The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People’s History. New York, Zed
Books. (focus on p.13-93)
O’balance, Edgar (2000). The Congo-Zaire Experience, 1960-98. London, Macmillan. (focus on p.1-63)
Packham, Eric S. (1998). Success or Failure: The UN Intervention in the Congo After Independence. New
York, Nova Science.
Pradhan, Ram Chandra (1975). The United Nations and the Congo Crisis. New Delhi, Manas.
Quiring, Otto (2002). Between Interventionism and National Sovereignty. Case Study: Democratic Republic
of Congo. Münster, LIT. (focus on p.16-149)
UN-SC resolutions in 1960: http://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1960/scres60.htm