HGA
Historical General Assembly
High School
Topic B - The Congo Crisis
Introduction to the Committee
The General Assembly is the core organ of the United Nations. This organ is
responsible for the deliberation, policymaking and representation of the UN. The
General Assembly consists of all 193 members of the United Nations. Each
Member State is allowed one vote. Decisions concerning issues like security,
peace, budget and the admission of new members require a two-third majority to
pass. Issues pertaining to all other topics require a simple majority in order to pass.
The Historical General Assembly is a special committee created specifically for
simulation programs such as Model United Nations. This committee simulates
important historical events that have had a significant impact on the world. The
target is to deal with the crises at hand in alternative methods which ensure the best
outcome possible for all nations involved. The voting procedures and flow of
debate are the same as those in the regular General Assembly committee.
However, it is pivotal to note that historical committees like the Historical General
Assembly take place at the original time of conflict (e.g. this committee will be
taking place between 1960 and 1965) whereby all the resources, participants,
resolutions and events are representative of those that happened at the original time
of the conflict.
Therefore, any actions, motions and/or suggestions that do not fit into the time
frame of the committee will be deemed out of character.
Introduction to the Topic
The Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a
Central African country. Its most vicious patch of history occurred between the
years of 1960 and 1965 whereby a civil strife erupted in Congo that was
categorized under four main characterizations; an movement against the Belgian
colonization, a separatist war that aimed at having Congo secede from the province
of Katanga, a peacekeeping operation administered by the United Nations, and one
of the proxy wars which came as a derivative of the contentions between the
United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War.
The crisis in Congo erupted right after Congo gained its independence from the
Belgian colonial powers on June 30, 1960. Coming out of a colonial period, the
Republic of Congo did not go through a decolonization process which would
provide the state with the necessary preparations for transition. Upon
independence, issues such as governmental positions, decentralization
(redistributing the government’s functions across the whole nation) and managing
ethnic diversity were all issues that the new state had not revisited after
independence.
In early July 1960, ethnic
contentions brought the black
people of Congo down to the
streets in revolt against the
presence of white people in highstatus positions. Taking into
consideration that Congo is
prominently occupied by black
people, the assignment of white
people to high-authority positions Figure 1-Young Kids and Men in Combat
was considered as an emblem of
indirect colonization by the Belgians (who are prominently white). White people
attempted fleeing Congo and were aided by Belgium to do so. Belgium sent troops
to help secure the white people fleeing to Katanga and South Kasai. The latter
areas both seceded from Congo with the help of Belgian authorities.
The struggle and chaos in the newly found state of Congo continued vigorously.
The central government of Congo, located in Leopoldville, was fighting
secessionists (the group of civilians who wish to have a state of their own,
independent from Congo). Peacekeepers were deployed by the United Nations in
order to help the government regain order and begin a proper state-building
process; however, UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold refused the idea of
aiding the Leopoldville government against secessionist under the argument that
such action would not catalyze peace, but rather oppression.
The central government of Congo was
backed by a large faction of nationalists
lead by the Congolese Prime Minister
Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba is one of the
most prominent independence leaders of
Congo and the first Congolese leadership
figure to be democratically elected after the
colonial period ended in 1960. He is highly
charismatic and was determined to receive Figure 2-"30 June 1960 Independence of Congo”
help from the international community to
help his government fight secessionists and restore stability to the newlyindependent republic of Congo. Therefore, after the denial of intervention from the
UN Secretary General, Lumumba sought help from the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union was in a state of Cold war with the United States fighting to
create a supreme communist power in the world which would bring down the
capitalist system advocated for by the Unites States of America. Therefore, it was
of the Soviet Union’s interest to have as many supporters worldwide as possible.
Solidarity with the Congo government was an opportunity for the Soviet Union to
reach out to the African region. Thus, the Soviet government did not hesitate and
quickly sent troops, advisors and other types of military support to aid the central
government of Congo.
The Soviet intervention in the Congolese civil war created cleavages within the
central government of Congo. While Prime Minister Lumumba encouraged the aid
of the Soviet Union and found it necessary for restoring stability, President Joseph
Kasa-Vubu did not since he believed that foreign intervention retracts the country’s
newly-established sovereignty. This split in government stance created a deadlock
which paralyzed the government. In light of this paralysis, the only functioning
body in the government that remained was the military, headed by Premier
Mobutu. Mobutu, like President Kasa-Vubu was against Soviet intervention, thus
he launched a coup d’état which resulted in relinquishing the Soviet support from
Congo and establishing a new Congolese government under his leadership.
Previous Prime Minister Lumumba was imprisoned and then executed in 1961.
While Mobutu took over the
central
government
in
Leopoldville, an opposing
government was established in
Stanleyville under the reign of
Antoine Gizenga along with
supporters of late Prime
Minister Lumumba. This
government
gained
the
support of the Soviet Union
but failed at taking over the
central government and was,
thus, abolished in 1962.
Figure 3-UN Peacekeeping Troops
The United Nations did not take any extraordinary measures in the Congolese civil
war due to the refusal of Secretary General Hammarskjold. However, in 1961,
Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash. This gave the United Nations more
leeway to support the Congolese government against the secessionists. Thus, the
United Nations sent troops to Leopoldville and succeeded at helping the Congolese
government defeat the secessionists in Katanga and South Kasai by the beginning
of the third year of the civil strife.
By 1963, Katanga and South Kasai were restored under Congolese government
control. The Katangese leader, Moise Tshombe, who was exiled upon the
restoration of the two areas, was brought back and places as head of an interim
administration until elections took place.
The elections were held back by a Maoist-inspired group (a group that idolizes
Mao Zedong who is the leader of the communist revolution in China) rose in
Stanleyville. This group was called “The Simbas” and was quickly and radically
able to take over a big part of Eastern Congo which they proclaimed as the
communist “People’s Republic of the Congo”.
Belgium and the United States of America were called upon to support the central
government of Congo in its fight against the Simbas. In response, Belgium and the
United States launched military interventions in Stanleyville and were able to free
those who were taken hostage by the Simbas. The central government was able to
take back its territorial land from the Simbas. This portrayed the end of the Simbas.
In March of 1965, elections took place. However, the statehood of Congo did not
live on peacefully since there were rising tensions between head of the interim
administration, Tshombe (the Katangese leader), and President Kasa-Vubu over
the issue of whom will take power. This brought the government again into a state
of deadlock which drove military Premier to launch yet another coup d’état in
November 1965. The coup resulted in the abolishment of both leaders and the
assignment of Mobutu in power under which the Congo became a dictatorship.
History of the Topic
Congo is a country which harbors important natural resources. Towards the end of
the 19th century, the fight over the attainment of these resources started to result in
violent international intervention as well as gave rise to internal contentions.
Moreover, there has never been effective representation of protection of the
citizens of the Congo by the government. This has resulted in the absence of
checks and balances between the branches of government as well as the presence
of many leaders who went after personal gain rather than public interest.
The origins of the Congolese can be traced back to several events in the history of
the Republic. The most important causes include the transitional stage between
colonialism and independence that Congo went through and the rise of radical
groups within the newly found state.
The Congo before Independence
Belgium began its colonial rule over the
Congo in the late 19th century under the
leadership of King Leopold II. The latter
created the colony on his own after he
failed at convincing the rest of his
administration with the importance of
colonial expansion. In 1885, the Congo
Figure 4-Men in Combat
Free State was recognized by some Western countries who foresaw potential in
King Leopold II. The Congo Free State experienced intense violence against the
indigenous people of Congo. Diplomatic pressure against such acts led Belgium to
officially take control of the Free State in 1908, when it became Belgian Congo.
The Belgian Congo split into subdivisions under the rule of what is called a “native
policy”. However, even under these policies, racial segregation still remained a
huge struggle for the Congolese society at the time. This racism came to be after
the whites immigrated en masse to the Congo when World War II ended. Even
though the whites came from various social classes, they were always thought of
and treated as superiors to the blacks.
Between 1940 and 1950, urbanization was a rising phenomenon. This drove the
administration of the Belgian colony to launch developmental programs that would
modernize the colony. These measures resulted in the formation of a new
‘Europeanized’ African middle class in the urban areas. The wages of the labor
force, due to the continuous developments, were twice as high as any other
colonized nation in Africa.
The international struggle affecting the colony at the time increased when the
Soviet Union and the United States of America took a substantial interest in the
Congo after the discovery of Uranium as a main component of the Congolese
natural resources.
Radicalism in the Belgian Colony
In the 1950s, an African nationalist movement (Mouvement National Congolais,
MNC) mobilized in Belgian
Congo consisting of the newly
formed Europeanized middle
class. The movement was
distributed across different
parties and groups which were
ethnically and geographically
divided and opposite. By the
year 1959, the party claimed to
have 58,000 members with
Figure 5-Men Fighting on the Front
Prime Minister Lumumba as the leader of the movement.
The MNC was the largest of nationalist parties which made it vulnerable to internal
conflict. The MNC included many factions which were different in nature and too
different positions on several issues. The movement was torn between radicals and
moderates. This caused a split in the party into two subgroups; those who
supported Lumumba in the North-East versus those in Elisabethville (like the Luba
ethnicity) who were concentrated around the South.
Major riots started breaking out in the Congolese capital and many people were
victims of the violence of political contentions in the city. These violent acts
resulted in the spread of the independence movement to distant cities in the Congo.
The new Europeanized middle class now included black people who started
pushing through the colonial system by not paying taxes, breaking colonial rules
and other similar actions.
The mobilization of the blacks displeased the whites thus driving them to more
radical measures. People of the white community threatened to attempt a coup
d’état if a black government took power. The retaliation to this threat caused
several breaks of law and order and the formation of militias which controlled
race-specific neighborhoods and ended up attacking the blacks most frequently.
Independence and Transition
The Congo was granted independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960. During the
independence ceremony, Prime Minister Lumumba gave a speech against
colonialism which upset the Belgians and was even deemed provocative by the
Congolese leaders themselves. The Congo was now a semi-presidential political
system where power is shared between the Prime Minister and the President,
independent from the Belgians.
A few weeks after the independence was granted, mutiny struck out and racial
discrimination grew since elections were to take place and thus the decision of
whether to have a black or white government came to question. Secessionist
movements started to strike out again resulting in the secession of Katanga and
South Kasai. This lead the government to demand foreign intervention from the
United Nations and the Soviet Union which then brought the United States of
America into the game thus bringing in all the actors that formed up the
components of the Congo Crisis (1960-1965).
International Actions
The civil war in Congo sparked the attention of the international community since
it was one of the proxy wars of the Cold War. A war like the one in Congo would
shift regional balances of power and, thus the international response to it is
paramount in determining the international balance of power between the United
States of America and the Soviet Union. Moreover, the Congolese Crisis did not
only mobilize the international community to act, but also, it shifted regional
politics in the African continent in many ways. The international response to the
Congolese Civil War was characterized by the following:
The United Nations
The United Nations was displeased by the support that Belgium had shown
towards secessionist movements in Congo. In addition, the UN Secretary General
at the time was persistent on showing that the United Nations can play a major
peacekeeping role in the world. Thus, he started calling for a United Nations
resolution to remove Belgian powers from Congo. UN Security Council resolution
143 announced the total departure of Belgian powers from Congo took place and
the latter was replaced by UN-backed forces.
Lumumba and the central government believed that the United Nations would play
a positive role in suppressing the secessionist states. The initial mandate of the
United Nations only involved peacekeeping until these movements were deemed
unacceptable by the United Nations Secretary General.
The Soviet Union and the United States of America
The disproval of the United Nations for the provision of aid to the Congolese
government caused frustration for Prime Minister Lumumba driving him to call
upon the Soviet Union for help. In response, the Soviet Union sent around 1,000
troops to Congo. This was viewed as a threat for the United States of America
since the US feared that the Soviet Union would use Congo as a base for an
expansionist communist movement in central Africa.
The United States government was highly alarmed by the mobilization of the
Soviet Union in support of the Congolese government. US President Eisenhower
had strong suspicions that Lumumba was a communist who is strategically being
used as a client state by the Soviet Union. The Central Intelligence Agency, thus,
in August 1960 claimed that Congo is going under a communist takeover which
might result in the reiteration of the events of Cuba (check background of topic
“A” on Cuba).
Altering African Political Arrangements
The civil strife in Congo shifted regional powers giving newly independent states
an incentive to revisit their allegiances internationally and internally. These
changes led the African states to divide into factions with the moderate states
joining the Brazzaville Group which encourage linkage with France (especially the
Francophone African states). The Casablanca Group, on the other hand, included
the more radical states who protested for a Pan-African federation.
Recommendations
The Republic of Congo is currently in crisis and the events taking place within its
borders have a significant subsequent effect on the faith of the entire international
community. This is due to the fact that the world, at this time, is living a cold war
characterized by a delicate balance of power between the Soviet Union and the
United States of America; therefore, the response of each of these supreme powers
towards a national or regional event will affect the structure of power worldwide,
and with it, affecting the global economy, the global trade market, the global
nuclear threat and the formation of international alliances around the globe.
Delegates are expected to resolve to an action plan that grants Congo its
sovereignty and independence without jeopardizing any of the country’s
constituents. It is the role of the delegates to ensure that the international
community cooperates on the basis of negotiation in order to give way to conflict
resolution without attempting to violence.
An ideal resolution would be one which contains strategic elements to help guide
the Congolese government on how it should administer its forces internally as well
as provide the international community with methods by which they can help
without any form of coercion.
Questions to Consider
1) How can the international community play an active role in protecting the
sovereignty and stability of Congo?
2) How can the General Assembly form a network with other bodies of the
United Nations in order to stabilize national security and resolve the issue in
Congo?
3) Has your country ever encountered a civil war? What measures did your
government take in order to contain it? How has the international
community contributed to this containment?
4) Has your country ever been under colonization? How did the decolonization
process happen and what do you recommend to Congo to do in order to
ensure a peaceful transition?
5) Has your country ever colonized other countries? What effect has that had
on your country? What does your government think is an ideal way to
withdraw from a country that it was colonizing?
6) How can your country play an effective role in the international-level
negotiations of the Congo Crisis?
7) How can the contentions between the United States of America and the
Soviet Union be contained in favor of protecting nations in conflict?
References:
1) Ashton, Nigel J. "The Congo Crisis." Kennedy, Macmillan and the Cold
War.
Palgrave
Macmillan
UK,
2002.
109-126.
2) Spooner, Kevin A. Canada, the Congo Crisis, and UN Peacekeeping, 196064.
UBC
Press,
2010.
3) Gibbs, David N. "Dag Hammarskjöld, the United Nations, and the Congo
Crisis of 1960–1: A Reinterpretation." The Journal of Modern African
Studies31.01
(1993):
163-174.
4) Weisberg, Howard L. "Congo Crisis 1964: A Case Study in Humanitarian
Intervention,
the." Va.
J.
Int'l
L. 12
(1971):
261.
5) Natufe, Omajuwa Igho. "The Cold War and the Congo Crisis, 19601961."Africa (1984):
353-374.
6) Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges. "The international dimensions of the Congo
crisis." Global
Dialogue 6.3/4
(2004):
116.
7) "United Nations Operation in the Congo ‘ONUC’". UN News Center. UN,
2001.
Web.
16
Feb.
2016.
http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/onucB.html