Congo: Regression after Independence
Uploaded by skalawagdr on Oct 09, 2001
Instead of moving into a century of growth, The Congo seemed to regress after its independence in 1960. I feel that The Congo regressed in several ways. All of these ways attributed to the stagnation of The Congo.
The Economy of the Congo regressed shortly after June 30th 1960. My sources tell me that the GNP of Congo nearly halved itself weeks after independence. This is because all of the workers were doing other things. Some workers decided to join rebel armies and raid the Belgians. Some workers decided to stop all work to protect themselves. A good deal of workers perished in Congo’s fight for independence. All of these reasons made the economy of Congo decline.
The Government of the Congo also had several problems around this time. Lumumba was frustrated with the UN’s indecision in regards to his plea to restore the power to the central government, so he appealed to the Soviet Union. He was then overthrown and assassinated, leaving a leaderless country at the brink of destruction. Several leaders tried to fill his shoes, but none could. A totally new central government had to be formed, and while this was going on the country was falling apart. This government took around 4 years to come to exist. Before the independence the Congolese enjoyed a formed government and years of experience.
The Military was also far worse after the independence than before. It was estimated that the Congo had %75 less man power after the independence set in. Most of the soldiers died or left. The conditions were to harsh for them to stick around. There was death and disease in the jungle plus rebel troops, Belgians, and dead bodies all over. One thing that a country always needs is a military. They were hopelessly under guarded against the ongoing attacks from rebels and Belgians.
All of these things caused The Congo to regress shortly after its independence from Belgian.