Page 172 - Volume 1_Go home mzungu Go Home_merged with links

Decades of post-colonial chaos

"Veni, Vidi, Vici, numquam reliquit - ego adduxit inimici mei !"

his stature in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, where he often served the interests of

administrations from Johnson through Reagan."

"Milestones: 1961–1968" 157
Office of the Historian
*****
Russian Involvement in Regime Change

Congo-Leopoldville (1961-1965)

" In 1960, Belgium, the United States, and other countries covertly overthrew Prime
Minister Patrice Lumumba in a coup lead by Mobutu Sese Seko. Afterwards, Seko began

getting support from the US. Many politicians who had been allied to Lumumba were
forced out of government.

Many of Lumumba allied politicians began to foment discontent and dissent. They

formed a new government in Stanleyville in the East of the country called the Free
Republic of Congo with the support of the Soviet Union.

***
Maoist Pierre Mulele began the Kwilu Rebellion, soon after Christopher Gbenye and

Gaston Soumialot led the APL (Armée Populaire de Libération), also known as the
Simbas, in the Eastern Congo in the Simba Rebellion

***
Mobutu was already receiving assistance from the United States, and the Simbas began
to receive funding from the USSR along with other countries also aligned with them. The

Soviet Union implored neighboring nationalistic governments to aid the rebels. The
Soviet leadership promised that it would replace all weaponry given to the Simbas but

rarely did so. In order to supply the rebels, the Soviet Union transported equipment by
cargo planes to Juba in allied Sudan. From there, the Sudanese brought the weapons to

Congo.

Rhodesia (1965-1975)
In Rhodesia, the white minority still held political power and held most of the country's

wealth while being led by Ian Smith. Rhodesia would gain very little recognition across
the world, though it would have some covert support. Two main armed groups rose up in
order to overthrow the white minority in 1964, a year before Rhodesia's declaration of

independence. Both were Marxist organizations that got support from different sides of
the Sino-Soviet Split.

***