Why was the united states so interested in preventing communism in the former belgian congo?

Abstract

L'autore di questo studio esamina le varie fasi della crisi congolese (1960-1961), nella cornice della « guerra fredda » ossia dei rapporti fra i due gruppi di potenze guidati rispettivamente da Washington e da Mosca. A suo parere, l'ONU, col suo intervento, si comportò allora come uno strumento del neocolonialismo. Da questa esperienza egliritiene di poter dedurre che gli Stati del Terzo Mondo debbono sempre adottare un atteggiamento assai cauto a riguardo di qualsiasi forza militare d'intervento delTONU nei conflitti in corso. Egli si dichiara inoltre favorevole all'ingresso degli Stati africani in alleanze militari regionali atte a proteggerli dalle aggressioni esterne. L'auteur de cette étude analyse les diverses phases de la crise du Congo (1960-1961), dans le cadre de la « guerre froide » c'est-à-dire des rapports entre les deux groupes de puissances guidés respectivement par Washington et par Moscou. D'après lui, l'ONU, par son intervention, se comporta alors comme un instrument du néocolonialisme. De cette expérience il estime de pouvoir conclure que les états du Tiers Monde doivent toujours suivre une attitude extrêmement méfiante à l'égard de toute force militaire d'intervention de l'ONU dans les conflit en cours. Il se déclare en outre favorable à l'entrée des états africains dans des alliances militaires régionales pouvant les protéger des aggressions extérieures.

Journal Information

Africa is an Italian, French and English language quarterly. Born in 1946 as Africa. Notiziario dell'Associazione fra le imprese italiane in Africa, an Italian language monthly directed by Gregorio Consiglio. Afterwards the journal changed its name in Affrica: rivista mensile di interessi coloniali, and then in 1948 in Affrica: rivista mensile di interessi affricani. Its new name Africa. Rivista di studi e documentazione dates back to 1957. In 1965 the editorship of the historian Teobaldo Filesi marked the transition towards a rigorous scientific approach with a decisive penchant for the humanities. This policy has remained unchanged under the new director, the historian Gianluigi Rossi (1994). The structure of the periodical includes various sections: Articoli, Note e testimonianze and Recensioni. The journal aims at presenting original research, notes and documents concerning the various aspects of African studies with particular focus on humanistic sciences. All this in order to promote and increase the collaboration between Italian and African scholars both in research and on operational field.  

Publisher Information

The Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO) was established in 1995, as the result of the merging of Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (IsMEO) with the Istituto Italo-Africano (IIA). Its seat is in Rome, Italy. The Institute is active in the field of cultural promotion aimed at fostering fruitful relations between Italy and the countries of Africa and Asia. The aims of the Institute are: to establish and implement study and research projects; to promote cultural and scientific collaboration initiatives through the exchange of experience and knowledge among researchers and specialists; to implement cooperation, consultancy and assistance projects, with special regard to the conservation and promotion of the heritage, and to carry out missions and archaeological campaigns in Asian and African countries; to enter into conventions or agreements providing for joint activities with universities, academies, cultural and research institutions in Italy and abroad; to carry on publishing activities alone or in collaboration with other institutions, or with publishers. IsIAO is currently active in the following countries: Afghanistan, Arabia Saudita, China, Japan, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhastan, Mali, Oman, Pakistan, Sudan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Yemen.  

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Department: Haverford College. Department of History

Abstract:

After the Berlin Conference of 1884-5 recognized King Leopold of Belgium's Congo Free State, he would go on to exploit the Congolese people with a violent and oppressive reign. However, the plight of the Congolese people began even earlier with the exploration of their lands by explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley, who brought with him racist ideals he picked up during his time in Louisiana, United States. Belgium annexed King Leopold's Congo Free State in 1908 and it subsequently became the Belgian Congo, though the Congolese people remained oppressed. Eventually the colonial structures would succumb to internal and external pressures. With growing discontent from indigenous populations and increasing pressure from the international community, European nations began the decolonization of Africa. The Congolese pro-American regime that eventually replaced Belgium's rule still did not mark change for the suffering Congolese. This thesis will examine the Congolese independence movement and its place in the Cold War and US foreign policy. While the first nations to break the chains of colonial rule did so in the early 1950s, nationalistic sentiment was growing in the Congo. In the mid-50s Joseph Kasa-Vubu represented a radical ethnic nationalism that demanded independence numerous times. Meanwhile Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba was working his way up the Belgian Colonial system, adopting many pro-democratic values along the way. After becoming more active in the Pan-Africanism movement and becoming associated with revolutionary leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba radicalized and in turn garnered tremendous support - both inside and outside of the Congo. Today, both Western and Communist countries revere Lumumba as a revolutionary leader who changed the World. Unfortunately, Lumumba's rise to prominence came at the wrong time in American history. The democratic superpower had emerged out of WWII a moral policeman of the World and was facing a new foe: The Communist Soviet Union. The US led foreign interventions in "at risk" areas as the third world became a battleground for the Cold War. Patrice Lumumba is evidence though that not every place America intervened in was in dire need of "help." He provided the Congolese people with a path to sovereignty following Belgian rule. Sovereignty is the one thing the Congolese never experienced during the Cold War, even after their nation's "independence" in 1960. The United States government perceived decolonization as a power vacuum that created an imperative to protect Africa from Communism. Despite Lumumba's many pro-American sentiments, the West was able to cast him as a Communist and justify supporting his overthrow in favor of the staunchly anti-Communist general Mobutu. American economic interests also benefitted greatly from this "neo-colonial" relation that held up Mobutu's regime until after the fall of the Berlin wall.

Why did the US intervene in the Congo?

How did the United States try to contain communism in Latin America?

What happened in the Belgian Congo during 1965?

What role did Belgium play in the conflict in the Congo?