Before the War

1885-1908

• The Congo was under the control of King Leopold the Second of Belgium

• He asked the Belgium Government to help him Colonize The Congo ( The Belgium
Government Denys his Request)

• King Leopold the second founded The Congo as a Corporate State ran solely by himself

• King Leopold the Second sent The Congo into chaos with mass murder all across the
country and extreme torture in rubber plantations

• The Belgium Government saw this causing them to seize The Congo from King Leopold the
Second

1908-1960

• After the Belgium Government took control of The Congo they started colonizing it to take
control and stop the mass murders and torture.

• After the mass murders and torture in the plantations had stopped (for the most part) the
Belgium Government decided to un-colonize and leave the Congo to become its own nation

1960-1996

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo was formed and the first democratically elected
Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba

• A man named Mobutu Sese Seko At the time the Military Dictator used his military power to
cause a coup supported and funded by the Belgium and American (CIA) Government

• Mobutu Gained Control of the Congo government while he was backed by the Belgium and
American governments

• Mobutu changed the name of the country from The Democratic Republic of the Congo to
Zaire

• Mobutu was the Military Dictator and the President of the Congo from 1965 to 1997

1990-1994

• A long lasting dispute between Hutu and Tutsi groups in the nation of Rwandan leads to civil
war (Rwanda is a small nation east of the Congo)

• The predominately Hutu ran government and other elites start a mass genocide of Tutsi and
other sympathizers

• The genocide goes on for 100 days

• Estimated between 500,000 and 1,000,000 were killed constituting an estimated 70% of Tutsi
population

• Out of the people that were able to escape the country about 1.5 million settled in eastern
Zaire

• The people that fled the country were mainly tutsis running away from the Hutu controlled
Rwandan government

• There were also Hutu that were fleeing Rwanda, either because they didn’t agree with the
genocide or because they were running from the Tutsi rebel group know as the Rwandan
Patriotic Front or RPF

• The Rwandan genocide and civil war ended when the RPF were able to over through the
standing Rwandan government in mid July 1994

During the first Congo

1996-1997

• The first Congo war was a invasion by Rwanda which started in 1996 and ended in 1997

• Rwandans invaded Zaire because of the violence happening against the Interahamwe, a
group of Hutu people that fled Rwanda after the war fearing punishment for the genocide,
and to over thought the corrupt government leader Mobutu Sese Seko who had developed a
totalitarian regime and which made a lot of people question his position of power and even
call his authority as kleptocracy, he embezzled millions from the government and used Zaire’s
natural resources for his own personal gain in wealth and power.

• Back in 1991 Mobutu agreed to share power with opposition leaders due to unstable and
economy and unrest

• Although Mobutu had agreed to share power he use his military influence once again to
circumvent the split of power until 1997

• In may of 1997 Rwandan rebel forces led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila took Kinshasa the capital
of Zaire

• Laurent took control of Zaire and Mobutu Sese Seko fled from the country

• Four months Later Mobutu, exiled from Zaire, died in Morocco after suffering from very
advanced prostate cancer

The Second Congo War

August 1998-July 2003