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The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) enjoys vast deposits of precious minerals and metals. Diamonds are found in the south and center of the country and the land holds 80% of the world’s Coltan, needed in all our mobile phones. It should be one of the richest countries on Earth, but it is not. This Podcast explores why, from the very beginning. A new podcast will be released each Monday every two weeks, the website is https://www.thehistoryofthecongo.com Starting in prehistoric times, ...
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In this episode we see the final throes of the Independent Katanga and Kasai regions. But Katanga in particular does not go down without a very real fight. It holds the line against the United Nations no less, which increasingly adopts a more aggresive position to enforce a united Repulic of the Congo. But after years of conflict and unrest people'…
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In this episode we see the continuation of the independent Republic of the Congo. The UN, the USSR, the US, Belgium and other continue their operations to push the new country in the direction most aligned to their own ambitions. Amidst this the Congolese populations and regions estalblish themselves as rival power bases in the country. These confl…
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In this episode we look at the new Republic of the Congo 10 days after independence. We see the Congolese reaction to the years of repression under colonial rule and Belgium's military response. Faced with these troubles President Kasavuba and Prime Minister Lumumba turn to the UN, the US and the USSR for urgent help - unwittingly inviting the Cold…
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Indpendence Day has arrived! WIth the Congolese now free from colonial rule there are celebrations everywhere. With KasaVubu as President and Lumumba as Prime Minister the new government gets to work and for the first time the peoples elected officials start to run the country. But as the celebrations recede not everyone feels included. The campaig…
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In part 2 of Independence Immediate we see the Congolese parties final campaigns in the elections which would decide who would be in power once the Belgians had left. There was a mix of great expectations, excitement, local and national interests. It was unknown who would win the elections at the time, but here we detail the run up and the final re…
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