-
Period: to
First Explorer
For thirty years, the Scottish explorer known as David Livingstone explored the area surrounding the Congo river as well as the river itself. -
Colonization
King Leopold the Second plans to colonize the area which David Livingstone explored. He plans on conquering the area and turning it into a Belgian colony. -
Invasion
King Leopold the Second and his armies put their plan into action. They invade the designated area and terrorizes the inhabitans. An estimated of 10 million Congolese people are killed. The Belgian government names their area Belgian Congo. -
Katanga
To react against global outcry because of brutality in the district of Katanga, which the Belgian had previously conquered, the Belgian government agrees to attach the district as a colony. -
Period: to
Brutality
During these years, native Congolese people are badly treated due to the fact that Belgian Congo is not yet a colony, which therefore means the Belgian government has no control there. -
First President
Patrice Lumumba is elected president, the first presidentof the Democratic Republic of Congo. Half a year later, he is overthrown by a man named by Joseph Désiré Mobutu and is kidnapped and killed. -
Period: to
War
Almost 20,000 UN forces are sent into the newly made country to resist the Belgian forces who have rejected orders to withdraw. For the following year, foreigners and Congolese nationalists fight withe the UN forces for control over Belgian Congo. -
Installment
Mobutu, the very same one who overthrew Patrice Lumumba, installs himself president. -
Re-election
Five years after installing himself as president, Mobutu wins the national election as is now the official president of Belgian Congo -
Important Political Changes
This three years are a very important stretch of time for Belgian Congo. Mobutu changes the countries name to Zaire, and his own name to Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga which more-or-less means the almighty warrior because of his inflexibility to win and endurance, goes around conquering land and leaving fires in his wake. His name also means the hen who watches over the chickens. Mobutu also allows foreign trade to begin. -
Election
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga is re-elected president for the third time in a row. This is his 20th year in office. -
Multi Party Elections
Mobutu declares that from now on, there will be multi-party elections. Canada is among a number of countries that cut off aid to Zaire after a group of protesting students are killed by government fighters. -
Puppet leaders
Mobutu fires newly hired Prime Minister Étienne Tshisekedi, who opposes Mobutu. He later replaces Étienne Tshisekedi with a series of puppet leaders. All Western countries react by pull all of their citizens from Zaire immediately, including Canada. -
Period: to
Rebellion
While Mobutu is out of the country, a group of Tutsi rebels take control of a large portion of eastern Zaire. With the help of Rwandan soldiers, they take control of the capital, Kinshasa. -
New President
This is the year which Mobutu finally leaves office. Laurent-Désiré Kabila becomes president of Zaire and renames the country to what we now know it as, the Democratic Republic of Congo. During the following year, Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers invade in hopes of removing Kabila from power, but are intercepted by Angolan, Namibian, and Zimbabwean forces who are allied with Kabila. -
Tragedies
The countries involved in the war sign a peace treaty, but the gunfire continues, despite the presence of nearly 5,000 UN peacekeepers sent to monitor the ceasefire. As well as the gunfire, a massive flood displaced nearly 42,000,000 people, the second greatest flood of all of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s history. -
Assassination
President Laurent Kabila killed by a bodyguard and followed by his son Joseph. Later that year, Joseph Kabila reaches an agreement for Rwandan and Ugandan troops to pull back and for the withdrawal of UN troops. By this point, an estimated 2.5 million people had died in the fighting, according to the U.S.-based International Rescue Committee. -
Flood and Epidemic
A devastating flood hit the D.R.C. in 2002, affecting over 52,000,000, the worst flood the Democratic Republic of Congo has ever seen. 128 people were killed and the flood did more than 59,000 US dollars in damage. In that year as well, 1061 people were killed in an epidemic that swept throughout the country. -
First Multi-party Election
Millions of ballots were cast in the countries first-ever multi-party election. About 25 million people are registered to cast ballots for 33 presidential, 9,000 national legislative and 10,000 provincial assembly candidates. About 60,000 Congolese police, 17,000 UN peacekeepers and 1,000 soldiers from Europe provided security for the vote. The winner of the election was Joseph Kabila. -
Period: to
UN forces
The UN Security Council unanimously agreed on Nov. 20 to send 3,100 more peacekeeping troops to DR Congo. The current mission involving 17,000 peacekeepers, the world's largest UN contingent, is considered ineffective because it is spread thin in an area as large as Western Europe and unable to stop the fighting. -
Election winner
Joseph Kabila is declared the official winner of that years election, again. Despite that, his opponent Étienne Tshisekedi, the very same one from ten years prior, holds much of the power on the streets in Kinshasa, the capital. Étienne declares that he is the president, and many people support him. -
M23
The rebellion has started. The Congolese rebels attack Goma, in eastern D.R.C. on March 23, and those rebels will forever be known as the M23 rebels, because they have killed thousands of innocent people. -
Period: to
Accusations
Rwanda and the D.R.C. agree on helping Congo fight the ever-growing number of rebels in the eastern part of the country, the side that borders the D.R.C., and the UN Is agreed to be on permanent standby. Four months later, however, the Rwandan defense minister is said to be mustering a rebellion in eastern D.R.C., according to the UN. Apparently, he is receiving help from Rwandan and Ugandan troops. Both Rwanda and Uganda deny these accusations. -
End of the World
