Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo République démocratique du Congo Repubilika ya Kôngo ya Dimokalasi Republíki ya Kongó Demokratíki Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo Ditunga dia Kongu wa Mungalaata
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Justice – Paix – Travail
Capital	Kinshasa
Official languages	French Kituba Lingala Swahili Luba-Kasai
Mode of production	Bureaucrat capitalism
Government	Unitary bourgeois republic
• President	Félix Tshisekedi
• Prime Minister	Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde
History
• Kingdom of Kongo	~1390 CE
• Belgian colonization begins	17 November 1879
• Congo Free State forms	1 July 1885
• Independence from Belgium	30 June 1960
• Republic of Zaire forms	27 October 1971
• Bourgeois democracy established	30 July 2006
Area
• Total	2,345,409 km²
Population
• 2022 estimate	108,407,721

Not to be confused with the Republic of the Congo, a neighbouring country.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), colloquially known as Congo-Kinshasa, or DR Congo, is a nation in Africa. It is the largest country in Central Africa, and the second largest in Africa in general. The DRC shares a border with the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, and South Sudan.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has historically been the victim of Western imperialism and colonialism. From 1885 to 1908, the area which would be the modern DRC was under the brutal and genocidal rule of the so-called "Congo Free State", which was under the despotic absentee-control of the Belgian Leopold II. In modern times, the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to suffer from economic exploitation and unequal exchange, with atleast twenty-five mining corporations, often of Anglo-American, European, or Chinese orgin, harvesting the vast reserves of resources found in the country.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is presently a member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Southern African Development Community, and the Economic Community of Central African States. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also projected to be a part of the East African Federation, should it form.

Nomenclature

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, like its neighbor, the Republic of the Congo, is named after the Congo River. Occasionally, the nation, along with the river itself, are archaically and informally called "Zaire".

History

Kingdom of Kongo (1390-1885)

Before European imperialism, from around the year 1390 CE, the region that would become the modern-Democratic Republic of the Congo was under the rule of a centralized monarchical state, known by modern historians as the Kingdom of Kongo. Based from the city of Mbanza (in what is now Angola), the Kingdom of Kongo likely formed from a single, smaller realm, that later would form into a commonwealth of city-states, headed by a single centralized authority. The Kingdom of Kongo would reach its economic and political hight during the 16th century CE, gaining a large amount of economic wealth via its part in the, at the time, growing Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The Kingdom of Kongo would later decline, likely do to internal instability among its ruling class, and would ultimately become victim to European expansionism.

Congo Free State (1885-1908)

During the late 19th to early 20th century, the area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was under the rule of the Congo Free State. A product of the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 (in which Africans were given little-to-no representation), the Congo Free State was effectively the personal fiefdom of Leopold II of Belgium (who never even set foot in the territory, ruling from Europe).

The Congo Free State was infamous for its genocidal acts against the native populations, and brutal exploitation of the local resources, particularly ivory, rubber, and minerals. During this period, it is estimated that many millions of men, women, and children were killed.

The Congo Free State would later be directly annexed by the Kingdom of Belgium in 1908, after a large amount of international pressure following the discovery of King Leopold's crimes.

Belgian colonization (1908-1960)

During the direct colonial governance of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1908 to 1960, many of the Leopold-era policies of repression and brutal exploitation were slowly eased, and some small developmental projects, mostly in the form of infrastructure, took place in the Belgian Congo. However, imperialism still continued in full-force during the Belgian rule, and oppressive systems of racial segregation remained in place for the remainder of the colonial administration.

The long-term economic development of the modern-day DRC was further stunted as a result of the Belgian education policy. The colonial government made use of Christian clergy (which has historically been used as an instrument to uphold the existing societal order) to maintain the white-supremacist rule. The Christian clergy failed to provide meaningful education to the people of the Belgian Congo, restricting any form of higher-education to those who were already members of the church exclusively, and greatly discouraging all other natives of the Belgian-ruled Congo to find any other form of education.

Ultimately, by the end of the Belgian administration in 1960, the extreme colonial exploitation, usage of reactionary religion, and general mismanagement resulted in there being no engineers nor physicians, and only sixteen native-African university graduates out of a population of more than thirteen million.

Immediate post-colonial period and the Congo Crisis (1960-1971)

Following a large increase in the activity of native separatist movements and militant organizations in the Belgian Congo, as well as massive pro-independence demonstrations in the capital city of the colony, Léopoldville (modern-day Kinshasa), the colonial government finally capitulated, holding talks with native-figures and agreeing to allow the colony to be made independent and for a new state, known as the Republic of the Congo, to be formed, which would hold bourgeois-democratic elections.

Almost immediately after the post-colonial bourgeois-democracy was created, and after the first president of the Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kasa-Vubu was elected into his office, the newly-created republic faced a political crisis, commonly known as the Congo Crisis. During this crisis, the power of local separatist movements increased, a rival-government formed, and many Revolutionary Socialists saw support.

During 1965, Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, then a Lieutenant General in the national military, as well as a Fascist and hardline Anti-Communist, overthrew the Liberal government, creating a Fascist dictatorship. This coup d'etat was greatly supported by the United States of America, whose ruling class had an interest in creating a survile government which would repress Communists and give them access to the country's vast natural resources. By 1971, the country would be renamed to the Republic of Zaire.

Republic of Zaire (1971-1997)

The Republic of Zaire under Mobutu's regime, existing until 1997, was characterized by a highly dictatorial government, extreme Anti-Communism, and a rampant kleptocracy, with rates of bribery and embezzlement of government funds being particularly high. The Fascist-goverment was also greatly supported by the Western bloc, including by United States of America, the French Republic, and the Kingdom of Belgium.

The Fascist regime ended in the late 1990's, during the First Congo War, when after a large withdrawal of NATO support, major ethnic tensions, and foreign intervention, Mobutu's dictatorship was overthrown, and the country was remained to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a bourgeois-democratic government being created.