History of Burkina Faso
Encyclopedia
Ancient and medieval history
Recent archeological discoveries at BuraBura Archaeological Site
The archeological site of Bura is located in the Tillabéry Region, of the Tera Department, in southwest Niger. The Bura archeological site has given its name to the area's first-millennium Bura culture.- Site description :...
in southwest Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
and in adjacent southwest Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
have documented the existence of the iron-age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
Bura culture
Bura culture
The Bura culture refers to a set of archeological sites in the lower Niger River valley of Niger and Burkina Faso. More specifically, the Iron-Age civilization exemplified by the Bura culture was centered in the southwest portion of modern-day Niger and in the southeast part of contemporary...
from the 3rd century CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
to the 13th century CE. The Bura-Asinda system of settlements apparently covered the lower Niger River
Niger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
valley, including the Boura
Boura, Burkina Faso
Boura, Burkina Faso in West Africa may refer to:*Boura, also called Bura, a village located at *Boura, a village located at *Boura, a village located at *Boura, also called Bura, a village located at *Bouna, also called Boura, a village located at...
region of Burkina Faso. Further research is needed to understand the role this early civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
played in the ancient and medieval history of West Africa
History of West Africa
The partial history of West Africa can be divided into five major periods:#Its prehistory, in which the first human settlers arrived, agriculture developed, and contact made with the Mediterranean civilizations to the north....
.
From medieval times until the end of the 19th century, the region of Burkina Faso was ruled by the empire-building Mossi people, who are believed to have come up to their present location from northern Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, where the ethnically-related Dagomba
Dagomba
The Dagomba are an ethnic group of Northern Ghana. They inhabit the sparse savanna region below the sahelian belt, known as the Sudan. They speak the Dagbani language which belongs to the More-Dagbani sub-group of Gur languages...
people still live. For several centuries, Mossi peasants were both farmers and soldiers; as the Mossi Kingdoms
Mossi Kingdoms
The Mossi Kingdoms, sometimes mistakenly referred to as the Mossi Empire, were a trio of powerful states in modern-day Burkina Faso. Each state possessed similar customs and government, but were ruled independently of each other...
successfully defended their territory, indigenous religious beliefs, and social structure against forcible attempts to conquer or convert them to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
by Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
peoples from the northwest.
French Upper Volta
When the French arrived and claimed the area in 1896, Mossi resistance ended with the capture of their capital at OuagadougouOuagadougou
Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic center of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 1,475,223 . The city's name is often shortened to Ouaga. The inhabitants are called ouagalais...
. In 1919, certain provinces from Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
were united into French Upper Volta
French Upper Volta
Upper Volta was a colony of French West Africaestablished on March 1, 1919, from territories that had been part of the colonies of Upper Senegal and Niger and the Côte d'Ivoire...
in the French West Africa
French West Africa
French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...
federation. In 1932, the new colony was split up for economic reasons; it was reconstituted in 1937 as an administrative division called the Upper Coast. After World War II, the Mossi actively pressured the French for separate territorial status and on September 4, 1947, Upper Volta became a French West African territory again in its own right.
A revision in the organization of French Overseas Territories began with the passage of the Basic Law (Loi Cadre) of July 23, 1956. This act was followed by reorganizational measures approved by the French parliament early in 1957 that ensured a large degree of self-government for individual territories. Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French community on December 11, 1958.
The Republic of Upper Volta
The Republic of Upper VoltaRepublic of Upper Volta
The Republic of Upper Volta was established on December 11, 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Before attaining autonomy it had been French Upper Volta and part of the French Union. On August 5, 1960 it attained full independence from France.Thomas Sankara came to power...
achieved independence on August 5, 1960. The first president, Maurice Yaméogo
Maurice Yaméogo
Maurice Yaméogo was the first President of the Republic of Upper Volta, now called Burkina Faso. He proclaimed the independence of the country on August 5, 1960 and also tried to create a union between Cote d'Ivoire and Upper-Volta...
, was the leader of the Voltaic Democratic Union (UDV). The 1960 constitution provided for election by universal suffrage of a president and a national assembly for 5-year terms. Soon after coming to power, Yaméogo banned all political parties other than the UDV. The government lasted until 1966 when - after much unrest including mass demonstrations and strikes by students, labor unions, and civil servants - the military intervened.
A military coup deposed Yaméogo, suspended the constitution, dissolved the National Assembly, and placed Lieutenant Colonel Sangoulé Lamizana
Sangoulé Lamizana
Major General Aboubakar Sangoulé Lamizana was the second president of Upper Volta , in power from January 3, 1966 to November 25, 1980...
at the head of a government of senior army officers. The army remained in power for 4 years; on June 14, 1970, the Voltans ratified a new constitution that established a 4-year transition period toward complete civilian rule. Lamizana remained in power throughout the 1970s as president of military or mixed civil-military governments. After conflict over the 1970 constitution, a new constitution was written and approved in 1977, and Lamizana was reelected by open elections in 1978.
Lamizana's government faced problems with the country's traditionally powerful trade unions and on November 25, 1980, Colonel Saye Zerbo
Saye Zerbo
Colonel Saye Zerbo was a President of Upper Volta from 25 November 1980 to 7 November 1982. He led a coup in 1980, but was resisted by trade unions and was overthrown by Maj. Dr.Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo and the Council of Popular Salvation .Zerbo comes from Tougan in Sourou Province in the western...
overthrew President Lamizana in a bloodless coup. Colonel Zerbo established the Military Committee of Recovery for National Progress as the supreme governmental authority, thus eradicating the 1977 constitution.
Colonel Zerbo also encountered resistance from trade unions and was overthrown two years later on November 7, 1982, by Major Dr. Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo
Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo
Major Dr. Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo was President of Upper Volta from 8 November 1982 to 4 August 1983, when he was overthrown in a coup d’état which brought Thomas Sankara into power....
and the Council of Popular Salvation (CSP). The CSP continued to ban political parties and organizations, yet promised a transition to civilian rule and a new constitution.
Factional infighting developed between moderates in the CSP and radicals led by Captain Thomas Sankara
Thomas Sankara
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara was a Burkinabé military captain, Marxist revolutionary, Pan-Africanist theorist, and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987...
, who was appointed prime minister in January 1983. The internal political struggle and Sankara's leftist rhetoric led to his arrest and subsequent efforts to bring about his release, directed by Captain Blaise Compaoré
Blaise Compaoré
Blaise Compaoré has been the President of Burkina Faso since 1987 following a coup d'état that ousted then-President Thomas Sankara. In 2011, a mutiny by soldiers over unpaid housing allowances forced him to flee the capital for his hometown...
. This release effort resulted in yet another military coup d'état on August 4, 1983.
After the coup, Sankara formed the National Council for the Revolution (CNR), with himself as President. Sankara also established Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) to "mobilize the masses" and implement the CNR's revolutionary programs. The CNR, whose exact membership remained secret until the end, contained two small intellectual Marxist-Leninist groups. Sankara, Compaore, Captain Henri Zongo
Henri Zongo
Henri Zongo was a military officer in the army of Burkina Faso and a key figure in the country's history after decolonisation. He was responsible on 15 October 1987 for the overthrow of the country's government after power became too concentrated with the country's military leaders whom included...
, and Major Jean-Baptiste Lingani - all leftist military officers - dominated the regime.
Burkina Faso
On August 4, 1984, Upper Volta changed its name to Burkina FasoBurkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
, meaning "the country of honorable people." Sankara, a charismatic leader, sought by word, deed, and example to mobilize the masses and launch a massive bootstrap development movement.
Five-day War with Mali
On Christmas Day 1985, tensions with MaliMali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
over the mineral-rich Agacher Strip erupted in a war that lasted five days and killed about 100 people. The conflict ended after mediation by President Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Félix Houphouët-Boigny , affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux, was the first President of Côte d'Ivoire. Originally a village chief, he worked as a doctor, an administrator of a plantation, and a union leader, before being elected to the French Parliament and serving in a number of...
of Ivory Coast. The conflict is known as the "Christmas war" in Burkina Faso.
Many of the strict austerity measures taken by Sankara met with growing resistance and disagreement. Despite his initial popularity and personal charisma, problems began to surface in the implementation of the revolutionary ideals.
Modern-day Burkina Faso
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
in a coup which brought Captain Blaise Compaoré to power.
Compaoré, Captain Henri Zongo
Henri Zongo
Henri Zongo was a military officer in the army of Burkina Faso and a key figure in the country's history after decolonisation. He was responsible on 15 October 1987 for the overthrow of the country's government after power became too concentrated with the country's military leaders whom included...
, and Major Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lengani formed the Popular Front (FP), which pledged to continue and pursue the goals of the revolution and to "rectify" Sankara's "deviations" from the original aims. The new government, realizing the need for bourgeois support, tacitly moderated many of Sankara's policies. As part of a much-discussed political "opening" process, several political organizations, three of them non-Marxist, were accepted under an umbrella political organization created in June 1989 by the FP.
Some members of the leftist Organisation pour la Démocratie Populaire/Mouvement du Travail (ODP/MT) were against the admission of non-Marxist groups in the front. On September 18, 1989, while Compaoré was returning from a two-week trip to Asia, Lengani and Zongo were accused of plotting to overthrow the Popular Front. They were arrested and summarily executed the same night. Compaoré reorganized the government, appointed several new ministers, and assumed the portfolio of Minister of Defense and Security. On December 23, 1989, a presidential security detail arrested about 30 civilians and military personnel accused of plotting a coup in collaboration with the Burkinabe external opposition.
In February 2011, the death of a schoolboy provoked an uprising in the entire country, lasting through April 2011, which was coupled with a military mutiny and with a strike of the magistrates. See .
A New Constitution
A new constitutionConstitution of Burkina Faso
The Constitution of Burkina Faso was approved by referendum on 2 June 1991, formally adopted 11 June 1991 and last amended in January 2002.-External links:**...
, establishing the fourth republic, was adopted on June 2, 1991. Among other provisions, it called for an Assembly of People’s Deputies with 107 seats (now 111). The president is chief of state, chairs a council of ministers, appoints a prime minister, who with the legislature’s consent, serves as head of government. In April 2000, the constitution was amended reducing the presidential term from seven to five years, enforceable as of 2005, and allowing the president to be reelected only once. The legislative branch is a unicameral National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) consisting of 111 seats. Members are elected by popular vote for five-year terms.
In April 2005, President Compaoré was re–elected for a third straight term. He won 80.3% of the vote, while Benewende Stanislas Sankara
Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara
Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara is a Burkinabé politician and the President of the Union for Rebirth/Sankarist Movement party....
came a distant second with a mere 4.9%. In November 2010, President Compaoré was re–elected for a fourth straight term. He won 80.2% of the vote, while Hama Arba Diallo
Hama Arba Diallo
Hama Arba Diallo is a Burkinabé politician, diplomat and civil servant. He is running for President of Burkina Faso in 2010.-Career:...
came a distant second with a mere 8.2%.
See also
- History of AfricaHistory of AfricaThe history of Africa begins with the prehistory of Africa and the emergence of Homo sapiens in East Africa, continuing into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. Agriculture began about 10,000 BCE and metallurgy in about 4000 BCE. The history of early...
- History of West AfricaHistory of West AfricaThe partial history of West Africa can be divided into five major periods:#Its prehistory, in which the first human settlers arrived, agriculture developed, and contact made with the Mediterranean civilizations to the north....
- List of heads of government of Burkina Faso
- List of heads of state of Burkina Faso
- Politics of Burkina FasoPolitics of Burkina FasoThe Politics of Burkina Faso takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Burkina Faso is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government...