State of Katanga
Encyclopedia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. In revolt against the new government of Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis...
in July, Katanga declared independence under Moise Tshombe
Moise Tshombe
Moïse Kapenda Tshombe was a Congolese politician.- Biography :He was the son of a successful Congolese businessman and was born in Musumba, Congo. He received his education from an American missionary school and later trained as an accountant...
, leader of the local CONAKAT
CONAKAT
CONAKAT was one of the three main political parties in the Belgian Congo and was led by the pro-Western regionalist Moïse Tsjombe and his interior minister Godefroid Munongo.-History:...
party. The new Katangan government did not enjoy full support throughout the province, especially in the northern Baluba areas. The state is now Katanga Province
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...
, part of Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The declaration of independence was made with the support of Belgian business interests and over 6,000 Belgian troops. Tshombe was known to be close to the Belgian industrial companies which mined the rich resources of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
. Katanga was one of the richest and most developed areas of the Congo. Without Katanga, Congo would lose a large part of its mineral assets and consequently government income. The view of the Congolese central government and a large section of international opinion was that this was an attempt to create a Belgian-controlled puppet-state run for the benefit of the mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
interests. Not even Belgium officially recognised the new state despite providing it with military assistance. A military force designated as the Katangan Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
, raised by the Tshombe government, was initially organised and trained by regular Belgian officers and subsequently by European mercenaries from various nations.
Origins of the Katanga State
Shortly after the chaotic dissolution of the Belgian CongoBelgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
, President Moise Tshombe proclaimed Katanga, one of the territory's wealthiest provinces which had accounted for nearly fifty per cent of Congolese revenues, an independent and autonomous nation. According to Tshombe and his officials at the time, this action was taken to secede from chaos and because the current regime under Prime Minister Lumumba was following a Communist line. The Katangan government went on to appeal for Belgian military aid to support their unilateral declaration of independence. Tshome was also seeking support and recognition from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for his cause, as he felt that they shared a common concern for possible exploitation of the Congo Crisis by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
A common myth in 1961 among the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in general was that Katanga was an expression of indigenous nationalist sentiment. However, this was true only in part. The political leaders of the northern districts in the province were actively opposed to independence, and the Katangan population never directly consulted on the matter. In reality, secession proved to be a strategy designed to preserve the comparative wealth of Katanga and stability of the region in general. Maintaining support of the European-descended white settler elite was also a priority of President Tshombe, as they possessed much-needed professional skills and an exodus of such people in the face of anarchy or Communist rule would likely prove fatal to their homeland's industry.
Within a week of Katanga's UDI, Prime Minister Lumumba sent a telegram to the Secretary-General of the UN, insisting that something be done about "Belgium's military aggression" in his country and their overt backing of Katangan secession. Lumumba solicited "urgent military assistance" due to the central government in Leopoldville
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
's inability to maintain order in the massive country. He went on to blame post-independence Belgian intrigues for the present crisis. Inside the United Nations itself, feelings towards Katanga was generally mixed. Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
remained neutral, the latter quietly hostile towards the very idea of peacekeeping in Congo. The British initially provided general assistance to the UN troops who were eventually dispatched, but refused to cooperate with subsequent efforts to deal with Tshombe's rebellious regime. Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and the Union of South Africa
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...
were openly hostile towards the operation from its very conception, and maintained consistent opposition against any interference with the Katanga state.
Deployment of United Nations troops
On 14 July 1960, in response to requests by Prime Minister Lumumba, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 143. This called upon Belgium to remove its military personnel from the Congo, especially in the case of Katanga, and for the UN to provide 'military assistance' to the Congolese forces to allow them 'to meet fully their tasks'. Lumumba demanded that Belgium remove its troops immediately, threatening to seek help from the Soviet Union if they did not leave within two days. The UN reacted quickly and established United Nations Operation in the CongoUnited Nations Operation in the Congo
Opération des Nations unies au Congo, abbreviated ONUC, was a United Nations peacekeeping force in Congo that was established after United Nations Security Council Resolution 143 of July 14, 1960...
(ONUC). The first UN troops arrived the next day but there was instant disagreement between Lumumba and the UN over the new force's mandate. Because the Congolese army had been in disarray, Lumumba wanted to use the UN peacekeepers to subdue Katanga by force. Referring to the resolution, Lumumba wrote to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld, ‘From these texts it is clear that, contrary to your personal interpretation, the UN force may be used to subdue the rebel government of Katanga.’ ONUC refused. To Hammarskjöld, the secession of Katanga was an internal Congolese matter and the UN was forbidden to intervene by Article 2 of the United Nations Charter.
Disagreements over what the UN force could and could not do continued throughout its deployment, despite the passage of two further Security Council resolutions. Passed on 22 July, Security Council Resolution 145 affirmed that Congo should be a unitary state and strengthened the call for Belgium to withdraw its forces. On 9 August, Security Council Resolution 146 mentioned Katanga for the first time, and explicitly allowed UN forces to enter Katanga whilst forbidding their use to 'intervene in or influence the outcome of any internal conflict.
A subject of much controversy was Belgium's involvement with Katanga. Brussels had neither inspired or engineered Moise Tshombe's scheme of Katangan secession, but provided technical, financial, and military aid in order to keep Katanga stable in terms of public order and domestic security. The Belgians went on to advise the ONUC force against unnecessary interventions against the state, as it would only "risk increasing the confusion." At the same time, Pierre Wigny, the Foreign Minister, informed the United States, France, and Britain that his government was opposed to Tshombe's intrigues and was concerned that long-term separation would compromise Congo's economic vitality. Despite the fact that most of Belgium's military personnel were withdrawn from Katanga in September 1960, over two hundred stayed on, making horizontal career shifts into roles as paid mercenaries serving with the nation's Gendarmes. As late as 1963, several of these soldiers of fortune were still at large, having shed their military uniforms for civilian dress. Other notable Belgian nationals who stayed on included political advisers and some diplomatic ministers. Upon the arrival of United Nations forces in the Congo, they were opposed to allowing ONUC freedom of movement in Katanga and insisted upon obstructing the peacekeeping effort. This view was generally strengthened with President Tshombe himself as time advanced, especially with increasingly vocal demands from Leopoldville that the UN use their military advantage to forcibly remove his regime from power. The Security Council, however, only reaffirmed that the ONUC would not be party to any internal disputes but would enter Katanga to assist with keeping the peace. The first such personnel, largely Swedish forces, entered Élisabethville
Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi is the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, second only to the nation's capital Kinshasa, and the hub of the southeastern part of the country. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Katanga Province, lying near the Zambian border...
, the Katangan capital city, on August 12, 1960.
All of this only frustrated the Congolese government, which, on August 27, launched a poorly-organized, ill-fated, incursion into Katanga with ANC soldiers trucked into the province on a motley assortment of military vehicles purchased from the Soviets. It was unclear what this mounted "invasion" attempted to accomplish, but the attackers were quickly and easily beaten off by the European-officered Katangan Army. This incident would only lead to the further deterioration of relations between the two governments. Sporadic clashes would continue for the next two years.
Further conflicts
Only shortly afterwards, Patrice Lumumba was replaced in a coup d'étatCoup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
by Joseph Mobutu. On 17 January 1961 Mobutu sent Lumumba to Élisabethville where he was torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d and executed shortly after arrival.
The United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
met in the wake of Lumumba's death in a highly emotional atmosphere charged with anti-colonial feeling and rhetoric. On 21 February 1961 the Council adopted resolution 161, which authorised 'all appropriate measures' to 'prevent the occurrence of civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
in the Congo, including ... the use of force, if necessary, in the last resort'. This resolution demanded the expulsion from the Congo of all Belgian troops and foreign mercenaries, but did not explicitly mandate the UN to conduct offensive operations. This resolution was ultimately interpreted by the local UN forces to justify military operations to end the secession of Katanga. Despite this new resolution during the next six months the UN undertook no major military operations instead concentrating on facilitating several rounds of political negotiations. However, many sources on location claimed that UN troops initiated and maintained a high degree of violence and were responsible for hundreds if not even thousands of civilian deaths.
From late 1960 onwards, Katanga was characterised by a series of clashes between pro-Tshombe loyalists and their fellow countrymen, Baluba tribesmen, whose political leaders were nominally allied to Leopoldville and opposed Katangan secession. Smaller battles were fought against ANC units attacking from other provinces, as well. Sparsely deployed and on many occasions even outgunned by both sides, UN forces had an almost hopeless task of attempting to prevent outright civil war. Anticipating the need for continued ONUC presence in the state, the Security Council authorized an increased presence in Élisabethville. By mid 1961, however, presidential forces had killed almost 7,000 Balubas. Factional strife also began to engulf the struggling regime. Increased numbers of peacekeepers only enraged the Baluba people, who viewed the United Nations as an unwanted intruder and began attacking both Katangan and UN soldiers with little discrimination.
Mercenary warfare
In February of 1961, attempting to bolster his position in Katanga, Moise Tshombe began importing more and more foreign mercenaries from neighboring states to assist his Gendarmes. The "Mercenary Problem", as the international community called it, was a major concern of the ONUC. The Katangan Army was already staffed by Belgian officers, and white volunteers of Belgian extract constituted about one hundred and seventeen men under Tshombe's direction. Although from January to February of 1961, gestures were made to remove these 'illegal combatants' from the Congo, their places were quickly taken by a sizable force of close to five hundred British, Rhodesian, French, and South African irregulars. Many of them were given command assignments in the Gendarmes, while others formed a pro-Tshombe unit known as the "International Company", composed chiefly of white South African fighters.Especially notable among the French mercenaries were professional career soldiers who had fought in the Algerian War. Several in particular were the heads of a paracommando training program in Katanga. On March 30th, one of the first public reports mentioning large contingents of foreign soldiers claimed that the mercenaries in Katanga included "Belgians, Italians, and 100 South Africans". Serious fighting soon broke out as President Tshombe began to incite both Katangan civilians and white mercenaries to attack UN forces after the ONUC dispatched elements of a nearly 5,000 man-strong Indian brigade into the capital. On April 5, 1961, the Secretary-General criticised Belgian mercenaries for their service in Katanga and condemned Tshombe for turning the Katangan public against the United Nations Force. Hostilities broke out again just three days later, when Belgian and South African Gendarmes assaulted Kabalo, a Baluba town in northern Katanga, and engaged the Ethiopian peacekeepers stationed there. In the battle that followed, at least thirty mercenaries were disarmed and captured. It was not until April 30th that the State of Katanga agreed to cease hostilities against the ONUC.
Later developments
In June, President Tshombe was arrested after attending the Coquilhatville Conference of Congo Leaders by Joseph Mobutu's police, the day he was about to board a plane back to his country. He was held under house arrest and charged with inciting revolt against the Congolese government, the illegal seizure of arms and aircraft, and printing counterfeit money by issuing a Katangan currency. Tshombe subsequently signed a pledge to reunite Katanga with rest of the nation, and was released accordingly. However, by August it was clear he had no intention of implementing this agreement. Tshombe openly declared in a speech that month that he would defend Katanga's rights as a sovereign state and would do everything to maintain this status quo even in the face of all opposition.In August and September, the UN conducted two operations to arrest and repatriate mercenary soldiers and the Belgian political advisers from Katanga by military force, deeming that such foreigners were the backbone behind the regime. The first operation was carried out by Indian UNF men, who began rounding up mercenaries at five in the morning, culminating in the bloodless capture of nearly four hundred men. Not a single shot had been fired. Although Belgium's consul in Katanga was ordered to deport all the remaining Belgian nationals, including political advisers, he countered that he could only exercise legal authority over those who were official staff affiliated with his nation's government or military.
Altogether, about three hundred of those captured were expelled from Congo, although several of the mercenaries later returned. White Katangans especially resented this action by the UN. Tshombe was taken by surprise, and tensions escalated rapidly. On September 11, the UNF further demanded that all foreigners serving as police officers in Katanga be expelled, but the president did not comply. Any chances of negotiation for the peaceful removal of remaining foreign players was quickly crushed by the revelation that some UN personnel had been planning to aid in a conspiracy to remove Tshombe from power, seize the radio station in Élisabethville, and apprehend his Gendarmes. The Katangans quickly unearthed the plot, and when Tshome confronted the UN with his charges it was revealed, much to the latter's embarrassment, that these allegations were based on fairly solid evidence. If such an incident had been allowed to take place, it would clearly have been considered a violation of the ONUC's vows to remain neutral in internal issues besides taking proper action to prevent a major conflict. The following day, hostilities reopened after some Irish soldiers protecting civilians in Jadotville were surrounded by a superior force of Gendarmes, including many Europeans. Despite suffering several attacks launched by Katanga's mercenary-piloted Air Force in support of the Gendarme unit, the troopers refused to surrender and were resupplied with fresh ammunition by UN helicopters.
No longer able to take the increasing violence in Katanga, the ONUC commanders finally agreed to a new plan which would remove the Katangan government from power. It called for UNF troops to apprehend mercenaries, seize post offices and radio stations in Élisabethville, and send a representative from the central Congolese government to take command. This attempt was not at all bloodless. It was in fact resisted by the Gendarmes and their mercenary allies. The initial UN initiative to take over the post offices was efficiently repulsed. Later that day, Katangan soldiers launched a coordinated attack on ONUC forces. An eight-day battle was waged in the city for over a week, resulting in the deaths of eleven UN personnel. One company of Irish staff, the same which had previously fought at Jadotville, were captured. Tshombe's army enjoyed unchallenged air power, and the tiny Katangan Air Force carried out successful strafing and bombing runs on UN positions entrenched in Jadotville, Élisabethville, and Kamina.
The dismal failure of the UNF could also be attributed to inferior equipment. While the Gendarmes were armed with modern Belgian rifles, heavy machine guns, mortars, and armored cars, the vast majority of UN troopers used antiquated rifles and World War II-era vehicles plated with only makeshift protection. During the fighting, the Katangan authorities offered a conditional ceasefire, which was immediately rejected by the ONUC. Eventually, it soon became clear that any objective to depose Moise Tshombe had failed. The British, Belgian, and French governments became especially critical of 'peacekeeping operations' in Congo which would involve such interference in domestic affairs. They called for an immediate ceasefire. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, protested that more force should have been used to subdue Katanga and initiate an immediate reunification with the Mobutu government.
Limited peace negotiations ensued, in the course of which, UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. An early Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize. Hammarskjöld...
died in a plane crash near Ndola
Ndola
Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia, with a population of 495,000 . It is the industrial, commercial, on the Copperbelt, Zambia's copper-mining region, and capital of Copperbelt Province. It is also the commercial capital city of Zambia and has one of the three international airports, others...
, Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
(now Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
).
Under UN pressure (military attacks), Tshombe later agreed to a three-stage plan from the acting Secretary General, U Thant
U Thant
U Thant was a Burmese diplomat and the third Secretary-General of the United Nations, from 1961 to 1971. He was chosen for the post when his predecessor, Dag Hammarskjöld, died in September 1961....
, that would have reunited Katanga with Congo. However, this remained an agreement on paper only. The Katangan government insisted that, should the plan in full be honored by Leopoldville, Tshombe be entitled to aid in drafting a new Congolese constitution and elect his own representatives to Parliament. However, both sides began to express reservations about the terms less than a week later. The president wished that his agreement should be ratified by his national assembly before it could be considered binding; this misunderstanding quickly led to a collapse in relations with Congolese leader Cyrille Adola's regime. The frustrated United Nations went on to adopt a new plan, one that called for the adoption of a federal constitution in Congo within thirty days, an end to the illegal Katangan rebellion, the unification of currency, and the sharing of mining revenues on a fifty-fifty split between Katanga and the central government. U Thant, who was the chief architect of this proposal, also demanded that Tshombe unconditionally release all of his political prisoners. Belgium and the United States, hoping that the latter would have a positive role in reforming a unified Congo, endorsed the plan. While Cyrille Adola immediately accepted this compromise, Moise Tshombe stipulated conditions. A series of discussions hosted by the UN followed, although it failed to yield tangible results. Thant, who had become increasingly incensed by what he regarded as the Katangan state stalling for time, imposed economic sanctions. This, however, only succeeded in destroying the last hopes the Secretary-General had for a peaceful integration. On December 19, an exasperated Tshombe withdrew from ongoing negotiations in protest.
American involvement
US dealings with Africa do not go very far compared with those of the ex-colonial powers. It was only in 1958 that a Bureau of African Affairs was set up with its own Assistant Secretary of State and, even so, it was relegated to marginal operations. Yet, in 1962, the United States played an unusually large role in ending the secession of Katanga. On December 11, the Defense officials of the PentagonThe Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
recommended that the UN be offered a ‘U.S. military package consisting of one Composite Air Strike Unit with necessary support elements and the requisite base security force. If this were insufficient to end the secession, more U.S. force should be committed.’
According to Stephen T. Weissman, American sudden involvement in Congo was to a great extent motivated by an ‘access interest’. Like other Western countries, the United States had a vested interest in the mineral activities of the Katanga-Rhodesia Copperbelt: in 1960, the U.S. imported from Katanga alone three-quarters of its cobalt and one half of its tantalum- two minerals used in the aerospace industry. However Larry Devlin, the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
chief station in Congo, in his book, Chief of Station, Congo, sheds light on ‘a more sinister threat’ that attracted the attention of the U.S. government on Congo. He notes that, by mid-1960, ‘personnel from the Soviet Union … and Communist China began to flood into the country.’ Chaos in the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, in this reading, was to be feared above all, not so much for its economic consequences, but for the opportunity it would present to the Russians. This was highly relevant as the Republican, business-oriented “Europeanists” of the Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
administration were part of a generation that had seen and internalised post-War Communist expansion, making anti-communism a norm in American governing circles.. The Congo, because of its wealth, size and location, was seen as a valuable prize for communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. When Lumumba confirmed America’s worst fears by seeking Soviet assistance, the Eisenhower Administration started to look at Katanga, whose declaration of independence had professed its intention to fight Soviet penetration, as the last anti-Communist bastion in Congo. As a result the Eisenhower Government kept a benevolent attitude towards Katanga and the American consul in Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi is the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, second only to the nation's capital Kinshasa, and the hub of the southeastern part of the country. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Katanga Province, lying near the Zambian border...
) was instructed to tell Tshombe that the American decision not to recognise his government, ‘should not be interpreted as hostility.’
Two coincident events marked an important shift in American policy towards Congo: the assassination of Lumumba
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis...
and the investiture of John Fitzgerald Kennedy as President of the United States on February 20 1961. The Kennedy Administration policy was informed by an intention of dealing with African countries as States on their own right –as opposed to neo-colonial states- and of creating mutually benefiting and lucrative relations with those countries. In this context, a neo-colonial Katanga did not win good press. The elimination of the ‘communist’ leader, Lumumba, and the formation, undertaken under America’s aegis, of a moderate government under Cyrille Adoula
Cyrille Adoula
Cyrille Adoula , was a Congolese politician. Adoula was the premier of the Republic of the Congo, from 2 August 1961 until 30 June 1964.Adoula was born in Léopoldville...
further erased the need for an anti-Communist Katanga. Katanga then came to be seen as the main source of division and chaos, and therefore as facilitating, if not encouraging, Communist penetration. Therefore, Kennedy decided to back the UN action in Katanga.
However, by the time fighting started again in early December 1961, a lively campaign had been launched in the press against the military acts and methods of the UN, causing Kennedy to adopt a more peaceful strategy of 'quiet diplomacy' and to support cease-fire demands.
Shortly afterwards, the National Security Council decided to give the U.N. ‘whatever equipment was necessary to reintegrate Katanga by force.’ Following the end of the Katangan secession, on January 17, Kennedy was thusly able to declare publicly that:
‘The end of the secession … is warmly welcomed by the United States and all who are concerned with the future of the Congo and the whole of Africa, This secession has been a serious source of contention and an obstacle to progress in the Congo for the past two and a half years.’