Congo Crisis
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Were a series of revolts against the central government of the newly established Republic of the Congo (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo). The war ended with Mobutu Sese Soko reuniting the country and establishing an authoritarian regime.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Soldiers of the garrisons of Léopoldville and Thysville of the Force Publique, the army of the newly independent Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Republic of the Congo) mutinied against their white officers. The revolt quickly spread throughout the Lower Congo and engulfed the country in disorder, beginning the Congo Crisis.
At the beginning of the Congo crisis several territories declared their independence from the central government.
July 1960: Moïse Tshombe, the leader of CONAKAT, declared the Congo's southern province of Katanga independent as the State of Katanga.
January 1963: UN troops seized an abandoned gendarmerie base and secured Shinkolobwe.
December 1960: Members of the MNC-L fled to Stanleyville where, led by Antoine Gizenga, they formed a rebel government in November 1960 in opposition to the central government in Léopoldville.
February 1961: The rival government, led by Moise Tshombe and supported by Belgium, reached its greatest territorial extent on 24 February 1961 when some of its forces briefly earned the allegiance of the Luluabourg garrison in the ongoing Congo Crisis.
December 1962: On 24 December 1962, UN troops and the Katangese Gendarmerie clashed near Élisabethville and fighting broke out. After attempts to reach a ceasefire failed, UN troops launched Operation Grandslam and occupied Élisabethville.
January 1963: On 14 January, Indian troops found the last intact bridge into Kolwezi. After a brief fight with gendarmes and mercenaries they secured it and crossed over, stopping at the city outskirts to await further instruction.
January 1963: Tshombe surrendered his final stronghold of Kolwezi, effectively ending the Katangese secession.
October 1962: Central government troops again arrived in Bakwanga to support the mutineers and help suppress the last Kalonjist loyalists, marking the end of South Kasai's secession.
January 1963: In 1963, Indian UN troops, under the command of Commandant Pat Quinlan, occupied Jadotville in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) during the Congo Crisis. They were part of a peacekeeping mission but found themselves surrounded and outnumbered by Congolese troops and mercenaries.
August 1960: Less than a month after the Katangese secession, on 8 August, a section of the region of Kasai situated slightly to the north of Katanga also declared its autonomy from the central government as the Mining State of South Kasai (Sud-Kasaï) based around the city of Bakwanga.
January 1962: The rival government was not fully reintegrated into the Republic of the Congo until Gizenga was arrested in January 1962.
December 1960: Stanleyville troops occupied Bukavu.
January 1961: Stanleyville forces had occupied northern Katanga as far in as Manono.
A faction of rebel Maoists staged a revolt against the government in the Kwilu district (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Was a revolt part of the Congo Crisis that started in South Kivu (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo). The rebel leaders opposed the central government and most of them where Marxists.
June 1964: When another rebellion broke out in the town, Soumialot's forces exploited the resulting chaos and captured Albertville.
May 1964: Fizi conquered by Simba Rebels.
May 1964: A small ANC detachment led by Louis Bobozo retook the town of Albertville.
December 1965: The final Simba stronghold near Bukavu held out for a month. It was captured only after the Simba force had killed several thousand civilians. In November 1965, the Communist Cubans left the Congo. At this point, the rebellion was effectively defeated.
June 1964: Kabila and Massengo's troops conquered the entire western shore of Lake Tanganyika, including Moba by late June.
October 1964: In 1964, the combined force of Katangan gendarmes led by Moise Tshombe and mercenaries led by Mike Hoare marched on Kasai Province and encountered Simba rebels near Luluabourg. The Simba rebels were followers of the Congolese nationalist leader, Gaston Soumialot.
December 1964: Albertville was re-captured by the ANC infantry and motorized Gendarmes.
July 1964: The Simbas continued to advance. By late July 1964, the insurgents controlled about half of the Congo.
November 1964: In 1964, mercenaries led by Major Mike Hoare captured the key town of Boende in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the Simba Rebellion. Hoare was a former British Army officer who led a group of European mercenaries in support of the Congolese government against the Simba rebels.
September 1965: By summer 1965, the Simbas had lost a majority of their territory and were being abandoned by the Soviets and Cubans.
May 1964: Pro-Simba forces successfuly revolted in the important harbor town of Albertville in late May.
November 1964: The Dragon Noir mission was led by Belgian paratrooper commander Charles Laurent. Isiro, located in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was captured as part of the ongoing conflict in the region following the country's independence from Belgium.
November 1964: An airborne assault on Stanleyville in 1964 was organized by Belgian Colonel Charles Laurent and code-named Dragon Rouge.
July 1964: Christophe Gbenye and Nicholas Olenga rose in revolt in northeastern Congo, quickly expanding their army and territories. By June 1964, they held North Kivu, and southern Oriental Province.
November 1964: The Simba rebels encountered heavy losses because of ANC machine-gun fire. It was a decisive defeat and the Simba rebels were forced to abandon their attacks in Kasai.
June 1964: A third rebel force, independent of Soumialot, Gbenye, and Olenga, rebelled in northern Katanga in early June.
September 1964: Simba conquest of Stanleyville.
July 1964: Simba conquest of Kindu.
