From the personal colony of King Leopold II of Belgium, to the dictator Joseph Mobutu's personal piggy bank, to a country divided by a twenty-year civil war, the DRC has a history of division and conflict. Rwanda refuses. One excuse was the Cold War. In 1960 Belgium gave the Congo independence, but, with other western countries, continued to maintain economic power. The small country now known as the Republic of Congo was originally part of the Kingdom of the Kongo, and the Bakongo, Bateke and Dsanga were the main peoples in the area when the Portuguese arrived in the 15th century. History. The country was first inhabited by the Pygmies during its pre-colonial area. The Belgian Congo (1908–1960) – Colonialism, Condescension and More Extraction. The Belgian Congo is often cited as one of the most brutal and exploitative colonial regimes in modern history. Three Bantu kingdoms gained domination in the country: the Kongo, the Loango, and the Teke. In 1908, the Belgian parliament took over the Free State from the king. Ending a long history of one-party Marxist rule, a specific agenda for this transition was laid out during Congo's national conference of 1991 and culminated in August 1992 with multi-party parliamentary and presidential elections. A military court in Katanga finds Mai Mai commander Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga guilty of crimes against humanity following a 19-month trial, the longest war crimes trial in Congo's history. The Congo War (1998-Present) Map of the Congo War circa 2003. Forever in chains: The tragic history of Congo The most blighted nation on earth goes to the polls this weekend - more in hope than expectation that stability and peace might result. BELLIGERENTS OF THE CONGO WAR: Congo Government (President Laurent Kabila), Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Chad. In 1961 Patrice Lumumba, the Prime Minister in the Congo's first elected government, was seized, tortured, and murdered by a Colonel named Joseph Mobuto. ALTERNATE NAMES FOR THE CONGO WAR. The history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the 18th largest country in the world, is fraught with violence, conflict and exploitation. Its borders with Cabinda, Cameroons, and the Congo Free State were established by treaties over the next decade. Africa's First World War . The Bantu came and drove the Pygmies to the mountains, and they formed kingdoms to dominate the land. The French Congo began at Brazzaville on 10 September 1880 as a protectorate over the Bateke people along the north bank of the Congo River, was formally established as the French Congo on 30 November 1882, and was confirmed at the Berlin Conference of 1884–85. Congo demands the extradition of Nkunda to Congo so he can stand trial. A Short History of Congo. A chronology of key events in the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, from the 1200s to the present Republic of Congo History, Language and Culture History of Republic of Congo. 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