History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country located in central Africa. It is Africa's second-largest country, coming after Algeria. Its capital, Kinshasa, is located on the Congo River, about 320 miles from its mouth.
Being the largest city in central Africa, it is the country’s economic, administrative, and cultural center. Also called DRC, the geographical space was populated as early as 80,000 years ago when the area was known as Congo, Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, or Zaire.
The country is named after the Congo River, which flows throughout the country, and is also the world's deepest and second-largest river.
Back in the 14th to the 19th century, the Kingdom of Kongo existed until the arrival of the Portuguese who acted as the dominant force in some of the regions such as the Kingdom of Luba, the Kingdom of Lunda, the Anziku Kingdom, and among the Mongo people.
By the early 19th century, the Congo River had become a lucrative spot for commercial activities. A British journalist, Henry Morton Stanley, explored the river in 1877, however in 1880, France acquired jurisdiction when Pierre de Brazza signed a treaty with the Tio ruler.
It was declared a colony of the French in 1891. The French exploited the natives through unfair treatment and subjection of the territory. By 1910, the French joined Congo with neighboring colonies to establish a federation of French Equatorial Africa, with its capital in Brazzaville.
With head taxes, forced labor, compulsory production of cash crops, and other measures, the French forced Africans to build infrastructure and contribute immensely to the colonial economy.
During the construction of the Congo-Ocean Railway between 1921 and 1934, there was a record of about 20,000 lost Africans lives. This remains one of the saddest occurrences in the country`s history.
After much pressure from the natives, Congo, in 1958,  became a republic within the French Community, then gained independence two years after on the 15th of August, 1960.
There were two major political parties at this time: the African Socialist Movement (MSA) and the Democratic Union for the Defense of African Interests (UDDIA).
These parties had different political philosophies; while the MSA advocated for a powerful state and a partially publicly owned economy, the UDDIA desired private ownership and close ties with France.
Fulbert Youlou, the UDDIA leader, formed the first parliamentary government in 1958. He became premier and president the following year.
From 1971 to 1997, the country was officially referred to as the Republic of Zaire, a name change done by the ruler at the time, General Mobutu Sese Seko.
According to him, that was a more authentic African name than “Congo”. After the overthrow of Mobutu in 1997, the country’s name was changed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Crisis began in Congo, until it resulted in two civil wars, the first, starting in 1996 and lasting a year, due to poor conflict management. Even though the second war, which began in 1998 ended in 2003, there was still conflict in the eastern part of the country.
On the 11th of June, 1975 a number of military officers were arrested in what was known as the coup monté et manqué.

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