According to historyaah, the Central African Republic is a state in Central Africa and was formerly a French colony. The country has no coastline and borders Chad to the north, Sudan to the east, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south, and Cameroon to the west.
The Central African Republic and its neighboring countries that became the Ubangui-Chari empire during colonial rule were ruled by tribal chiefs, a sultan, by colonial merchants, French administrators, a president, a military dictator, an emperor and a corrupt politician. Thus it has been since the end of the 19th century, and so it continued even after the country in August 1960 declared independence.
The region was subjected to one of the most savage and deceptive forms of colonialism carried out by the European colonial powers in Africa. France’s only interest was the military dominance used as a starting point for attacks on Sultan Rabah, who ruled over the area that is today Sudan. The military occupation was the basis for about 40 companies tasked with commercializing the raw rubber and ivory from across the region. In addition, cotton, coffee and diamonds. The companies began a 30-year period of exploitation characterized by slave labor, massacres, and persecution. They managed to control 70% of the area, which in 1908 was renamed Ubangui-Chari.
Along with Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon and Djibouti, the Central African Republic is one of the most sensitive issues of French foreign policy in Africa.
TIMELINE:
1949 – Oppression and violence escalate as former pastor Barthélemy Boganda founds the Black Africa Movement for Social Development (MESAN), which aims to fight for the independence of the current Central African Republic. Boganda’s prestige rose sharply despite the French’s diligent efforts to blacken him.
1956 – French intelligence decides to infiltrate MESAN with the aim of corrupting Boganda’s closest advisers, David Dacko and Abel Goumba.
1959 – March. Boganda died in a plane crash under mysterious circumstances – just a year before the country became independent.
1965 – December. David Dacko was overthrown by a coup carried out by his nephew, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa, who was closely linked to France, in whose army he had served for 22 years. Bokassa belonged to the small land-owning bourgeoisie of the ethnic group m’baka in Lobaye – the area from which France had recruited most of the officials and military people for its colonial administration.
1972 – Bokassa is appointed president for life, then field marshal, to be crowned emperor and at the same time change the country’s name to the Central African Empire.
1977 – December. The coronation ceremony cost $ 28 million and was funded by France, Israel and South Africa.
1978 – Bokassa hands over 30,000 km2 to a retired Israeli army general for the extraction of diamonds. At the same time, he appointed a number of well-known international arms dealers as military advisers. He also sent troops to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in support of dictator Mobuto, who was in the process of crushing a rebellion in Shaba province.
1979 – April. Gradually, the dissatisfaction of the population reached a critical point. There were several riots among workers and students. Now it was Bokassa who received support from Zaire’s soldiers to put down the popular uprisings. The students took to the streets again, this time in protest of being forced to buy their uniforms in shops owned by the emperor. 100 students were arrested and taken to the eerie Ngaragba prison, where they were tortured and, for the most part, executed under Bokassa’s personal supervision. The scandal shook the world public.
1979 – September 20. France now decided to overthrow the emperor and erase the bad image that had been created when the former colonial power in 1977 assisted him in the accession to the throne. The idea at the time was to use him as a piece in the neocolonial game. While Jean-Bédel Bokassa was on a state visit to Libya, France sent a military plane with former President David Dacko to Bangui. He took power without in any way hiding the fact that he was a piece of the former colonial power and that he had to be protected by 1000 French soldiers. Dacko dissolved the empire, re-established the republic, while allowing France to use the huge air base in Bouar for a 10-year period.
1980 – Dacko’s return is only a change of name. Corruption and oppression continued as under Bokassa. the country broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and Libya, throwing out all the technicians and diplomats the two countries had in Central Africa. At the same time, the persecution of opposition politicians escalated, almost all of whom were sent to prison or forced into exile.
1981 – September. The situation was marked by extensive conspiracy and struggle for power, and Dacko was overthrown in a military coup led by General Kolingba.
1986 – On November 21, Kolingba is elected president of his party, the Central African Party for Democratic Reconstruction (PCRD). This happened in circumstances where the opposition did not have the opportunity to participate in the election. During the same period, a new constitution was adopted, making the country a one-party state.
1986 – Bokassa returns from exile in France. He had been prosecuted in absentia for rebellion and sentenced to death. Now he was arrested, put on trial again and sentenced to prison.
1993 – In May, a group of soldiers attack and occupy the Presidential Palace and the radio station in Bangui. They demanded payment of their salary, which was 8 months late, but agreed to return to their relocations after being paid 2 monthly salaries.
1996 – In May, Ange-Félix Patassé – Bokassa’s former Prime Minister – calls for military assistance from France to quell a new military uprising. The direct participation of French soldiers in military clashes triggered a series of demonstrations against Paris’ intervention. Bangui was paralyzed in the wake of the uprising, looting and French military action. The country’s economy now became even more dependent on France.
1997 – In October, the president demands that France withdraw from its military bases in the country. At the same time, he sought to strengthen relations with the United States.
1998 – In March, the UN Security Council decided to send a special mission (MINURCA) to Central Africa consisting of 1,400 peacekeepers.
1998 – In April, the inter-African peacekeeping force is replaced by 1,350 MINURCA soldiers. On the same day, France withdrew its 1,400 troops from the country.
2000 – January. Exchanges of fire between the presidential guard and military units triggered panic in the capital. The units had been loyal to President Patassé in previous coup attempts, but now accused him of failing to meet demands made during previous uprisings. Garden, however, got the military units under control, and the revolt was thus put down.
2001 – In October, Bozize unexpectedly returns to Chad. At the same time, rebels loyal to him crossed the border between Chad and the Central African Republic, occupying a number of cities and a third of the capital. They demanded that Patassé resume dialogue with the opposition, or else withdraw.
2001 – Patassé rejects the claim and in November, the rebels loyal to the rebel leader François Bozize tried to carry out a coup attempt, which was thwarted.
2002 – February. The people of Bangui began to complain about the Libyan troops who had arrived in the country to defend the president after a failed coup attempt. These troops controlled radio, television and the airport. The presence of these troops also created problems in relation to Chad, which has an oil pipeline in the south of the country close to the border with the Central African Republic.
2003 – On March 15, Bozize completes its second coup attempt, this time succeeding, sending President Patassé into exile in Cameroon.
2004 – In August, an information campaign was launched on the presidential election to be held in January 2005, funded by international donors who were determined to end the coup and end the social and economic instability and violence in the country.
2006 – In February, there were reports of fighting between government forces and rebels in the north of the country. About 50,000 were sent on the run. Of which 7,000 to neighboring Chad. It was further reported that government forces systematically executed men and children suspected of collaborating with the rebels.
2007 – In May, the International Criminal Court (ICC) launches an investigation into the widespread human rights violations that took place during the 2002-03 clashes. Several thousand were at that time victims of abuse.
2013 – According to the Red Cross, up to 400 people have been shot or chopped to death in the Central African Republic, CAR, by a dominant Muslim militia in the past few days, the BBC reports.
