People's Republic of the Congo

The People's Republic of the Congo (French: République populaire du Congo) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that was established in 1969[2] in the Republic of the Congo. Led by the Congolese Party of Labour (French: Parti congolais du travail, PCT), it existed until 1991 when, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's earlier name was restored and André Milongo was named transitional prime minister.

Not to be confused with the short-lived state formed in Congo-Léopoldville during the Simba rebellion; for similarly named entities, see Republic of the Congo (disambiguation).
People's Republic of the Congo

République Populaire du Congo (French)
1969–1992
Motto: "Travail, Démocratie, Paix"[1] (French)
"Work, Democracy, Peace"
CapitalBrazzaville
Common languagesFrench
GovernmentUnitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic
Head of State 
• 1970–1977
Marien Ngouabi
• 1977–1979
Joachim Yhombi-Opango
• 1979–1992
Denis Sassou-Nguesso
Prime Minister 
• 1973–1975
Henri Lopès (first)
• 1991–1992
André Milongo (last)
Historical eraCold War
• Established
31 January 1969
• Disestablished
1992
CurrencyCFA franc (XAF)
Calling code242
ISO 3166 codeCG
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
Today part of Republic of the Congo
Part of a series on the
History of the
Republic of the Congo
Early history
Kingdom of Kongo 1390–1914
Kingdom of Loango 1550–1883
Kongo Civil War 1665–1709
Colonization 1876–1885
Atlantic slave trade
French Congo 1882–1910
French Equatorial Africa 1910–1958
Fulbert Youlou
Trois Glorieuses 1963
1968 coup d'état 1968
People's Republic of the Congo 1970–1992
1990s
First Civil War 1993–1994
Second Civil War 1997–1999
2002 constitutional referendum 2002
2015 constitutional referendum 2015
COVID-19 crisis 2020–present
 Republic of the Congo portal

Demographics

The People's Republic of the Congo had 2,153,685 inhabitants in 1988. There were 15 ethnic groups, although most people were Kongo, Sangha, M'Bochi, or Teke. 8,500 Europeans were present as well, mostly of French extraction. French was the official language, but other recognized languages included Kikongo and Lingala. Most of the population was centered in urban areas such as Brazzaville. Literacy was 80%, but infant mortality was also high.

History

Background

Alphonse Massamba-Débat, who became the president of the Republic of the Congo in 1963, was the first African head of state who proclaimed himself openly a Marxist. He established a single party system in 1964 around his own political group, the National Revolution Movement (Mouvement National de la Révolution). Massamba-Débat was elected Secretary General of the National Revolution Movement while Ambroise Noumazalaye became its First Secretary. The Congolese single party was backed by a well-armed popular militia, the Défense Civile, headed by Ange Diawara. However, by 1968 mounting protests led Massamba-Débat to imprison one of its leaders, Captain Marien Ngouabi.[3]

Proclamation

Seeing that the militant leftist opposition was not giving up, Massamba-Débat ended up yielding and proclaimed an amnesty, freeing Marien Ngouabi, among other political prisoners in mid 1968. Following the amnesty Massamba-Débat relinquished his power in September giving way to a period of instability. Finally on 31 December 1968 Marien Ngouabi became the head of state. The new leader officially proclaimed a Socialist-oriented state in the form of a "Popular Republic" on 31 January 1969. The administration became strongly centralized in Brazzaville and the main government posts were taken over by Congolese Workers' Party —Parti congolais du travail (PCT)— cadres after abolishing the national assembly of the previous republic. The Marxist-Leninist PCT held a constitutive congress in the capital from 29 to 31 December 1969, becoming the sole party of the new state. Marien Ngouabi further introduced a number of communist policies —such as nationalizing the means of production— in the succeeding years. Ngouabi was assassinated in 1977 and was succeeded by colonel Joachim Yhombi-Opango, who ruled until February 1979, when Denis Sassou-Nguesso rose to power.[3]

In the same manner as other African communist states of the Cold War era, the People's Republic of the Congo shared close ties with the Soviet Union.[4] This association remained strong after Ngouabi's assassination in 1977. However, the PCT government also maintained a close relationship with France throughout its existence.[5]

Transition

In mid-1991, the Sovereign National Conference removed the word populaire ("People's") from the country's official name, while also replacing the flag and anthem that had been used under the PCT government. The Sovereign National Conference ended the PCT government, appointing a transitional Prime Minister, André Milongo, who was invested with executive powers. President Denis Sassou Nguesso was allowed to remain in office in a ceremonial capacity during the transitional period.[6]

Events and emblems
gollark: Not small stuff like that: I'm trying to decide which language/framework to use.Also, promises are generally preferred.
gollark: Peril of starting a programming project #1004: spending ages trying to decide what to use.
gollark: You wanted people to suffer through Dropbox?
gollark: ...
gollark: Then why didn't you use it?

See also

References
  1. As shown on the coat of arms
  2. Decalo, S. 1990. Coups and Army Rule in Africa. New Haven: Yale, 39
  3. Albert M'Paka, Démocratie et administration au Congo-Brazzaville, L'Harmattan, 2005, pp. 181-182
  4. Timeline: Republic of the Congo
  5. John F. Clark, "Congo: Transition and the Struggle to Consolidate", in Political Reform in Francophone Africa (1997), ed. John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, page 65.
  6. Clark, "Congo: Transition and the Struggle to Consolidate", page 69.

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