Congo Crisis

Congo Crisis
Part of the decolonisation of Africa and the Cold War
Clockwise starting from top left: Refugee camp outside Élisabethville Peacekeepers tending to a wounded comrade Armed Baluba civilians Massacred civilians in Lodja Belgian paratroopers during Dragon Rouge Government forces fighting Simba rebels
Date 5 July 1960 – 25 November 1965 Location Republic of the Congo Result The Congo established as an independent unitary state under the authoritarian presidency of Mobutu Sese Seko.
Belligerents
1960–1963: Republic of the Congo Supported by:  Soviet Union (1960) ONUC[a]	1960–1963:  Katanga  South Kasai Supported by:  Belgium[b] 1960–1962: Free Republic of the Congo Supported by:  Soviet Union
1963–1965: Democratic Republic of the Congo  United States  Belgium Supported by: ONUC (1964)	1963–1965: Kwilu and Simba rebels Supported by:  Soviet Union  China  Cuba
Commanders and leaders
Joseph Kasa-Vubu Patrice Lumumba  Cyrille Adoula Dag Hammarskjöld † U Thant Joseph Kasa-Vubu Joseph-Désiré Mobutu Moïse Tshombe (from 1964)	Moïse Tshombe Albert Kalonji Gaston Eyskens Théo Lefèvre Antoine Gizenga (POW) Pierre Mulele Christophe Gbenye
Casualties and losses
Total killed: c. 100,000[5]

The Congo Crisis (French: Crise congolaise) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo).^[c] The crisis began almost immediately after the Congo gained independence from Belgium and ended, unofficially, with the entire country under the rule of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu. Constituting a series of civil wars, the Congo Crisis was also a proxy conflict in the Cold War, in which the Soviet Union and the United States supported opposing factions. Around 100,000 people are believed to have been killed during the crisis.

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