After many years of political struggle, the Belgian Congo was finally granted its independence in June 1960.
Becoming the Republic of the Congo (and later the Democratic Republic of the Congo), what was supposed to be a momentous occasion in the country's history was rapidly transformed into a bitter internecine political battle which would tear the Congo apart. Within weeks, two Congolese provinces had declared their own independence putting the Congo's economic future in jeopardy.
Recruiting hundreds of white mercenaries to sustain its secession, mineral-rich Katanga then attempted to fight off all attempts to bring it back into the fold. By early 1963 the mercenaries had been forced to leave by the UN, but other major outbreaks of armed protest against the Congolese government were taking place. The most significant of these were the Stanleyville, Kindu and Kivu Rebellions led by supporters of Patrice Lumumba, the former Prime Minister assassinated in January 1961.
With the Soviet Union, the Republic of China and radical African governments all aiding rebel movements, what was a Series of localised conflicts became a proxy war between the East and the West. Not wishing to see the Congo fall under what it perceived as ‘communist domination’, the United States then began to provide its own form of military assistance to government forces.