Belgian troops sent in to protect Belgian citizens clashed with Congolese forces, leading to the U. On July 11, , less than two weeks after the country formally gained independence, a politician named Moise Tshombe declared the southernmost province of the Congo to be an independent nation called the State of Katanga. Katanga, with its copperbelt and lucrative mining operations was the wealthiest province of the Congo.
The Belgians, French, and British, wanting influence in the wealthy region, supported the Katanga movement in practice, if not in name. Despite U. Pictured at right. The U. Patrice Lumumba had managed to acquire Soviet weapons for the Congolese army before he was deposed as Prime Minister by Mobuto Sese Seko in November and killed in early This led the U.
The conflict came to a close in January , after U. Francis Terry McNamara was an officer at the U. He recalls his experiences with Charles Stuart Kennedy in a interview. There were two sets of potential secessionists: one was the Katangese, the other was the Lumumbists in the northeast.
These were being supported by the Russians and the Egyptians at the time. The embassy was worried that if the Katangan secession succeeded, it would encourage the secession of this other Russian-backed group. At that point, there was no direct communication between Leopoldville and Elisabethville, between Katanga and the rest of the Congoβ¦Before I went [to Elisabethville], while I was in Leopoldville, I met some officers from the Indian Army, just by chance.
American policy was highly unpopular in Katanga. We opposed secession. Our allies disagreed with our efforts to force Katanga to acquiesceβ¦. Great charm and intelligence. Good leader. The idea that he was just a creature of neocolonial influences is a gross exaggeration and misunderstanding of fact. Like most African political leaders his support was tribally based. He openly opposed the central government. In the beginning he was manipulated, to a degree, by the Belgians, the French and the British.
