Bokassa Revolt

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The earliest group of settlers in the area, now known as the Central African Republic, were hunter-gatherers who first settled there 10,000 years ago. Many settled by the Ubangi River, which is located in the eastern part of the Central African Republic. They became farmers who specialized in growing yams, millet, sorghum, and bananas and domesticated the African palm oil. Beginning in the 1500s, Muslim slave traders began to attack the region, capturing and enslaving many native Africans using the Ubangi River to transport them to the coastal ports where they would be sold to the Americas.
In 1875, this region was governed by the sultan of Sudan, Rabih az-Zubayr, who called his empire Oubangui. In 1887, France legally claimed the all land …show more content…

Dacko was at first taken to prison and then moved to house arrest. Bokassa abolished the national assembly and declared that the country’s original constitution was now invalidated. In 1972, Bokassa made himself dictator for life changing the Central African Republic to a monarchy called Central Africa. He was known by many to be a cruel dictator, but he was a strong supporter of women’s rights abolishing polygamy and dowries. He also elected the first and only female prime minister so far of the Central African Republic, Elisabeth Domitien. She only held her position for a year before she was put in prison for disagreeing with Bokassa’s method of ruling. In 1976, Bokassa freed David Dacko and declared him to be his personal counselor. With his new position, Dacko was able to leave for Paris where the French convinced him to organize a coup to restore him to power. With the support of the French army, Dacko was restored to power on September 21, 1979 in the Dacko counter-coup. Bokassa was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death for fourteen different crimes including treason, embezzlement, and murder. His penalty was made void a year later by President Kolingba, and he was freed from …show more content…

Kolingba ruled as the head of the Military Committee for National Recovery in a military dictatorship. In 1985, however, he organized a new cabinet and a National Assembly, increasing civilian rule. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, a pro-democracy movement among the people of the Central African Republic along with pressure from the United States and France forced Kolingba to hold free elections, which took place in 1993. Ange-Félix Patassé, an engineer and politician who served under both Dacko’s and Bokassa’s presidency's, won the election and became president in 1994. He removed many Yakoma, a small ethnic group in the Central African Republic, from government and military positions. A new constitution was approved under his presidency, but decreasing support led to three mutinies. His reelection in 1999, was the last straw and rebels stormed government buildings in 2001 in a coup. The coup failed when Patassé brought in foreign troops from The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Libya. In 2003, Patassé’s previous General François Bozizé, who had fled to chad after the 2001 coup, returned with a large rebel force and overthrew Patassé while he was out of the country. Shortly after Bozizé assumed power, the Central African Republic Bush War broke out. This civil war was fought between Bozizé with the Central African Republic government

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