Editing Belgian Congo (section)

===Independence===
While the Belgian government was debating a programme to gradually extend the political emancipation of the Congolese population, it was overtaken by events. On 4 January 1959, a prohibited political demonstration organised in Léopoldville by ABAKO got out of hand. At once, the colonial capital was in the grip of extensive rioting. It took the authorities several days to restore order and, by the most conservative count, several hundred died. The eruption of violence sent a shockwave through the Congo and Belgium alike.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://radishmag.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/1959-01-if-blood-must-run.pdf |title=Belgian Congo: If Blood Must Run |date=19 January 1959 |magazine=Time |access-date=2017-10-28 |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X |via=Radishmag |archive-date=16 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216125735/https://radishmag.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/1959-01-if-blood-must-run.pdf |url-status=live }}
* {{cite magazine |date=January 19, 1959 |title=BELGIAN CONGO: If Blood Must Run |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,868969,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201082719/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,868969,00.html |archive-date=2011-02-01 |magazine=Time }}</ref> On 13 January, [[Baudouin of Belgium|King Baudouin]] addressed the nation by radio and declared that Belgium would work towards the full independence of the Congo "[[King Baudouin speech (13 January 1959)|without delay, but also without irresponsible rashness]]".<ref>Koning Boudewijn. 35 jaar dialoog met de natie. Een keuze uit de koninklijke toespraken van 1951 tot 1986. Lannoo Tielt, Inbel, 1986, blz. 124.</ref>

Without committing to a specific date for independence, the government of prime minister [[Gaston Eyskens]] had a multi-year transition period in mind. They thought provincial elections would take place in December 1959, national elections in 1960 or 1961, after which administrative and political responsibilities would be gradually transferred to the Congolese, in a process presumably to be completed towards the mid-1960s. On the ground, circumstances were changing much more rapidly.<ref>Young, Crawford (1965), ''Politics in the Congo" Decolonization and Independence'', Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 140–161.</ref> Increasingly, the colonial administration saw varied forms of resistance, such as refusal to pay taxes. In some regions anarchy threatened.<ref>Ryckmans, Geneviève (1995), ''André Ryckmans, un territorial du Congo belge''. Paris. L'Harmattan, pp. 215–224.</ref> At the same time many Belgians resident in the Congo opposed independence, feeling betrayed by Brussels. Faced with a radicalisation of Congolese demands, the government saw the chances of a gradual and carefully planned transition dwindling rapidly.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://radishmag.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/1959-10-return-of-the-mundele.pdf |title=The Belgian Congo : Return of the Mundele |date=12 October 1959 |magazine=Time |access-date=2017-10-28 |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X |via=Radishmag |archive-date=16 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216125737/https://radishmag.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/1959-10-return-of-the-mundele.pdf |url-status=live }}
* {{cite magazine |date=October 12, 1959 |title=THE BELGIAN CONGO: Return of the Mundele |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,864032,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203183837/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,864032,00.html |archive-date=2010-12-03 |magazine=Time }}</ref>[[File:Ronde Tafel Conferentie te Brussel Congo, Bestanddeelnr 910-9593.jpg|thumb|220px|Opening meeting of the Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference in Brussels on 20 January 1960]]

In 1959, King Baudouin made another visit to the Belgian Congo, finding a great contrast with his visit of four years before. Upon his arrival in Léopoldville, he was pelted with rocks by black Belgo-Congolese citizens who were angry with the imprisonment of Lumumba, convicted because of incitement against the colonial government. Though Baudouin's reception in other cities was considerably better, the shouts of "Vive le roi!" were often followed by "Indépendance immédiate!" The Belgian government wanted to avoid being drawn into a futile and potentially very bloody colonial war, as had happened to France in [[First Indochina War|Indochina]] and [[Algerian War|Algeria]], or to the Netherlands in [[Indonesian National Revolution|Indonesia]]. For that reason, it was inclined to give in to the demands for immediate independence voiced by the Congolese leaders.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://radishmag.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/1959-11-now-now-now.pdf |title=Belgian Congo: Now Now Now |date=16 November 1959 |magazine=Time |access-date=2017-10-28 |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X |via=Radishmag |archive-date=16 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216125729/https://radishmag.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/1959-11-now-now-now.pdf |url-status=live }}
* {{cite magazine |date=November 16, 1959 |title=BELGIAN CONGO: Now Now Now |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811442,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201085122/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811442,00.html |archive-date=2011-02-01 |magazine=Time }}</ref>

Despite lack of preparation and an insufficient number of educated elites (there were only a handful of Congolese holding a university degree at that time), the Belgian leaders decided to accept the independence. In fact, the weakness of local elites was seen favorably by the Belgian government and business leaders, who hoped this would make it easier for them to remain in charge of key aspects of the country's politics and economy. This approach, different from both the [[Wars of national liberation|colonial wars]] and the more gradual [[decolonization]] other European states engaged in, became known as "{{lang|fr|Le Pari Congolais}}"—the Congolese bet.<ref>{{cite book |last=De Witte |first=Ludo |author-link=Ludo De Witte |date=1996 |title=Crisis in Kongo. De rol van de Verenigde Naties, de regering-Eyskens en het koningshuis in de omverwerping van Lumumba en de opkomst van Mobutu |location=Leuven |publisher=Uitgeverij Van Halewyck |page=31 |isbn=9789056170523}}</ref>

In January 1960, Congolese political leaders were invited to Brussels to participate in [[Congolese Round Table Conference|a round-table conference]] to discuss independence. Patrice Lumumba was discharged from prison for the occasion. The conference agreed surprisingly quickly to grant the Congolese practically all of their demands: a general election to be held in May 1960 and full independence—"Dipenda"—on 30 June 1960. This was in response to the strong united front put up by the Congolese delegation.

[[File:Patrice Lumumba signs the document granting independence to the Congo next to Belgian Prime Minister Gaston Eyskens.jpg|thumb|right|Lumumba and Eyskens sign the document granting independence to the Congo]]
Political maneuvering ahead of the elections resulted in the emergence of three political alliances: a coalition of the federalistic nationalists consisting of six separatist parties or organizations, two of which were ABAKO and the [[Mouvement National Congolais-Kalonji|MNC—Kalonji]]; the centralist [[Mouvement National Congolais-Lumumba|MNC—Lumumba]]; and that of [[Moïse Tshombe]], the [[Political strongman|strongman]] of Katanga, who wanted to preserve the business interests of the [[Union Minière du Haut Katanga|Union Minière]] (as Kalonji did with respect to the diamond exploitations in Kasaï). The parliamentary elections resulted in a divided political landscape, with both the regionalist factions—chief among them ABAKO—and the nationalist parties such as the MNC, doing well. A compromise arrangement was forced through, with Kasa-Vubu becoming the first president of the Republic of the Congo, and Lumumba its first head of government. As planned scarcely five months earlier, the hand-over ceremony by the Belgians took place on time on 30 June 1960 at the new residence of the Governor-General of the Belgian Congo in Léopoldville.

One week later, a rebellion broke out within the ''Force Publique'' against its officers, who were still predominantly Belgian. This was a catalyst for disturbances arising all over the Congo, mainly instigated by dissatisfied soldiers and radicalized youngsters. In many areas, their violence specifically targeted European victims. Within weeks, the Belgian military and later a United Nations intervention force evacuated the largest part of the more than 80,000 Belgians who were still working and living in the Congo.<ref>{{cite book |last=Verlinden |first=Peter |year=2002 |title=Weg uit Congo, Het drama van de kolonialen |location=Leuven |publisher=[[Davidsfonds]]}}</ref>