Editing History of Burkina Faso (section)

==Republic of Upper Volta==
The [[Republic of Upper Volta]] declared independence on 5 August 1960.<ref name=":1" /> The first president, [[Maurice Yaméogo]],<ref name=":1" /> was the leader of the [[Voltaic Democratic Union]] (UDV).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lansford |first=Tom |title=Political Handbook of the World 2015 |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2015 |isbn=9781483371580 |pages=204}}</ref> The 1960 constitution provided for election by universal suffrage of a president and a national assembly for 5-year terms.<ref name=":1" /> Soon after coming to power, Yaméogo banned all political parties other than the UDV. Yaméogo's government was viewed as corrupt and said to perpetuate [[neo-colonialism]] by favoring [[France|French]] political and economic interests which had allowed politicians to enrich themselves but not the nation's peasants or small class of urban workers.<ref>Benin, The Congo, Burkina Faso, Politics, Economics and Society, 1989, Joan Baxter and Keith Somerville, Pinter Publishers, London and New York, (Book)</ref>

The government lasted until 1966 when<ref name=":0"/>—after much unrest including mass demonstrations and strikes by students, labor unions, and civil servants<ref name="Dictionary">{{cite book |last1=Rupley |first1=Lawrence |title=Historical Dictionary of Burkina Faso |last2=Bangali |first2=Lamissa |last3=Diamitani |first3=Boureima |date=2013 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield|Scarecrow Press]] |isbn=978-081-088-010-8 |location=[[Lanham, Maryland|Lanham]] |pages=44–47}}</ref>—the military intervened and deposed Yaméogo in the [[1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état]].<ref name=":0"/> The coup leaders suspended the constitution, dissolved the National Assembly,<ref name="Below">{{cite book |last=Kandeh |first=Jimmy D. |title=Coups from Below: Armed Subalterns and State Power in West Africa |date=2004 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=140-397-877-8 |location=[[Basingstoke]] |page=121}}</ref> and placed Lieutenant Colonel [[Sangoulé Lamizana]] at the head of a government of senior army officers.<ref name=":0"/> The army remained in power for 4 years; on June 14, 1970, the Voltans ratified a new constitution that established a 4-year transition period toward complete civilian rule.<ref name=":1"/> Lamizana remained in power throughout the 1970s as president of military or mixed civil-military governments.<ref name=":0"/> He faced a major crisis in the form of the [[Droughts in the Sahel#Late 20th century droughts|Sahel drought]] and was sent in 1973 to the UN and the US in order to secure aid.<ref>File:Nixon, Upper Volta President Lamizana - October 15, 1973(Gerald Ford Library)(1552621).pdf</ref> After conflict over the 1970 constitution, a new constitution was written and approved in 1977, and Lamizana was reelected by open elections in 1978.

Lamizana's government faced problems with the country's traditionally powerful trade unions,<ref name="Below"/> and on November 25, 1980,<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945-1996 |date=1998 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |isbn=031-328-112-2 |editor-last=Jessup |editor-first=John E. |location=[[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]] |page=833}}</ref> Colonel [[Saye Zerbo]] overthrew President Lamizana in a [[1980 Upper Voltan coup d'état|bloodless coup]].<ref name=":0"/> Colonel Zerbo established the Military Committee of Recovery for National Progress as the supreme governmental authority, thus eradicating the 1977 constitution.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Encyclopedia of Conflicts since World War II |date=2012 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-113-659-621-6 |editor1-last=Ciment |editor1-first=James |location=[[London]] |page=337 |editor2-last=Hill |editor2-first=Kenneth}}</ref>

Colonel Zerbo also encountered resistance from trade unions and was overthrown two years later on November 7, 1982, by Major Dr. [[Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo]] and the Council of Popular Salvation (CSP).<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kandeh|first=J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZTjHAAAAQBAJ&dq=zerbo+coup+November+7,+1982&pg=PA123|title=Coups from Below: Armed Subalterns and State Power in West Africa|date=2004|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4039-7877-6|pages=123}}</ref> The CSP continued to ban political parties and organizations, yet promised a transition to civilian rule and a new constitution.

Infighting developed between the right and left factions of the CSP.<ref name=":0"/> The leader of the leftists, Captain [[Thomas Sankara]], was appointed prime minister in January&nbsp;1983, but subsequently arrested.<ref name=":0" /> Efforts to free him, directed by Captain [[Blaise Compaoré]], resulted in a [[1983 Upper Voltan coup d'état|military coup d'état]] on 4 August 1983.<ref name=":0"/>

The coup brought Sankara to power and his government began to implement a series of revolutionary programs which included mass-vaccinations, infrastructure improvements, the expansion of women's rights, encouragement of domestic agricultural consumption and anti-desertification projects.<ref name="UprightDVD2">[http://newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0205 ''Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man''] by ''[[California Newsreel]]''</ref>