Editing Marien Ngouabi (section)

===Rise to power===
In 1965, he created the first battalion of [[paratrooper]]s in the Congo Republic. Known for his leftist views, in April 1966 Ngouabi was demoted to the rank of soldier second class when he refused to be posted again at Pointe-Noire, after rebelling against the army's inflexibility in politics and voicing strong criticism to the president.<ref name="Liste des présidents de la République du Congo Brazzaville2014"/> President [[Alphonse Massamba-Débat]] had Ngouabi and Second Lieutenant Eyabo arrested on July 29, 1968.

Ngouabi's arrest provoked discontent among the military, and on July 31, Ngouabi was freed by soldiers from the Civil Defense.<ref name="Liste des présidents de la République du Congo Brazzaville2014" /> The National Revolutionary Council (CNR), headed by Ngouabi, was created on August 5, 1968. On 1 October 1968, he was promoted to the rank of Commanding Officer, a rank he held until his death.<ref name="DOSSIER DE DIGITAL CAFE2008" /> Massamba-Débat, whose powers had been curtailed by the CNR, resigned on September 4, and Prime Minister [[Alfred Raoul]] served as acting head of state until December 31, 1968, when the CNR formally became the country's supreme authority and Ngouabi, as head of the CNR, assumed the presidency.<ref>[http://congagora.org/ngolongolo2.html "L'histoire du Parti Congolais du Travail: de Marien Ngouabi à Denis Sassou Nguesso."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314155045/http://congagora.org/ngolongolo2.html |date=2008-03-14 }}, congagora.org {{in lang|fr}}.</ref>