Congo Crisis
Post-independence crisis involving secession, foreign intervention and UN operations in Congo.
Historical overview
Overview adapted from a Wikipedia summary and stored locally on May 11, 2026.
The Congo Crisis was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo. The crisis began almost immediately after the Congo became independent from Belgium and ended, unofficially, with the entire country under the rule of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu. Constituting a series of civil wars, the Congo Crisis was also a proxy conflict in the Cold War, in which the Soviet Union and the United States supported opposing factions. Around 100,000 people are believed to have been killed during the crisis.
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Border context
Early Cold War and decolonization
Cold War blocs emerge while Asian and African decolonization creates new sovereign states.
Korea is divided after war. Israel and neighboring armistice lines reshape the Levant. Algeria's war signals the end of French North Africa.Decolonization and proxy wars
Postcolonial borders, Cold War interventions and regional wars define much of Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Portuguese Africa moves toward independence. The 1967 war changes control of Sinai, Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights.