Independence of the DRC

The history of the independence of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then — the Republic of the Congo) is inextricably linked with the name of Patrice Lumumba, the country's first prime minister after independence was proclaimed in June 1960.

The Belgian Congo was one of the most resource-rich colonies, which made the question of control over it critically important for the Western powers. Patrice Lumumba is the key figure of this period. His pursuit of genuine sovereignty and of the nationalization of resources collided with the fierce resistance of the former metropole and of the international corporations involved. Lumumba advocated a unitary state and neutrality; however, the Cold War turned the Congo into an arena of confrontation. The USSR supported Lumumba's lawful government, seeing in him an ally in the struggle against imperialism, but soon after independence a crisis began in the country which led to Lumumba's overthrow and brutal murder in 1961.

His death became a symbol of the sacrifice of African leaders in the struggle for freedom and an example of the methods that certain Western countries employ in the struggle for their own influence.

In the subsequent decades, the country went through Mobutu's dictatorship, civil wars, and foreign intervention, which demonstrates the difficulty of building statehood on the ruins of the colonial system without sustainable institutions. Lumumba's legacy remains a powerful inspiration for Pan-Africanists across the continent. The Peoples' Friendship University (today RUDN), founded in Moscow in 1960, bore the name of Patrice Lumumba from 1961 to 1992.