In King Leopold II's infamous Congo 'Free' State at the turn of the century, severed hands became a form of currency. But some in the Belgian government had no sense of historical shame, as they connived for an independent Katanga state in 1960 to protect Belgian mining interests. What happened next was extraordinary. It was an extremely uneven battle. The UN fielded soldiers from twenty nations, America paid the bills, and the Soviets intrigued behind the scenes. Yet to everyone's surprise the new nation's rag-tag army of local gendarmes, jungle tribesmen and, controversially, European mercenaries, refused to give in. For two and a half years Katanga, the scrawniest underdog ever to fight a war, held off the world with guerrilla warfare, two-faced diplomacy and some shady financial backing. It even looked as if the Katangese might win. Katanga 1960–63 tells, for the first time, the full story of the Congolese province that declared independence and found itself at war with the world.

In King Leopold II’s infamous Congo ‘Free’ State at the turn of the century, severed hands became a form of currency. But the Belgians didn’t seem to have a sense of historical shame, as they connived for an independent Katanga state in 1960 to protect Belgian mining interests. What happened next was extraordinary. It was an extremely uneven battle. The UN fielded soldiers from twenty nations, America paid the bills, and the Soviets intrigued behind the scenes. Yet to everyone’s surprise the new nation’s rag-tag army of local gendarmes, jungle tribesmen and, controversially, European mercenaries, refused to give in. For two and a half years Katanga, the scrawniest underdog ever to fight a war, held off the world with guerrilla warfare, two-faced diplomacy and some shady financial backing. It even looked as if the Katangese might win. Katanga 1960 tells, for the first time, the full story of the Congolese province that declared independence and found itself at war with the world.

Based on interviews and on documentary collections in Britain, Sweden and the US, this book describes and analyses Britain's often-tortured response to the crisis which occurred in Congo immediately following its independence. Principally, it throws much fresh light on British policy. But it also examines the impact of the crisis on Britain's status as a great power; reveals important new material about the UN's conduct of its peacekeeping operation in the Congo; and draws lessons about the conduct of contemporary peacekeeping.

A history of the 1960s unrecognized state’s army and their role in Central Africa’s political and military conflicts. Erik Kennes and Miles Larmer provide a history of the Katangese gendarmes and their largely undocumented role in many of the most important political and military conflicts in Central Africa. Katanga, located in today’s Democratic Republic of Congo, seceded in 1960 as Congo achieved independence, and the gendarmes fought as the unrecognized state’s army during the Congo crisis. Kennes and Larmer explain how the ex-gendarmes, then exiled in Angola, struggled to maintain their national identity and return “home.” They take readers through the complex history of the Katangese and their engagement in regional conflicts and Africa’s Cold War. Kennes and Larmer show how the paths not taken at Africa’s independence persist in contemporary political and military movements and bring new understandings to the challenges that personal and collective identities pose to the relationship between African nation-states and their citizens and subjects. “A fascinating story which is tied to the colonial development of Katanga province, cold war politics in Central Africa, the crisis of the postcolonial state in the Congo, and the interregional politics in the Great Lakes area.” —Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, University of North Carolina “A major contribution to our understanding of postcolonial politics in Africa more broadly and sheds light on the survival of militias over time and forms of subnationalism emerging from regional consciousness.” —M. Crawford Young, University of Wisconsin, Madison

The famous adventurer and mercenary recounts his exploits during the Congo Crisis in this Cold War military memoir. At the close of 1960, the newly formed Independent State of Katanga in central Africa recruited Thomas “Mad Mike” Hoare and his 4 Commando team of mercenary soldiers to suppress a rebellion by Baluba warriors known to torture the enemy soldiers they captured. In The Road to Kalamata, Hoare tells the story of 4 Commando and its evolution from a loose assembly of individuals into a highly organized professional fighting unit. Hoare’s memoir presents a compelling portrait of the men who sell their military skills for money. They are, in his words, “a breed of men which has almost vanished from the face of the earth." Originally published in 1989, this edition of The Road to Kalamata features a new foreword by the 20th century's most famous mercenary and one of its most eloquent storytellers.

Post-independence events in the Republic of the Congo are a veritable Gordian knot. The ambitions of Congolese political leaders, Cold War rivalry, Pan- Africanism, Belgium's continued economic interests in the country's mineral wealth, and the strategic perceptions of other southern African states all conspired to wrack Africa's second largest country with uprisings, rebellions and military interventions for almost a decade.Congo Unravelled solves the intractable complexity of this violent period by dispassionately outlining the sequence of political and military events that took place in the troubled country. The reader is systematically taken through the first military attempts to stabilize the country after independence and the two distinguishing military campaigns of the decade - the United Nations military operations (Opération des Nations Unies au Congo, or ONUC) to end the secession of the Katanga Province, and the Dragon Operations led by Belgian paratroopers, supported by the US Air Force, launched to end the insurgency in the east of the country - are chronicled in detail. Finally, the mercenary revolt - an event that tainted the reputation of the modern mercenary in Africa - is described.Lesser known military events - Irish UN forces cut off from the outside world by Katangese gendarmes and mercenaries, and a combined military operation in which Belgian paratroopers were dropped from US Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft and supported by a mercenary ground force to achieve humanitarian ends - go far toward resolving the enigma surrounding post-independence Congo.

The Irish soldier has never been a stranger to fighting the enemy with the odds stacked against him. The notion of charging into adversity has been a cherished part of Ireland’s military history. In September 1961, another chapter should have been written into the annals, but it is a tale that lay shrouded in dust for years. The men of A Company, Thirty-Fifth Irish Infantry Battalion, arrived in the Congo as a United Nations contingent to help keep the peace. For many it would be their first trip outside their native shores. Some of the troops were teenage boys, their army-issue hobnailed boots still unbroken. They had never heard a shot fired in anger. Others were experienced professional soldiers but were still not prepared for the action that was to take place. Led by Commandant Pat Quinlan, A Company found themselves tasked with protecting the European population at Jadotville, a small mining town in the southern Congolese province of Katanga. It fell to A Company to protect those who would later turn against them. On September 13th, 1961, the bright morning air of Jadotville was shattered by the sound of automatic gunfire. The men of A Company found their morning mass parade interrupted, and within minutes they went from holding rosaries to rifles as they entered the world of combat. This was to be no Srebrenica; though cut off and surrounded, the men of Jadotville held their ground and fought. This is their story.

In July 1964, after four years of uneasy independence, the Democratic Republic of the Congo was engulfed by an armed rebellion that spread throughout the country like a bush fire. The rebel soldiers struck terror into the hearts of civilians and National Army soldiers alike. Faced with this situation, the Congolese government hired legendary mercenary leader Mike Hoare to quell the uprising and bring order to the country. In Congo Mercenary, Mike Hoare tells the true story of his resolute band of mercenaries during the Congo war. In fascinating detail, Hoare describes how the mercenaries were recruited and trained, and then recounts their adventures through four combat campaigns over an 18-month period during which they liberated Stanleyville, fought rebels in the hinterland, freed hundreds of European hostages and restored law and order to the Congo. Originally published in 1967, and now including a new foreword by Mike Hoare, Congo Mercenary is a well-written and historically important account of one of the most brutal rebellions in Africa, as well as an accurate and gritty depiction of the mercenary life.

Larry Devlin arrived as the new chief of station for the CIA in the Congo five days after the country had declared its independence, the army had mutinied, and governmental authority had collapsed. As he crossed the Congo River in an almost empty ferry boat, all he could see were lines of people trying to travel the other way -- out of the Congo. Within his first two weeks he found himself on the wrong end of a revolver as militiamen played Russian-roulette, Congo style, with him. During his first year, the charismatic and reckless political leader, Patrice Lumumba, was murdered and Devlin was widely thought to have been entrusted with (he was) and to have carried out (he didn't) the assassination. Then he saved the life of Joseph Desire Mobutu, who carried out the military coup that presaged his own rise to political power. Devlin found himself at the heart of Africa, fighting for the future of perhaps the most strategically influential country on the continent, its borders shared with eight other nations. He met every significant political figure, from presidents to mercenaries, as he took the Cold War to one of the world's hottest zones. This is a classic political memoir from a master spy who lived in wildly dramatic times.

Wars fought for political separation have become omnipresent in post-colonial Africa. From the division of Sudan, to the continued fragmentation of Somalia, and the protracted struggles of Cabinda and Azawad, conflict over seccession and separation continues to the present day. This is the first single volume to examine the historical arc of secession and secessionist conflict across sub-Saharan Africa. Paying particular attention to the development of secessionist conflicts and their evolving goals, Secession and Separatist Conflicts in Postcolonial Africa draws on case studies and rigorous research to examine three waves of secessionist movements, themselves defined by international conflict and change. Using detailed case studies, the authors offer a framework to understand how secession and separation occur, how these are influenced by both preceding movements and global political trends, and how their ongoing legacies continue to shape African regional politics. Deeply engaging and thoroughly researched, this book presents a nuanced and important and important new overview of African separatist and secessionist conflicts. It addresses the structures, goals, and underlying influences of these movements within a broader global context to impart a rich understanding of why these conflicts are waged, and how they succeed or fail.