Part of Congo Crisis | |
Date | July 1960 |
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Location | Léopoldville and Thysville, later other places in the Lower Congo |
Type | Mutiny, riots, protests |
Cause | Discontent about repression, racial segregation, and slow progress of reforms in the Force Publique |
Motive | Replacement of European officers (particularly Émile Janssens) in the Force Publique; reorganisation of the army |
Participants | Mutinous Congolese soldiers
Belgian metropolitan troops Congolese government and loyal armed forces |
Outcome | Belgian military intervention to protect citizens. Nomination of black officers. |
On 5 July 1960, soldiers of the garrisons of Léopoldville and Thysville of the Force Publique, the army of the newly independent Republic of the Congo mutinied against their white officers. The revolt quickly spread throughout the Bas-Congo and engulfed the country in disorder, beginning the Congo Crisis.