Lit Circle- Historian

Our English class is having another Literature circle to discuss the chapter Exodus in Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible. This is a historical summary of the events in history taking place during this book of the novel.

Exodus starts in the year 1961 when Patrice Lumumba was arrested and murdered in mid-February. The secession of Katanga, a region of Congo valued heavily for its resources, caused upraise between UN forces and the Katangese. Kasavubu, Tshombe, Kimba and Mobutu, constantly found themselves in a struggle for power over Congo. U.S. arms, Belgian troops, and white mercenaries helped Congo’s central government gradually regain control.

By 1966, Tshombe had fled to Spain, Kasavubu was dismissed by Mobutu, Kimba was defeated, and Mobutu appointed himself president. He abolished the office of prime minister and established a presidential system in the Congo. The US heavily backed Mobutu because he opposed communism. He renamed all cities and landmarks to African names in an “African Authenticity” reform. In 1971, he changed country’s name to Zaire. Zaire refers to the Kikongan word nzere or nzadi, which means “the river that swallows all rivers” but is pronounced Zaire in Portuguese.

The government was strongly guided by Mobutu for a while. He strongly tried to improve the state of his country and increase good foreign relations. However there was dispute over the fact that he gave jurisdiction of security matters only to people of his own ethnicity. There were many other accounts of corruption with in the government. In the year 1984, it was said that Mobutu had four billion US dollars in his Swiss Bank account, a close sum to the country’s national debt.

During the late 1970’s, many groups opposing Mobutu were established, consisting mostly of rebellious Katangese people. A large organization was the Front Libération Nationale du Congo (FNLC). They invaded Zaire from their base in Angola, but were defeated by French and Belgium troops and exiled from the country. In the 1980’s there was much agitation between students and soldiers. Opposition became heavily organized and those opposed, hoped to eventually overthrow Mobutu.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, relations between the US and Kinshasa, the former Leopoldville, eased. The US no longer needed Mobutu as an ally in the Cold War. However this also increased demands from opposing groups within Zaire, for Mobutu to reform the country.