The Congo Crisis 1959-1965
The Congo Crisis was a pivotal event in terms of decolonization, the Cold War in Africa and postcolonial national building. Contemporary media accounts, and the early historiography of the Congo Crisis, downplayed the clandestine subversion of the Lumumba government and the neocolonial initiatives adopted by various foreign actors. This exhibit digs into the war in the shadows, trying to illuminate the secret networks connecting outside actors with local agents. Various collections focus on key actors like Moise Tshombe, Union Miniere du Haut Katanga and the National Bank of Belgium. Mining various primary and secondary sources enables us to reconstruct the complex ties connecting various actors and reassess traditional narratives about what happened in the Congo.