The Democratic Republic of Congo was settled in the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. It has been previously known as Congo, Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Republic of the Congo and Zaire. The Congo Free State was called a corporate state. It was controlled solely by Leopold II (The King of the Belgians) through a non-governmental organization. In 1908 King Leopold II gave up control of Congo Free State. The Belgian parliament came under control and renamed it Belgian Congo until it gained its independence in 1960. It was renamed Republic of the Congo; because Middle Congo was also renamed the Belgian Congo was called Congo-leopoldville (referring to its capital). The country then was very unstable. The regional tribal leaders held more power than the government and the Belgian administrators left so there were no skilled politicians left in the country. Parliamentary elections in 1960 made Patrice Lumumba prime-minister and Joseph kasavubu president. A week after this a military coup was attempted. Belgium was able to stop the attempt with help from the UN. The army's newly appointed chief of staff, Col. Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, succeeded in taking Lumumba prisoner. Lumumba was killed early in 1961. In 1963 a series of rebellions broke out and at one point the rebels controlled half the country, but with the help of the U.S. and Belgium paratroopers the rebellion was stopped. Mobutu declared himself president until in 65 was forced by the UN to hold an election. He ran unopposed, renamed the country Zaire, and was the leader until 1996. In 1996 the genocide of Rwanda spilled over the border and came into Zaire. Hutu soldiers fled Rwanda and went into refugee camps in the eastern part of the country. The Tutsi army soon followed and the leader Laurent-Desire Kabila marched into Kinshasha and declared himself the president.He reverted the name back to the Democratic Republic of Congo. He wasn't able to manage the problems of the country at all and lost his allies. Rwanda, Uganda,and Namibia attacked while Zimbabwe and Angola helped defend. The six countries agreed on a ceasefire but it was broken within months. In January of 2001 Kabila was assassinated by his own bodyguard. His son Joseph Kabila took over and with numerous peace-talks was able to end the war. On July 30,2006 a constitution was put into affect. Soon after this an election was held and Kabila was voted in as president and he still is to this day.
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