Jean-Bédel Bokassa: Difference between revisions

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Born in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Equatorial_Africa French Equatorial Africa], the son of a village chief, Jean-Bedel Bokassa was orphaned at age 12. Educated in mission schools, he joined the French colonial army in 1939 as a private. He distinguished himself in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Indochina_War war in Indochina], winning medals and rising to the rank of captain. When French Equatorial Africa gained its independence as the Central African Republic in 1960, the new president [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dacko David Dacko] invited Bokassa to head the armed forces. In 1966, Bokassa used his position to oust Dacko and declared himself president. He then began a reign of terror, taking all important government posts for himself.He personally supervised judicial beatings and introduced a rule that thieves would have an ear cut off for the first two offenses and a hand for the third. In 1977, in emulation of his hero [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], he crowned himself emperor of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_African_Empire Central African Empire] in a ceremony costing $20 million, practically bankrupting the country. His diamond-encrusted crown alone cost $5 million. In 1979 he had hundreds of schoolchildren arrested for refusing to wear uniforms made in a factory he owned, and personally supervised the massacre of 100 of the schoolchildren by his Imperial Guard.

On 20 September 1979, French paratroopers deposed him and re-installed Dacko as president. Bokassa went into exile in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France] where he had chateaux and other property bought with the money he had embezzled. After his overthrow in 1979, Central Africa reverted to its former name and status as the ''Central African Republic''. In his absence, he was tried and sentenced to death. He returned to the Central African Republic in 1986 and was put on trial for treason and [[murder]]. In 1987, he was cleared of charges of [[cannibalism]], but found guilty of the murder of schoolchildren and other crimes. The death sentence was later commuted to life in solitary confinement, but just six years later, in 1993, he was freed. He lived a private life in his former capital, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui Bangui], and died in November 1996.

On 20 September 1979, French paratroopers deposed him and re-installed Dacko as president. Bokassa went into exile in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France] where he had chateaux and other property bought with the money he had embezzled. After his overthrow in 1979, Central Africa reverted to its former name and status as the ''Central African Republic''. In his absence, he was tried and sentenced to death. He returned to the Central African Republic in 1986 and was put on trial for treason and murder. In 1987, he was cleared of charges of [[cannibalism]], but found guilty of the murder of schoolchildren and other crimes. The death sentence was later commuted to life in solitary confinement, but just six years later, in 1993, he was freed. He lived a private life in his former capital, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui Bangui], and died in November 1996.

==Early life==

== Early life ==

Bokassa was born on 22 February 1921 as one of 12 children to Mindogon Mgboundoulou, a village chief, and his wife Marie Yokowo in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobangui Bobangui], a large [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%27Baka M'Baka] village in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobaye Lobaye] basin located at the edge of the equatorial forest, then a part of colonial [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Equatorial_Africa French Equatorial Africa], some 80 kilometres (50 mi) southwest of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui Bangui]. Mgboundoulou was forced to organise the rosters of his village people to work for the French Forestière company. After hearing about the efforts of a prophet named Karnu to resist French rule and forced labour, Mgboundoulou decided that he would no longer follow French orders. He released some of his fellow villagers who were being held hostage by the Forestière. The company considered this to be a rebellious act, so they detained Mgboundoulou, and took him away bound in chains to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mba%C3%AFki Mbaïki]. On 13 November 1927, he was beaten to death in the town square just outside the prefecture office. A week later, Bokassa's mother, Marie Yokowo, unable to bear the grief of losing her husband, committed suicide.

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Bokassa sought recognition for his status as leader of the army. He frequently appeared in public wearing all his military decorations, and in ceremonies, he often sat next to President Dacko to display his importance in the government. Bokassa frequently got into heated arguments with Jean-Paul Douate, the government's chief of protocol, who admonished him for not following the correct order of seating at presidential tables. At first, Dacko found his cousin's antics amusing. Despite the number of recent military coups in Africa, Dacko publicly dismissed the likelihood that Bokassa would try to take control of the country. At an official dinner, he said, "Colonel Bokassa only wants to collect medals and he is too stupid to pull off a coup d'état". Other members of Dacko's cabinet believed that Bokassa was a genuine threat to the regime. Jean-Arthur Bandio, the minister of interior, suggested Dacko name Bokassa to the Cabinet, which he hoped would both break the colonel's close connections with the CAR army and satisfy the colonel's desire for recognition. To combat the chance that Bokassa would stage a coup, Dacko created the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gendarmerie gendarmerie], an armed police force of 500 and a 120-member presidential security guard, led by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Izamo Jean Izamo] and Prosper Mounoumbaye, respectively.

==Tensions rise between Dacko and Bokassa==

== Tensions rise between Dacko and Bokassa ==

Dacko's government faced a number of problems during 1964 and 1965: the economy experienced [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_stagnation stagnation], the bureaucracy started to fall apart, and the country's boundaries were constantly breached by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba Lumumbists] from the south and the rebel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan_People%27s_Liberation_Army Sudan People's Liberation Army] from the east. Under pressure from political radicals in the ''Mouvement pour l'évolution sociale de l'Afrique noire'' (Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MESAN MESAN]) and in an attempt to cultivate alternative sources of support and display his ability to make foreign policy without the help of the French government, Dacko established diplomatic relations with [[Mao Zedong]]'s [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China People's Republic of China] (PRC) in September 1964. A delegation led by Meng Yieng and agents of the Chinese government toured the country, showing [[Propaganda|communist propaganda films]]. Soon after, the PRC gave the CAR an interest-free loan of one billion [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_franc CFA francs] (20 million [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_franc French francs]); however, the aid failed to subdue the prospect of a financial collapse for the country. Widespread corruption by government officials and politicians added to the country's list of problems. Bokassa felt that he needed to take over the CAR government to solve all the country's problems—most importantly, to rid the country from the influence of communism. According to Samuel Decalo, a scholar on African government, Bokassa's personal ambitions played the most important role in his decision to launch a coup against Dacko.

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 Born in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Equatorial_Africa French Equatorial Africa], the son of a village chief, Jean-Bedel Bokassa was orphaned at age 12. Educated in mission schools, he joined the French colonial army in 1939 as a private. He distinguished himself in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Indochina_War war in Indochina], winning medals and rising to the rank of captain. When French Equatorial Africa gained its independence as the Central African Republic in 1960, the new president [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dacko David Dacko] invited Bokassa to head the armed forces. In 1966, Bokassa used his position to oust Dacko and declared himself president. He then began a reign of terror, taking all important government posts for himself.He personally supervised judicial beatings and introduced a rule that thieves would have an ear cut off for the first two offenses and a hand for the third. In 1977, in emulation of his hero [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], he crowned himself emperor of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_African_Empire Central African Empire] in a ceremony costing $20 million, practically bankrupting the country. His diamond-encrusted crown alone cost $5 million. In 1979 he had hundreds of schoolchildren arrested for refusing to wear uniforms made in a factory he owned, and personally supervised the massacre of 100 of the schoolchildren by his Imperial Guard.
-On 20 September 1979, French paratroopers deposed him and re-installed Dacko as president. Bokassa went into exile in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France] where he had chateaux and other property bought with the money he had embezzled. After his overthrow in 1979, Central Africa reverted to its former name and status as the ''Central African Republic''. In his absence, he was tried and sentenced to death. He returned to the Central African Republic in 1986 and was put on trial for treason and [[murder]]. In 1987, he was cleared of charges of [[cannibalism]], but found guilty of the murder of schoolchildren and other crimes. The death sentence was later commuted to life in solitary confinement, but just six years later, in 1993, he was freed. He lived a private life in his former capital, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui Bangui], and died in November 1996.
+On 20 September 1979, French paratroopers deposed him and re-installed Dacko as president. Bokassa went into exile in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France] where he had chateaux and other property bought with the money he had embezzled. After his overthrow in 1979, Central Africa reverted to its former name and status as the ''Central African Republic''. In his absence, he was tried and sentenced to death. He returned to the Central African Republic in 1986 and was put on trial for treason and murder. In 1987, he was cleared of charges of [[cannibalism]], but found guilty of the murder of schoolchildren and other crimes. The death sentence was later commuted to life in solitary confinement, but just six years later, in 1993, he was freed. He lived a private life in his former capital, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui Bangui], and died in November 1996.
-==Early life==
+== Early life ==
 Bokassa was born on 22 February 1921 as one of 12 children to Mindogon Mgboundoulou, a village chief, and his wife Marie Yokowo in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobangui Bobangui], a large [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%27Baka M'Baka] village in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobaye Lobaye] basin located at the edge of the equatorial forest, then a part of colonial [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Equatorial_Africa French Equatorial Africa], some 80 kilometres (50 mi) southwest of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui Bangui].<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>Mgboundoulou was forced to organise the rosters of his village people to work for the French Forestière company. After hearing about the efforts of a prophet named Karnu to resist French rule and forced labour, Mgboundoulou decided that he would no longer follow French orders. He released some of his fellow villagers who were being held hostage by the Forestière. The company considered this to be a rebellious act, so they detained Mgboundoulou, and took him away bound in chains to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mba%C3%AFki Mbaïki]. On 13 November 1927, he was beaten to death in the town square just outside the prefecture office. A week later, Bokassa's mother, Marie Yokowo, unable to bear the grief of losing her husband, committed suicide.
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 Bokassa sought recognition for his status as leader of the army. He frequently appeared in public wearing all his military decorations, and in ceremonies, he often sat next to President Dacko to display his importance in the government. Bokassa frequently got into heated arguments with Jean-Paul Douate, the government's chief of protocol, who admonished him for not following the correct order of seating at presidential tables. At first, Dacko found his cousin's antics amusing.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>Despite the number of recent military coups in Africa, Dacko publicly dismissed the likelihood that Bokassa would try to take control of the country. At an official dinner, he said, "Colonel Bokassa only wants to collect medals and he is too stupid to pull off a coup d'état".<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>Other members of Dacko's cabinet believed that Bokassa was a genuine threat to the regime. Jean-Arthur Bandio, the minister of interior, suggested Dacko name Bokassa to the Cabinet, which he hoped would both break the colonel's close connections with the CAR army and satisfy the colonel's desire for recognition. To combat the chance that Bokassa would stage a coup, Dacko created the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gendarmerie gendarmerie], an armed police force of 500 and a 120-member presidential security guard, led by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Izamo Jean Izamo] and Prosper Mounoumbaye, respectively.
-==Tensions rise between Dacko and Bokassa==
+== Tensions rise between Dacko and Bokassa ==
 Dacko's government faced a number of problems during 1964 and 1965: the economy experienced [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_stagnation stagnation], the bureaucracy started to fall apart, and the country's boundaries were constantly breached by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba Lumumbists] from the south and the rebel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan_People%27s_Liberation_Army Sudan People's Liberation Army] from the east. Under pressure from political radicals in the ''Mouvement pour l'évolution sociale de l'Afrique noire'' (Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MESAN MESAN]) and in an attempt to cultivate alternative sources of support and display his ability to make foreign policy without the help of the French government, Dacko established diplomatic relations with [[Mao Zedong]]'s [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China People's Republic of China] (PRC) in September 1964. A delegation led by Meng Yieng and agents of the Chinese government toured the country, showing [[Propaganda|communist propaganda films]]. Soon after, the PRC gave the CAR an interest-free loan of one billion [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_franc CFA francs] (20 million [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_franc French francs]); however, the aid failed to subdue the prospect of a financial collapse for the country. Widespread corruption by government officials and politicians added to the country's list of problems. Bokassa felt that he needed to take over the CAR government to solve all the country's problems—most importantly, to rid the country from the influence of communism. According to Samuel Decalo, a scholar on African government, Bokassa's personal ambitions played the most important role in his decision to launch a coup against Dacko.