Editing Marien Ngouabi (section)

=== Head of state ===
Once in power, President Ngouabi changed the country's name to the People's Republic of the Congo, declaring it to be Africa's first Marxist-Leninist state, and founded the Congolese Workers' Party (''Parti Congolais du Travail'', PCT) as the country's sole legal political party.

Ngouabi was a Kouyou from the north and his regime shifted control of the country away from the south. Such moves created opposition among the population in the highly politicized environment of Brazzaville. There was an attempted coup in February 1972 that triggered a series of 'purges' of the opposition. It is claimed that Ngouabi was under French pressure to annex the oil-rich Cabinda enclave, a part of Angola, and his refusal to act cost him French support. There is some speculation that the French financed some of the following attempts to remove Ngouabi. He visited the People's Republic of China in July 1973.

Ngouabi was re-elected to his post as Chairman of the PCT Central Committee on December 30, 1974; he was additionally elected as Permanent Secretary of the PCT. He was then sworn in as President for another term on January 9, 1975. Also in 1975, he signed an economic aid pact with the Soviet Union.