Early Modern
The Kingdom of Kongo is governed by a series of federated states. Held together by the customs of the region’s various ethnic groups, Kongo enjoys a complex and fully functioning society. Under this system they create what we now know to be some of the oldest mathematical artifacts in the world. Belgian geologists will later date Kongolese Ishango Bones, an early counting system and lunar calendar, back to 20,000 BCE.
Pre-1800
Portuguese explorers become the first European imperial presence in the region. After forming a relationship with the King of Kongo, Kongo sets up an official embassy in Portugal. Soon thereafter, Portuguese, Belgian and Dutch merchants begin bringing slaves out of Kongo and selling them on the international slave market.
1885
The Victorian Age is an era of glamorous fashion. The bicycle is widespread, then arrives the automobile. Congo’s rubber and ivory are hot commodities. King Leopold II of Belgium knows he will gain influence and power from the resources in Congo’s lush forests. The United States legitimizes his imperial ownership with the first official diplomatic recognition of Leopold’s personal property: Congo “Free” State. He never sets foot in the country, but his officials stage what Joseph Conrad calls, “the vilest scramble for loot that ever did disfigure the face of human conscience.”
1908
Photographs of amputated limbs shock the world’s conscience and the outcries of famed authors Joseph Conrad, and Mark Twain quickly become outcries of people across the Western world. Leopold is forced to turn his private state over to Belgian Parliament. But it is already too late. At least 10 million Congolese have died. Horrific exploitation continues as the auto industry takes off, and persists when copper and gold hit the market as WWII begins.
1960
Patrice Lumumba creates a political party and ignites a successful people’s revolt against Belgian rule. They relinquish ownership and Lumumba is elected as the first Prime Minister of an independent Democratic Republic of Congo. Across the African continent, 17 nations rise up to demand freedom from their colonial oppressors. Each one is successful. But Lumumba’s time in office is short-lived. One month later, he accepts financial support from the USSR during the height of the Cold War. Lumumba is promptly ousted, arrested, and assassinated in a Western-backed coup.
1965-1975
After his troops murder Lumumba, General Mobutu Sese Seko takes power.This is the beginning of a brutal kleptocracy. The self-titled “Lion Warrior,” “Savior of the Nation” and “Supreme Combatant,” bled Congo dry, amassing a $5 billion personal fortune over his 32-year-long reign. In a “return to African values” and a growing bout of megalomania, he renames the country Zaire. Around the same time he dubs another name for himself: “The all-powerful warrior who because of his endurance and inflexible will to win will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake.”
1980
Mobutu enjoys a strong relationship with the west, trading Congo’s vast mineral resources and in return receiving political favor. Copper prices crash in the late 1980s, and Mobutu leaves the country in massive debt and inflation. He also leaves a legacy of ruthless action against dissenters and opposing political parties.
1994
After a long history of bitterness between Tutsis and Hutus, 800,000 Tutsis are killed in 100 days during the Rwandan Genocide. Paul Kagame, a Tutsi general, leads his army through Rwanda and defeats the Hutu genocidaires. Following genocide, 500,000 Hutu refugees flee into Eastern Congo to escape Tutsi-led reprisal attacks. Rwandan génocidaires and former national army soldiers live amongst women and children in refugee camps.
These militant Hutus form a rebel faction known as the FDLR. They are still an active presence in Congo today.
1997
Mobutu’s government sides with the Hutu rebels and issues an order for the Tutsi ethnic group to leave his country or face death. Longstanding ethnic tensions culminate in the East. Tutsi and anti-Mobutists, aided by Rwanda and Uganda, march down the Congo River and into the capital city of Kinshasa. Mobutu is quickly overthrown and exiled. With him he carries his leopard skin hat. Laurent-Désiré Kabila takes power as acting president. This begins the First Congo War.
1998
Laurent Kabila tries to take control of his country, by throwing off his puppet-masters from Rwanda and Uganda. Rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda then rise up against Kabila and take control of eastern Congo. This allows Rwanda and Uganda easy access to timber, gold, diamonds, etc. Unable to defend the country with the national army alone, Kabila begins supporting local militias, and recruits armies from neighboring countries to defend his regime. This begins the Second Congo War, often recognized as Africa’s Great War. Over the next five years, up to eight international armies and 25 armed militias are fighting at a time, trying to take ownership of Congo’s mineral rich land. It remains the largest war in African history. An estimated 4.7 million people are killed.
2000
The United Nations Security Council authorizes a force of 5,500 UN peacekeepers to monitor a new ceasefire, but fighting continues between rebels, government forces, and Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers. After many years as a general, Paul Kagame officially takes over as President of Rwanda.
2001
President Laurent Kabila is assassinated. His son, Joseph, succeeds him.
2002
Belgium apologizes for their role in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.
2003
War “officially” ends. A peace deal between leaders of the major warring nations is reached. Local militias are left out of the negotiations. Rwanda and Uganda agree to withdraw troops from eastern Congo, Kabila promises to pursue FDLR still hiding out in Congo. Proxy militias, backed by these formerly warring nations continue fighting. The UN Refugee Agency says 2.5 million are killed directly or indirectly from conditions of war. A UN panel will later admit that warring parties deliberately prolonged the conflict to plunder gold, diamonds, timber, and coltan in the region. Global desire for new electronics continues to explode, making these minerals more and more valuable.
2006
A new constitution is ratified and implemented and Joseph Kabila wins a legitimate democratic election. Soon the rebel general, Laurent Nkunda, begins clashing with the national army in the east. Nkunda is a Congolese Tutsi, an ally of Paul Kagame, and is opposed to the FDLR’s continued presence in eastern Congo. In 2011 a research team will publish a report in the American Journal of Public Health that finds over 400,000 women and girls were raped during this year. The smuggling of resources continues to be highly profitable for rebels.
2008
Kabila’s government accuses Rwanda of backing General Nkunda. After heavy clashes erupt between Congolese troops and Nkunda’s forces, The Goma Accords are signed. This peace deal integrates many of Nkundas Tutsi soldiers into Congo’s national army. Our founder makes his first trip to Congo this year. The 5 boys from the original Falling Whistles journal had been forced to fight against each other for both Nkunda’s Tutsi force and FDLR’s Hutu force. When asked if that makes them enemies, one looks at the other, kisses him, and says, “We are only boys, how can we be enemies?”
2009
In January, Congolese and Rwandan troops begin a joint operation against the Hutu rebels in eastern Congo, FDLR. Nkunda is placed under house arrest by the government of Rwanda, which faces international scrutiny for supporting his attempt to take over the city of Goma. His army is taken over by General Bosco Ntanganda, a man nicknamed “The Terminator” and wanted by the International Criminal Court for arming, enlisting, and conscripting child soldiers. The FDLR is still a constant threat. Mai Mai and CNDP rebels continue to harass local populations, and the exploitation of Congolese civilians continues through the illicit mineral trade, especially tin and coltan that end up in our beer cans, cell phones, and computers. Falling Whistles gets desks out of dumpsters and sets up in a garage in Venice Beach. We begin using the proceeds from whistle sales to begin funding the rehabilitation of 300 street kids and former child soldiers in North Kivu.
2011
1.8 million people are living in displacement camps, cut off from their farms and families. Despite US legislation, the conflict mineral trade persists. Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army is still terrorizing populations in northeastern provinces, preying on the instability of a country whose wealth is constantly fought over. The violence in the East is less frontline combat, but more rolling and unpredictable. This decentalized violence from armies of business is just as systematic and just as deadly. Falling Whistles invests in 8 Congolese visionaries working to end the war and rebuild their own communities. We then partner with 77 organizations to rally a coalition of 24,000 people, 35 Congresmen and 16 Senators to secure the appointment of a U.S. Special Advisor for the Great Lakes Region and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Today
A new rebel group has formed called M23. Led by Bosco “The Terminator”, they continue to try and take over eastern Congo. 500,000 new refugees are fleeing the violence, children continue to be abducted and women continue to be raped. A recent UN report provides evidence that Rwanda’s government has funded both Nkunda’s rebels and the new M23. Over 50% of Rwanda’s funding comes from Western governments, drawing a disturbing money trail between western tax dollars and rebel warfare in eastern Congo. In an unprecedented move, the United States cut $200,000 in military spending. They are followed by the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden and others. More than $100 million in aid for Rwanda is currently frozen until negotiations between Congo’s Kabila and Rwanda’s Kagame yield a peaceful resolution. Rwanda is forced to dial back its support for M23 due to international pressure and funding cuts. Uganda enters the fight next.