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| 2. Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) |
| 1958, Nov |
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| Republic of the Congo became autonomous within the French community under Prime Minister Abbé Fulbert Youlou. | 1 |
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| 1960, Aug. 15 |
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| Congo became independent. | 2 |
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| 1961, March |
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| Youlou elected president and new constitution adopted giving the president extensive powers. | 3 |
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| 1963, Aug |
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| General strike forced Youlou to resign and established a provisional government under Alphonse Massambe-Débat, who was elected president the following year. | 4 |
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| 1964 |
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| The Mouvement national de la révolution became the sole political party based on Marxist-Leninist principles. | 5 |
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| 1968 |
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| Capt. Marien Ngoubai seized power in a coup. | 6 |
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| 1969 |
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| Ngoubai was elected president. He created a new political party, Parti congolais du travail, and the following year changed the name of the country to the People's Republic of the Congo (PCT). | 7 |
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| 1977 |
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| Following the exacerbation of ethnic tensions and power struggles among the elite, Ngoubai was assassinated during an attempted coup organized by supporters of Massambe-Débat, who was subsequently arrested and executed. Brig. Gen. Jacques-Joachim Yhombi-Opango was named head of state. | 8 |
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| 1979, Feb |
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| Yhombi-Opango surrendered power to the president of the PCT, Col. Denis Sassou-Nguesso, who became president of the Republic. Sassou-Nguesso pursued a pro-Western foreign policy, which led to the marginalization of some left-wing factions. | 9 |
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| 1987 |
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| Twenty army officers, mostly belonging to the northern Kouyou ethnic group, were arrested and charged with sedition. These arrests reflected increasing ethnic tensions. | 10 |
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| 1989, July |
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| Following the national election in which Sassou-Nguesso was reelected to another five-year term, the president introduced political reforms and released some political prisoners, including former president Yhombi-Opango. | 11 |
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