and British oil majors France had to look elsewhere for its supply. For some the discovery of oil off the Congolese coast was a blessing. For the majority of the local population it rather proved to be a curse as the International Monetary Fund in its yearly reports on the country a few years ago sadly observed. By the 1970s oil was Congo's largest export, however global market-price vicissitudes together with Congo's tendency to rely on overly optimistic projections of future revenues for the political purposes of sustaining a large civil service and a highly inefficient State sector, have regularly caused serious fiscal imbalances. Development of the sector has been hampered by the nation's traditionally powerful trade unionist movement, political uncertainties, as well as the costs of exploitation in a country with poor transport infrastructure. Les Trois Glorieuses and the 1968 Coup d'état As Brazzaville had been the capital of the large federation of French Equatorial Africa, it had an important workforce and many trade unions. Further radicalization elsewhere in Africa as a result of the decolonization led to revolt against the dictatorial rule of Youlou. Following Youlou's 6 August 1963 announcement of the formation of a one-party state with only one legal trade union, trade unions started their revolt on 13 August. Youlou's palace was besieged in August by angry workers and the French refused to intervene militarily, and he was forced to resign. This uprising is known as Les Trois Glorieuses (the Three Glorious Days), named after the French July Revolution against King Charles X in 1830. Fulbert Youlou and his main supporters were arrested by the military and ceased to play any further role in Congolese political life. The Congolese military took charge of the country briefly and installed a civilian provisional government headed by Alphonse Massamba-Débat. Under the 1963 constitution, Massamba-Débat was elected president for a five-year term and named Pascal Lissouba to serve as prime minister. President Massamba-Débat's term in office was characterized by a shift to the political left which included nationalizations and increased political ties to the USSR and communist China. Massamba-Débat's government ended in August 1968 when Captain Marien Ngouabi and other army officers toppled the government in a bloodless coup. After a period of consolidation under the newly formed National Revolutionary Council, Ngouabi assumed the presidency on December 31, 1968. One year later, President Ngouabi proclaimed the People's Republic of the