The Belgian Congo achieved independence on 30 June 1960 under the name Republic of the Congo . Congolese nationalist Patrice Lumumba was elected the first Prime Minister , while Joseph Kasa-Vubu became the first President . Conflict arose over the administration of the territory , which became known as the Congo Crisis . The provinces of Katanga , under Moïse Tshombe , and South Kasai attempted to secede . After Lumumba turned to the Soviet Union for assistance in the crisis , the U.S. and Belgium became wary and oversaw his removal from office by Kasa-Vubu on 5 September and ultimate execution by Belgian-led Katangese troops on 17 January 1961 . On 25 November 1965 , Army Chief of Staff Joseph-Désiré Mobutu , who later renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko , officially came into power through a coup d'état . In 1971 , he renamed the country Zaire . The country was run as a dictatorial one-party state , with his Popular Movement of the Revolution as the sole legal party . Mobutu 's government received considerable support from the United States , due to its anti-communist stance during the Cold War . By the early 1990s , Mobutu 's government began to weaken . Destabilisation in the east resulting from the 1994 Rwandan genocide and disenfranchisement among the eastern Banyamulenge ( Congolese Tutsi ) population led to a 1996 invasion led by Tutsi FPR-ruled Rwanda , which began the First Congo War
Rwandan genocide
Rwandan genocide
Democratic Republic of the Congo