Date of Award

Spring 1998

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

Committee Director

Lorraine M. Lees

Committee Member

Harold Wilson

Committee Member

Michael E. Hucles

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.H47 H39

Abstract

As he took office, President John F. Kennedy articulated new policies sympathetic to African independence movements, but his policies turned out to be conditional. Aid continued to be granted to resource rich, pro-Western governments.

When the Republic of Congo gamed its independence, it retained its pro-Western cultural and economic ties with its former colonial power, France. Lacking natural resources and an industrial base, this country sought large amounts of economic aid from the West to sustain itself. France and the United States failed to live up to the Congo's expectations. Accusations of massive corruption sealed the fate of the government and in 1963, a coup d'état brought forth a new government, one professing a policy of non-alignment.

Continued frustration at the lack of support coming from the West caused the new leadership to turn to the East for support. Pro-Western sympathies evaporated in the Congo, and by August of 1965, diplomatic relations between the Congo and the United States deteriorated to openly sanctioned acts of hostility and the United States withdrew its Embassy. Sources used for this thesis include United States government documents and memoirs.

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DOI

10.25777/ct2z-jz48

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