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In the early 1300s, the Bantu people would begin to settle into Gabon. Some of the Bantu people would later become known as the Fang people, and they would live in other places of the Central Africa region as well like Equatorial Guinea as well as Cameroon. Not a lot of information is known about the early people who settled into Gabon however they probably had a rich culture. Bantu people would live in the Northern regions of Central Africa and Gabon. -
In the year of 1390, the Kingdom of Kongo was officially founded by a territorial expansion caused by Lukeni lua Nimi. The kingdom resided in modern-day Northern Angola, modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo. The kingdom would initially start out in what was known at the time as Vungu, and the kingdom would eventually gain more power and expand more to the point where the leaders at the time would found the Kingdom of Kongo. -
When Portuguese explorers discovered the Kingdom of Kongo, the Catholic Church would arrive shortly after in 1483. The Portuguese explorers would take people from Kongo to Portugal and convert them to Christianity after giving the Kongo the opportunity to learn their language. Baptisms also occurred to convert more people. After these trips, the religion quickly spread throughout the kingdom and would cause Christianity to be the most dominant religion in the Kingdom of Kongo. -
In 1641 a Dutch fleet led an attack and captured Luanda from Portugal. The dutch attacked and the Portuguese retreated as they were not as powerful and were outnumbered. The dutch forced the Portuguese out of that position and made them retreat along the Bengo river. Once the Portuguese were forced out the Dutch started fortifying a base on the river and claimed the land for their own. The Dutch signed a peace treaty and helped push back the Portuguese from their small base on the river. -
Dona Ana Nzinga becomes queen of centra Africa and state of Ndongo and she fights the expansion of Portuguese for two decades. Central Africas economics and territory were threatened by Portuguese attempt to establish a colony. Due to slave trade and man power they decide to seek military power through control of slaves in central Africa to expand their military power and if they got control they would have a lot of leverage and the ability to sell those slaves to the main land. -
In the late 1800s Western Europe needed resources to continue filling their capitals. They needed coal, minerals, and wood to set their own boundaries because they were becoming scarcer. They later went overseas to collect some natural resources from Africa. Rivalry from the European nations, and the large sections of Africa exploration, and it soon turned into violence after that. So Africa ended up calling for a “civilization mission”. It was central civilization mission. -
In 1884, is a period where Europeans power rapidly colonized most of African continents. They divided their land among themselves through various series of treaties, as well as military conquests. They would often regard existing African political boundaries. This would later indicate significant conflicts and some lasting impacts on the continent. There were 13 European countries and as well as the US met at Berlin to be able to agree on the rules for African colonization. -
During the “Scramble for Africa” the French came in trying to get control over central african. They also had some competition like Belgium, Great Britain, Germany. They would all eventually want the region and it would ultimately become the “Central African Republic”. The French were ultimately successful and decided to name it the “French Congo”. Then the French later named it the “Central African Republic”. -
The Angolan Civil War sprung up in 1975 soon after the country gained independence from Portugal. This war was due to mistrust within three liberation movements MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA, and all three participated in this war. As Angola struggled with independence movements, the quarrel furthered because of ideological differences. Everyone fought for control over the newly independent country. In the end, MPLA won this 27-year-long war in 2002. -
After gaining independence, the Central African Republic faced much violence and insecurity. The violence brought about many rebellious groups, and other problems. One of the many rebellious groups was the Séléka rebel alliance. It was formed in 2012. These groups brawled against the government in Bangui because they didn’t accept peace agreements. They seized many towns and the capital. After causing all this harm and damage, the leader of this group called himself president after taking over.