United For Peace Podcast

The United Nations creates the first ever armed peacekeeping mission and deploys it. It is no easy feat.

Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal; The UK, France, and Israel are not pleased with Egypt overall and decide to invade. Many fear this could be the start of a third world war. Spoiler alert: it is not, but it could have been!

Wherein we cover the neglected civilian aid side of the mission, what more if anything ONUC could have done for the Congo, and what the UN learned from the Operation.

In December 1962, ONUC launched Operation Grand Slam, brining Katanga to its knees and finally, FINALLY bringing it back into the Congo by 1963. This was not until after experiencing tragedy on account of Antoine Gizenga's conspiratorial followers, however. This is the end of ONUC, but we will return for a retrospective in the next episode and cover the neglected civilian operations in the mission as well.

After constant harassment from Katanga, ONUC finally takes extreme action to all but cripple the Katangese government and its resistance to reintegration with the Congo. Tshombe, however, remains stubborn as ever.

ONUC creates a new mission command in Elisabethville in order to expel foreign mercenaries and advisors from Katanga. It is not a smooth process. Guest starring: morning birds singing directly outside my window.

Just two months into the UN Operation in the Congo, the State and Government of the Congo got into a fight. Yes, those are two separate things. And the consequences will be enormous.

In June 1960, the Republic of the Congo gained formal independence from Belgium. It did not take long for a crisis to erupt after a fool lit a match in a prime tinderbox.