1960 Dressen Map of the State of Katanga, Congo (Secessionist)

This is a c. 1960 Louis Dressen map of the State of Katanga, a secessionist region of the Congo, published in Elisabethville, Katanga's capital. Katanga's secession ignited the Congo Crisis and ultimately led to the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko.

A Closer Look

Ten maps occupy this sheet, each numbered. The largest map, No. 1 (titled 'Carte générale. Communications hydrographie'), provides a detailed overview of Katanga, illustrating its cities, towns, roads, railroads, rivers, lakes, and other features. Historic sites, waterfalls, caves, lighthouses, and swamps are also noted. A distance chart between cities and towns is provided. An alphabetic index of localities appears to the right. Katanga's national flag (also designed by Louis Dressen) appears above the map.

Situated to the left of Map No. 1, Map No. 2 ('Ktanga physique') illustrates altitude. Ethnic groups are labeled with population statistics. A note along the bottom border discusses the Congo and Zambeze Rivers and the 'good relations' between Katanga's ethnic groups, which are mostly separated by language.

Maps 3, 4, 5, and 6 focus on Katanga's mines, administrative divisions, industries, and public education.

Maps 7, 8, 9, and 10 are below Map No. 1 and focus on electric stations, public health services, tourism and hunting, and agriculture, livestock, and fishing. Lastly, the music and lyrics to the National Anthem of Katanga and the song dedicated to the flag occupy the lower portion of the right side.

Katanga, Secession, and the Congo Crisis

The Republic of the Congo ( modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) declared independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960. A little less than two weeks later, Katanga, the southernmost province of the Republic of the Congo, declared its independence from the country then known as Congo-Léopoldville. Moise Tshombe became the State of Katanga's new president, and armed conflict between the central government in Léopoldville and the secessionist regime in Élisabethville began.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, appealed to the United Nations, stating that Belgians were behind Katanga's secession. The U.N. subsequently dispatched the United Nations Operation in the Congo. Unfortunately for Lumumba, U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld believed that the U.N. peacekeepers should only maintain security and could not be used to intervene in the internal secession crisis. This pushed Lumumba to turn to the Soviet Union, who immediately sent military advisors and material aid. This escalated the conflict and garnered U.S. attention.

Soviet support was not widespread throughout the Congolese government and led to a political impasse. This situation was broken by a coup-d'état led by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, who expelled the Soviet advisors. The U.N. forces remained for another two years. U.N. Secretary-General Hammarskjöld was killed in a 1961 plane crash when arriving to negotiate a ceasefire between the U.N. and Katanga. This led to the appointment of a new U.N. Secretary-General, U Thant, who was much more heavy-handed in using U.N. 'peacekeepers'. Under U Thant, U.N. forces launched an offensive against Katanga, subduing Élisabethville and other Katangese strongholds. Tshombe signed a surrender agreement on January 17, 1963, officially reintegrating Katanga into the Republic of the Congo.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by Louis Dressen c. 1960 in Elisabethville, Katanga. We note only a single other known example, located at the Kungliga Biblioteket. Sweden.