An Inventory of the Conseil national de libération (Congo) Commandement des forces armées populaires. Etat major général records
Prepared by Elizabeth Konzak
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Phone: (650) 723-3563
Fax: (650) 725-3445
Email: archives@hoover.stanford.edu
© 2008
Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved.
A Inventory of the Etat major général records
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, California
- Prepared by:
- Elizabeth Konzak
- Encoded by:
- ByteManagers using OAC finding aid conversion service specifications
© 2008 Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Conseil national de libération (Congo) Commandement des forces armées populaires. Etat major général records, 1959-1988
Dates: 1959-1988
Collection number: 76079
Creator:
Conseil national de libération (Congo) Commandement des forces armées populaires. Etat major général.
Collection Size:
20 manuscript boxes, 1 reel of magnetic tape
(6.1 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: Includes materials such as government records, correspondence, reports, orders, battle plans, and lists; all relating to military
and political aspects of a rebellion in the Kwilu region of the Congo in 1964. Materials were collected and organized by Herbert
F. Weiss, a scholar and professor of the City University of New York. Also includes indexes and summaries created by Weiss.
A portion of the collection is also available on microfilm (21 reels). Sound use copy of sound recording available.
Physical location: Hoover Institution Archives
Languages:
French
Likeleve
Administrative Information
Access
The collection is open for research
Use copies of sound recordings are available for immediate use.
Publication Rights
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Etat major général records, [Box number], Hoover Institution Archives
Acquisition Information
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1976.
Accruals
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
Alternative Forms of Material Available
A portion of the collection is available on microfilm (21 reels)
Biography / Administrative History
The Kwilu Rebellion
The recently independent Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo) experienced a wave of unrest in 1964, sparked by
a rebellion in its Kwilu province under the leadership of Pierre Mulele. In the Kwilu province, a solid group of Mulele followers
formed among members of his own ethnic group, the Mbunda, as well as among Antoine Gizenga's kinsmen, the Pende, both of whom
had long been the target of government repression.
The Kwilu rebellion began in January 1964, when Mulelist insurgents attacked government outposts, mission stations, and company
installations. Troops were immediately sent to the area, and by April a measure of stability had been restored to the area.
However, the rebels did establish control over an entire region for a period of nearly two years, ending in December 1965.
The initial success of Mulelism encouraged a series of further uprisings, which brought the central government to the brink
of collapse.
Although the Kwilu rebellion was ultimately reduced by a combination of military force and regional economic stagnation and
thus failed in its objective, it has attracted considerable scholarly attention because it illustrates the origination and
evolution process of social movements in the postwar third world.
Additional Sources:
Hermann Kinder and Werner Hilgemann,
The Anchor Atlas of World History, 2, Garden City, New York, 1978, p. 268.
Mark Traugott, "The Economic Origins of the Kwilu Rebellion,"
Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 21, No. 3. (Jul., 1979), pp. 459-479.
Renee C. Fox, Willy de Craemer, and Jean-Marie Ribeaucourt "The Second Independence: A Case Study of the Kwilu Rebellion in
the Congo (in Millennial Overtones in Rebellion),"
Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 8, No. 1. (Oct., 1965), pp. 78-109.
Scope and Content of Collection
Includes materials such as government records, correspondence, reports, orders, battle plans, and lists; all relating to military
and political aspects of a rebellion in the Kwilu region of the Congo in 1964. Materials were collected and organized by Herbert
F. Weiss, a scholar and professor of the City University of New York.
The Kwilu Rebellion documents were collected by Weiss after the materials were abandoned by a section of the Conseil national
de libération (CNL) general headquarters unit near Gungu towards the end of 1964 or early 1965. A majority of the documents
are dated in the spring and summer of 1964, the period of the highest amount of rebel activity. Documents created by the rebellion
were individually numbered when filed and originally kept bound into rolls with bits of flexible root. Some papers were held
together with handmade wood needles. The documents were created in the local language, Likeleve, and French. Included are
Weiss' translations into French of these documents.
The records contain additional Kwilu administration documents, generally government documents, correspondence, and reports,
arranged chronologically in two groups, general documents and specific subject related documents.
Additional translations into French, summaries, and indexes of the original Kwilu Rebellion documents and some Kwilu Administration
documents, created by Weiss are also available. Additional materials included were given to Weiss by Professor Benoit Verhaegen,
another noted academic working on aspects of the Kwilu Rebellion.
Bundundu Government documents were collected by Weiss in 1972 with the backing of the State/Party, the MPR, for use in a more
general analysis of the Province than the focused Kwilu Documents. The documents from various levels of the administration
(colonial and post-colonial) focused on the province (Leopoldville Province until shortly after independence and later variously
Kwilu Province and Bandundu Province) where the Kwilu Rebellion occurred.
Sound recordings include interviews with individuals involved in the Kwilu Rebellion, Constant N'dom, Felix Mukulubundu, and
W. Mwatha. Constant N'dom, a high-school student when the Kwilu Rebellion broke out, was recruited and assigned to the Direction
Générale, the highest administrative organ of the rebellion. After the rebellion, he married and moved to Belgium, later returning.
In 2006 elections, he joined the opposition to J. Kabila and was elected member of Parliament from the Kwilu region. The late
Felix Mukulubundu came from the Kwilu, where he actively participated in the CNL. He was assigned to head a training camp
for Congo partisans located not far from Brazzaville, a project that was rapidly abandoned. Thus, Mukulubundu never actively
participated in the rebellion in the Congo.
Arrangement
The collection has generally been kept in the original order of the creator.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in Stanford University's online catalog.
Subjects
Kwilu region (Congo)--History.
Congo (Democratic Republic)--History.
Weiss, Herbert F.
Container List
Kwilu Rebellion documents, in numbered sequence,
1964.
Scope and Content Note
Documents about the Kwilu rebellion, abandoned by a section of the Rebellion's general headquarters unit. Includes translations
in French of selected documents. In numbered sequence, although not all numbers are present in the documents
Box/Folder: 1 : 1
"Les partisans au Kwilu: Analyse des origins sociales des membres et cadres des équipes de base" and "Kwilu Rebellion Documents",
by Herbert Weiss,
undated
Box/Folder: 6 : 1
Kwilu Rebel équipe Lists,
circa 1960.
Scope and Content Note
Missing numbers from previous files may be found here. File includes various numbers from 0183-5647.
Box/Folder: 6 : 2-7
Translations into French, documents 0001-2296
Box/Folder: 7 : 1-12
Translations into French, documents 2301-5682
Kwilu Administration documents,
1959-1966.
Scope and Content Note
Generally government documents, correspondence, and reports. Arranged chronologically in two groups, general documents and
specific subject related documents. Some materials are numbered and correspond to the card files below
Box/Folder: 8 : 1
1965-1966.
Scope and Content Note
Numbered 6001-6085
Box/Folder: 8 : 2-5
1965-1972.
Scope and Content Note
Numbered G65-G72
Box/Folder: 8 : 6-10
Photocopied documents, government documents regarding rebellion,
1964.
Scope and Content Note
Numbered B97-B256
Box/Folder: 8 : 11-12
Kwilu Idiofa (territory) administrative reports,
1960-1961
Box/Folder: 9 : 3
David J. Yongo,
1963-1966.
Scope and Content Note
Numbered Q1-Q33
Box/Folder: 9 : 6-7
Administration and Church,
1964-1966
Indexes and Card files,
undated, 1979.
Scope and Content Note
Summary abstracts on cards of both the Kwilu Rebellion Documents and some Kwilu Administration Documents created by Herbert
Weiss. Also includes an unused attempt to categorize the content of the documents by computer program reports. Arranged in
numerical sequence, although not all numbers are present in the documents
Box/Folder: 9 : 8-9
Indexes and Computer Reports,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Weiss' attempt to categorize the content of the documents by computer program reports, and other miscellany, eventually unused.
Tape_cabinet Tape cabinet
Professor Benoit Verhaegen Kwilu materials,
circa 1962-1966.
Scope and Content Note
Sources, interviews and miscellany collected from Verhaegen, author of
Rébellions au Congo,
Vol 1 & 2 (CRISP, Brussels, 1969). Arranged by physical form
Box/Folder: 9 : 10-11
Kwilu Administration sources,
circa 1962-1966
Box/Folder: 9 : 12
Interviews and miscellany
Bandundu Province Government Documents,
1956-1959.
Scope and Content Note
Documents from various levels of the Administration (colonial and post-colonial) focused on the province (Leopoldville Province
until shortly after independence and later variously Kwilu Province and Bandundu Province) where the Kwilu Rebellion occurred.
Sound Recordings
1975
1980-1988
Scope and Content Note
Interviews of Constant N'dom, assigned to the Direction Générale, the highest administrative organ of the rebellion, and Felix
Mukulubundu, who actively participated in the CNL and was assigned to head a training camp for Congo partisans. Arranged alphabetically
by interviewee, then chronologically with notations from original labels.
Box/Folder: 15
Interviews of Constant N'dom
1975, 1988
Weiss N'Dom
undated
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000925
N'Dom
1975 July 5
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000924
Scope and Content Note
Program on side A seems to be recorded over a recording of a lesson on "The Changing Nature of American Politics". Applicable
program on this side lasts about twenty minutes. Side B is dictation for letters on culture. In English.
Comments on "F", Doc Ser. A
1988 July
Physical Description: 2 cassettes
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000927
N'Dom Weiss Tape 3
1988 July 26
N'Dom Doc G
1988 October
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000928
N'Dom "Conflicts" 7/18/89
1989 July 18
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000929
N'Dom 7/25/89, DG replies continued
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000931
N'Dom
1989 July 20 and 1989 July 24
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000930
N'Dom July 28, 89, DG, N'Dom DG docs. 7/31/89
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000932
N'Dom/Weiss discussion for September 1989
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000933
Box/Folder: 15
Interviews of Felix Mukulubundu
1984
Mukulu. Kw. Reb and ABO Mukulubundu, Mmme Mulele +, Mukulubundu,
1984 April 5
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000922
Mukulubundu
1984 December 17-18
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000921
Scope and Content Note
(4 cassettes, recorded on both sides) Taped interview with Felix Mukulubundu in French.
Box/Folder: 15
Interview W. Mwatha BX 6/30/75, Warren Weinstein Human rights 12/80,
1975 June 30, 1980 December.
Access Information
Use copy reference number: 76079_a_0000923
Scope and Content Note
Side A: Interview with Mwatha; Side B: Warren Weinstein, human rights. Weinstein discusses human rights in Africa during
the Nixon and Carter administrations. The Mwatha interview is in French, the Weinstein interview is in English.
Box/Folder: 16-17
Kwilu Rebellion documents II
1955-1970
Box/Folder: 16 : 1-7
Kwilu rebellion equipé and village lists
1964
Scope and Content Note
Documents were a part of the Kwilu Rebellion documents, in numbered sequence, separated for research use by Herbert Weiss.
Box/Folder: 16 : 8
Kwilu Rebellion demography 1961-1969 chart
undated
Box/Folder: 16 : 9
Kwilu Rebellion documents, missionary materials retained by the rebels
circa 1955.
Scope and Content Note
The documents are a part of the foot locker of rebel documents acquired by Herbert Weiss that created the Kwilu Rebellion
documents series.
Box/Folder: 16 : 10
Kwilu rebellion documents French translations, numbered over 6000,
1964-1966
Box/Folder: 16 : 11
Non-rebel Kwilu documents,
1966
Box/Folder: 16 : 12-14
Idiofa territory original administrative documents,
1955-1970
Box/Folder: 16 : 15-20
Gungu (Kondu) administrative documents,
1960-1970
Box/Folder: 17 : 1-6
Gungu (Kondu) administrative documents,
1960-1970
Box/Folder: 17-18
Kwilu Administration documents II,
1959-1978.
Scope and Content Note
Mainly Photocopies.
Box/Folder: 17 : 7
Kwilu pre-independence administrative documents,
1959-1960.
Scope and Content Note
Includes original documents
Box/Folder: 17
Kwilu Province administrative documents
Box/Folder: 18 : 11-12
Kikwit, Kwilu, administrative documents,
1963
Box/Folder: 18 : 14
Kwilu post-rebellion development,
1966
Box/Folder: 18-19
Bandundu Administration documents II,
1964-1978.
Scope and Content Note
Photocopies.
Box/Folder: 18 :
Bandundu Province administrative documents
Box/Folder: 19 : 6
Idiofa Uprising, Bandundu, Kwilu,
1978
Box/Folder: 19
Interview files,
circa 1972-1984
Box/Folder: 19 : 7
Interview Questionnaires of former rebels, N'Dom research,
circa 1972
Box/Folder: 19 : 9
Mukulubundu (early Kwilu rebel leader),
undated
Box/Folder: 19 : 10
Mukulubundu interview transcript,
1984
Box/Folder: 20
Research materials,
1933-1988
Box/Folder: 20 : 1
Les Bayansi du Bas Kwilu, by R. de Beaucorps,
1933
Box/Folder: 20 : 2
Principes fondamentaux d'une révolution, handwritten document,
undated
Box/Folder: 20 : 4-5
Failed attempts to quantify information in Kwilu Rebellion documents with computers at MIT,
circa 1968-1970
Box/Folder: 20 : 6
Kwilu Rebellion published participant and expert commentaries,
circa 1988
