History of Lesotho
[3] In 1869, the British signed a treaty at Aliwal with the Boers that defined the boundaries of Basotholand and later Lesotho, which by ceding the western territories effectively reduced Moshoeshoe's kingdom to half its previous size.
Power was transferred to King Moshoeshoe II, until then a ceremonial monarch, but forced into exile when he lost favor with the military the following year.
Conditions remained tumultuous, including an August 1994 self-coup by Letsie III, until 1998 when the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) came to power in elections that were deemed fair by international observers.
Lesotho's southern and eastern mountains (including Maloti) were occupied by the San people and their ancestors for thousands of years as evidenced by rock art.
Both the Zizi and neighboring tribes claimed that they originated from the Bantu settlers who would later branch out into the Nguni and the Sotho, garnering their leader considerable prestige.
[6] The Lesotho highlands attracted migrations by local hunter-gatherers between 550 and 1300 during the Medieval Warm Period, while the Drakensberg area was completely abandoned.
One view states that the first of these were marauding Zulu clans, displaced from Zululand as part of the Lifaqane (or Mfecane), wrought havoc on the Basotho peoples they encountered as they moved first west and then north.
The Boers had several military successes, killing possibly 1,500 Basotho soldiers, and annexed an expanse of arable land which they were able to retain following a treaty at Thaba Bosiu.
[9] Further conflict led to an unsuccessful attack on Thaba Bosiu and the death of a Boer commandant, Louw Wepener, but by 1867, much of Moshoeshoe's land and most of his fortresses had been taken.
During World War I, over 4,500 Basuto enlisted into the military, most of whom served in the South African Native Labour Corps which fought on the Western Front.
Following the British entry into World War II, the decision was taken to draw recruits from the High Commission Territories (HTC) of Swaziland, Basutoland, and Bechuanaland.
[14] The anti-colonial Basutoland Lekhorlu la Bufo (Commoner's League) was banned and its leaders were imprisoned for demanding that training for the recruits be improved and encouraging desertion.
[15][16] The AAPC performed a wide range of manual labor, providing logistical support to the Allied war effort during the North African, Dodecanese and Italian campaigns.
On October 4, 1966, the Kingdom of Lesotho attained full independence, governed by a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral Parliament consisting of a Senate and an elected National Assembly.
In addition to the Jonathan regime's alienation of Basotho powerbrokers and the local population, South Africa had virtually closed the country's land borders because of Lesotho's support of cross-border operations of the African National Congress (ANC).
Moreover, South Africa publicly threatened to pursue more direct action against Lesotho if the Jonathan government did not root out the ANC presence in the country.
In February 1990, King Moshoeshoe II was stripped of his executive and legislative powers and exiled by Lekhanya, and the Council of Ministers was purged.
Lekhanya accused those involved of undermining discipline within the armed forces, subverting existing authority, and causing an impasse on foreign policy that had been damaging to Lesotho's image abroad.
Lekhanya announced the establishment of the National Constituent Assembly to formulate a new constitution for Lesotho to return the country to democratic, civilian rule by June 1992.
In August 1994, King Letsie III, in collaboration with some members of the military, staged a coup, suspended Parliament, and appointed a ruling council.
This move allowed Mokhehle to remain as prime minister and leader of a new ruling party while relegating the BCP to opposition status.
The protests culminated in a violent demonstration outside the royal palace in early August 1998 and an unprecedented level of violence, looting, casualties, and destruction of property.
The Government of Lesotho requested that a SADC task force intervene to prevent a military coup and restore stability to the country.
To this end, joint force, consisting of South African and (later) Botswana troops, entered Lesotho on September 22, 1998, to put down the mutiny and restore the democratically elected government.
For the first time, however, opposition political parties won significant numbers of seats, and despite some irregularities and threats of violence from Major General Lekhanya, Lesotho experienced its first peaceful election.
[21] In June 2014, Prime Minister Thomas Thabane suspended parliament because of conflict within his coalition, leading to criticisms that he was undermining the government.
[22] In August, after Thabane attempted to remove Lieutenant General Kennedy Tlai Kamoli from the head of the army, the Prime Minister fled the country for three days, alleging a coup was taking place.
[22] On 19 May 2020, Thomas Thabane formally stepped down as prime minister of Lesotho following months of pressure after he was named as a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife.
