Bokassa's extended family decided that it would be best if he received a French-language education at the École Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc, a Christian mission school in Mbaïki.

After graduating in 1939, Bokassa took the advice offered to him by his grandfather, M'Balanga, and Father Grüner, by joining the Troupes coloniales (French colonial troops) as a tirailleur on 19 May 1939.

[5] After the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, he served with an African unit of the Free French Forces and took part in the capture of the Vichy government's capital at Brazzaville.

On 1 January 1962, Bokassa left the French Army and joined the Central African Armed Forces with the rank of battalion commandant under then-commander-in-chief Mgboundoulou.

Due to his relationship to Dacko and experience abroad in the French military, he was able to quickly rise through the ranks of the new national army, becoming its first colonel on 1 December 1964.

[12] Bokassa frequently got into heated arguments with Jean-Paul Douate, the government's chief of protocol, who admonished him for not following the correct order of seating at presidential tables.

[12] To combat the chance that Bokassa would stage a coup, Dacko created a 500-member gendarmerie and a 120-member presidential security guard, led by Jean Izamo and Prosper Mounoumbaye, respectively.

[12] Dacko's government faced a number of problems during 1964 and 1965: the economy experienced stagnation, the bureaucracy was falling apart, and the country's boundaries were constantly breached by Lumumbists from the south and the rebel Anyanya from the east.

[14] Under pressure from political radicals in the Mouvement pour l'évolution sociale de l'Afrique noire (Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa, or MESAN) and in an attempt to cultivate alternative sources of support and display his ability to make foreign policy without the help of the French government, Dacko established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) in September 1964.

According to Samuel Decalo, a scholar of African government, Bokassa's personal ambitions played the most important role in his decision to launch a coup against Dacko.

[20] Bokassa called Izamo at his headquarters and asked him to come to Camp de Roux to sign some documents that needed his immediate attention.

Bokassa panicked, believing the president had been warned of the coup in advance, and immediately ordered his soldiers to search for Dacko in the countryside until he was found.

[21] In the early days of his regime, Bokassa engaged in self-promotion before the local media, showing his countrymen his French army medals, and displaying his strength, fearlessness and masculinity.

[25] In the coming months, Bokassa imposed a number of new rules and regulations: men and women between the ages of 18 and 55 had to provide proof that they had jobs, or else they would be fined or imprisoned.

Bokassa also opened a public transport system in Bangui made up of three interconnected bus lines through the capital city as well as a ferry service on the Ubangi River, and subsidized the creation of two national orchestras.

After Bokassa reciprocated by meeting Tombalbaye on 2 April 1966, along the southern border of Chad at Fort Archambault, the two decided to help one another if either was in danger of losing power.

[27] After Bokassa threatened to withdraw from the CFA franc monetary zone, President de Gaulle decided to make an official visit to the CAR on 17 November 1966.

[29] A year later, after Banza made a number of remarks highly critical of Bokassa and his management of the economy, the president, perceiving an immediate threat to his power, demoted him from his minister of state position.

[29] Banza revealed his intention to stage a coup to Lieutenant Jean-Claude Mandaba, the commanding officer of Camp Kassaï, whom he looked to for support.

[36] Over time, Bokassa's domestic and foreign policies became increasingly unpredictable, leading to another assassination attempt at Bangui M'Poko International Airport in February 1976.

[41] The ceremony was organized by French artist Jean-Pierre Dupont, and Bokassa's ornate crown was made by Parisian jeweller Claude Bertrand.

The Franco-Central African relationship drastically changed when France's Renseignements Généraux intelligence service learned of Bokassa's willingness to become a partner of Gaddafi.

In September 1976, Bokassa dissolved the government and replaced it with the Conseil de la Révolution Centrafricaine (Central African Revolutionary Council).

On 4 December, at the MESAN congress, he converted back to Catholicism and instituted a new constitution that transformed the republic into the Central African Empire (CAE), with himself as "His Imperial Majesty" Bokassa I.

[35] Bokassa attempted to justify his actions by claiming that creating a monarchy would help Central Africa "stand out" from the rest of the continent and earn the world's respect.

In practice, however, he retained the same dictatorial powers he had held for the past decade as President Bokassa, and the country remained a military dictatorship.

An undercover commando squad from the SDECE, joined by the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, secured Bangui M'Poko International Airport with little resistance.

Former President Dacko was called to the witness stand to testify that he had seen photographs of butchered bodies hanging in the cold-storage rooms of Bokassa's palace immediately after the 1979 coup.

[63][64] With the return of democracy to the CAR in 1993, Kolingba declared a general amnesty for all prisoners as one of his final acts as president, and Bokassa was released on 1 August 1993.

[66] The decree went on to hold that "This rehabilitation of rights erases penal condemnations, particularly fines and legal costs, and stops any future incapacities that result from them".