Other major events The Kwilu rebellion (1963–1965) was a civil uprising which took place in the West of what is the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Led by Pierre Mulele, a follower of ousted prime minister Patrice Lumumba, a faction of rebel Maoists staged a revolt against the government in the Kwilu District.

While the rebellion was suppressed in the early months of 1965, it had lasting political impacts, leading to the dissolution of Kwilu as an official province.

Pierre Mulele, rebel leader of the Kwilu rebellion, had previously served as minister of education within Patrice Lumumba’s government.

Those who were able to move into the former Belgian-occupied roles in society, and those unable to achieve such opportunities for status mobility received a vastly different quality of life.

[9] Prior to leading the Kwilu rebellion, Pierre Mulele had undergone military training in the Eastern Bloc and China.

These two ethnic groups comprised over half of the province's population, and played a major role in the victory over the Parti Solidaire Africain in 1960.

[11] Mulele employed tactics reminiscent of Chinese revolutions, and made his fighters adhere to a strict moral code, emphasising respect for civilians and self-discipline.

[13] Many of the people that Mulele recruited were not only very militant in favoring civil disobedience, but also radical in their attitude toward Belgian colonial authority and the Congolese government.

The main tenets of the doctrine include: The rebellion began in August 1963,[20][21] though its initial actions were limited in scope.

Rebels attacked the Portuguese palm oil refinery of Lutshima-Madail, and burned five of the company trucks, believed to have been used to transport soldiers of the National Congolese Army.

In the first weeks of the rebellion, hundreds of police and government workers were killed by Kwilu rebels, often in public executions.

[24] As violence increased and attacks became more frequent, it sparked similar uprisings throughout the country, triggering the Simba rebellion.

The rebels began to expand their territory and rapidly advance northwards, capturing Port-Émpain, Stanleyville, Paulis and Lisala between July and August.

[26] As they advanced, the rebels committed numerous massacres in the captured territory in order to remove political opposition and terrorise the population.

Straggling Western missionaries from Kwilu retreated through the bush to their respective embassies, which in turn requested UN assistance.

[30] In late January 1964 ONUC Chief of Staff Jacques Dextraze assembled a small force of peacekeepers and dispatched them to the Kwilu region to retrieve fleeing missionaries.

[34] After the rebellion's early successes, the Congolese government called for international aid in dealing with Mulele and his troops.

Foreign mercenaries alongside ANC troops enacted a scorched earth policy in order to isolate Kwilu rebels.

Of the numerous struggles faced by Congo in the years after its independence, the Kwilu rebellion was particularly impactful, as political conflict penetrated deeply in the villages and rural areas for the first time.