International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

Congo Brazzaville was part of the pre-colonial kingdom of Congo, which came under French rule during colonization. Principally, anti-colonial protests in Congo Brazzaville were centered on the activities of charismatic leader Andre Matswa and the protests and ideology that followed his incarceration and eventual death. Andre Matswa was born in 1899 and received primary education from a Christian missionary school at Brazzaville. He departed for France in 1921, where he was conscripted to serve in the French army. He was consequently deployed to Morocco where he served as a soldier in the War of the Riff against Moroccan insurgents. It was while serving in Morocco that Matswa developed strong anti-colonial sentiments based on his experience at the war front. After honorable discharge in 1926, Matswa founded the Association amicable des originaires de l'AEF, also known as the L'Amicale, in Paris with an objective of assisting underprivileged Congolese. The organization was also supported by the French Communist Party and gradually evolved from a humanitarian organization into a nationalist movement, with Matswa calling for reforms and the abrogation of inhumane colonial laws. Within a period of three years, L'Amicale garnered a large membership and spread across France and Africa, with about 13,000 members in French Equatorial Africa alone. With anti-colonial consciousness growing ... log in or subscribe to read full text