Zaire (Soviet Dominance)

Zaire, formally known as the Republic of Zaire (République du Zaïre) was a nation in central Africa. It shared borders with the People's Republic of the Congo, the CASR, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola.

Mobutu
In 1965, the division of power between a president and a parliament threatened the nation's stability. Joseph-Désiré Mobutu managed to assume the presidency. His dictatorship dominated the nation's politics, often restructuring the nation and naming himself "Father of the Nation". He also wanted to heavenly Africanize the nation, changing cities' names to ones coming from African tribal words, and he encouraged civilians to drop their Christian names and rename themselves to an African tribal name. He also abandoned western dress in favor of the abacost. He rejected modernity, and tried to revive the "tribal culture" of the nation.

Instability grows
In 1977 and 1978, Katangan rebels in Angola launched two invasions of the nation; Shaba I and Shaba II. Mobutu successfully kept Zaire a one-party state during the 1980s; during the end of the Cold War foreign pressures were set upon Zaire to reform their human rights practices. In 1990, Mobutu agreed to create a multi-party state with elections.

First Congo War
In 1996, tensions from the Rwandan civil war had spilled over into Zaire. Rwandan Hutu militias, specifically, the Interahamwe, fled the nation due to the nation. These rebels soon allied with the Zairian armed forces to launch campaigns against ethnic Tutsis in eastern Zaire. In response, the Zairian Tutsis formed militias of their own and began to attack. The Tutsis erupted in rebellion against Mobutu, starting the First Congo War. This war ended with the collapse of Zaire, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo was created.

Government
The nation was run under the principles of Mobutism, the state ideology of the nation. The ideology is very pro-culture; with Mobutu changing numerous names in the nation to more Africanized names. It was also a dictatorship for most of its life, with elections starting in 1990, only seven years below the fall of Zaire.