Guinea (Soviet Dominance)

Guinea, formally known as the Guinean People's Republic (Guinean People's Republic), is a Marxist nation in western Africa. It shares borders with the nations of Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Pre-colonization
What is now Guinea was on the fringes of major West African empires. The Ghana Empire was believed to be the earliest of these, but fell to the influence of the Almoravids. During this period, Islam arrived in the region. The Sosso kingdom briefly filled the power vacuum, however the Mali Empire came to prominence after defeating the Sosso at the battle of Kirina. The Mali Empire later began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states. The most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, which expanded its power from around 1460 and surpassing Mali and both territory and wealth. The empire later fell to Moroccan invaders in the 1580s, and eventually collapsed. Numerous small kingdoms existed in what is now Guinea between that time and the French colonial era.

Colonial Guinea
The slave trade came to Guinea between them and European traders in the 16th century, however Guinea's colonial period began with French excursion into the area during the mid-19th century. French domination was assured by the defeat by Samori Ture in 1898, and gave France control over what is now Guinea. France negotiated for the borders of Guinea with the United Kingdom, Portuguese, and Liberia. Under the French, the Territory of Guinea was founded within French West Africa, which as a whole was governed by a governor in Dakar.

Independence
In 1958, the French Fourth Republic collapsed due to instability and failure with its colonies, and their colonies were given a choice between autonomy in independence. The Guinean majority voted for independence, and the socialist Ahmed Sékou Touré was put into office. He aligned himself with the Soviet Union and later China. In 1970, the Portuguese tried to raid Guinea and kill Touré due to his supporting of the PAIGC, a guerilla movement fighting in the nation. Touré died in 1984 after a heart attack, and was replaced by Louis Lansana Beavogui, who serves for this day; a coup attempt occurred in 1984 however it failed with help from Ghana.

Government
Guinea is a single-party state with massive influence taken from China. Political instability is still common, with militants from Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone being commonplace in the nation.