HISTORY
Chad has a long and rich history.
A humanoid skull found in Borkou is more than 3 million years
old. Because in ancient times the Saharan area was not totally
arid, Chad's population was more evenly distributed than it is
today. For example, 7,000 years ago, the north central basin,
now in the Sahara, was still filled with water, and people lived
and farmed around its shores. The cliff paintings in Borkou and
Ennedi depict elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, cattle, and camels;
only camels survive there today. The region was known to traders
and geographers from the late Middle Ages. Since then, Chad has
served as a crossroads for the Muslim peoples of the desert and
savanna regions, and the animist Bantu tribes of the tropical
forests.
Sao people lived along the
Chari River for thousands of years, but their relatively weak
chiefdoms were overtaken by the powerful chiefs of what were to
become the Kanem-Bornu and Baguirmi kingdoms. At their peak, these
two kingdoms and the kingdom of Ouaddai controlled a good part
of what is now Chad, as well as parts of Nigeria and Sudan. From
1500 to 1900, Arab slave raids were widespread. The French first
penetrated Chad in 1891, establishing their authority through
military expeditions primarily against the Muslim kingdoms. The
first major colonial battle for Chad was fought in 1900 between
the French Major Lamy and the African leader Rabah, both of whom
were killed in the battle. Although the French won that battle,
they did not declare the territory pacified until 1911; armed
clashes between colonial troops and local bands continued for
many years thereafter.
In 1905, administrative responsibility
for Chad was placed under a governor general stationed at Brazzaville
in what is now Congo. Although Chad joined the French colonies
of Gabon, Oubangui-Charo, and Moyen Congo to form the Federation
of French Equatorial Africa (AEF) in 1910, it did not have colonial
status until 1920. The northern region of Chad was occupied by
the French in 1914. In 1959, the territory of French Equatorial
Africa was dissolved, and four states--Gabon, the Central African
Republic, Congo (Brazzaville), and Chad--became autonomous members
of the French Community. On August 11, 1960 Chad became an independent
nation under its first president, Francois Tombalbaye.
A long civil war began as
a tax revolt in 1965 and soon set the Muslim north and east against
the southern-led government. Even with the help of French combat
forces, the Tombalbaye government was never able to quell the
insurgency. Tombalbaye's rule became more irrational and brutal,
leading the military to carry out a coup in 1975 and to install
Gen. Felix Malloum, a southerner, as head of state. In 1978, Malloum's
government was broadened to include more northerners. Internal
dissent within the government led the northern prime minister,
Hissein Habre, to send his forces against the national army in
the capital city of N'Djamena in February 1979. The resulting
civil war amongst the 11 emergent factions was so widespread that
it rendered the central government largely irrelevant. At that
point, other African governments decided to intervene.
A series of four international
conferences held first under Nigerian and then Organization of
African Unity (OAU) sponsorship attempted to bring the Chadian
factions together. At the fourth conference, held in Lagos, Nigeria,
in August 1979, the Lagos accord was signed. This accord established
a transitional government pending national elections. In November
1979, the National Union Transition Government (GUNT) was created
with a mandate to govern for 18 months. Goukouni Oueddei, a northerner,
was named President; Colonel Kamougue, a southerner, Vice President;
and Habre, Minister of Defense. This coalition proved fragile;
in January 1980, fighting broke out again between Goukouni's and
Habre's forces. With assistance from Libya, Goukouni regained
control of the capital and other urban centers by year's end.
However, Goukouni's January 1981 statement that Chad and Libya
had agreed to work for the realization of complete unity between
the two countries generated intense international pressure and
Goukouni's subsequent call for the complete withdrawal of external
forces. Libya's partial withdrawal to the Aozou Strip in northern
Chad cleared the way for Habre's forces to enter N'Djamena in
June. French troops and an OAU peacekeeping force of 3,500 Nigerian,
Senegalese, and Zairian troops (partially funded by the United
States) remained neutral during the conflict.
Habre continued to face armed
opposition on various fronts, and was brutal in his repression
of suspected opponents, massacring and torturing many during his
rule. In the summer of 1983, GUNT forces launched an offensive
against government positions in northern and eastern Chad with
Libyan support. In response to Libya's direct intervention, French
and Zairian forces intervened to defend Habre, pushing Libyan
and rebel forces north of the 16th parallel. In September 1984,
the French and the Libyan governments announced an agreement for
the mutual withdrawal of their forces from Chad. By the end of
the year, all French and Zairian troops were withdrawn. Libya
did not honor the withdrawal accord, and its forces continued
to occupy the northern third of Chad.
Southern rebel commando groups
(CODO) in southern Chad were broken up by government massacres
in 1984. In 1985 Habre briefly reconciled with some of his most
powerful opponents including the Chadian Democratic Front and
the Coordinating Action Committee of the Democratic Revolutionary
Council. Goukouni also began to rally toward Habre, and with his
support Habre successfully expelled Libyan forces from most of
Chadian territory. A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from
1987 to 1988, and negotiations over the next several years led
to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad
sovereignty over the Aouzou strip, effectively ending Libyan occupation.
However, rivalry between Hadjerai,
Zaghawa and Gorane groups within the government grew in the late
1980s. In April 1989, Idriss Deby, one of Habre's leading generals
and a Zaghawa, defected and fled to Darfur in Sudan, from which
he mounted a Zaghawa-supported series of attacks on Habre (a Gorane).
In December 1990, with Libyan assistance and no opposition from
French troops stationed in Chad, Deby's forces successfully marched
on N'Djamena. After 3 months of provisional government, Deby's
Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) approved a national charter
on February 28, 1991, with Deby as president.
In the following 2 years, Deby faced at least two coup attempts. Government forces clashed violently with rebel forces (including the Movement for Democracy and Development, MDD, National Revival Committee for Peace and Democracy (CSNPD), Chadian national Front (FNT), and the Western Armed Forces, FAO) near Lake Chad and in southern regions of the country. Earlier French demands for the country to hold a national conference resulted in the gathering of 750 delegates representing political parties (legalized in 1992), the government, trade unions, and the army to discuss creation of a pluralist democratic regime.
However unrest continued,
sparked in part by large-scale killings of civilians in southern
Chad. The CSNPD, led by Kette Moise and other southern groups
entered into a peace agreement with government forces in 1994,
which later broke down. Two new groups, the Armed Forces for a
Federal Republic (FARF) led by former Kette ally Laokein Barde
and the Democratic Front for Renewal (FDR), and a reformulated
MDD clashed with government forces 1994-95.
Talks with political opponents
in early 1996 did not go well, but Deby announced his intent to
hold presidential elections in June. Deby won the country's first
multi-party presidential elections with support in the second
round from opposition leader Kebzabo, defeating General Kamougue
(leader of the 1975 coup against Tombalbaye). Deby's MPS party
won 63 of 125 seats in the January 1997 legislative elections.
International observers noted numerous serious irregularities
in presidential and legislative election proceedings.
By mid-1997 the government
signed peace deals with FARF and the MDD leadership and succeeded
in cutting off the groups from their rear bases in the Central
African Republic and Cameroon. Agreements also were struck with
rebels from the National Front of Chad (FNT) and Movement for
Social Justice and Democracy in October 1997. However, peace was
short-lived, as FARF rebels clashed with government soldiers,
finally surrendering to government forces in May 1998. Barde was
killed in the fighting, as were hundreds of other southerners,
most civilians.
From 1998 to 2003, Chadian Movement for Justice and Democracy (MDJT) rebels skirmished periodically with government troops in the Tibesti region, resulting in hundreds of civilian, government, and rebel casualties, but little ground won or lost. Following an accord with the government in 2003, several hundred rebels rejoined the Chadian Army. Armed remnants of the MDJT linger in the Tibesti region, but no active armed opposition has emerged in other parts of Chad.
In May 2001, Deby won a flawed 63% first-round victory in presidential elections after legislative elections were postponed until spring 2002. Six opposition leaders were arrested (twice), and one opposition party activist was killed following the announcement of election results. However, despite claims of government corruption, favoritism of Zaghawas, and security forces abuses, opposition party and labor union calls for general strikes and more active demonstrations against the government were unsuccessful.
In May 2004, the National Assembly voted in favor of an amendment to the Constitution that would allow President Deby to run again. The amendment was approved in a national referendum June 2005 and abolished presidential term limits. In the last 3 years, Deby faced at least three coup attempts. In April 2006, the capital city of N'djamena was attacked by the United Front for Democratic Change--which was led by the Tama ethnic group--coordinating with another Chadian rebel organization from President Deby's Zaghawa ethnic group. The government put down the attacks. On May 3, 2006 Deby was elected to his third presidential term with a substantial majority, according to Chadian election officials. Provisional figures showed Deby receiving 77.6% of the vote. More than 60% of Chad's 5.8 million registered voters cast ballots. Frequent bouts of fighting between rebel groups characterized 2006. On October 26, 2007 a peace agreement was signed by four Chadian rebel groups and the Government of Chad. Hosted by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the talks took place in the Libyan city of Sirte. (See Foreign Relations for information about the 2008 rebel attacks.)
