Force Publique
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Force Publique was a gendarmerie and military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885 (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State), through the period of Belgian colonial rule (Belgian Congo – 1908 to 1960). The FP was retitled as the Congolese National Army or ANC in July 1960 after independence.
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Establishment
The Force Publique was initially conceived in 1885 when King Leopold II of the Belgians, who held the Congo Free State as his private property, ordered his Secretary of the Interior to create military and police forces for the State. Soon afterwards, in early 1886, Captain Léon Roger (of the Belgian Army's Carabiniers) was sent to the Congo with orders to establish the force. A few months later, on 17 August, he was promoted to "Commandant of the Force Publique".
Former members
Officers
- Edward A. Burke
- Lindsay Burke
- Louis Napoléon Chaltin
- Camille Coquilhat
- Alexandre Delcommune
- Francis Dhanis
- Paul Ermens
- Auguste-Édouard Gilliaert
- Émile Janssens
- Finn Kjelstrup
- Kristian Løken
- Mathieu Pelzer
- Thorleiv Røhn
- Leon Rom
- Pierre Ryckmans
- Charles Tombeur
- Edmond Van der Meersch
- Guillaume Vankerckhoven
Soldiers
- Louis Bobozo
- Isaac Kalonji
- Daniel Kanza
- Justin Kokolo
- Victor Koumorico
- Victor Lundula
- Joseph Makula
- Joseph-Désiré Mobutu
See also
- Military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- 1940–1945 African War Medal
- Archives Africaines (Brussels) has records of the Force Publique
