1936 Africa

Africa

*****

Nnamdi Azikiwe

*As a result of publishing an article on May 15, 1936, entitled "Has the African a God?" written by I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson, Nnamdi Azikiwe was brought to trial on charges of sedition. Although he was found guilty of the charges and sentenced to six months in prison, he was acquitted on appeal. 

*****

Central African Republic

(Ubangi-Shari)

*Andre Kolingba, 4th President of the Central African Republic, was born in Bangui, Ubangi-Shari (now the Central African Republic).

André-Dieudonné Kolingba (b. August 12, 1936, Bangui, Ubangi-Shari – d. February 7, 2010) was the fourth president of the Central African Republic (CAR), from September 1, 1981 until  October 1, 1993. He took power from President David Dacko in a bloodless coup d'etat in 1981 and lost power to Ange-Felix Patasse in a democratic election held in 1993. Kolingba retained the strong support of France until the fall of the Berlin Wall, after which both internal and external pressure forced him to hold presidential elections which he lost.

His twelve-year term in office saw the growing influence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in decisions by donor-nations regarding financial support and management of the Central African state. Many members of Kolingba's ethnic group, the Yakoma people, obtained lucrative posts in the public, private and parastatal sectors of the CAR's economy during his era. This gave rise to growing tension between so-called "southerners" (including the riverine Yakoma) and "northerners" (including the savanna Gbaya) in the CAR which led to violent confrontations between these groups during the Patassé era (1993–2003).

Ethiopia

(Abyssinia) 

*Italian planes bombed Degehabur (January 5).

*Ethiopia asked the League of Nations to dispatch a commission to investigate the use of poison gas by Italian troops (January 8).

*The Battle of Ganale Doria began on the Ethiopian southern front (January 12).

*The Battle of Ganale Doria ended in an Italian victory (January 16).

*Mussolini sent a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross referring to the Italian bombing of hospitals in Ethiopia as "accidents" (January 16).

*Italians captured what remained of the town of Negele Borana which had nearly been destroyed by bombing (January 20).

*The Christmas Offensive ended in an Ethiopian tactical victory (January 20).

*The First Battle of Tembien stopped the progress of the Ethiopian "Christmas Offensive" and enabled the Italians to continue their offensive (January 20-24).

The First Battle of Tembien was a battle fought on the northern front of what was known as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This battle consisted of attacks and counterattacks by Italian forces under Marshal Pietro Badoglio and Ethiopian forces under Ras Kassa Haile Darge.  This battle was primarily fought around Warieu Pass in what was then the Tembien Province of Ethiopia. 

*Emperor Haile Selassie protested to the League of Nations about Italy's bombing of villages (January 3).

*In the Battle of Ganale Dorya, General Graziani counter-attacked the advancing troops of Ras Desta Damtew (January 7-10). After more than three days of slaughter, the Ethiopians broke and fleed.

*Negele Boran in Sidamo province was captured by Graziani (January 20). Ethiopia asked for stronger sanctions against Italy.

*The inconclusive First Battle of Tembien brought the Ethiopian "Christmas Offensive" to an end (January 20-24).

*The Italians attacked and the Ethiopians under Ras Mulugeta counterattacked in the Battle of Amba Aradam southwest of Chalacot (February 10). 

*The Battle of Amba Aradam ended and the Ethiopians were defeated with heavy losses, including Mulugeta and his son (February 19).

*The Second Battle of Tembien began (February 27).

*Mulugeta Yeggazu, an Ethiopian government official and military leader, died.

Mulugeta Yeggazu, (Amharic: ሙሉጌታ ይገዙ; d. February 27, 1936) was an Ethiopian government official who served as Imperial Fitawrari, Commander of the Mahel Sefari (Central Army) of the Ethiopian Army during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

Mulugeta fought as a young warrior in the Battle of Adwa during the First Italo-Abyssinian War.  He served as Minister of Finance during the last years of Emperor Menelik II's reign and then again under Empress Zewditu. From 1916 to 1917, he was Ethiopia's Minister of Foreign Affairs. While governor of Illubabor, Mulugeta escorted then Ras Tafari (the later Emperor Haile Selassie) on his tour of Europe in 1924. In 1926, he was appointed as Minister of War, and a few years later commanded the loyalist troops to victory at the Battle of Anchem.

During the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, Mulugeta was appointed Imperial Commander (Fitawrari) of the Vanguard to replace the disgraced Birru Wolde Gabriel. Along with his son, Tadessa Mulugeta, he was killed during the retreat of his defeated army from Amba Aradam.

  
*The Ethiopians are defeated in the Second Battle of Tembien leaving few survivors from the armies of Ras Kassa and Ras Seyoum (February 29).

*The Battle of Shire began (February 29).

*The League asked Italy and Ethiopia to open negotiations (March 3).

*A British Red Cross ambulance was bombed by Italian warplanes on the Korem plain in Ethiopia, killing seven patients (March 4).

*The Battle of Shire ended with the destruction of Ras Imru's army (March 4).

*Ethiopia accepted the negotiations appeal (March 5).

*Ethiopia again appealed to the League, stating that nothing effective had yet been enforced (March 20).

*Emperor Haile Selassie protests to the League again, reporting Italian atrocities such as use of chemical weapons, destruction of ambulances and the massacre of civilians (March 21).

*Italian warplanes bombed Jijiga for more than an hour in the most intense aerial bombardment of the war to date (March 22).

*The League of Nations Committee of Thirteen called upon the International Committee of the Red Cross to supply any information it could offer regarding accusations of Italian troops using poison gas in Ethiopia (March 23). The Red Cross denied the request, explaining that the "neutrality which the International Red Cross Committee is bound to observe makes it necessary for the Committee to exercise very great discretion."

*International Committee of the Red Cross President Max Huber went to Rome to discuss an investigation of the Italian bombing of Red Cross units (March 25). Italy set its conditions: the question of poison gas would be excluded from any investigation, no Ethiopians could participate and Italy could not appear to be standing trial. Huber left with a promise from Mussolini to respect the Red Cross flag, but nothing more.

*Italian planes firebombed Hara (March 29). 

Two large squadrons of Italian bombers pounded Harar for two and a half hours, setting the city ablaze. Ethiopian Red Cross and Egyptian Red Crescent hospitals were also bombed despite being clearly marked and set off some distance from the city.

*Italians won the Battle of Maychew and achieved complete victory on Ethiopia's northern front (March 31).

Emperor Haile Selassie personally led an unsuccessful counterattack in the Battle of Maychew. This was the last major battle of the war on the northern front.

Ethiopia pleaded for removal of the arms embargo, financial assistance, and heavier sanctions on Italy (April 1).  Achille Starace's East African Fast Column (Colonna Celere de Africa Orientale) arrived in Gondar.  

Most of what remained of Haile Selassie's withdrawing army was destroyed at Lake Ashangi (April 4). 

*In Ethiopia, Italian forces occupied Gallabat (April 12). 

*Italian forces reached Lake Tana (April 13). 

*The Battle of the Ogaden began on the southern front of the Abyssinian War (April 14).

*Italian troops occupied Dessie (April 15). 

*The League admitted failure in the Italo-Ethiopian dispute (April 17).

*The Battle of the Ogaden ended in Italian victory (April 25).

The Ethiopians were defeated during the Battle of the Ogaden, but much of the Ethiopian army escaped.

Badoglio's launches his "March of the Iron Will" from Dessie (April 26).

The final Italian drive on the Ethiopian capital of Addis Adaba, immortalized in Fascist propaganda as the March of the Iron Will, began.

*An Italian plane dropped leaflets on Addis Ababa threatening to bomb and destroy the city if the advance on the Ethiopian capital met any resistance (April 27).

Princess Tsehai of Ethiopia appealed to the League (April 27).

*Italian troops occupied Degehabur (April 30).

*Emperor Haile Selassie, his wife Menen Asfaw, and key members of the Ethiopian government decided to depart Addis Adaba by train and flee to Djibouti in French Somaliland (May 1).

 *The Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie went into exile (May 2).

 Emperor Haile Selassie departed the capital city of Addis Adaba for Djibouti, whence he traveled to Europe to personally address the League. He appointed Ras Imru Haile Selassie as his regent during his absence.

The Emperor went first to Jerusalem to pray and then to Britain as a private guest. Still convinced that the League could be rallied to his cause, he appealed to it and its members not to recognize the Italian conquest. Shamed, the League permitted him to state his case, and his appearance before the delegates assembled in Geneva on June 30, 1936, was a moment in history that few who witnessed it ever forgot.

*Haile Selassie and his entourage sailed aboard the HMS Enterprise from Djibouti to Port Said (May 4).

*The "March of the Iron Will" was completed and Addis Ababa was captured by Italian forces (May 5).

On May 5, the Italian army entered the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. That evening, Mussolini gave a nationally broadcast speech declaring victory in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

Italy officially annexed Ethiopia (May 7).

Graziani entered Harar (May 8).

*On May 9, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaimed his Africa Orientale Italiana (AOI, Italian East African Empire), formed from the newly occupied Ethiopia and the colonies of Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. 

Benito Mussolini announced the annexation of Ethiopia and proclaimed Italian East Africa in a triumphant speech from the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia. He declared a resurgent Roman empire and asked the assembled crowd, "Will you be worthy of it?" The crowd answered with a cry of "Si!"

*Victor Emmanuel III was proclaimed Emperor of Abyssinia and Badoglio was appointed as his Viceroy in Ethiopia (May 9).

*Italian troops from the northern front and from the southern front linked up at Dire Dawa (May 10).

*The Italian delegation at the League of Nations walked out on a session about Ethiopia when the League allowed Ethiopia's delegate to continue participating in League sessions (May 11).

Italy merged Ethiopia with Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, calling the new state Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian East Africa) (June 1).

*The Italian African Police was created (June 1). {See Libya.}

*Marshal Graziani was appointed Viceroy of Ethiopia (June11).

*Haile Selassie arrived in Geneva to make a speech before the League of Nations (June 26). During a press conference with journalists, Selassie maintained that his government remained the only legitimate authority of Ethiopia.

*On June 30, the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the League of Nations in person, "to claim the justice that is due to my people".  He prophetically added, "It is us today; it will be you tomorrow."

*The League of Nations dropped all sanctions against Italy (July 4).

*The Ethiopian Minister to the United Kingdom, Workneh Eshete, appealed to the British public for at least £2 million to continue the fight in Ethiopia (July 6).

*Ethiopian guerrilla fighters attacked a railway line 30 miles from Addis Ababa (July 6). 

*Two sons of Ras Kassa led several thousand men in an attempt to recapture Addis Ababa from the Italians, but were driven back by the Italian garrison (July 28). Suspected of supporting this action, the archbishop of Dessie, Abuna Petros, was shot by the Italians

*The 17th session of the League of Nations Assembly opened in Geneva (September 21). The Council wrestled with the question of whether Ethiopia should be allowed to keep its seat.

*The League of Nations Assembly voted 39-4 to allow Ethiopia to keep its seat, meaning that Haile Selassie's government continued to be recognized by the League as the legitimate authority of the country and not Italy (September 23). The dissenting votes were cast by Hungary, Austria, Albania and Ecuador. 

*In October, the Italians begin armed campaigns into the two-thirds of Ethiopia still administered by Imperial officials.

*Japan recognized Ethiopia as Italian territory (November 28).

*Italian reports from Ethiopia indicated that Imru Haile Selassie, cousin of Haile Selassie and the last of the major chieftains resisting the Italian occupation, had been captured (December 17).

*Ras Imru surrendered to the Italians near the Gojeb River (December 18).  Italy declared Ethiopia pacified.

Libya

*The Italian African Police was created (June 1).

After the end of the war in Ethiopia in late 1936 early 1937, the Corps of "Polizia Coloniale" (Colonial Police) was created to be the police in the colonies in Africa (Libya) and it started issuing its own license plates in March 1938. The unit was created as a result of the reorganization of public safety units operating in Italian North Africa (Africa Settentrionale Italiana, or ASI) and to later garrison Ethiopia  and the rest of Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI).

In 1939, the Polizia Coloniale became the "Polizia dell'Africa Italiana" (Police of Italian Africa), or PAI and received armored cars, light tanks (tankettes), motorcycles, motor-tricycles and cars, in total they were about 1,000 vehicles and as many motorcycles.

When the Italian empire fell, the PAI forces were moved to Rome with duties of public order until the liberation of the city on June 4, 1944 when the corps was disbanded and all its vehicles and equipment were taken by the police (Polizia). The new corps was initially subordinated to the Ministry of the Colonies and then to the "Ministry of Italian Africa". This was the first case in Italy of an Armed Force put under a civil ministry.

The PAI had a reputation for discipline and high training levels, and for being provided with good equipment. Even after the collapse of AOI, the PAI were able to keep the peace in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

The force was a racially mixed organization, made up of Italian agents and many native askaris. It was located in police headquarters of major cities like Tripoli, Benghazi, Asmara, Addis Ababa, Mogadishu, Gondar, or in small commissariats otherwhere.

The PAI training school was in Tivoli.

Part of the PAI personnel was mounted on Moto Guzzi motorcycles, with many armed with the Beretta M1938A 9 mm sub-machine gun.

At the outbreak of World War II the PAI had 7,672 men, of which 6,345 were in AOI (Eritrea, Ethiopia and Italian Somalia) and 1,327 were in ASI (Italian Libya). The bulk of the force consisted of indigenous personnel who were trained and equipped to the same standard as Italian personnel. There were 5,142 indigenous personnel, 4,414 from AOI and 732 from ASI.

The PAI fought bravely during World War II in the Italian colonies and in Italy.

During World War II, the PAI fought as a combat unit alongside the Italian Army. For the garrison of the Libyan littoral way, at the outbreak of the conflict two companies on motorcycles and an armored car were assigned to the Exploring Unit of the CAM (Corpo armato di manovra) Battalion "Romolo Gessi".  They had little good fortune, however, since, after a sudden enemy attack, numerous soldiers were hit by friendly fire from German aircraft. The battalion repaired in Tripolitania and was converted into a mixed company. Several units participated in war actions, at Tripoli, Benghazi, Barce, but the details regarding effective employment are insufficient.

After the Armistice of Cassibile, on the evening of September 8, 1943, the PAI participated in the defense of Rome, engaging in their first conflict with the Germans at Mezzocammmino, near Castelfusano, with troops of Carabinieri, in aid to a garrison of Grenadiers of Sardinia.  On the other side of Rome, at the same time, some troops protected the escape of the King Victor Emmanuel III along the Via Tiburtina,  the King and the Prime Minister of Italy Pietro 
Badoglio,  On September 9, 1943, the PAI, with the Bersaglieri and cadet police officers, forced for a while the Germans to retreat from the Magliana area.  However, after some hours they had in turn to withdraw in direction of Fort Ostiense, which was later stormed by the Germans.

The commander and founder of the PAI, General Marraffa, was captured by the Nazis and deported to the Dachau concentration camp, where he died.

Later, there was a reorganization attempt in northern Italy, with the opening of a PAI school at Busto Arsizio in the autumn of 1943. However, the troops were absorbed by the Republican Police Force of the Italian Social Republic, and finally by the Republican National Guard.  

Madagascar

(French Madagascar)

*Didier Ratsiraka (b. November 4,1936), a Malagasy politician who was President of Madagascar from 1975 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2002, was born in Vatomandry, Atsinanana Region of French Madagascar.

Mali
(French Sudan)

 Moussa Traore, 2nd President of Mali, was born in Kayes, French Sudan.

Moussa Traoré (b. September 25, 1936, Kayes, French Sudan), a Malian soldier and politician who was President of Mali from 1968 to 1991, was born in Kayes, French Sudan. As a Lieutenant, he led the military ousting of President Modibo Keita in 1968. Thereafter he served as head of state until March 1991, when he was overthrown by popular protests and a military coup. He was twice condemned to death in the 1990s, but eventually pardoned on both occasions and freed in 2002. 

Morocco

*The Spanish Army of Africa launched a coup d'état against the Second Spanish Republic, beginning the Spanish Civil War (July 17).

The Army of Africa (Spanish: Ejército de África, Arabic: الجيش الإسباني في أفريقيا‎, Al-Jaysh al-Isbānī fī Afriqā) or "Moroccan Army Corps" (Cuerpo de Ejército Marroquí') was a field army that garrisoned the Spanish protectorate in Morocco from the late 19th century until Morocco's independence in 1956.

At the start of the 20th century, the Spanish Empire's colonial possessions in Africa comprised Morocco, Spanish Sahara, Ifni, Cape Juby and Spanish Guinea.

Spanish Morocco was the closest Spanish colonial territory to mainland Spain and the most difficult to control. A major Moroccan revolt  major against both Spanish and French colonial rule began in 1921, with the destruction of a Spanish army at Annual. The Rif tribes were finally subdued only with difficulty by substantial Franco-Spanish forces after several years of fighting.

Spain maintained garrisons in its two Moroccan coastal enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta from the fifteenth century onwards. At different times these were made up of sailors, disciplinary companies, marine infantry, free companies and detachments from metropolitan units. The Spanish Army of Africa can be said to have originated as a permanent institution with the establishment in 1893 of the Regimiento de África N° 1 (1st African Infantry Regiment).

Following the Melilla Campaign of 1909-10,  Spain began expanding inland from its established coastal holdings and a force of Policia Indigena (Native Police) was created with Moroccan personnel. This indigenous force provided the basis for the establishment in 1911 of the Regulares - Moroccan infantry and cavalry units with Spanish officers.

The Spanish Legion was formed by royal decree of King Alfonso XIII on January 28, 1920 as the Regiment of Foreigners. El Tercio was modeled on the French Foreign Legion. Its purpose was to provide a corps of professional troops to fight in Spain's colonial campaigns in North Africa in place of conscript units that were proving ineffective. The initial make-up of the regiment was that of a headquarters unit and three battalions known as Banderas "banners" - an archaic 16th-century term.

By the Rif War of the 1920s, the Army of Africa was composed in essence of the Spanish Legion and the Regulares; plus cacadores (Spanish infantry), artillery, engineers and support units. In total it numbered 30,000 soldiers and was the most professional and effective fighting force in the 100,000-man Spanish Army during the 1920s and 30s. Infantry recruited in the enclave of Ifni (Spanish: Tiradores de Ifni) from 1934 on, were also considered part of the Army of Africa. A locally recruited gendarmeries, the Mehalas de la Mehalla' Jalifiana, numbering about 5000 men and modeled on the Moroccan Goumiers attached to the French Army of Africa, was established in 1923 and provided support to the regular units of the Army of Africa.

Following the conclusion of the Rif War, the garrison of Spanish Morocco was reduced to the units listed above; plus seven infantry battalions, six cavalry six squadrons and six artillery batteries from mainland Spain assigned to African service on a rotation basis.

The Army of Africa was to play a key part during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39. Along with other units in the Spanish Army, the Army of Africa rose against the Second Spanish Republic and took part in the Spanish coup of July 1936 on the side of the Nacionales. On July 18, 1936, General Francisco Franco assumed the supreme command over this force.

Spanish Morocco fell to the rebels without significant opposition. The initial intention was to transport the Army of Africa to mainland Spain by sea. However the crews of Spanish warships whose officers had joined the revolt remained loyal to the Republican government in Madrid. Between July 29 and August 5, 1936 1,500 members of the Army of Africa were accordingly transported to mainland Spain in a bold airlift led by Junkers transport planes supplied by Germany.  The fascist régime of the Kingdom of Italy provided Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 bombers to provide air cover for merchant ships carrying 3,000 soldiers and equipment from Morocco on August 5. Thereafter, daily flights continued until about 8,000 Moroccans and legionaries, with supporting artillery, were gathered at Seville.

After landing in Spain, the Army of Africa was split into two columns, one commanded by General Juan Yague and the other commanded by Colonel Jose Enriqe Varela.  Yague's force advanced north, making remarkably rapid gains, and then turned north-eastwards towards Madrid and Toledo. Varela's force entered Andalusia and took control of the key cities of Seville, Granada, and Cordoba, Andalusia. Thanks mostly to the Army of Africa's advances, almost all of western Spain was in Francoist Nationalist hands by the end of September 1936. By early 1937 the Army of Africa's strength had been increased to 60,000 men. The Legion and Regulares spearheaded the Nacionales' operations for the remainder of the war and played a central role in the Nationalist victory.

With the ending of the Civil War in 1939, the Army of Africa was reduced to a peacetime establishment. However, under Franco it was accorded a higher profile in Spain itself than had been the case under either monarchy or republic. During the 1940s, detachments from the Tiradores de Ifni garrisoned the Canary Islands, while a mounted "Moorish Guard" undertook ceremonial duties in Madrid.

Following Moroccan independence in 1956, the bulk of the locally recruited Regulares were transferred to the new Royal Moroccan Army. The cities of Melilla and Ceuta and the lesser plazas de soberania as well remained Spanish and continued to be garrisoned by Legion and Regulares units.

Ifni remained under Spanish administration until June 1969. However, widespread disturbances in the territory in 1956 and the Ifni War of 1957-58 led to substantial desertions amongst the indigenous rank and file of the Tiradores de Ifni. Accordingly, the four tabors which made up this force underwent a process of "europeanisation" in which the majority of their personnel were recruited from Spain itself.

*The Spanish Civil War began as army officers in Spanish Morocco started an insurrection against the Madrid government rallying behind Generals Emilio Mola and Francisco Franco (July 18).  The revolt spread to garrisons at Cadiz, Saragossa, Burgos, and Seville.

Rwanda
(Ruanda-Urundi)

*Kigeli V, the last King (Mwami) of Rwanda, was born in Kamembe, Ruanda-Urundi (June29).

Kigeli V Ndahindurwa (aka Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa) (b. June 29, 1936, Kamembe, Ruanda-Urundi – d. October 16, 2016, Washington, D. C.) was the last King (Mwami) of Rwanda, ruling from July 28, 1959 until the overthrow of the Rwandan monarchy on January 28, 1961, shortly before the country acceded to independence from Belgium.

The titular King lived in exile during the final part of his life in the United States town of Oakton,Virginia. In exile, he was known for heading the King Kigeli V Foundation, promoting humanitarian work for Rwandan refugees, and for his activities in maintaining the cultural heritage of his formerly reigning royal house.

Kigeli was born Ndahindurwa on June 29, 1936 in Kamembe, Rwanda, to Yuhi Musinga, the deposed King Yuhi V of Rwanda, and Queen Mukashema, one of his wives. He is ethnically Tutsi.  Kigeli had fourteen siblings, being one of the youngest of his father's many children.

When Kigeli was 4 years old, his father was exiled by the Belgian government to Moba, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Following the death of his father, in 1944, he returned to Rwanda. Kigeli was baptized in the Catholic Church in his teens, taking the Christian name Jean-Baptiste, and remained a devout Catholic throughout his life.

He received his education at the Groupe Scolaire Astrida (now Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare) in Rwanda, and at the Nyangezi College in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.  After he finished school in 1956, he worked in local government in Rwanda until 1959.

After his half-brother, King Mutara III Rudahigwa,  died under mysterious circumstances on July 25, 1959, it was announced on July 28 that Kigeli would succeed him as King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa. "Kigeli" is sometimes transcribed as "Kigeri". Though married, Kigeli's late half-brother had no children. The abrupt, shocking nature of the death prompted widespread talk of some kind of assassination having occurred.

Kigeli's appointment was a surprise to the Belgian administration, who were not involved in his selection, and who described the event as a coup d'état, a view shared by the newly politically empowered Hutu elite. Kigeli himself also felt shocked and overwhelmed at the news of his ascension. The tense atmosphere and presence of armed Rwandans at the funeral prevented the Belgians from objecting, as well as preventing Hutu interference. Despite this, Kigeli was initially favored by all sides: Tutsi traditionalists, Hutu nationalists, and the Catholic clergy all felt optimistic on his appointment.  However, the manner of his appointment led to a loss of prestige for the Belgian authorities, and gave both Hutu and Tutsi revolutionaries the impression that violence might further their goals. The fact that the Tutsi establishment had engineered the rise to power also compromised Kigeli's ability to act in the traditional role as a neutral arbiter of differing factions.

Kigeli duly followed regal tradition by disregarding past ethnic and ideological affiliations, embracing the role of the 'father of all Rwandan people'. However, political instability and tribal conflict grew despite efforts by the monarchy and others. Only a month after Kigeli's November 1959 ascension, Hutu versus Tutsi militancy increased to the point that hundreds died. Many Tutsi went into exile. Issues with the increasingly restive Hutu population were encouraged by the Belgian military, promoting widespread revolt. 

In July 1960, Kigeli sought safe haven in the newly independent nation of Congo. In 1961, Kigeli was in Kinshasa, Congo, to meet United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold when Dominique Mbonyumutwa, with the support of the Belgian government, led a coup d'etat that took control of the Rwandan state. The monarchy's rule was formally overthrown on January 28, 1961. 

The coup resulted in the 1961 referendum about the fate of the nation's royal system. The election results showed that, with about 95% turnout, around 80% of voters opposed the continuation of the monarchy. Kigeli criticized the referendum as rigged.  Indeed, soon after re-entering Rwanda prior to the election, Belgian officials had put him under house arrest.

The government officially deported Kigeli to what is now Tanzania on October 2, 1961. He subsequently lived in multiple other locations, leaving the region of Tanganyika (living in Dar es Salaam) for places such as Kampala, Uganda, and Nairobi, Kenya. Kigeli was granted political asylum in the United States in July 1992. He resided in the United States for the rest of his life.

Granted political asylum by the United States, he settled near Washington, D.C., where he claimed welfare, and lived in subsidized housing. He subsequently settled in the Oakton, Virginia, area.

In exile, Kigeli traveled internationally to speak on behalf of the Rwandan people and repeatedly called for peace and harmony between the different groups. Kigeli continued to remember the victims of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and attempted to reconcile all political, ethnic, and religious parties in Rwanda to use the democratic process to solve any disputes. Kigeli was a friend of former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela and the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba.

In an August 2007 BBC interview, Kigeli expressed an interest in returning to Rwanda if the Rwandan people were prepared to accept him as their constitutional monarch. He said that he had met President Paul Kagame and that Kagame had told him that he and his family were free to return, but Kigeli said that in order to do so, he needed to know if the people still wanted him to be king. According to Kigeli, Kagame said that he would consult the government about the issue.

Kigeli never returned to Rwanda while he was alive.  He died at the age of eighty on the morning of October 16, 2016, in Washington, D.C.

*****
South Africa

*F. W. de Klerk, the State President of South Africa, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa (March 18).

Frederik Willem de Klerk (b. March 18,1936, Johannesburg, South Africa), a South African politician who served as the country's State President from September 1989 to May 1994, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was the seventh and last  head of state of South Africa under the apartheid era.  De Klerk was also leader of the National Party (which later became the New National Party) from February 1989 to September 1997.

De Klerk helped to broker the end of apartheid, South Africa's policies of racial segregation and discrimination, and supported the transformation of South Africa into a non-racial democracy by entering into the negotiations that resulted in all citizens having equal voting and other rights. He won the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize in 1991, the Prince of Asturias Award in 1992 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 along with Nelson Mandela for his role in the ending of apartheid.

He was one of the deputy presidents of South Africa during the presidency of Nelson Mandela until 1996, and is the most recent white South African and Afrikaner to have held the position. In 1997, he retired from active politics. 

*The Cape African franchise was abolished (April 6).

On April 6, 1936, the South African parliament approved two segregation bills (the Representation of Natives bill and the Natives' Trust and Land bill) sponsored by South African Prime Minister Barry Hertzog by an overwhelming 168 votes to 11.

 The Representation of Natives Act No. 12 of 1936 (commencing on July 10, 1936) was legislation passed in South Africa which further reduced black rights at the time. The Cape province had a qualified franchise which had allowed a small number of blacks in the Cape to vote for the common roll (although not to sit in parliament) in terms of the Cape Qualified Franchise. The qualified franchise dated back to the pre-Union period, when the Cape was a separate British colony. The Franchise also excluded poorer white men. The 1936 Act removed blacks to a separate roll – and halted the right to run for office.  Other earlier legislation removed the qualifications imposed in the Cape on whites.

With this act, the small black elite - most blacks never had the vote - were removed from the common rolls on which they had been able to register since 1854. Chiefs, local councils, urban advisory boards and election committees in all provinces were to elect four whites to the senate by a system of block voting. The act also created a Native Representative Council of six white officials, four nominated and twelve elected Africans.

This Act was repealed on June 19, 1959 by the Promotion of Bantu Self-government Act, 1959.

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*The Native Trust and Land Act was passed (April 6).

The Native Trust and Land Act, 1936 (Act No. 18 of 1936; subsequently renamed the Bantu Trust and Land Act, 1936 and the Development Trust and Land Act, 1936) was a South African law that served as the reorganization of its agricultural structures. This followed the recommendations of the Beaumont Commission.

This ordinance stipulated that the reserve land, which the black population under the Natives Land Act, 1913 had been allocated of 7.13% (9,709,586 acres) was to be enlarged to approximately 13.6% of the total area of the then South Africa. However, this value was not reached and remained unfulfilled until the 1980s. As late as 1972, did the government purchase 1,146,451 acres to meet this requirement in the homelands.

In view of the fact that the black population accounted for at this time (1936) about 61% in the general population, this area ratio was very small. During the world economic depression, damage occurring to agricultural land through erosion and overgrazing played a relevant role in the preparation of the Act. At the same time the rights of the black people as tenant farmers were removed and such tenant rights became restricted to white owners. From then on, blacks were only allowed to live on farms, which were owned by whites, and the black were simply employees who worked on them.

The selling pressure caused by the Act forced many blacks to seek work in salaried employment in areas outside of their family and tribal tradition. Destinations of these migrations were the large farms owned by the whites and the cities, preferably industrial urban centers.

The act was repealed by the Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act, 1991 on June 30, 1991.