History

Burkina Faso originated from the Great Mossi Empire, the kingdom which was established by the incaders from the South who ousted the then native tribes, the Bobo, Lobi and Gurunsi and went on to make the kingdom one of the most powerful in ancient Africa. Many migrations have taken place in the region. The French took over in 1896. A little later, it became a separate colony of Upper Volta in 1919, from the earlier status as a portion of Upper Senegal-Niger. In 1947, from in between Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and ‘French Sudan’ in 1932, it was be reconstituted as an independent entity, an ‘overseas territory’ of France  

Lamizana was followed by another military government, followed in turn by a rebellion in 1983, which brought to power under the leadership of

In 1957, it became a self-governing French colony and gained complete independence under the name of Upper Volta after 3 years. The period from 1966 to 1980 saw the military regime of General Sangoul J Lamizana, after he overthrew the civilian regime of Maurice Yameogo. Yet another military regime succeeded his and in 1983, a rebellion by a group of young radical officers under Thomas Sankara came to power. 

Upper Volta became ‘Burkina Faso’ meaning the land of dignity' in 1984. An orthodox pro-capitalist scheme of economic development gave way to a new under political direction for the country under the Sankara government. Sankara adopted a radical nationalist stance in the footsteps of Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings in neighbouring Ghana. The rural economy was given priority. Internal conflicts in the ruling National Revolutionary Council erupted as a catastrophe in the killing of Sankara in a revolt led by his second-in-command, Captain Blaise Compaoré in October 1987. Pressure from abroad, mainly France brought about a pluralist system of government with the new 1991 constitution endorsed by popular referendum. Compaoré and his party returned through the elections in 1998 and 2000 with substantial majorities but opposition boycotts and allegations of fraud of malpractice negated their integrity. The latest national assembly poll in May 2002 was comparatively fair and transparent: the Campaoré political vehicle, now called the Congrès pour la Démocratie et le Progrès, won a narrow victory after its representation was cut in half from its previous level.

The period following 1991, has seen a relatively stable political cimate in Burkina Faso. The only exception was a coup organised by members of the security service in 1996, which failed. Compaoré’s foreign policy initially revolved around the war in Liberia. Burkina initially was inclined towards Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) and did not contribute troops to the joint West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG.  A change of policy in 1997, resulted in the Burkinabè troops joining ECOMOG to help monitor the pre-election ceasefire in Liberia. There has been friction in Burkina’s relations with Mali and Niger rebellions and associated border disputes over the issue of the Tuareg (a nomadic tribe whose traditional territories straddle all three countries). It however maintains good relations with its former ruler France.