History

Cote D’Ivoire, in the Medieval Times was central to many o the main African trade routes joining the empires of Ghana and Mali dominated originally by the Dioula people. With the trade expansion, the Malinke merchants brought with them Islam. The 16^th century saw the fall of the Mali empire after which the Ashanti wars were declared in the 17^th century. This war resulted in many people moving into the Cebtral and Northern Cote d’Ivoire forest regions followed by the start of fresh kingdoms like Anvi and Baule. Down South, at the Savannah country, the Kong held sway, markedly through Sekou Ouattara’s dynasty, which was started in the 18^th century, which was ultimately overpowered by the Muslim Leader Samory Toure in 1897. 

Although the European traders were present in the region from the 15^th century, only the 19^th century saw the French taking over the region. The French slowly moved onto form alliances with the local ruling groups and started dominating the region. Within just a year of Samory Toure’s win over Kong, the French who went on to colonize the place and went on to take him over. The territory was then added as part of French West Africa and in August 1960, the country obtained its independence. Félix Houphouët-Boigny, an unusually effetive politician went on to lead the country for the next 30 years, along with his party - Parti Démocratique de la Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI). He maintained very close links with the West, mainly with France but addiotionally also apartheid South Africa.

When Houphouët-Boigny dies in December 1993, he was replaced by the former soeaker of the National Assembly, Henri Konan Bédié. With their victory in the presidential poll of December 1995 as well as at the subsequent month’s parliamentary elections, it seemed success all the way. However, things took a turn what with serious industrial unrest and the decidedly unpopular military intervention in the Liberian Civil War. In 1999, in the period of the run-up to the presidential elections arranged for early 2000, the key opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara of the Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR) – which has its majority support from the Muslims in the North of the country) was denied a stand on technical grounds concerning his parents’ nationality. 

General Robert Guei’s military coup of December 1999 came as a surprise to many. Guei, who was an ex-minister and an Ouatarra ally, went on to stop French intervention that considered Cote d’Ivoire a deliberate chief ally in the region. The fresh military rule started a broadly based government with leading army figures and the key political parties. International reaction was muted. The main participants of the presidential elections of October 2000 was Guei and Laurent Gbagbo who represented the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) with its major constituency among the Christians of the South. Gdagbo went on to win the elections with Guei being made to deal with popular uprising while he was trying to manipulate the results, driving him into exile. Ouattara was again prevented from standing as an RDR candidate that led to serious unrest among the Muslims at the North. The new Government successfully put down the coup in January 2001, although, noting the recurring instability in the political situation. In the next 12 months, however, the government was successful in controlling the country back again.