Second Shaban War the French and Belgian Intervention in Zaire in 1978.

摘要

This study is a historical analysis of the 1978 Shaban Province Invasion in Zaire that culminated in three independent rescue missions to save expatriate mine workers from being killed as hostages. The study encompasses earlier crises in the country, tracing the origins and history of the Katangan Gendarmerie from its creation in 1960 to the invasion of 1978. For the first time, this study includes the entire Western response to the invasion: the initial airborne operation by the Zairian Army; the airborne assault landing by the Belgian Paracommando Regiment. Next the thesis examines the French response to the crisis through the use of primary source materials such as the operations orders, daily journals, and after action reports. The study then addresses the Belgian response to the crisis through the Belgian Army's official publications, the Belgian news media, and personal documents of the then Regimental operations officers. Overall, the thesis uses United States Department of State message traffic to document the actions taken during the invasion. Keywords: Military history. (kt)