By the early 19th century, Kanem-Bornu was clearly an empire in decline, and in 1808 Fulani warriors conquered Ngazargamu.
Bornu survived, but the Sayfawa dynasty ended in 1846 and the Empire itself fell in 1893. ===Baguirmi and Ouaddai=== The Kingdom of Baguirmi, located southeast of Kanem-Bournu, was founded in the late 15th or early 16th century, and adopted Islam in the reign of Abdullah IV (1568-98).
However, Ouaddai lost its independence to France after a war from 1909-1912. ==Colonialism (1900–1940)== The French first invaded Chad in 1891, establishing their authority through military expeditions primarily against the Muslim kingdoms.
Bornu survived, but the Sayfawa dynasty ended in 1846 and the Empire itself fell in 1893. ===Baguirmi and Ouaddai=== The Kingdom of Baguirmi, located southeast of Kanem-Bournu, was founded in the late 15th or early 16th century, and adopted Islam in the reign of Abdullah IV (1568-98).
In 1893, Baguirmi sultan Abd ar Rahman Gwaranga surrendered the territory to France, and it became a French protectorate. The Ouaddai Kingdom, west of Kanem-Bornu, was established in the early 16th century by Tunjur rulers.
The decisive colonial battle for Chad was fought on April 22, 1900 at Battle of Kousséri between forces of French Major Amédée-François Lamy and forces of the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr.
Both leaders were killed in the battle. In 1905, administrative responsibility for Chad was placed under a governor-general stationed at Brazzaville, capital of French Equatorial Africa (FEA).
However, Ouaddai lost its independence to France after a war from 1909-1912. ==Colonialism (1900–1940)== The French first invaded Chad in 1891, establishing their authority through military expeditions primarily against the Muslim kingdoms.
Chad did not have a separate colonial status until 1920, when it was placed under a lieutenant-governor stationed in Fort-Lamy (today N'Djamena). Two fundamental themes dominated Chad's colonial experience with the French: an absence of policies designed to unify the territory and an exceptionally slow pace of modernization.
Truly speaking, France managed to govern effectively only the south. ==Decolonization (1940–1960)== During World War II, Chad was the first French colony to rejoin the Allies (August 26, 1940), after the defeat of France by Germany.
On 21 January 1942, N'Djamena was bombed by a German aircraft. After the war ended, local parties started to develop in Chad.
The first to be born was the radical Chadian Progressive Party (PPT) in February 1947, initially headed by Panamanian born Gabriel Lisette, but from 1959 headed by François Tombalbaye.
The more conservative Chadian Democratic Union (UDT) was founded in November 1947 and represented French commercial interests and a bloc of traditional leaders composed primarily of Muslim and Ouaddaïan nobility.
The confrontation between the PPT and UDT was more than simply ideological; it represented different regional identities, with the PPT representing the Christian and animist south and the UDT the Islamic north. The PPT won the May 1957 pre-independence elections thanks to a greatly expanded franchise, and Lisette led the government of the Territorial Assembly until he lost a confidence vote on 11 February 1959.
After a referendum on territorial autonomy on 28 September 1958, French Equatorial Africa was dissolved, and its four constituent states – Gabon, Congo (Brazzaville), the Central African Republic, and Chad became autonomous members of the French Community from 28 November 1958.
The first to be born was the radical Chadian Progressive Party (PPT) in February 1947, initially headed by Panamanian born Gabriel Lisette, but from 1959 headed by François Tombalbaye.
The confrontation between the PPT and UDT was more than simply ideological; it represented different regional identities, with the PPT representing the Christian and animist south and the UDT the Islamic north. The PPT won the May 1957 pre-independence elections thanks to a greatly expanded franchise, and Lisette led the government of the Territorial Assembly until he lost a confidence vote on 11 February 1959.
Following Lisette's fall in February 1959 the opposition leaders Gontchome Sahoulba and Ahmed Koulamallah could not form a stable government, so the PPT was again asked to form an administration - which it did under the leadership of François Tombalbaye on 26 March 1959.
On 12 July 1960 France agreed to Chad becoming fully independent.
On 11 August 1960, Chad became an independent country and François Tombalbaye became its first president. ==The Tombalbaye era (1960–1975)== One of the most prominent aspects of Tombalbaye's rule to prove itself was his authoritarianism and distrust of democracy.
Already in January 1962 he banned all political parties except his own PPT, and started immediately concentrating all power in his own hands.
This resentment at last exploded in a tax revolt on November 1, 1965, in the Guéra Prefecture, causing 500 deaths.
As a consequence on April 13, 1975, several units of N'Djamena's gendarmerie killed Tombalbaye during a coup. ==Military rule (1975–1978)== The coup d'état that terminated Tombalbaye's government received an enthusiastic response in N'Djamena.
Déby won the country's first multi-party presidential elections with support in the second round from opposition leader Kebzabo, defeating General Kamougue (leader of the 1975 coup against Tombalbaye).
Malloum proved himself unable to cope with the FROLINAT and at the end decided his only chance was in coopting some of the rebels: in 1978 he allied himself with the insurgent leader Hissène Habré, who entered the government as prime minister. ==Civil war (1979-1982)== Internal dissent within the government led Prime Minister Habré to send his forces against Malloum's national army in the capital in February 1979.
Malloum proved himself unable to cope with the FROLINAT and at the end decided his only chance was in coopting some of the rebels: in 1978 he allied himself with the insurgent leader Hissène Habré, who entered the government as prime minister. ==Civil war (1979-1982)== Internal dissent within the government led Prime Minister Habré to send his forces against Malloum's national army in the capital in February 1979.
At the fourth conference, held in Lagos, Nigeria, in August 1979, the Lagos Accord was signed.
In November 1979, the Transitional Government of National Unity (GUNT) was created with a mandate to govern for 18 months.
This coalition proved fragile; in January 1980, fighting broke out again between Goukouni's and Habré's forces.
A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, and negotiations over the next several years led to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou strip, effectively ending Libyan occupation. ==The Idriss Déby era (1990–2021)== ===Rise to power=== However, rivalry between Hadjerai, Zaghawa and Gorane groups within the government grew in the late 1980s.
However, Goukouni's January 1981 statement that Chad and Libya had agreed to work for the realization of complete unity between the two countries generated intense international pressure and Goukouni's subsequent call for the complete withdrawal of external forces. ==The Habré era (1982–1990)== see: Chadian-Libyan conflict Libya's partial withdrawal to the Aozou Strip in northern Chad cleared the way for Habré's forces to enter N’Djamena in June.
In the summer of 1983, GUNT forces launched an offensive against government positions in northern and eastern Chad with heavy Libyan support.
In September 1984, the French and the Libyan governments announced an agreement for the mutual withdrawal of their forces from Chad.
Libya did not honor the withdrawal accord, and its forces continued to occupy the northern third of Chad. Rebel commando groups (Codos) in southern Chad were broken up by government massacres in 1984.
In 1985 Habré briefly reconciled with some of his opponents, including the Democratic Front of Chad (FDT) and the Coordinating Action Committee of the Democratic Revolutionary Council.
A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, and negotiations over the next several years led to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou strip, effectively ending Libyan occupation. ==The Idriss Déby era (1990–2021)== ===Rise to power=== However, rivalry between Hadjerai, Zaghawa and Gorane groups within the government grew in the late 1980s.
A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, and negotiations over the next several years led to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou strip, effectively ending Libyan occupation. ==The Idriss Déby era (1990–2021)== ===Rise to power=== However, rivalry between Hadjerai, Zaghawa and Gorane groups within the government grew in the late 1980s.
In April 1989, Idriss Déby, one of Habré's leading generals and a Zaghawa, defected and fled to Darfur in Sudan, from which he mounted a Zaghawa-supported series of attacks on Habré (a Gorane).
In December 1990, with Libyan assistance and no opposition from French troops stationed in Chad, Déby's forces successfully marched on N’Djamena.
Idriss Deby ruled the country for more than 30 years since 1990.
After 3 months of provisional government, Déby's Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) approved a national charter on February 28, 1991, with Déby as president. During the next two years, Déby faced at least two coup attempts.
Earlier French demands for the country to hold a National Conference resulted in the gathering of 750 delegates representing political parties (which were legalized in 1992), the government, trade unions and the army to discuss the creation of a pluralist democratic regime. However, unrest continued, sparked in part by large-scale killings of civilians in southern Chad.
A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, and negotiations over the next several years led to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou strip, effectively ending Libyan occupation. ==The Idriss Déby era (1990–2021)== ===Rise to power=== However, rivalry between Hadjerai, Zaghawa and Gorane groups within the government grew in the late 1980s.
The CSNPD, led by Kette Moise and other southern groups entered into a peace agreement with government forces in 1994, which later broke down.
Two new groups, the Armed Forces for a Federal Republic (FARF) led by former Kette ally Laokein Barde and the Democratic Front for Renewal (FDR), and a reformulated MDD clashed with government forces from 1994 to 1995. ===Multiparty elections=== Talks with political opponents in early 1996 did not go well, but Déby announced his intent to hold presidential elections in June.
Two new groups, the Armed Forces for a Federal Republic (FARF) led by former Kette ally Laokein Barde and the Democratic Front for Renewal (FDR), and a reformulated MDD clashed with government forces from 1994 to 1995. ===Multiparty elections=== Talks with political opponents in early 1996 did not go well, but Déby announced his intent to hold presidential elections in June.
In 1996 Michel Brunet had unearthed a hominid jaw which he named Australopithecus bahrelghazali, and unofficially dubbed Abel.
Two new groups, the Armed Forces for a Federal Republic (FARF) led by former Kette ally Laokein Barde and the Democratic Front for Renewal (FDR), and a reformulated MDD clashed with government forces from 1994 to 1995. ===Multiparty elections=== Talks with political opponents in early 1996 did not go well, but Déby announced his intent to hold presidential elections in June.
Déby's MPS party won 63 of 125 seats in the January 1997 legislative elections.
Agreements also were struck with rebels from the National Front of Chad (FNT) and Movement for Social Justice and Democracy in October 1997.
However, peace was short-lived, as FARF rebels clashed with government soldiers, finally surrendering to government forces in May 1998.
Barde was killed in the fighting, as were hundreds of other southerners, most civilians. Since October 1998, Chadian Movement for Justice and Democracy (MDJT) rebels, led by Youssuf Togoimi until his death in September 2002, have skirmished with government troops in the Tibesti region, resulting in hundreds of civilian, government, and rebel casualties, but little ground won or lost.
No active armed opposition has emerged in other parts of Chad, although Kette Moise, following senior postings at the Ministry of Interior, mounted a smallscale local operation near Moundou which was quickly and violently suppressed by government forces in late 2000. Déby, in the mid-1990s, gradually restored basic functions of government and entered into agreements with the World Bank and IMF to carry out substantial economic reforms.
Oil exploitation in the southern Doba region began in June 2000, with World Bank Board approval to finance a small portion of a project, the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development Project, aimed at transport of Chadian crude through a 1000-km buried pipeline through Cameroon to the Gulf of Guinea.
Déby has blamed Sudan for the current unrest in Chad. === Regional interventionism === During the Déby era, Chad intervened in conflicts in Mali, Central African Republic, Niger and Nigeria. In 2013, Chad sent 2000 men from its military to help France in Operation Serval during the Mali War.
Debt relief was accorded to Chad in May 2001. Déby won a flawed 63% first-round victory in May 2001 presidential elections after legislative elections were postponed until spring 2002.
Barde was killed in the fighting, as were hundreds of other southerners, most civilians. Since October 1998, Chadian Movement for Justice and Democracy (MDJT) rebels, led by Youssuf Togoimi until his death in September 2002, have skirmished with government troops in the Tibesti region, resulting in hundreds of civilian, government, and rebel casualties, but little ground won or lost.
Debt relief was accorded to Chad in May 2001. Déby won a flawed 63% first-round victory in May 2001 presidential elections after legislative elections were postponed until spring 2002.
Despite movement toward democratic reform, power remains in the hands of a northern ethnic oligarchy. In 2003, Chad began receiving refugees from the Darfur region of western Sudan.
A number of border incidents led to the Chadian-Sudanese War. === Oil producing and military improvement === Chad become an oil producer in 2003.
In 2006 when the civil war escalated, Chad abandoned previous economic plans sponsored by World Bank and added "national security" as priority development sector, money from this sector was used to improve the military.
We technically deny involvement in Chadian internal affairs." This attack was the final straw that led to the declaration of war by Chad and the alleged deployment of the Chadian airforce into Sudanese airspace, which the Chadian government denies. An attack on N'Djamena was defeated on April 13, 2006 in the Battle of N'Djamena.
The President on national radio stated that the situation was under control, but residents, diplomats and journalists reportedly heard shots of weapons fire. On November 25, 2006, rebels captured the eastern town of Abeche, capital of the Ouaddaï Region and center for humanitarian aid to the Darfur region in Sudan.
On November 26, 2006, the Chadian government claimed to have recaptured both towns, although rebels still claimed control of Biltine.
The 97 children were taken from their homes in October 2007 by a then-obscure French charity, Zoé's Ark, which claimed they were orphans from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region. === Rebel attack on Ndjamena === On Friday, February 1, 2008, rebels, an opposition alliance of leaders Mahamat Nouri, a former defense minister, and Timane Erdimi, a nephew of Idriss Déby who was his chief of staff, attacked the Chadian capital of Ndjamena - even surrounding the Presidential Palace.
Chad insists that both rebel groups are supported by the Sudanese government. ===International orphanage scandal=== Nearly 100 children at the center of an international scandal that left them stranded at an orphanage in remote eastern Chad returned home after nearly five months March 14, 2008.
The 97 children were taken from their homes in October 2007 by a then-obscure French charity, Zoé's Ark, which claimed they were orphans from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region. === Rebel attack on Ndjamena === On Friday, February 1, 2008, rebels, an opposition alliance of leaders Mahamat Nouri, a former defense minister, and Timane Erdimi, a nephew of Idriss Déby who was his chief of staff, attacked the Chadian capital of Ndjamena - even surrounding the Presidential Palace.
Déby has blamed Sudan for the current unrest in Chad. === Regional interventionism === During the Déby era, Chad intervened in conflicts in Mali, Central African Republic, Niger and Nigeria. In 2013, Chad sent 2000 men from its military to help France in Operation Serval during the Mali War.
Later in the same year Chad sent 850 troops to Central African Republic to help peacekeeping operation MISCA, those troops withdrew in April 2014 after allegations of human rights violations. During the Boko Haram insurgency, Chad multiple times sent troops to assist the fight against Boko Haram in Niger and Nigeria. In August 2018, rebel fighters of the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR) attacked government forces in northern Chad.
Later in the same year Chad sent 850 troops to Central African Republic to help peacekeeping operation MISCA, those troops withdrew in April 2014 after allegations of human rights violations. During the Boko Haram insurgency, Chad multiple times sent troops to assist the fight against Boko Haram in Niger and Nigeria. In August 2018, rebel fighters of the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR) attacked government forces in northern Chad.
Chad had been an ally of the West in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa. In January 2019, after 47 years, Chad restored diplomatic relations with Israel.
It was announced during a visit to N’Djamena by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu == After Idriss Déby (2021–present) == In April 2021, Chad's army announced that President Idriss Déby had died of his injuries following clashes with rebels in the north of the country.
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