Katanga

The **State of Katanga** is a country in central Africa, bordered by West Congo and East Congo to the north, Tanganyika to the east, and Portuguese Central Africa to the south.

## History

### Collapse of Mittelafrika

Prior to the Collapse of Mittelafrika, the Katanga region was a stronghold for the German-Belgian governance of this region of Mittelafrika. However, following the Black Dossier scandal, the colonial Statthalter, Hermann von Göring, would flee outside the colony, never to be seen again. The colonial government would suffer a major power vacuum, as his successors would find it impossible to reorganize the feudal territory, and the colony itself would collapse.

The German governorate within the Katanga region, however, remained stable. In the larger cities, the governor relied on the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga to serve as the *de facto* wing of government until order would be restored. In smaller cities, many did not even know that the colonial order had collapsed, and remained under the control of traditional leaders and chieftains.

### Mwami Crisis

#### Msiri's Coup

Months after the collapse had set in, however, news began settling in as the countryside ran unexpectedly quiet. Eventually, the report struck that the Mwami of the Garenganze people, Kitanika Mabumba Mushalila, had organized a coup d'état along with a contingency of nationalists and tribesmen, leading to them seizing control over the province. Panic set in, particularly from the miners, many of whom made preparations to flee the colony. However, the mayor of Élisabethville, Pierre Ryckmans, would give the order to prevent people from fleeing the colony, and would begin to defend the city.

#### Battle of Élisabethville

The 35,000 remaining citizens residents would barricade themselves within the town. 1,000 of whom would join the ranks of the defenders, most of whom being askaris, while the rest would successfully flee the city: either evacuating Africa altogether, escaping to nearby villages, or by taking arms against the colonial government, securing territory across the abandoned town suburbs. As the Mwami's army from Bunkeya drew closer to the town, those along the way had been forced to pick a side, and those who decided to swear loyalty would relocate to Élisabethville, lest they face their own retribution.

Finally, one week after the governor's assassination, the Mwami's forces would lay siege to Élisabethville. Heavy rains would batter the city before the suburbs would be burnt down and sacked, surrounding the town in fire as war chants echoed across the perimeter. When morning set in, the Mwami would launch their attack in two phases, with a brief calm setting in for a few days due to pyrrhic casualties. By the next two weeks, the mounting casualties among Mushalila's small forces would lead to mass desertions, forcing a ceasefire that would preserve Élisabethville autonomy.

#### Declaration of the State of Katanga

Though the colonial remnants would find miraculous victory in Élisabethville, their victory would not be final. The ceasefire, signed after the battle, resulted in colonial autonomy as well as ensuring the UMHK's continued right to mine across the countryside. The Mwami's forces, forced to recover in Bunkeya, were irreparably weakened while the Force Publique consolidated itself. Pierre Ryckmans, the mayor of Élisabethville who led its success in battle, would make preparations over the next several months. Eventually, Ryckmans would launch a committee to declare the State of Katanga, utilizing ethnopolitical divisions and the power of the UMHK to succeed the Kingdom of Garenganze.

#### Battle of Munema

Utilizing aid from neighboring Portugal, and anticipating the Mwami's resistance against his disposal, Ryckmans hired a mercenary army primarily consisted of exiled Belgian and National French mercenaries, as well as disguised Portuguese troops, to aid the Force Publique. The colonial regiments reached the capital at Bunkeya following Kitanika Mushalila's refusal, only to find the city abandoned. The Mwami and his loyal forces instead fled to the fortress of Munema, where his ancestor Msiri was assassinated.

Forced into the old fortress, the Mwami would find the structure unable to resist modern war, crumbling after a wave of bombings from both mercenary pilots and FP artillery, followed by a combined assault from Ryckman's forces. The Mwami would fall in battle at the peak of the fighting, causing what few were left of his forces to surrender after the death of thousands, ending the Mwami Crisis and cementing the State of Katanga's victory, with Ryckmans at its helm.

## Politics

Katanga is an authoritarian republic that has been governed by Pierre Ryckmans as President for more than a decade. A non-partisan, de facto Neo-colonial state, its small bicameral parliament is primarily comprised of white settlers, with only two Africans serving within its 50-member Chamber of Representatives, and none in the 15-member Senate. While free elections are technically held within every five years in which all who are eligible to vote may run, poll taxes, income and property requirements, and education requirements are strict enough that very few Africans qualify to vote or run in elections.