Question: What was the former name of the democratic republic of congo?

Disambiguated questions and answers:
context: Lumumba had previously appointed Joseph Mobutu chief of staff of the new Congo army, Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC). Taking advantage of the leadership crisis between Kasavubu and Tshombe, Mobutu garnered enough support within the army to launch a coup. With financial support from the United States and Belgium, Mobutu paid his soldiers privately. The aversion of Western powers to communism and leftist ideology influenced their decision to finance Mobutu's quest to neutralize Kasavubu and Lumumba in a coup by proxy. A constitutional referendum the year before Mobutu's coup of 1965 resulted in the country's official name being changed to the "Democratic Republic of the Congo." In 1971 Mobutu changed the name again, this time to "Republic of Zaire".
question: What was the former name of the democratic republic of congo, given that name on 29 October 1971?
short_answers: Zaire

Republic of Zaire
wikipage: Democratic Republic of the Congo

context: In the 1870s, just before the onset of the Scramble for Africa, European exploration of the Congo Basin was carried out, first led by Henry Morton Stanley under the sponsorship of Leopold II of Belgium. Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Berlin Conference in 1885 and made the land his private property, naming it the Congo Free State. During the Free State, his colonial military unit, the "Force Publique," forced the local population to produce rubber. From 1885 to 1908, millions of the Kongo people died as a consequence of disease and exploitation. In 1908, Belgium, despite initial reluctance, formally annexed the Free State, which became known as the Belgian Congo.
question: What was the former name of the democratic republic of congo, given on 15 November 1908?
short_answers: Belgian Congo
wikipage: Democratic Republic of the Congo

context: The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been known in the past as, in chronological order, the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, the Republic of Congo-Léopoldville, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Zaire, before returning to its current name the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
question: What was the former name of the democratic republic of congo, given on 1 July 1885?
short_answers: Congo Free State
wikipage: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Long answers:
knowledge: content: Belgian exploration and administration took place from the 1870s until the 1920s. It was first led by Sir Henry Morton Stanley, who undertook his explorations under the sponsorship of King Leopold II of Belgium.
wikipage: Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo Free State (1877–1908)

content: Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Conference of Berlin in 1885 and made the land his private property.
wikipage: Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo Free State (1877–1908)

content: The Belgian Congo achieved independence on 30 June 1960 under the name "République du Congo" ("Republic of Congo" or "Republic of the Congo" in English). As the neighboring French colony of Middle Congo (Moyen Congo) also chose the name "Republic of Congo" upon achieving its independence, the two countries were more commonly known as "Congo-Léopoldville" and "Congo-Brazzaville", after their capital cities.
wikipage: Democratic Republic of the Congo Independence and political crisis (1960–1965)
long_answer: The area currently known as the Democratic Republic of Congo was explored and administrated by Belgium from the 1870s until the 1920s. The first expeditions were led by Sir Henry Morton Stanley under the sponsorship of King Leopold II of Belgium, who formally acquired rights to the Congo territory in 1885, making the land his private property and naming it the Congo Free State. After millions of the Kongo people died as a consequence of disease and exploitation, Belgium formally annexed the Free State in 1908, which became known as the Belgian Congo. The country achieved independence on 30 June 1960 under the name "République du Congo", but this would be chaned to Republic of Zaire in 1971 by decision of Joseph Mobutu, who, years prior, had launched a coup with financial support from the United States and Belgium.