A study in contradictions, Central Africa was the heart of the slave trade even before 19th century European colonialism. Constant armed conflicts resulted in the capture of prisoners who were promptly sold off to Arab slavers and taken north through the Sahara to the Atlantic coast. France was the first country to make a military claim in the area — though they were fiercely resisted by King Rabah Zubayr, a former slave turned slave trader. King Zubayr’s formidable force kept the French at bay for decades, demonstrating the local people’s determination to remain free even as their king enslaved many of their countrymen.

On this day, August 11, in 1960, Chad gained its independence from France, joining the neighboring former colony, the Central African Republic (formerly Ubangi-Shari).

By the 1970s the political situation in Chad devolved into a low grade civil war, with a guerrilla force occupying the northern portion of the country. The guerrillas benefited from military support from Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, who mistakenly believed the Aouzou Strip in the north had a deposit of uranium, which Gaddafi could use for developing nuclear weapons.