The history of the Central African Republic dovetails with that of its neighboring country of Chad. From the 16th to the 19th century few geographical distinctions existed between the two, and of bigger concern were the marauding slave traders that dragged off anyone they could into captivity. France wrested more or less total control of the area in the early 1900s, and held it until 1946 when a revolt forced the French to allow C.A.R. self-government. The next step for the country was total independence.

On this day, August 13, in 1960, the Central African Republic declared independence, voting the leave the greater French community (France’s equivalent to the Commonwealth of Nations) and move closer politically to China.

Beijing’s interest in the C.A.R. stemmed from a desire to spread its ideology to other underdeveloped nations and of course check Western “imperialism”, but the country remained too lawless for China to make any headway. In a five year period from late 1976 to 1981 the country went through two coups, including one that changed the system of government to imperialism, and three rulers. By the mid 2000s a democratic election selected the country’s leaders, but many of them were still dogged by accusations of using the military to commit atrocities.