He abused the national treasury, repealed the Constitution, shut down Parliament, shot students... It can be said that there is no evil! He prides himself on being napoleon, but he does not have the wisdom of Napoleon; later he calls himself emperor, and he does not have the spirit of an emperor. He was the last emperor in the world, the Emperor of the "Central African Empire" – Jean Beder Bokassa!
Jean-Beder Bokassa
Central Africa became a French colony as early as 1891 and became known as Ubangi Shali.
Bokassa was born in 1921 to a family of chiefs in Central Africa, but his father died in tribal battles when he was very young, and his mother committed suicide.
Suddenly transformed from a chief's son into an orphan, Bokassa was unable to adapt for a while, but fortunately he still had his grandfather!
Raised by his grandfather, Bokassa gradually grew up. He grew up with excellent grades, but his thinking was different from others, and he refused to apply for higher education, choosing instead to step into the door of the seminary, eager to become a priest.
Because in his eyes, pastors don't have to do much to be respected!
But with the outbreak of World War II, the French mainland quickly fell, and had to recruit new soldiers in their African colonies.
Bokassa's grandfather saw the opportunity and thought it was a good time to make a difference.
In 1939, at the age of 18, Bokassa was sent to the French army by his grandfather. His grandfather was not mistaken, and Bokassa made many military achievements in the army, and even favored by De Gaulle!
After the end of World War II, Bokassa stayed in France and settled, if things had developed, there might not have been any subsequent atrocities, but history cannot be changed according to the will of man!
In 1960, Central Africa gained peaceful independence and established the Central African Republic. However, the government of the Central African Republic at that time was completely in the hands of the French.
The newly established country did not have an army, so the French decided to send Bokassa, who had been in the French army for more than 20 years, to return home to form the Central African Army.
At first Bokassa was reluctant about the appointment, declaring himself loyal to France and "a citizen and defender of France"! However, many years of military career made him accustomed to obeying orders.
Bokassa returned to Central Africa in 1962, when central African President Covey Dako was his cousin, and the two had a very close relationship, and Dako had a lot of trust in him.
Soon after, Bokassa was appointed the first chief of staff of the army, and Bokassa, who was in a high position at this time,
His lust for power swelled quietly.
Three years later, Bokassa staged a coup d'état and began his dictatorship. During Bokassa's time as president, he made himself more and more empowered by constantly reorganizing the government.
After years of preparation, in 1976, Bokassa braved the world to change the original republic of Central Africa to a constitutional monarchy, and proclaimed himself Emperor Bokassa I, which changed the name of the Central African Republic
"Central African Empire".
Bokassa especially admired Napoleon, and he hoped that his enthronement ceremony would be as grand as Napoleon's. Bokassa asked the ministers not to be negligent in this regard, and everyone must be conscientious and do their best!
So how big is this enthronement ceremony?
Bokassa used 13,000 crowns, scepters and rings for diamonds alone; he also customized a 9-meter-long giant velvet robe studded with 780,000 pearls and 1 million precious stones; he shipped 40,000 bottles of wine and 24,000 bottles of champagne from France in 22 planes; he bought 25,000 bouquets of flowers and 200 kilograms of rose petals from the Netherlands and Australia; and bought 80 Mercedes-Benz cars and 200 BMW motorcycles from Germany and Japan, and he used a lot of money. In Italy, more than a dozen giant statues of his own were customized, and he also spent a lot of money to build a Bocass Avenue.
In preparation for this lavish enthronement ceremony, Bokassa extended invitations to leaders of more than 100 countries and more than 400 celebrities around the world.
But the slap in the face is that no leader attended the ceremony on the day of the enthronement, and more countries ordered diplomatic ambassadors to attend perfunctorily. Afterwards Bokassa claimed: "They were jealous of me if they didn't come!" ”
In other words, why did Bokassa's ascension to the throne not be appreciated by the national leaders? If you understand what he did, you will understand!
This absurd enthronement ceremony cost a total of thirty million US dollars, and the treasury of the "Central African Empire" was left with fifty thousand US dollars after the ceremony.
From 1967 to 1977, Bokassa reshuffled his government more than 10 times, during which time countless people disappeared, kidnapped, arrested and imprisoned, and prisons were filled with prisoners throughout the country.
In order to win the hearts and minds of the people, Bokassa gave speeches across the country, announcing that in the future, the people of the "Central African Empire" would only have to pay taxes once a year, and the simple people would continue to welcome them with thunderous applause.
But with the words still ringing in his ears, Bokassa turned around and increased taxes and stopped paying various social subsidies. He also appropriated the pillar industries of Central Africa at that time, such as diamonds, cotton, aviation, and coffee companies, and became the largest capitalist in Central Africa.
▲ Bokassa dressed up
In addition, Bokassa has a notorious special fetish! In the palace where he lived, there were lions, tigers, crocodiles and other beasts of prey, and when Bokassa rose up, he would feed these beasts with human flesh. He would even put his opponents in a duel with the beast!
At the height of Bokassa's power, he longed for himself to become sacred!
He ordered the Treasury to replace the national currency, and new banknotes and coins must have his portrait engraved on them.
It is worth mentioning that Bokassa also had a "Chinese concubine".
In 1968, Bokassa met 18-year-old Lin Bichun in Taiwan, and under his rhetoric, Lin Bichun and Bokassa returned to Central Africa together.
At first, Bokassa was very fond of Lin Bichun, he built a luxurious palace for Lin Bichun, took her family to Central Africa, and paid for them to open a Chinese restaurant.
But Bokassa's lustful nature is soon revealed, and he has a crush on other beauties! Lin Bichun was often ignored, and sometimes punched and kicked. Lin Bichun finally woke up and led her family away from the control of this tyrant!
Bokassa had many "concubines" in his lifetime! Each of his weddings was also arranged according to the highest standards, and its degree of luxury was no less than that of any other emperor in history.
But the treasury of the "Empire" is not enough to support his extravagance and waste! So Bokassa asked his queen to set up a garment factory, stipulating that all students in the country must uniformly wear the clothes produced by their family. Every piece of clothing was stamped with the words "Central African Empire," and students who refused to buy would be expelled from school, and even their parents would lose their jobs.
Such a piece of clothing costs $20, and the average Central African worker's salary for a month at that time was no more than that!
So the oppressed people of Central Africa began to rebel! Workers and students took to the streets to demonstrate, setting off a wave of protest!
Under the protests of the masses, Bokassa not only did not realize his problems, but personally led the armed forces to suppress the workers and students who protested, and the blood stained the streets of the capital Bangui.
Because the incident was so cruel and completely dehumanizing, after the news broke, Bokassa finally rebelled.
In 1979, former President Dacco staged a coup d'état with the support of french troops that completely overthrew the Bocassat regime. The so-called "emperor" was abolished and the absurd name of "Central African Empire" was changed back to the Central African Republic.
The people of the whole country spontaneously toppled the statue of Bokassa and celebrated the fall of the tyrant with songs and dances.
Bokassa, who was out on a visit, had not yet had time to say goodbye to his "throne" and began his escape journey! However, not only countries such as France and Switzerland have refused to admit him, but also African countries such as Gabon and Togo have refused to admit Bokassa.
Finally, after repeated private intercessions, President Boigny of Côte d'Ivoire in Africa reluctantly agreed to take him in.
In 1982 Bocassa moved from Côte d'Ivoire to France, where he lived in an upscale villa on the outskirts of Paris. But how could Bokassa, who had experienced the peak of power, settle in France?
In his heart, he always wanted to "restore" his "great empire", just like Napoleon!
So in 1986, bokassa appeared at the airport in Bangui, the capital of Central Africa, at the negligence of French agents.
The act shocked both the French and Central African authorities, and while shocking, no one recognized Bokassa's rule anymore, and he was spotted and arrested and imprisoned by security guards as soon as he got off the plane.
In 1987, the courts of the Central African Republic pronounced Bokassa to death for homicide and economic crimes, confiscated his property worth 3.143 billion CFA francs and imposed a fine of 6 million CFA francs.
In 1988, President Colimba announced a pardon for Bokassa's death sentence and changed it to lifelong hard labor, which bokassa was released from prison in 1993.
On November 3, 1996, Bokassa died of a sudden heart attack, and the evil soul finally left, and the story of a generation of "cannibal emperors" ended!