Introduction: You may not believe that he casts a crown with "flesh and blood", he cooks children, he reaches out his hand to everyone's money bag... Even God did not dare to open his eyes. But this is true — a fact jointly investigated by the justices of the five nations, and it is happening in this day and age in which we live. He is the greedy, tyrannical, and absurd tyrant, bokassa, the devil emperor of Central Africa.
In the early hours of December 31, 1966, gunfire erupted in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, and jean-Bader Bokassa, chief of staff of the Ministry of Defence, staged a coup d'état to oust Bokassa's first President, David Dako, a cousin of Bokassa' first president. Bokassa ascended to the presidency. In 1972 he added the word "lifetime" to the president, and in 1974 he gave himself the title of "Marshal".
Since then, Bokassa, who has admired Napoleon since childhood, has worn a "Napoleonic" marshal costume and called himself the "Napoleon of Central Africa". But the fly in the ointment is that Napoleon wears royal clothes, wears a crown, has great power, is mighty, and is much inferior to himself. How can a president be better than an emperor? If you can become emperor like Napoleon, then the wish of life is enough!
The emperor's dream disturbed him without sweetness, and he could not sleep at night, and he was overwhelmed.
One morning, Bokassa suddenly "disappeared.". The prime minister and ministers waiting for the summons were in a hurry, and there was no news of them calling everywhere. Bokassa's personal guards searched all corners of the presidential palace, but there was still no sign of the president. Could it be that the president has been kidnapped? Mrs. Domition, Africa's first female prime minister in the first year of office, broke out in a cold sweat. She is the president's confidant and has an extraordinary relationship with Bokassa. She personally went out on horseback and led the crowd around.
It turned out that Bokassa wanted to be emperor and had been disobeyed. In the night of the dream, the "god" came to his side, and he followed the "god" out of the presidential palace in the middle of the night, and even the lady sleeping on the bed did not find it. He walked to a village 40 kilometers away from the capital and did not say hello to anyone.
A dilapidated house, where the "god" was, went in and prayed that the "god" would bless him to be emperor. When Madame Domidion and the Civil and Military Officers found him, oh my God! The president knelt naked on the ground, and the crowd did not dare to be alarmed, nor did they leave under the scorching sun. Bokassa finally smiled. He realized the fierce loyalty of his subordinates to him. When he walked out on ivory crutches, everyone couldn't believe that the thin old man with a haggard and bearded face in front of him was their president.
The ministers asked timidly in a low voice, "Dear old uncle, what's wrong with you?" Please tell us what is on your mind, and we are willing to give everything, even our lives, for you. ”
Bokassa was touched by the loyalty of his subordinates, and with tears in his eyes like a child, he finally said his heartache: "... I want to be emperor! ”
It was like a thunderclap that stunned the female prime minister and ministers. You look at me, I look at you, and no one opens his mouth for a long time. They know it's not a joke. If you agree, it will be a great regression of history, and if you do not agree, your fate will be in the hands of Bokassa. Since Bokassa came to power, he has been dictatorial and authoritarian, and those who have gone along with us have prospered and those who oppose us have perished. During his nine years in power, he reorganized the government more than 20 times, and dissidents lost their offices, some went to prison, and some lost their lives. Even his right and left arms, Lieutenant Colonel Banza and Captain Marang Doa, who helped him in the coup, were eventually killed.
In the face of silence, Bokassa was greatly displeased, and his eyes widened and he asked viciously, "What?" You don't want to? disapprove? ”
"Like... support...... In favour..." The female Prime Minister and the ministers stuttered and hurriedly replied.
A nightmare became a reality in Central Africa.
On December 4, 1976, Radio Central African Republic issued a major news: Bokassa personally announced that from now on, the "Central African Republic" was renamed the "Central African Empire" and Bokassa was the Emperor of the Empire I. Imperial Prime Minister Patassé then issued a proclamation announcing the abolition of "uncivilized" etiquette such as kissing, hugging and shaking hands. It is stipulated that anyone who encounters Bokassa should bow down 6 steps away. The Prime Minister also read out a notice that the courtiers and envoys of various countries must wear large dresses and white gloves to pay tribute to Bokassa I on the 12th of this month.
Bokassa moved into the palatial Bellingo Palace. He made Catherine empress, as well as 17 official princesses and hundreds of crown princesses. He was completely modeled on Napoleon's every move, reclusive, hedonistically and thrill-seeking. When this was not enough, he hollowed out the idea of a coronation ceremony and showed the world his supremacy. The date is set for December 4, 1977 , the first anniversary of Bokassa's claim to the throne.
In order to make the crowning glorious and sensational, Bokassa ordered the charter of 22 foreign large transport aircraft and purchased expensive items from all over the world, including 22 tons of champagne, 150 tons of French fine wine, 200 tons of rose petals, and 250,000 tulip flowers. It also ordered 2,000 meters of red premium tapestries from Normandy, imported a fleet of 80 luxury cars, and ordered a gold crown worth $7 million and an emperor's golden throne worth nearly ten million dollars. The yellow robe alone weighs 25 kilograms and is inlaid with 780,000 pearls and nearly 10,000 crystal beads. The leopard-skin-trimmed velvet robe is 7.6 meters long and was produced by 110 high-level tailors who spent 16,000 man-hours.
He instructed Pierre Cardin, France's leading fashion designer, to design a large number of dresses and shoes for the court, and asked hundreds of French chefs to make coronation banquets.
The coronation cost more than $30 million, accounting for almost half of the "Central African Empire's" annual budget that year.
The coronation ceremony was held at the Bangui Gymnasium. Eight white thoroughbred horses specially purchased from Europe and carrying the royal carriages of Emperor Bokassa and Empress Catherine slowly marched on the modern imperial road specially built for the emperor, and teams of lancers dressed in Napoleonic military uniforms and attendants with dangling sabers in front of them set out from the Bellingo Palace towards the coronation palace, the gymnasium.
Relatives of the Emperor, members of the court, civil and military officials, religious representatives, delegations from various countries, and diplomatic envoys from various countries in Central Africa all attended the ceremony. The ceremony began, with 101 salutes and a military band playing the Anthem of China and Africa. Bokassa is like Julius Caesar holding a sword in front of him on the right, swearing an oath according to the constitution in his hand, and then putting on the royal robe and personally wearing a crown. Then he put another crown on the head of Queen Catherine, who was kneeling on one knee in front of him.
The audience cheered and the courtiers bowed. The Emperor and his party blew and beat and went to Bangui Notre Dame to do Mass. Bokassa was overjoyed and ordered the whole country to celebrate for three days.
However, african people can't laugh at all, they are suffering from hunger, poverty, and the mortality rate of newborn babies is as high as 80%. The people of the world are carrying forward humanitarianism to transport batches of relief supplies to the land of Africa.
Bokassa's idol is Napoleon. He compared his life to Napoleon. Both went from soldier to president for life to emperor. So Bokassa made the coronation as brilliant as Napoleon's coronation 173 years ago, and even the procedure was completely copied.
A coronation ceremony that exceeded the power of the country undoubtedly made this disaster-stricken country worse. When the money is spent, the treasury is empty, the debts are high, and the complaints are full of complaints, which can really be described as "a coronation ceremony, and the treasury is like a wash."
What to do? The Chancellor of the Exchequer was at a loss.
Bokassa asked the Prime Minister to draft a series of holy decrees on his behalf: he ordered that the salaries of employees be suspended for several months, the payment of financial aid to university students be suspended, and the tax be levied for 3 years to fill the national treasury.
He ordered that every citizen of the Central African Empire was a member of the only ruling party, the Black African Social Development Movement, and that every party member must pay dues to the organization, and that those who did not have the money to pay the membership fees were punished with 1-6 months of hard labor.
He also ordered that the Empire no longer bear the salaries of public enterprise workers. Civilian officials receive salary checks from the "Imperial Treasury," but they are difficult to convert into cash.
But unfortunately, the people of Central Africa are too poor, and these "tricks" of the emperor cannot squeeze out much oil and water.
However, the unscrupulous Bokassa extended his dirty hands to the foreigner's pocket.
Bokassa said blatantly at a cabinet meeting: "The purpose of our diplomacy is money. "I want the devil's money too!" "Anyone who gives us benefits, even if it is to build a road, send a boat, run a hospital, is our good friend." "Money is the root of life, and money is the center of our activities."
Much of Central Africa's budget is financed by france, the former suzerainty. Bokassa once sweetly told the French ambassador that France is the "second motherland" of The Central Africans and that the friendship between the two countries is "eternal" and "from generation to generation." The words of A-Fern have reached the pinnacle of perfection.
In the second half of 1970, Bokassa asked the French company to help build a railway, but the French company refused Bokassa's request because it was unprofitable. Bokassa immediately turned his face away, ordered the expulsion of the French experts working in Central Africa, and declared: "From now on, we are ready to restore diplomatic relations with People's China." But as soon as the words stopped, he went to Taiwan for an "official visit" and made a large sum of money there. Bokassa visits Libya non-stop for money. He complied with President Gaddafi's demands, as if the Central African Republic were a vassal state of Libya, and Bokassa even changed his Christian name to Hehra Adin. But when the money was in hand, he changed his name again.
Using these "tricks", foreigners' money has continuously flowed into Bokassa's treasury and personal pockets.
After Dengji was crowned, Bokassa thought that his value had increased by a hundredfold, and he personally went out to cheat money, feeling that he had lost his identity. To this end, he ordered the cabinet ministers to rush out, stretch out their hands wherever they could, and then reward them for their merits. In the United States, the Soviet Union, France, China and Africa, there are "friendly envoys" from Central Africa, who are like a group of beggars, begging everywhere, and losing their shame.
Central Africa was a French colony that gained independence and established a republic in 1960. The land area is 620,000 square kilometers, larger than France, with a population of about 2 million, rich in natural resources, and a good foundation for economic development. But since Bokassa came to power, the people have become poorer day by day, and the country's economy has almost reached the brink of complete collapse.
The treasury became Bokassa's personal pocket. "Treasury, it's me" is a phrase he hangs on his lips. He saw the Treasury as his private account in the bank, taking as much as he wanted. The Minister of Finance became his grand master, serving at Bokassa's side day and night.
The treasury was limited, however, and Bokassa called on government officials to make money in business. He himself was a pioneer. He co-owned with Swiss businessmen and opened a watch assembly factory in the capital Bangui, from which he contributed 20% of the treasury and 80% of the Swiss businessmen, and the profits were divided equally. In order to make more money, he ordered that no more watches should be imported throughout the country.
In January 1979, when the workers could not receive their salaries, Bokassa issued another ingenious decree, forcing all secondary school students to wear student uniforms emblazoned with the words "Central African Empire" and crown motifs, and to expel all those who did not comply. The secret is that these garments are produced by the Queen's garment processing factory, and each set costs 5,000 African francs, which is equivalent to a month's salary of ordinary workers. Bokassa's wishful thinking can first promote his "thousand-year-old empire" and promote enslavement education, and second, he can take advantage of the opportunity to make a windfall. This intensification of the looting of the people's wealth has infuriated the people. The students took to the streets to demonstrate and protest, and shouted out the backlog of cries in everyone's hearts: "Down with Bokassa!" ”
As a result of Bokassa's barbaric plunder, Central Africa's industrial and agricultural production has declined year after year, exports have decreased, fiscal deficits have increased, and the balance of payments deficit has reached 1.13 billion CFA francs and foreign debt has reached 21.2 billion CFA francs. The economic situation is deteriorating and there is no cure. Central Africa became one of the 25 poorest countries in the world at the time.
In contrast, the wealth of Bokassa and his royal family continued to tumble in geometric multiples, and Bokassa built several villas in France, he owned a large number of cars in Paris, and the banks had countless deposits and stocks. In Switzerland and other places, there are also large savings and the construction of luxurious villas that amaze the world.
In order to suppress the people's revolt, Bochangsa enacted a cruel criminal law. For example, in punishing thieves, he signed a decree that the first theft cut off one ear, the second theft cut off the other ear, the third theft cut off the right hand, and then the stealing sentenced to death. Bokassa calls himself an "absolute monarch" and prohibits mentioning "democracy and elections." From 1967 to 1977, Bokassa reshuffled the government more than 20 times, removed the prime minister four times, and foreign minister eight times. Countless people have disappeared, been kidnapped, arrested and imprisoned during this period, and prisons large and small are filled with prisoners. Political prisoners are persecuted in the most brutal ways and then executed in secret.
Over the years, Bokassa has cultivated "confidants", but in the end they have all left him, and they really can't stand Bokassa's misdeeds.
The conscience of Domition, Africa's first female Prime Minister, has awakened. She objected to Bokassa's claim to the throne and was immediately removed from the government. Bokassa spent all day worrying, suspicious, worried that someone was plotting a "coup". He used this as an excuse to arrest and bring justice to anyone who was not pleasing to the eye. Torture, ear cutting, eye gouging, and genital mutilation without a confession are brutally inflicted until death. In this way he cleared out a series of real or potential opponents.
The most replaced should be a military figure, because he came to power in a coup d'état and knew best what military power meant. After he purged the two founding fathers who helped him succeed in the "coup", he was not at ease with who would be the defense minister.
In September 1977, the minister of defense was innocently removed from his post, and he handed over military power to his son. However, after a month, because his son expressed different opinions on the coronation ceremony, Bokassa arrested his son for "conspiracy" and put him to death, and the queen begged bitterly so that the son could be saved from being killed by his father and expelled from Central Africa forever.
He was self-respecting, arrogant, and arrogant to the point of madness. He abolished all newspapers, did not allow news from anyone other than him, and he made it impossible for the national radio to broadcast only his own voice, and that everything he had was God's will, and that a violation would be a blasphemy against God. He often pretended to be a ghost, and made up some bizarre and eccentric stories that spread throughout the country, causing fascination and worship of him.
He spent 3 million CFA francs casting a giant full-body bronze statue of himself in the capital Bangui. His head was printed on the cover of the student's exercise book, and many buildings named after him, casting his head on currency, so that he could become famous in the world and live forever.
Bokassa monopolized all the power of the country, especially when he ascended the throne and became the empress, he was even more arbitrary and arbitrary, he controlled the country according to the feudal king's law, in his view, the king wanted to die, the subject had to die, everything had to be obeyed by him.
He never imagined that forcing students to buy school uniforms caused a "volcano" to erupt. Angry students poured into the streets, chanting "Pay our parents!" "Down with the feudal empire!" "Execute the Emperor!" Workers and unemployed people then joined the demonstrators. The procession roared like an irrepressible torrent, violently impacting the dictatorship of the Central African dynasty.
In the face of this unprecedented rebellion, Bokassa panicked and hid in Tibet, and in a panic, he ordered the Imperial Guard to strengthen his personal protection and asked neighboring Zaire to send troops to help. When Zaire's soldiers began patrolling the streets, he rose to his senses and announced on the radio: "End the riots!" "No assembly, demonstration is prohibited!" He ordered the security forces to act quickly.
Tear gas, faucets, sticks and gunshots were thrown into the streets, and the unarmed demonstrators were brutally suppressed. As a result, dozens of people were injured and more than 250 were held in cells. Most of them were children and adolescents, and many suffocated to death due to the small size of the prison, and the guards packed the bodies in bags and smuggled them into the wilderness in the dark of night to bury them.
In April 1979, Emperor Bokassa personally tortured and slaughtered these innocent children. Dressed in military uniform, he came to Ngaragba Prison, armed with an ivory scepter, and insulted the teenage children: You said you were going to execute the emperor, and now I am executing you.
At Bokassa's behest, more than 100 students were killed. Bokassa smugly said to himself, "See if any of you dare to oppose my reign as emperor in the future!" ”
The darkness of the night was covered with heinous sin, and God did not dare to open his eyes.
Some of the children who were killed were thrown into the court garden to feed the lions and tigers, and some were sent to the ice trove to be frozen for Bokassa to eat. Children's meat, he said, is the most beautiful delicacy.
In 1979, the International Year of the Child, Bokassa's crimes against children were publicly exposed by London-based Amnesty International. World public opinion was in an uproar. Bokassa is a heinous criminal in people's minds. Waves of rebuke and protest are coming.
Bokassa felt that things were not good, lost his soul, and hurried out to "clarify the facts" and "debunk the rumors", he shouted with all his might: "These are pure rumors, I personally believe in Christianity, I am the father of more than 30 children, it is impossible to hurt the children." But Bokassa's remarks have lost credibility internationally, and no one is interested in his "debunking." It was just in time for the Pan-African Summit to be held in Kigali, rwanda. At the meeting, Bokassa naturally became the target of public criticism. The meeting decided to establish a commission of inquiry on the bocassia issue, composed of judges from Senegal, Liberia, Togo, Rwanda and Côte d'Ivoire, to investigate the truth of the Bokassa incident. Bokassa , while "welcoming" the arrival of the commission of inquiry, tried to remove the victims' parents from Bangui before the arrival of the team, and made an exception for the displaced families to give some money.
He thought it would be foolproof. However, the paper could not contain the fire, and the investigation team learned after more than 10 days of investigation and announced the results confirmed that "about 100 children were killed under the emperor's orders and almost certainly with the emperor's personal participation." ”
After the investigation report was released, Bokassa was dumbfounded and speechless, and world public opinion once again set off a wave of anger against the Emperor of Central Africa. The French government decided to suspend military and economic aid to the Central African Empire; the United States then announced that it would stop providing aid to Central Africa and recalled its ambassador to Central Africa as a sanction.
Bokassa was able to come to power and maintain power mainly with the support of France. France sent troops to protect him, providing him with substantial financial assistance each year to maintain his necessary state activities, and now France believed that it was not in France's interest to support the infamous emperor any longer, and that it was time to change horses. France's suspension of aid sanctions has put Bokassa in a desperate situation.
Some military and political personnel and progressives in France and in the country who were excluded by Bokassa also set up anti-Bokassa organizations. In early July 1979, all anti-emperor political organizations in Central Africa met in Cotonou, the capital of Benin, and decided to set up a coordination committee to unify anti-emperor action.
Seeing that the tide was gone, Bokassa ordered the construction of an airstrip in the palace compound in case of emergency, and all the coronation luxuries were secretly transferred. The princes of the two boarding schools were also taken back to the palace to avoid retaliation from the victims' parents. Bokassa had thought, I die, everyone wants to live. He planned to send planes to bomb the capital Bangui, then kill the whole family and all the ministers, and finally wait for his death in the palace. However, Bokassa, who was greedy for life and feared death, did not make this final decision, and he still fantasized that the political climate would change from cloudy to sunny, and after the wind and rain he would continue to rule the Emperor's Great Seal.
Bokassa, who was desperate for money, finally came up with a trick, he wanted to sell a piece of territory in the north of Central Africa to Libya in exchange for dollars to solve the urgent need. Just as he was on his way to Libya to negotiate the deal, on September 20, 1979, the death knell of the Bokassa dynasty rang.
Former Central African President Dhaco, who was overthrown by his coup, returned to power with the support of France. On the evening of the 20th, former President David Dacko, the personal adviser of Emperor Bokassa, announced on the radio that Bokassa I had been overthrown, the Central African Empire had ceased to exist, and Central Africa had restored a republic... A bloodless coup succeeded.
People flocked to the streets and cheered. Portraits of Emperor and Empress Bokassa are scattered on the ground for trampling. A group of reveling young men picked up stones and slammed them into the emperor's throne. The bronze statue of Bokassa was pushed down, some people stepped on it, some people kicked it with their feet, some people spit on the bronze statue... The Central African capital, Bangui, has a jubilant atmosphere.
The greedy tyrants of the past, who were once mighty and authoritarian, became disgusting dogs of bereavement overnight. When Bokassa, who was in Libya, learned of the coup d'état, he shrugged his head helplessly and let out a bitter laugh. Suddenly, a harsh telephone rang, and in the microphone came an eviction order issued to him by the Libyan authorities, telling him to leave Libya immediately.
Where to settle down? Going to france, his "second home country", Bokassa pondered for a moment and made this decision.
However, when his "clipper" plane flew over the French airport of Orly, the airport signaled the refusal of the plane to land, informing him that France did not want him to settle in France because of his crimes. Bokassa had to fly to another airport, but the airport still did not allow it to land, but the aircraft fuel was almost exhausted, and finally after repeated pleading, the aircraft was allowed to make a temporary landing at evreux Air Base, but Bokassa was not allowed to leave the plane, and could only stay in the cabin to wait for refueling. Bokassa considered having his luxury villa and a large deposit in Switzerland, planning to spend his life there. But it was also rejected.
Finally, at his repeated requests, the elder President of Ivorian Ové Boigny of West Africa convened an emergency politburo meeting to discuss the decision to take Bokassa for asylum. From then on, he began his exile.
On 19 December 1980, after a five-day trial in absentia, a court in the Central African Republic sentenced Bokassa to death on charges of theft of State property, massacre of children and cooking human flesh. The Court issued an international warrant for Bokassa's arrest and ordered the confiscation of all his property.
In 1986, at the age of 65, Bokassa returned home and was immediately arrested by the Central African government. On November 3, 1996, the devil emperor of Central Africa died suddenly in the hospital of a heart attack, ending his disgraceful life.