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2nd Commando Battalion (Belgium)
The 2nd Commando Battalion (french: 2e Bataillon de Commandos) is a military formation of the Belgian Armed Forces and part of the 'Special Operations Regiment'. Its regimental traditions, including the name "Commando" and the green beret, were adopted from the Belgian soldiers who served in No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando during the Second World War. History Formation The traditions of the 1st Commando Battalion were originally based on those of 4 Troop of 10 (Inter-allied) Commando during the Second World War, which fought in North Africa, Italy and Northern Europe. It is particularly notable for its role during Operation Infatuate: the invasion of the Dutch island of Walcheren in 1944. All Belgian soldiers in 4 Troop were trilingual (French-Dutch-English). The badge of the new unit was designed by Padre Devos, based the British Commando Fairbairn-Sykes dagger. Belgian Congo During the months leading up to independence of the Belgian Congo, soldiers of the 2nd Commando Bat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belgian Army
The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. Ranks in use by the Belgian Army are listed at Belgian military ranks. History Organisation 1870s According to the Law of 16 August 1873, the army was to consist of: Infantry *14 regiments of line infantry (three active battalions, one reserve and one company in each regiment depot) *3 regiments of Jäger (military), Jäger (three active battalions, one reserve and one company in each regiment depot) *1 regiment of grenadiers (three active battalions, one reserve and one company in each regiment depot) *1 regiment of Carabinier (four active battalions, 2 reserve and 1 depot company of deposit) *2 companies settled *1 discipline body *1 military school for children of servicemen Note: a battalion (864 men) consists of four c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th Commando Battalion (Belgium)
The 4th Commando Battalion (french: 4e Bataillon Commando, nl, 4de Bataljon Commando) was a Belgian military formation and part of the Paracommando Regiment, based in the Belgian colonies of Congo and Rwanda-Urundi between 1959 until its disbandment in 1962, following the independence of Belgium's last African colony. In the 1970s, the unit was revived as 4th (Reserve) Commando Battalion before it was finally disbanded in 1979. Background In 1959, the 2nd Commando Battalion had been deployed to the Belgian Congo to deal try to maintain order in the months leading up to independence. However, it soon became clear that these forces would not be sufficient. Realising this, the 4th Commando Battalion was formed, from 2nd Commando Battalion officers and hastily trained conscripts. 4th Commando Battalion was created by Royal Decree (N.7397) by King Baudoin on 23 October 1959. The standard was presented to the unit on 1 April 1960. Operations in Congo and Rwanda-Urundi 4th Command ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Télévision Libre Des Mille Collines
(RTLM) ( rw, Radiyo yigenga y'imisozi igihumbi) was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993 to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role in inciting the Rwandan genocide that took place from April to July 1994, and has been described by some scholars as having been a ''de facto'' arm of the Hutu government. The station's name is French for "Free Radio and Television of the Thousand Hills", deriving from the description of Rwanda as ''"Land of a Thousand Hills"''. It received support from the government-controlled Radio Rwanda, which initially allowed it to transmit using their equipment. Widely listened to by the general population, it projected hate propaganda against Tutsis, moderate Hutus, Belgians, and the United Nations Mission Assistant to Rwanda (UNAMIR). It is regarded by many Rwandan citizens (a view also shared and expressed by the UN war crimes tribunal) as having played a crucial role in creating the atmosphere of charged racial hostility tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana (, ; 8 March 19376 April 1994) was a Rwandan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Rwanda, from 1973 until 1994. He was nicknamed ''Kinani'', a Kinyarwanda word meaning "invincible". An ethnic Hutu, Habyarimana served in several security positions including minister of defense under Rwanda's first president, Grégoire Kayibanda. After overthrowing Kayibanda in a coup in 1973, he became the country's new president and eventually continued his predecessor's pro-Hutu policies. He was a dictator, and electoral fraud was suspected for his unopposed re-elections: 98.99% of the vote on 24 December 1978, 99.97% of the vote on 19 December 1983, and 99.98% of the vote on 19 December 1988. During his rule, Rwanda became a totalitarian, one-party order in which his MRND-party enforcers required people to chant and dance in adulation of the President at mass pageants of political "animation". While the country as a whole had become slig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UNAMIR
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 872 on 5 October 1993. It was intended to assist in the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed on 4 August 1993, which was meant to end the Rwandan Civil War. The mission lasted from October 1993 to March 1996. Its activities were meant to aid the peace process between the Hutu-dominated Rwandese government and the Tutsi-dominated rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). The UNAMIR has received much attention for its role in failing, due to the limitations of its rules of engagement, to prevent the Rwandan genocide and outbreak of fighting. Its mandate extended past the RPF overthrow of the government and into the Great Lakes refugee crisis. The mission is thus regarded as a major failure. Background In October 1990 the Rwandan Civil War began when the Rwandan Patriotic Front rebel group invaded across Uganda's southern border into northern Rwanda. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the world's largest and most familiar international organization. The UN is headquarters of the United Nations, headquartered on extraterritoriality, international territory in New York City, and has other main offices in United Nations Office at Geneva, Geneva, United Nations Office at Nairobi, Nairobi, United Nations Office at Vienna, Vienna, and Peace Palace, The Hague (home to the International Court of Justice). The UN was established after World War II with Dumbarton Oaks Conference, the aim of preventing future world wars, succeeding the League of Nations, which was characterized as ineffective. On 25 April 1945, 50 governments met in San Francisco for United Nations Conference ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Parachute Battalion (Belgium)
The 1st Paratroopers Battalion (french: 1er Bataillon Parachutiste, nl, 1 Bataljon Parachutisten) or 1 PARA was a military formation of the Belgian Army and part of the Paracommando Brigade from 1946 to 2011. Its regimental traditions, including its badge and motto, were heavily influenced by the experience of many of its personnel in British SAS during the Second World War. The battalion was disbanded on 1 July 2011. Special Air Service Many personnel who had served in the Belgian 5th Special Air Service during the Second World War chose to re-enlist in the army following the war. These included the first commander of the unit, Eddy Blondeel, who had served in France and the Ardennes during the war. Major Operations Congo Crisis During political instability in the former Belgian colony of the Republic of Congo, soldiers from the 1st Paratroopers Battalion (with an attached company from the 2nd Commando Battalion and elements of the 3rd Paratroopers Battalion) were sent to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3rd Parachute Battalion (Belgium)
The 3rd Paratroopers Battalion (french: 3ème Bataillon Parachutistes, nl, 3 Bataljon Parachutisten) is a military formation of the Belgian Land Component and part of the Special Operations Regiment. It carries on the regimental traditions of the Belgian Korean War volunteers. Corps of Volunteers for Korea After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the United Nations asked the Belgian government for military assistance. Belgium, conscious of the vast cost and logistical difficulties of sending large numbers of men or equipment across the world, elected to put an elite unit under UN command. Since the Belgian constitution forbade sending anyone but volunteers on overseas deployments in peacetime, it was not possible to send an existing battalion, so the Belgian United Nations Command (known as BUNC) was created. BUNC also incorporated a platoon of volunteer from Luxembourg. BUNC soldiers wore Brown Berets with a new cap badge to distinguish them from other Belgian units. BU ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UNAMIR Blue Berets Memorial Kigali (4)
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 872 on 5 October 1993. It was intended to assist in the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed on 4 August 1993, which was meant to end the Rwandan Civil War. The mission lasted from October 1993 to March 1996. Its activities were meant to aid the peace process between the Hutu-dominated Rwandese government and the Tutsi-dominated rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). The UNAMIR has received much attention for its role in failing, due to the limitations of its rules of engagement, to prevent the Rwandan genocide and outbreak of fighting. Its mandate extended past the RPF overthrow of the government and into the Great Lakes refugee crisis. The mission is thus regarded as a major failure. Background In October 1990 the Rwandan Civil War began when the Rwandan Patriotic Front rebel group invaded across Uganda's southern border into northern Rwanda. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kisangani
Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville or Stanleystad) is the capital of Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the fifth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,312,000 in 2021, and the largest of the cities that lie in the tropical woodlands of the Congo. Some from the mouth of the Congo River, Kisangani is the farthest navigable point upstream. Kisangani is the nation's most important inland port after Kinshasa, an important commercial hub point for river and land transportation and a major marketing and distribution centre for the north-eastern part of the country. It has been the commercial capital of the northern Congo since the late 19th century. History Before Henry Morton Stanley, working on behalf of King Leopold II of the Belgians, founded what would become Stanley Falls Station in 1883, on the Island of Wana Rusari in the Congo River, the area was inhabited by a native Congolese tribe known as the Clans of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Dragon Rouge
__NOTOC__ Operation Dragon Rouge was a hostage rescue operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo conducted by Belgium and the United States in 1964. The operation was led by the Belgian Paracommando Regiment to rescue hostages held by Simba rebels in the city of Stanleyville. Background By 1964, the Léopoldville government, supported by Western powers, was gaining a foothold in its fight to suppress the communist-backed Simba rebellion. Fearing an inevitable defeat, the rebels resorted to taking hostages of the local white population in areas under their control. On 28 October the Simba rebels arrested all Belgians and Americans in Stanleyville. Several hundred hostages were taken to Stanleyville and placed under guard in the Victoria Hotel. The Léopoldville government turned to Belgium and the United States for help. In response, the Belgian army sent a task force to Léopoldville, airlifted by the U.S. 322nd Air Division. Washington and Brussels worked jointly on a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after the Congo became independent from Belgium and ended, unofficially, with the entire country under the rule of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu. Constituting a series of civil wars, the Congo Crisis was also a proxy conflict in the Cold War, in which the Soviet Union and the United States supported opposing factions. Around 100,000 people are believed to have been killed during the crisis. A nationalist movement in the Belgian Congo demanded the end of colonial rule: this led to the country's independence on 30 June 1960. Minimal preparations had been made and many issues, such as federalism, tribalism, and ethnic nationalism, remained unresolved. In the first week of July, a mutiny broke out in the army and violence erupted between black and whit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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