**Socialist Benin**, officially the **People's** or **Popular Republic
of Benin**, refers to a period of [Benin's](Benin "wikilink") history
where the government was run according to
[Marxist-Leninist](Marxist-Leninism "wikilink") principles. It was one
of many [socialist nations in Africa](African_Socialism "wikilink").

## History

### Background

Benin had been a colony of the French Empire since 1892, and in 1960 was
decolonised. The country became poor and unstable as leaders pitted
ethnic groups against eachother to secure their own power.

### Establishment

Established following a military coup in 1972, the leader of the country
(Mathieu Kérékou), initially claiming to be a centrist, announced his
intentions in 1974, nationalising the industrial and financial sectors,
declaring the country to be Marxist-Leninist and pursuing relations with
the [USSR](USSR "wikilink"), [Libya](Socialist_Libya "wikilink"),
[Cuba](Cuba "wikilink"), [East Germany](East_Germany "wikilink") and
[North Korea](North_Korea "wikilink").

### Trouble

The government survived an attempted military coup organised by France
in 1977 and suffered economic stagnation, an unhappy population and a
corrupt government.

### Collapse

After the introduction of IMF reforms, [an
uprising](Benin_Uprising_\(1989\) "wikilink") broke out across the
country over high cost of living and anger at the government. These were
successful and forced the government to abandon Marxist-Leninism and aim
to become a liberal democracy.

## Positives

  - Real per capita GDP (constant 2000 US$) in Benin grew by
    approximately 0.3% per year from 1975 to 1989. While this rate of
    growth is quite weak by absolute standards, it was slightly above
    the norm for sub-Saharan Africa at the time - real per capita GDP
    for the region as a whole declined by about 1.0% per year over the
    same period.
  - The government renamed the country from the French colonial name
    Dahomey to Benin, in reference to the African Benin Empire and
    [Benin Megacommunity](Benin_Megacommunity "wikilink").
  - Cotton production increased.
  - Roads were expanded across the country.

## Negatives

  - The government was an authoritarian dictatorship which tortured
    political prisoners and antagonised unions and the church.
  - In the late 1980s, the government implemented
    [neoliberal](Neoliberalism "wikilink") reforms with the assistance
    of the [IMF](International_Monetary_Fund "wikilink").
  - The government attempted an extreme form of atheism which banned
    practicing of certain religions (whilst allowing the president to
    practice religion in private)
  - Teachers left the country after the government reorganised the
    education system
  - The former president later became an evangelical christian... eerily
    similar to [Jim Jones](Jim_Jones "wikilink")

## References

[Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") - [People's Republic of
Benin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_Benin)