71 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
71 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
**Socialist Benin**, officially the **People's** or **Popular Republic
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of Benin**, refers to a period of [Benin's](Benin "wikilink") history
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where the government was run according to
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[Marxist-Leninist](Marxist-Leninism "wikilink") principles. It was one
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of many [socialist nations in Africa](African_Socialism "wikilink").
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## History
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### Background
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Benin had been a colony of the French Empire since 1892, and in 1960 was
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decolonised. The country became poor and unstable as leaders pitted
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ethnic groups against eachother to secure their own power.
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### Establishment
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Established following a military coup in 1972, the leader of the country
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(Mathieu Kérékou), initially claiming to be a centrist, announced his
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intentions in 1974, nationalising the industrial and financial sectors,
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declaring the country to be Marxist-Leninist and pursuing relations with
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the [USSR](USSR "wikilink"), [Libya](Socialist_Libya "wikilink"),
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[Cuba](Cuba "wikilink"), [East Germany](East_Germany "wikilink") and
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[North Korea](North_Korea "wikilink").
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### Trouble
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The government survived an attempted military coup organised by France
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in 1977 and suffered economic stagnation, an unhappy population and a
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corrupt government.
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### Collapse
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After the introduction of IMF reforms, [an
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uprising](Benin_Uprising_\(1989\) "wikilink") broke out across the
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country over high cost of living and anger at the government. These were
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successful and forced the government to abandon Marxist-Leninism and aim
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to become a liberal democracy.
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## Positives
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- Real per capita GDP (constant 2000 US$) in Benin grew by
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approximately 0.3% per year from 1975 to 1989. While this rate of
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growth is quite weak by absolute standards, it was slightly above
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the norm for sub-Saharan Africa at the time - real per capita GDP
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for the region as a whole declined by about 1.0% per year over the
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same period.
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- The government renamed the country from the French colonial name
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Dahomey to Benin, in reference to the African Benin Empire and
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[Benin Megacommunity](Benin_Megacommunity "wikilink").
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- Cotton production increased.
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- Roads were expanded across the country.
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## Negatives
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- The government was an authoritarian dictatorship which tortured
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political prisoners and antagonised unions and the church.
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- In the late 1980s, the government implemented
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[neoliberal](Neoliberalism "wikilink") reforms with the assistance
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of the [IMF](International_Monetary_Fund "wikilink").
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- The government attempted an extreme form of atheism which banned
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practicing of certain religions (whilst allowing the president to
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practice religion in private)
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- Teachers left the country after the government reorganised the
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education system
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- The former president later became an evangelical christian... eerily
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similar to [Jim Jones](Jim_Jones "wikilink")
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## References
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[Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") - [People's Republic of
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Benin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_Benin) |