A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WORLD (of Guinea): PART I

700 - 1400 --------

• Many parts of the country belong to the prosperous empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai.

1849 ----------------

• Coastal Guinea becomes a French protectorate.

1898 ----------------

• France’s domination of the country assured.
• Official French policy promotes the assimilation of French customs and language by local populations.  This is based on the assumed “cultural superiority” the French over indigenous people. 

1898 - 1958 -------

• A French governor remained head of the territorial government, assisted by a government council chosen by a newly elected territorial assembly.
• Provision is also made for an African vice president to be selected from among the assemblymen. These changes favor political and social progress in the colony and lead to the creation of political parties that pave the way for independence.

1958 ----------------

• Guinea is the 1st colony in Africa to gain independence from France through an effort led by the country’s first president, Sekou Touré.
• The newly formed government decides not to participate in the economic system proposed by French leaders for their former colonies, which leads to a complete break in relations with France for years.
• Sekou Touré develops close relations with Cuba, China, and the Soviet Union, and institutes Marxist-socialist economic and political reforms.

1963 ----------------

• Peace Corps sends its first Volunteers to Guinea.
• More than 1,200 Volunteers have served here since.

1966 ----------------

• Relations between the US government and the government of Guinea sour, and the Guinean government asks Peace Corps Volunteers to leave.

1969 ----------------

• Peace Corps is invited to return.

1971 ----------------

• Relations between the two governments deteriorate again, and Peace Corps Volunteers leave.

1984 ----------------

• President Touré dies and a military coup is led by Guinean army Colonel Lansana Conté.
• The army forms the Comité Militaire de Redressement National (CMRN) to run the country. The CMRN bans the Guinea Democratic Party (PDG), suspends the 1982 constitution, and dissolves the National Assembly. 
• The CMRN resolves to create a market-oriented economy and promises to encourage an open and pluralistic society.
• Peace Corps is asked to return.

1986 ----------------

• Since this year, the Peace Corps has maintained a presence in Guinea.

1988 ----------------

• A constitutional committee is established in Guinea.

1990 ----------------

• A new constitution is put to popular vote, and the revised constitution receives overwhelming popular support.
• This ended the first phase of the transition to a democratically elected government promised by the army since its early days in power.

1991 ----------------

• The second phase of transition to a democratically elected government takes place with the replacement of the CMRN by the Conseil Transitoire de Redressement National (CTRN), which includes more civilians than the CMRN.
• The CTRN serves as a transitional government until presidential and parliamentary elections are held. 

1993 ----------------

• General Lansana Conté is elected president in the country’s first multiparty elections.

1998 ----------------

• Conté is re-elected president.

2003 ----------------

• Conté is re-elected.

2007 ----------------

• Peace Corps' program is briefly interrupted due to civil unrest.
• The program reopens in July.

2008 ----------------

• Conté dies in December.  
• Hours after Conté’s death, a junta called CNDD (the NationalCouncil for Democracy and Development), headed by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, takes over in a bloodless coup.

2009 ----------------

• In September the military opens fire on a peaceful political gathering organized to protest the CNDD’s failure to move forward (as promised) with democratic elections. 
• The massacre sparks unprecedented condemnation from the international community, followed by heavy sanctions and pressure.
• On December 3, Camara escapes an assassination attempt by his own aide de camp but was seriously injured.  
• Following treatment in Morocco, Camara has since lived in exile in Burkina Faso.
• General Sekouba Konaté assumes the interim presidency, opening the way to agreements that culminated in the establishment of a transitional government led by an opposition-appointed prime minister and the CNT (National Council of the Transition), tasked with revising the constitution and serving as Parliament in the interim.
• The Peace Corps program is once again suspended in October following military violence in the capital, but reopens in late 2010.

2010 ----------------

• June 27th - The first round of presidential elections takes place and produces two leading candidates.  
• Elections are largely recognized by the international community as free, fair, and peaceful, despite some logistical problems, irregularities, and allegations of fraud. 
• The second and final election round is held in November. Despite some tensions prior to the announcement of final results, the elections are largely peaceful, and the losing party accepts the results.

2011 ----------------

• In January, Alpha Condé is sworn in as president of Guinea.