Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo enters the account through the civil war in the former Belgian Congo and the peace effort that became Dag Hammarskjöld’s final mission. Rather than offering a general history or description of the country, the narrative presents it as a place where international diplomacy, armed conflict, and uncertainty converged in 1961.

Setting and Conflict

During the summer of 1961, civil war in the former Belgian Congo occupied much of Hammarskjöld’s attention as Secretary-General of the United Nations. The account locates the crisis in the territory that is now named the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but does not detail the war’s origins or the competing forces beyond identifying the planned meeting with Moïse Tshombe, president of Katanga Province.

Hammarskjöld’s Peace Mission

In September, Hammarskjöld flew to Africa hoping to negotiate a peace agreement. He spent his last night with the United Nations mission to the Congo. Among the books he left at the house were a German copy of Martin Buber’s I and Thou and his personal copy of The Imitation of Christ; he had used a typed copy of his oath of office as a bookmark. These belongings place the diplomatic mission alongside the private spiritual life that the account identifies as an important, though largely hidden, part of his public career.

The Crash and Its Uncertainty

The next day, the plane carrying Hammarskjöld toward Rhodesia for a meeting with Tshombe crashed. The account reports that the sole survivor, a United Nations security guard, heard explosions before the crash. It describes sabotage, an attack by a fighter plane, and pilot error on a landing approach as competing explanations, without establishing which, if any, was correct. Hammarskjöld’s death thus links the Congolese conflict to an unresolved aviation disaster and brings his peace mission to an abrupt end.