People's Republic of Benin

Benin, 1975–1990. Draft, not yet reviewed

The People's Republic of Benin was a Marxist-Leninist state located in the Gulf of Guinea on the African continent, which became present-day Benin in 1990. The People's Republic was established on 30 November 1975, after the 1972 coup d'état led by Marxist and nationalist general Mathieu Kérékou in the Republic of Dahomey. It was governed under a one-party state led by the People's Revolutionary Party of Benin, which effectively lasted until 1 March 1990, with the adoption of a new constitution, and the abolition of Marxism-Leninism in the nation in 1989. A new constitution was adopted in 1978, and the first elections for the National Revolutionary Assembly were held in 1979.

Seat of power: Porto-Novo

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

On 30 November 1974, before an assembly of stunned notables in the city of Abomey, he gave a speech proclaiming the formal accession of his government to Marxism-Leninism.
On 30 November 1975, with the first anniversary of the speech of Abomey, Kérékou changed the country's name to Benin, after the Bight of Benin which in turn was named after the Benin Empire that had once flourished in neighboring Nigeria (south-central).
The three former presidents, Hubert Maga, Sourou Migan Apithy, and Justin Ahomadegbe (imprisoned in 1972) were released in 1981.
In 1989, riots broke out when the regime did not have enough money to pay its army.

Picture

Mathieu Kérékou was a Beninese politician and revolutionary who served as president of the People's Republic of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and the Republic of Benin from 1996 to 2006.

Image: Ricardo Stuckert/ABr, CC BY 3.0 br, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.