Socialist Benin

Socialist Benin, officially the People's or Popular Republic of Benin, refers to a period of Benin's history where the government was run according to Marxist-Leninist principles. It was one of many socialist nations in Africa.

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, Libya, Cuba, East Germany and North Korea.

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 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.
• 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 reforms with the assistance of the IMF.
• 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

References

Wikipedia - People's Republic of Benin