History
The Mossi people began settling certain regions of Burkina Faso as early as the 14th century. With their powerful cavalry, they quickly took control of the region and held it. The French arrived towards the end of the 19th century. For them, Burkina Faso was important for strategic regions because it served as a link between Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Niger, all better endowed with natural resources. So, the French army arrived and seized control of the region.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the territory was reorganized several times by the colonial authorities. The region currently occupied by Burkina Faso was, in the original French allocation, part of the colony of Haut-Sénégal-Niger, made up of present-day Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Following revolts by the population in the South-West, the colonial authorities in Dakar decided to create a new territory encompassing the area of present-day Burkina Faso. They named it Upper Volta.
Again in 1932, the colony was reorganized. Upper Volta was divided between Mali, Niger and Côte d’Ivoire, the last receiving the largest part. Just as the people had objected to the loss of the autonomy of their territory in its incorporation in Haut-Sénégal-Niger, they objected to the new consolidated colony. When elections took place in Côte d’Ivoire in 1946, a party supporting separation of Upper Volta gained influence. So, in 1947, the colony of Upper Volta was created anew in the French Parliament.
Following this last shuffle of territory, the country was headed for independence. In 1956, each of the West African colonies under French rule created its own governing council and representation of each colony in the French parliament increased. The first elections took place in 1957 and on August 5th, 1960, Upper Volta achieved its independence. Maurice Yameogo, already leader of the governing council, became the country’s first President.
In the beginning, things were not easy for the state of Upper Volta. Several times during its first thirty years, the military seized control in coups d’état. In an effort to return to democratic rule, most of the military rulers tried to organize elections. However, these did not solve the country’s problems. In 1983, Thomas Sankara arrived in power via a coup. Sankara was an energetic young man who contributed greatly during the four years of his rule to the modern Burkinabé identity. He created the name Burkina Faso using elements of the three main languages – Moré, Dioula and Fulfulde. He tried to improve conditions by educating the homeless in various trades. He began a programme to vaccinate children, tried to increase demand for local cotton by changing government spending policies and created “Committees for the Defence of the Revolution” (CDR) to give people a chance to improve their own quality of life. However, Sankara never mastered the art of international diplomacy and even started a war with Mali. Also, the CDRs, which he supported so strongly, were sometimes used in a corrupt and unjust manner.
And so, the 15th of October, 1987, Sankara was overthrown by one of his captains, Blaise Compaoré. Since 1987, Mr. Compaoré has organized three elections and has won each one. The last of these elections was multi-party, was followed by external observers and was judged to be fair.
