Republic of Upper Volta

Etymology

The name Upper Volta indicated that the country contains the upper part of the Volta River.

History

Upper Volta obtained independence on 5 August 1960, with Maurice Yaméogo of the Voltaic Democratic Union-African Democratic Rally (UDV-RDA) becoming the country's first president. A constitution was ratified the same year, establishing presidential elections by direct universal suffrage and a National Assembly, both with five-year terms. Shortly after coming to power, Yaméogo banned all political parties other than the UDV-RDA, as a result of a deep authoritarian streak that began prior to his presidency. Between the time he became prime minister of Upper Volta while it was still a French colony and independence two years later, opposition parties were subjected to increased harassment.

On 3 January 1966, Yaméogo was overthrown in a coup d'état led by army chief Sangoulé Lamizana. Although multiparty democracy was nominally restored four years later, Lamizana dominated the country's politics until he was himself overthrown in 1980.

After a series of short-term presidencies, Thomas Sankara then came to power through yet another military coup d'état on 4 August 1983. After the coup, he formed the National Council for the Revolution (CNR), with himself as president. Under the direction of Sankara, the country changed its name on 4 August 1984, from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which means "Land of Incorruptible People".

Politics

From 1958 to 1960, the Republic of Upper Volta was led by a high commissioner:

• Max Berthet (11 December 1958 to February 1959),
• Paul Masson (February 1959 to 5 August 1960). From 1971 to 1987, the Republic of Upper Volta was led by a prime minister:
• Gérard Kango Ouédraogo (13 February 1971 to 8 February 1974)
• Thomas Sankara (4 August 1983 to 14 October 1987)

Cultural references

RocketsDuring the 1960s, the Soviet Union was sometimes derisively referred to as "Upper Volta with rockets", coined by a journalist Xan Smiley, referencing USSR's disproportion of defence sector over relatively undeveloped civilian economy.

References

References

1. National Basic Intelligence Factbook. United States: Central Intelligence Agency, 1980, p. 205 [https://books.google.com/books?id=CKSDXD2RmFgC]
2. "Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: Data Query". United Nations.
3. "Burkina Faso". Africa.com.
4. "Field Listing: National Holiday". CIA.
5. Meredith, Martin. (2013). "[[The State of Africa]]". Simon & Schuster.
6. "Thomas Sankara".
7. "More (Language of the Mossi Tribe) Phrase Book".
8. Crashaw, Steve. (15 November 1998). "{{sic". [[The Independent]].
9. "Research Topics".
10. Harrison, Mark. (2017-11-07). "The Soviet economy, 1917-1991: Its life and afterlife".