Congo became the first Cold War hotspot in sub-Saharan Africa. The scramble for vast territory in the "heart of Africa," rich in strategic minerals, is filled with events that have "shocked the world." The riots that swept the country a week after independence, the separation of the province of Katanga and the entry of UN troops (July 1960). Assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, one of the symbols of independent Africa (1961). Dramatic, full of unexpected twists and turns, the three-year struggle to return Katanga to Congo (1960-1963), which cost the life of UN Secretary-General Date Hammarskjöld. A powerful uprising of Lumumba's supporters (1964), which was suppressed only with the help of external military intervention, which resulted in the death of dozens of white hostages.