See
also Africa
For events in
North Africa relating to the Islamic
World and Arab Spring see also Islam & Middle
East
For map
of geographical changes to Lake Chad click here
30 May 2016,
The trial of Hissein Habre, aged 73, former President of Chad
1982-1990, concluded. He was found guilty by the Court in Senegal of crimes
including mass rape and torture. Overall, an estimated 40,000 people were
murdered under his rule before he was deposed and fled into Senegal.
20 July 2015,
The trial of former Chadian President (1982-1990), Hissein Habre, began,
see 30 May 2016.
2 February 2008, Rebels attacked
N�Djamena, capital of Chad.
23 December
2005, Chad declared a state of war with Sudan. Chad
alleged that Libya was trying to destabilise its border region in the wake of
the Darfur Crisis.
2003, A peace
deal ended a 4-year
rebellion in northern Chad.
1996, The
Chadian Govermnment made peace with a range of opposition groups on the North
and the South
1994, Libya
formally relinquished claims on the Aozou Strip in northern Chad.
1993, Habre attempted a coup against Deby, but failed.
5 April 1993,
Republican Guards killed 64 in Chad.
President
Habre (1989-91); deposed by pro Libyan forces (Deby)
28
November 1990, The President of Chad, Hissein Habre,
was deposed by the Patriotic Salvation Movement and replaced as President
by its leader, Idriss Deby. Deby set free some 400 Libyan prisoners, leading many to suspect he was being
supported by Qaddaffi.
1 September 1990, Chad instituted
proceedings against Libya in the International Court of Justice, a day after
Libya had done the same against Chad. Both sides were claiming the Aozou Strip
1989, Habre became
President of (all of) Chad.
1982-89,
Libyan occupation of northern Chad; Habre rules the South
31 August 1989. Libya and Chad signed a
peace agreement ending 25 years of war.
1987, Oueddi�s forces now turned
against Libya (Oueddi
had been shot and injured by the Libyans in 10/1986). Oueddi and Habre now joined forces to oust
the Libyans from northern Chad, including the Aozou Strip. Habre�s advisor, Colonel Idriss Deby,
led the successful military push against Libyan forces through 1987.
17/9/1984, France and Libya
reached agreement on the
withdrawal of both countries� troops from Chad by mid-November.
19 August 1983, France sent a further
3,500 troops to assist Hissein
Habre, who was leader of southern Chad.
11 August 1983, Faya Largeau in Chad fell to Libyan troops.
7 August 1983, France sent paratroopers to
supplement 500 �military instructors� in Chad.
2 August 1983, Libyan planes bombed Faya Largeau in Chad.
7 June 1982, Hissein Habre�s forces
seized N�Djamena and forced Oueddi to flee. N�Djamena, the Chadian capital, is
located in southern Chad, latitude 12 N. However Chad north of 15 N was
occupied by pro-Libyan forces, effectively partitioning the country.
President Oueddi (Libyan-backed) 1979-82; ousted from the capital by
Hissein Habre
19 November 1981, Civil war in Chad as the rebel FAN (Armed
Forces of the North) army backed by Libya fought to
oust President
Goukoni Oueddei, who himself had been installed with Libyan backing
following the assassination of President Francois Tombalbaye in 1975. Tombalbaye
had been the first President since Chad gained independence on 11 August 1960.
See 7 June 1982.
26 December 1980, President Oeddi
of Chad accepted thye Libyan annexation of the Aozou Strip as �an accomplished
fact�.
15 June 1980, Libya and
Chad signed a Treaty of Friendship, with Libya still in possession of the Aozou
Strip.
1980, Libyan forces supporting Oueddi occupied N�Djamena, and Colonel Qaddaffi proclaimed
a union of Chad and Libya. Libyan troops were withdrawn in 1981.
President Malloum (southern) (1975-79); deposed by Libyan backed forces
1979, President Malloum was deposed, and fled to
Nigeria. Goukouni
Oueddi, former FROLINAT leader, became President, with Hissein Habre as Defence
Minister. Rivalry soon developed between these two Muslim leaders.
15 March 1979, In Chad,
President Felix
Malloum, President Hissen Habre and guerrilla leaders of FROLINAT
signed an agreement in Kano, Nigeria, to end hostilities and form a coalition
government. On 20 March France began withdrawing its 2,500 troops that had been
supporting the President.
1978, FROLINAT overran the Chadian Governmant�s military
stronghold at Tibesti. The French Foreign legion were brought in to push back FROLINAT
1975, Military coup by Bantu General Felix Malloum. He was
opposed by the Libyan-backed Chadian National Liberation Front (FROLINAT). By
1978 FROLINAT
controlled some 80% of Chad.
1972, Libya seized the Aozou Strip in
northern Chad, taking advantage of factional fighting within Chad. The Strip was thought to contain uranium
deposits, which would enable Libya to become a nuclear power.
1965, Northern Chad was
inhabited� by Arab Muslim nomads and
cattle herders, whilst the South was mainly Bantu Christian and Animist farmers.
By 1865 the North felt discriminated against, because the Chadian Govermment
was dominated by Southerners.
11 August 1960, Chad formerly a French colony, became an
independent Republic.
1959, Pre-indepencence elections produced a victory for Francois (later, Ngarta) Tombalhaye,
who became Prime Minister.
10 August 1955, France
signed a Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighbourliness with Libya, which by
then was independent. This later Treaty is cited by Chad as superseding the
unratified 1935 agreement.
7 January 1935, A proposed
agreement between France and Italy to cede the Aozou Strip, Chad, to Libya.
However France never ratified this agreement.
French subjugation of Chad
11 February 1912, The Niger-Chad border
was delineated by the Governors-General of French West Africa and French
Equatorial Africa.
1906, The French finally gained control
of the Kanem area, near Lake Chad. They gained control of Wadai in 1912, and
finally the northern Chadian territory of Borkou in 1914.
1 November
1902, Italy, which had just taken Libya from Turkey, agreed to the
Libya-Chad border as settled by Britian and France in 1899.
22 April 1900, France, Britain and Germany were
all racing to colonise the Lake Chad area, then thought to be of major economic
importance See also Nigeria
(7/1890) for
the creation of Cameroonian territorial extension northwards to Lake Chad.
The French
arrived first, and French explorer Emile Gentil (1866-1914) led an expedition
down to the southern part of the lake and made a treaty with the Sultan of
Baguirmi to set up a French Protectorate in the area. French forces now (1900)
moved south from Algeria and east from Senbegal and Niger, joined with Gentil�s
men, and this day defeated Rabah Zobeir, a Muslim chieftain, at the
Battle of Lakhta (Kusseri). However it took several years thereafter to subdue
the determined resistance from the Senussi people.
13 June 1899, Britain and
France agreed upon the line of the Libya-Chad border, as part of an agreement
on colonial spheres of influence within the region.
1878, Rabah
Zobeir began a conquest of Chad from Sudan.
1500s, 1600s,
Baguirmi and Ouaddai Kingdoms ruled the region.
800s, The Kanem-Bornu Empire was founded in what is now northern Chad.