Republic of Upper Volta

{{Short description|Former country in West Africa (1958–1984); now Burkina Faso}}

{{Expand French|date=August 2012|République de Haute-Volta|topic=gov}}

{{Infobox Former Country

| native_name = {{native name|fr|République de Haute-Volta}}

| conventional_long_name = Republic of Upper Volta

| common_name = Upper Volta

| demonym = Upper VoltanNational Basic Intelligence Factbook. United States: Central Intelligence Agency, 1980, p. 205 [https://books.google.com/books?id=CKSDXD2RmFgC]

| era = Cold War

| government_type = One-party presidential republic (1960–1966)

Corporatist state under a military dictatorship (1966–1980){{Cite web|url=https://sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/burkinafaso.htm|title=The Economic History of Burkina Faso|website=San José State University Department of Economics}}

Military dictatorship (1980–1983)

Marxist-Leninist{{cite web |date= 2020 |title= AFRICAN MARXIST MILITARY REGIMES, RISE AND FALL: INTERNAL CONDITIONERS AND INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS |url= https://seer.ufrgs.br/rbea/article/download/97061/58862 |access-date=2025-02-10 |publisher= Brazilian Journal of African Studies |language=en |quote= …Military Coups of a new type, which introduced revolutionary regimes self-declared Marxist-Leninist. This is the case of Somalia (1969) and Ethiopia (1974), the most emblematic case, but also of four french-speaking countries: Congo-Brazzaville (1968), Daomey/Benin (1972-74), Madagascar (1975) and Alto Volta/Burkina Faso (1983).}} military dictatorship (1983–1984){{cite web |date= 2020 |title= AFRICAN MARXIST MILITARY REGIMES, RISE AND FALL: INTERNAL CONDITIONERS AND INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS |url= https://seer.ufrgs.br/rbea/article/download/97061/58862 |access-date=2025-03-05 |publisher= Brazilian Journal of African Studies |language=en |quote=In contrast to Angola and Mozambique, where the Marxist component was associated with National Liberation Movements, those in Ethiopia and Somalia, as well as the four Francophone States, had Marxist Military Revolutions/Regimes after more than a decade of independence. […] In Somalia and Ethiopia, military coups in 1969 and 1974, respectively, evolved into socialist-oriented Marxist Military Regimes, which did not prevent the outbreak of a war between both states in 1977-78. In Somalia, the conflict complicated the strategy of socialist transformation, but in Ethiopia the opposite happened, with its deepening. In parallel, Congo-Brazzaville, Benin, Madagascar and Alto Volta (Burkina Faso), four former French colonies, suftered military coups that took the same path.}}

| year_start = 1958

| status = Self-governing colony (1958–1960)

| year_end = 1984

| event_start = Self-governing colony

| date_start = 11 December

| event_end = Renamed

| date_end = 4 August

| event1 = Independence

| date_event1 = 5 August 1960

| event2 = Coup d'état

| date_event2 = 3 January 1966

| event3 = Coup d'état

| date_event3 = 25 November 1980

| event4 = Coup d'état

| date_event4 = 7 November 1982

| event5 = Coup d'état

| date_event5 = 4 August 1983

| p1 = French Upper Volta

| flag_p1 = Flag of France.svg

| s1 = History of Burkina Faso#Burkina Faso{{!}}Burkina Faso

| flag_s1 = Flag of Burkina Faso.svg

| image_flag = Flag of Upper Volta.svg

| flag = Flag of Upper Volta

| image_coat = Coat of arms of Upper Volta.svg

| symbol_type_article = Coat of arms of Burkina Faso#Coat of arms of Upper Volta

| image_map = LocationBurkinaFaso.svg

| capital = Ouagadougou

| national_motto = "Unité{{spaced ndash}}Travail{{spaced ndash}}Justice" {{small|{{in lang|fr}}
"Unity{{spaced ndash}}Work{{spaced ndash}}Justice"}}

| national_anthem = {{lang|fr|Hymne National Voltaïque|italic=no}}
{{center|File:Republic of Upper Volta.ogg}}

| common_languages = {{ubl|French (official)|Mossi|Fula|Gourmanché|Bambara}}

| religion = {{ubl|Sunni Islam|Christianity|Traditional religions}}

| currency = CFA franc

| title_leader = President

| leader1 = Maurice Yaméogo

| year_leader1 = 1959–1966

| leader2 = Sangoulé Lamizana

| year_leader2 = 1966–1980

| leader3 = Saye Zerbo

| year_leader3 = 1980–1982

| leader4 = Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo

| year_leader4 = 1982–1983

| leader5 = Thomas Sankara

| year_leader5 = 1983–1984

| title_representative = High Commissioner

| representative1 = Max Berthet

| year_representative1 = 1958–1959

| representative2 = Paul Masson

| year_representative2 = 1959–1960

| deputy1 = Gérard Kango Ouédraogo

| year_deputy1 = 1971–1974

| deputy2 = Thomas Sankara

| year_deputy2 = 1983

| title_deputy = Prime Minister

| cctld =

| footnotes =

| population_estimate = 6,823,000

| population_estimate_year = 1980{{cite web|url=http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm|title=Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: Data Query|publisher=United Nations|website=esa.un.org|access-date=2025-04-04}}

| today = Burkina Faso

| iso3166code = HV

}}

The Republic of Upper Volta ({{langx|fr|République de Haute-Volta}}) was a landlocked West African country established on 11 December 1958 as a self-governing state within the French Community.{{Cite web |url=http://www.africa.com/countries/burkina-faso/afripedia/ |title=Burkina Faso |work=Afripedia |publisher=Africa.com |url-status=unfit |access-date=2017-02-09 |archive-date=2017-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211155824/https://www.africa.com/countries/burkina-faso/afripedia/}}{{Cite web |title=Field Listing: National Holiday |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/print_2109.html |access-date=2020-11-30 |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA |archive-date=2020-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922105638/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/print_2109.html |url-status=dead}} Before becoming autonomous, it had been part of the French Union as the French Upper Volta. On 5 August 1960, it gained full independence from France.{{cite book |last=Meredith |first=Martin |date=2013 |title=The State of Africa |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=69 |isbn=9780857203885}} On 4 August 1984, it changed its name to Burkina Faso.

Etymology

File:Upper volta map with rivers.PNG in Upper Volta]]

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. He had shown a deep authoritarian streak even before becoming president. 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.{{Cite web |title=Thomas Sankara |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Sankara |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2017-02-09 |archive-date=2016-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010201132/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Sankara |url-status=live}} 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".{{Cite web |title=More (Language of the Mossi Tribe) Phrase Book |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/635 |access-date=16 February 2013 |website=World Digital Library |archive-date=23 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123122514/https://www.wdl.org/en/item/635/ |url-status=live}}

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)

Symbols

= Flag =

The colours of the national flag corresponded to the names of the Volta's three main tributaries: the Black Volta, the White Volta and the Red Volta.{{Cite web |title=Upper Volta (Burkina Faso, 1959-1984) |url=https://www.fotw.info/flags/bf_uv.html |access-date=2020-11-30 |website=Flags of the World |archive-date=2020-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920045902/https://www.fotw.info/flags/bf_uv.html |url-status=live}}

= National Hymn =

In French:

Fière Volta de mes aieux,

Ton soleil ardent et glorieux

Te revêt d'or et de fierté

Ô Reine drapée de loyauté !

Nous te ferons et plus forte, et plus belle

À ton amour nous resterons fidèles

Et nos cœurs vibrant de fierté

Acclameront ta beauté

Vers l'horizon lève les yeux

Frémis aux accents tumultueux

De tes fiers enfants tous dressés

Promesses d'avenir caressées

Le travail de ton sol brûlant

Sans fin trempera les cœurs ardents,

Et les vertus de tes enfants

Le ceindront d'un diadème triomphant.

Que Dieu te garde en sa bonté,

Que du bonheur de ton sol aimé,

L'Amour des frères soit la clé,

Honneur, Unité et Liberté.

In English:

Proud Volta of my ancestors,

Your ardent and glorious sun

Takes you with gold and pride

O Queen draped with loyalty!

We will make you stronger and more beautiful

To your love we will remain faithful

And our hearts vibrant with pride

Will acclaim your beauty

Towards the horizon look up

Frisks with the tumultuous accents

Of your proud children all trained

Caressed promises of future

The work of your burning ground

Endless will soak the ardent hearts,

And the virtues of your children

The girdle of a triumphant diadem.

May God keep you in his goodness,

May the happiness of your beloved soil,

The love of the brethren be the key,

Honor, Unity and Freedom.

This anthem was replaced in 1984 by a new anthem, the Ditanyè.

Cultural references

{{anchor|Rockets}}During the 1960s, the Soviet Union was sometimes derisively referred to as "Upper Volta with rockets",{{cite news |last=Crashaw|first=Steve|date=15 November 1998|title={{sic|Telev|ison|nolink=y}}: From Burkina Faso with rockets to Upper Volta without|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/televison-from-burkina-faso-with-rockets-to-upper-volta-without-1185033.html|newspaper=The Independent|location=London|access-date=7 November 2014}} coined by a journalist Xan Smiley,{{cite web|url=http://www.russialist.org/archives/3059.html##6|title=Research Topics|website=www.russialist.org|access-date=2017-11-07}} referencing USSR's disproportion of defence sector over relatively undeveloped civilian economy.{{cite web|url=http://voxeu.org/article/soviet-economy-1917-1991-its-life-and-afterlife|title=The Soviet economy, 1917-1991: Its life and afterlife|last=Harrison|first=Mark|date=2017-11-07|website=VoxEU.org|access-date=2017-11-07}}