Lome - History

The Ewes, who were hunters and farmers, moved into the area which is now Togo from the Niger River Valley between the 1100's and 1300's centuries. During the 1400's and 1500's centuries, Portuguese explorers and traders visited the coast. For the next 200 years, the coastal region was a major slave trading center. To a great extent, the history of modern Togo mirrors the history of colonial Africa, as European powers struggled to gain control of overseas territories.Togoland, of which modern Togo was formerly a part, was colonised by the Germans in 1894. Their administration was overthrown by a joint Anglo-French force early in World War I after which the country was divided into a French-controlled eastern region and a British-occupied western sector, each of which was governed under a League of Nations mandate. 

After a UN-sponsored referendum in 1956, the British sector merged with the neighbouring colony of Gold Coast to form Ghana, while the French part chose later in the year to become the autonomous Republic of Togo. It was granted full independence in 1960. The civilian government which took power at this point lasted just seven years before a military coup in January 1967 brought Lieutenant-Colonel Etienne Gnassingbe Eyadιma to power.  

Over the years, Europeans established enclaves along the coast, and in 1884 a German diplomat, Gustav Nachtigal, arrived at a small village called Togo, which is today Togoville. On July 4th and 5th, 1884, the chief of Togoville, Mlapa III, signed a treaty with Nachtigal that quickly led to the creation of German Togoland. Following Germany's defeat in World War I, the country was divided into two territories: West Togo came under British rule and is now part of the modern nation of Ghana. East Togo became a French territory - today's Republic of Togo. In 1956, Nicholas Grunitzky became prime minister of Togo, but lost to Sylvanus Olympio in a UN supervised general election in 1958. On April 27, 1960, French Togo became fully independent under a provisional constitution with Sylvanus Olympio as president. In 1963, President Olympio was assassinated by army noncommissioned officers, and Grunitzky returned to head a provisional government first as prime minister and later as president. 

The Ewe people moved into area, which is now Togo, from the Niger River Valley between the 12th and 14th centuries. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Portuguese explorers and traders visited the coast. For the next 200 years, the coastal region was a major raiding center for Europeans in search of slaves, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name "the Slave Coast." In a 1884 treaty signed at Togoville, Germany declared a protectorate over a stretch of territory along the coast and gradually extended its control inland. In 1914, German Togoland was invaded by French and British forces and fell after a brief resistance. Following the war Togoland became a League of Nations mandate divided for administrative purposes between France and the United Kingdom. 

After World War II, the mandate became a United Nations trust territory administered by the United Kingdom and France. In 1957, the residents of British Togoland voted to join the Gold Coast as part of Ghana. By statute in 1955, French Togo became an autonomous republic within the French Union.Togo became independent on April 27, 1960. A new constitution in 1961 established an executive president, elected for seven years by universal suffrage, and a national assembly. In elections that year, from which Grunitzky's party was disqualified, Olympio's party won all 51 National Assembly seats, and he became Togo's first elected president. 

On January 13, 1963, President Olympio was assassinated in an uprising of army noncommissioned officers dissatisfied with conditions following their discharge from the French army. In 1963, the Togolese adopted a new constitution which reinstated a multiparty system and elected Grunitzky as president. President Grunitzky formed a government in which all parties were represented. In 1967, Lt. Col. Etienne Eyadema (later Gen. Gnassingbe Eyadema) ousted President Grunitzky in a bloodless military coup. Political parties were banned, and all constitutional processes were suspended. In late 1969, a single national political party, the Assembly of the Togolese People (RPT), was created, and President Eyadema was elected party president. In 1979, Eyadema declared a third Republic and a transition to increased civilian rule.