Politics of Benin century until the colonial period, the Kingdom of Dahomey (whose borders encompassed more than present day Benin) was ruled by an "Oba". The French were the colonial power from 1892 to 1960, when independence was finally achieved. Between 1960 and 1972, a series of military coups in Benin (known until 1975 as the Republic of Dahomey) brought about many changes of government. The last of these brought Major Mathieu Kérékou to power as the head of a regime professing strict Marxist-Leninist principles. The Revolutionary Party of the People of Benin (PRPB) remained in complete power until the beginning of the
Central African Republic Civil War (2012–present) than 1,000 civilians, in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Djotodia. On 14 May CAR's PM Nicolas Tiangaye requested a UN peacekeeping force from the UN Security Council and on 31 May former President Bozizé was indicted for crimes against humanity and incitement of genocide. On the same day as the 5 December attacks, the UN Security Council authorized the transfer of MICOPAX to the African Union led peacekeeping mission the International Support Mission in the Central African Republic (MISCA or AFISM-CAR) with troop numbers increasing from 2,000 to 6,000 as well as for the French peacekeeping mission called Operation Sangaris.