After being in power since 1987, Blaise Compaoré was forced to resign in 2014 by an uprising in response to his attempt to change the constitution to extend his 27 year term. Burkina Faso gained independence from France in 1960 after becoming a protectorate in 1896. Before then various British, French & German military forces had in turn fought or made alliances with different local people. It isn't clear when the local people arrived since the (now) land locked country is in an area very much part of the Old World - touched by hunter gatherers, and rising and falling Kingdoms and Empires. Burkina Faso was caught in the Cold War during the period of decolonisation following World War II. Sankara saw the global aid industry and free trade of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as imperialist. Compaoré came to power through a French sponsored coup.
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