The country ’ s first president, David Dacko was overthrown by his army chief-of-staff, Jean-Bédel Bokassa in 1966.

This action was also controversial, particularly since Dacko was Bokassa ’ s cousin and had appointed Bokassa as head of the military, and unrest continued in the Central African Republic, leading to Dacko being overthrown in another coup in 1981.

Bokassa spent the equivalent of over 20 million United States dollars, a quarter of the country ’ s government annual income, on his coronation ceremony.

Bokassa ’ s full title was Empereur de Centrafrique par la volonté du peuple Centrafricain, uni au sein du parti politique national, le MESAN (“ Emperor of Central Africa by the will of the Central African people, united within the national political party, the MESAN ”).

Bokassa attempted to justify his actions by claiming that creating a monarchy would help Central Africa “ stand out ” from the rest of the continent, and earn the world ’ s respect.

Many thought Bokassa was insane, and compared his egotistical extravagance with that of Africa ’ s other well-known eccentric dictator — Idi Amin.

* September 20 – French paratroopers help David Dacko to overthrow Bokassa in the Central African Republic.

After his overthrow in 1979, Central Africa reverted to its former name and status as the Central African Republic, and the former Bokassa I went into exile.

Patassé then left for France, where he remained in exile until the overthrow of Bokassa in September 1979.

With the overthrow of the Bokassa monarchy in September 1979, Domitien was arrested and brought to trial on charges of covering up extortion committed by Bokassa during her tenure as prime minister.

Following Bokassa, David Dacko was restored in 1981, only to be overthrown once again by his new army chief of staff, General André Kolingba after only a few months in power.

A Western model was sometimes copied by emancipated colonial regimes ( e. g. Bokassa I's short-lived Central-African Empire in Napoleonic fashion ).

Most controversial, however, was his involvement with the Bokassa regime of the Central African Republic and with a diamond smuggling scandal involving the dictator, by which he personally profited.

In a related incident, Giscard was reported by the Canard Enchaîné to have accepted diamonds as personal gifts from Bokassa – who fled to France with looted millions from the Central African Republic's treasury, but was still given asylum in France.

After graduating in 1939, Bokassa took the advice offered to him by his grandfather, M ' Balanga, and Father Grüner, by joining the French Army as a private on 19 May.

After the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, Bokassa served in the Forces ' African unit and took part in the capture of the Vichy government's capital at Brazzaville.

To combat the chance that Bokassa would stage a coup, Dacko created the gendarmerie, an armed police force of 500 and a 120-member presidential security guard, led by Jean Izamo and Prosper Mounoumbaye, respectively.

At this point, Bokassa told friends he was annoyed by Dacko's mistreatment and was " going for a coup d ' état ".

Upon arrival, he was confronted by Banza and Bokassa, who informed him of the coup in progress.

After Bokassa reciprocated by meeting Tombalbaye on 2 April 1966 along the southern border of Chad at Fort Archambault, the two decided to help one another if either was in danger of losing power.

When no funds promised by Gaddafi were forthcoming, Bokassa abandoned his new faith.

Bokassa attempted to justify his actions by claiming that creating a monarchy would help Central Africa " stand out " from the rest of the continent, and earn the world's respect.

Bokassa allegedly participated in the massacre, beating some of the children to death with his cane ; however, the initial reports received by Amnesty International indicated only that the 100 or more school students who died actually suffocated or were beaten to death while being forced into a small jail cell following their arrest.

The massive worldwide press coverage which followed the deaths of the students opened the way for a successful coup which saw French troops ( in " Opération Barracuda ") invade the Central African Empire and restored former president David Dacko to power while Bokassa fled into exile by airplane to the Ivory Coast ( Côte d ' Ivoire ) on 20 September 1979.

Bokassa was immediately arrested by the Central African authorities as soon as he stepped off the plane and was tried for 14 different charges, including treason, murder, cannibalism, illegal use of property, assault and battery, and embezzlement.

Now that Bokassa was unexpectedly in the hands of the Central African Republic government, they were required by law to try him in person, granting him the benefit of defence counsel.

Bokassa hired two French lawyers, François Gilbault and Francis Szpiner, which faced a panel composed of six jurors and three judges, presided over by High Court Judge Edouard Franck, which was modelled after the legal system in France itself.

On 29 February 1988, President Kolingba demonstrated his opposition to capital punishment by voiding the death penalty against Bokassa and commuted his sentence to life in prison in solitary confinement, and the following year reduced the sentence to 20 years.

In 2010, President François Bozizé issued a decree rehabilitating Bokassa and calling him " a son of the nation recognised by all as a great builder ".

In the lead-up to this official rehabilitation, Bokassa has been praised by CAR politicians for his patriotism and for the periods of stability that he brought the country.

His Imperial Majesty Bokassa I, Emperor of Central Africa by the will of the Central African people, united within the national political party, the MESAN.

On 20 September 1979, Dacko, with French support, led a bloodless coup that overthrew Bokassa while he was out of the country.

Widespread violence in Bangui followed the March 1981 elections, which took place following a French operation to depose Jean-Bédel Bokassa in 1979 and replace him with David Dacko.

In 1979 French troops helped drive Bokassa out of power and restore former president David Dacko.

Bokassa was born on 22 February 1921 as one of 12 children to Mindogon Mgboundoulou, a village chief, and his wife Marie Yokowo in Bobangui, a large M ' Baka village in the Lobaye basin located at the edge of the equatorial forest, then a part of colonial French Equatorial Africa, some southwest of Bangui.

After Hué bore him a daughter, Bokassa had the child registered as a French national.

On 1 January 1962, Bokassa left the French Army and joined the military forces of the CAR with the rank of battalion commandant.

Due to his relation to Dacko and experience abroad in the French military, Bokassa was able to quickly rise through the ranks of the army, becoming the Central African army's first colonel on 1 December 1964.

However, Dacko forbade his return, and the infuriated Bokassa spent the next few months trying to obtain supporters from the French and Central African armed forces, who he hoped would force Dacko to reconsider his decision.

Bokassa claimed that Dacko finally gave up after French President Charles de Gaulle had personally told Dacko that " Bokassa must be immediately returned to his post.

Bokassa received substantive support from his co-conspirator, Captain Alexandre Banza, who commanded the Camp Kassaï military base in northeast Bangui, and, like Bokassa, had been stationed with the French army around the world.

In the early days of his regime, Bokassa engaged in self-promotion before the local media, showing his countrymen his French army medals, and displaying his strength, fearlessness and masculinity.

At first, the French government was reluctant to support the Bokassa regime, so Banza went to Paris to meet with French officials to convince them that the coup was necessary to save the country from turmoil.

Bokassa met with Prime Minister Georges Pompidou on 7 July 1966, but the French remained noncommittal in offering their support.

To the Bokassa regime, this visit meant that the French had finally accepted the new changes in the country.

In 1975, the French president Valéry Giscard d ' Estaing declared himself a " friend and family member " of Bokassa.

In early December 1979, the French council officially stopped all support to Bokassa.

By January 1979, French support for Bokassa had all but eroded after food riots in Bangui led to a massacre of civilians.

But the French courts ordered that all 8, 000 copies of the book be confiscated and destroyed after his publisher claimed that Bokassa said that he shared women with President Valéry Giscard d ' Estaing, who has been a frequent guest in the Central African Republic.

Bokassa also claimed to have given Giscard a gift of diamonds worth around a quarter of a million dollars in 1973 while the French president was serving as finance minister.