Present-day Togo is populated by the Ewe since the fourteenth century. Since the fifteenth century European powers settle at the coast: the Portuguese in the fifteenth century, the Danish in the seventeenth century, followed by the British and the French. In 1884 Germany establishes the Protectorate of Togoland. It takes some time to establish control of the interior. Due to World War I Britian and France seize Togo.

Togo becomes a League of Nations mandate in 1922, partly administered by Britain (British Togoland) and partly by France. In 1946 (French) Togo becomes a United Nations Trust Territory. France grants Togo autonomy in 1955. In 1956 Nicolas Grunitzky of the Parti Togolais du Progrés (Party of Togolese Progress, PTP) becomes prime minister. In 1957 the residents of British Togoland vote to join the Gold Coast as part of independent Ghana. Elections in 1958 are won by Sylvanus Épiphanio Olympio of the Comité de l'Unité Togolais (Togolese Unity Committee, CUT). In 1960 a smooth transition leads to the end of the trusteeship and independence as the Togolese Republic, a presidential democracy with Olympio as president.

In the 1961 elections Grunitzky's party is disqualified and Olympio's party wins 90% of the vote and all seats. Olympio becomes Togo's first elected president. Due to plots against the majority party government Olymio dissolves the opposition parties in 1962. In 1963 Olympio is assassinated in an uprising of army. Grunitzky returns as leader of the Mouvement des Personnes Togolaises (Togolese People's Movement, MPT) from exile and becomes president after he reinstated a multi-party system. His government relies on the army.

In 1967 Étienne Eyadéma (later Gnassingbé Eyadéma) ousts Grunitzky in a bloodless military coup. All parties are banned and in 1969 a single national political party, the Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais (Rally of the Togolese People, RPT), is created. In 1991 Eyadéma starts negotiations with the opposition. A national forum, dominated by opponents of Eyadéma, declares itself to be a sovereign "National Conference." It appoints Joseph Kokou Koffigoh of the Co-ordination des Forces Nouvelles (Co-ordination of New Forces) as prime minister and keeps Eyadéma as president. In 1992 Togo gets a democratic constitution, but the RPT keeps its position. The 1993 elections are boycotted by the opposition and only 36% of the voters go to the polls.

In generally free and fair parliamentary elections in 1994 the allied opposition parties Union Togolais pour la Démocratie (Togolese Union for Democracy, UTD) and the centrist Comité d'Action pour le Renouveau (Action Committee for Renewal, CAR) together win a narrow majority. When Eyadéma names Edem Kodjo, the head of the smaller opposition party UTD, as prime minister it provokes the CAR to break the opposition alliance. Since 1996 Eyadéma has reemerged with a sure grip on power, controlling most aspects of government.

Eyadéma wins the 1998 presidential election; however, serious irregularities in the government's conduct of the election strongly favor the incumbent. The RPT wins the 1999 parliamentary elections, which are boycotted by the opposition. New elections in 2002 are again boycotted by the opposition and the RPT wins more than two-thirds of the seats in parliament. Presidential election are held in 2003, for which Gilchrist Olympio, the popular leader of the Union des Forces du Changement (Union of Forces for Change, UFC) was disqualified. Eyadéma is re-elected, amid allegations of widespread vote rigging.