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Jul 15, 2009 · The Angolan Civil War, beginning at the time of the country’s independence from Portugal in 1975, was a 27-year struggle involving the deaths of over 500,000 soldiers and civilians. Initiated at the height of the Cold War, pro- and anti-communist forces in Angola set the stage for a proxy fight between the United States and the Union of ...
The Angolan Civil War ( Portuguese: Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements, the communist People's ...
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- Background
- Summary
- Aftermath
- Resources
- Prelude
- Funding
- Military
Thus, Angola attained official independence on 11 November 1975 and, while the stage was set for transition, a combination of ethnic tensions and international pressures rendered Angolas hard-won victory problematic. As with many post-colonial states, Angola was left with both economic and social difficulties which translated into a power struggle ...
The National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), founded in 1962, was rooted among the Bakongo people and strongly supported the restoration and defence of the Kongo empire, eventually developing into a nationalist movement supported by the government of Zaire and (initially) the Peoples Republic of China.
Thus, while a power-sharing arrangement was agreed upon after independence was secured, power struggles ensued almost immediately as the agreement collapsed. This was aggravated by the withdrawal of the Portuguese in 1975; refusing to impose peace or supervise elections, and failing to hand over power to any one party, the Portuguese armies exited ...
Angola spans around 481,226 square miles along the southwest coast of Africa, and is notably rich in mineral reserves, including oil, iron, copper, bauxite, diamonds and uranium. Angolas resource wealth became a means of funding the ongoing war between the MPLA and UNITA, with both parties extensively exploiting the countrys oil and diamond reserve...
Subsequent to the Portuguese coup the FNLAs internal support had already deteriorated considerably, although it maintained steady relations with Zaire and was thus well armed. This led the FNLA to attempt a forceful overthrow of the MPLA in Luanda, although the MPLA, backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union, deflected the onslaught and subsequently turn...
How was the conflict funded? External support played a major role in the funding of Angolas civil war, and one consequence of the Cold War was the flow of Western funding to UNITA. During the 1980s, UNITA was supplied with US$80-million in arms, military training and logistics by the South African government, while the South African Air Force contr...
During the power struggle between UNITA and the MPLA, UNITA managed to fund its military actions through the sale of diamonds valued at US$3.72 billion. In reaction to this, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1173 in 1998 which banned the purchase of diamonds from Angola. MPLA
Angolan Civil War (1975-2002): A Timeline of Events. 1961. FNLA and MPLA begin a guerrilla campaign to overthrow Portuguese colonial rule. 25 April 1974. Portuguese colonial rule ends after a coup removes the government in Portugal. 11 November 1975. Angola attains official independence.
The war formally came to an end in January 1975 when the Portuguese government, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) signed the Alvor Agreement.
The Angola crisis of 1974–1975 ultimately developed into a Cold War battleground as the superpowers and their allies delivered military assistance to their preferred clients. The map in Figure 118.1 also shows the location of the city of Huambo in central Angola, which became the headquarters of UNITA during the civil war.
When the war ended, an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 Angolans had been killed, hundreds of thousands maimed, and 4 million had lost their homes and livelihoods. The Angolan civil war, and especially the Soviet role, was a crucial factor leading South Africa to develop nuclear weapons in the 1980s.
