Angola's Liberation: A Fight For Independence

Angola's independence was a protracted affair, with the Angolan War of Independence taking place from 1961 to 1974. The war was fought between Angolan nationalist forces and Portugal, with the former waging a guerrilla war and the latter conducting a counter-insurgency campaign. The conflict ended with a coup in Lisbon in April 1974, which overthrew Portugal's Estado Novo dictatorship. The new regime stopped all military action in its African colonies and granted them independence.

In January 1975, the three major Angolan independence movements—the MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA—signed the Alvor Agreement, which granted independence to Angola and established a transitional government. However, the coalition quickly broke down, and the country descended into civil war as the movements vied for power. The MPLA, supported by Cuba and the Soviet Union, gained control of Luanda and declared independence as the Angolan People's Republic on November 11, 1975, the day the Portuguese left the country. The FNLA and UNITA, supported by South Africa and the USA, established their own short-lived republics.

The Angolan War of Independence

The war started in March 1961 when the Union of Peoples of Angola (UPA) launched an incursion into northern Angola from its base in the Congo, leading 4,000 to 5,000 militants. They took farms, government outposts, and trading centres, killing and mutilating officials and civilians.

The Portuguese responded with a military mobilisation, sending in troops and carrying out operations to re-conquer towns. The war was characterised by guerrilla warfare, with the Portuguese army and security forces conducting a counter-insurgency campaign against armed groups, who were mostly dispersed across sparsely populated areas of the Angolan countryside.

In 1972-1973, Portugal launched a large-scale military operation that involved dropping napalm and defoliants on MPLA-controlled villages. However, violence between the two sides declined in the years just before independence in 1975, as both came to recognise that a negotiated settlement was needed.

The conflict ended when a peaceful coup in Lisbon in April 1974 overthrew Portugal's Estado Novo dictatorship. The new regime immediately stopped all military action in the African colonies, declaring its intention to grant them independence without delay. 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 Alvor Agreement

The agreement established a transitional government, which was to rule from 31 January 1975 until independence, consisting of the Portuguese High Commissioner Admiral Rosa Coutinho and a Prime Ministerial Council (PMC). The PMC was made up of three representatives, one from each Angolan party to the agreement, with a rotating premiership among the representatives. Every PMC decision required two-thirds support. The twelve ministries were divided equally among the Angolan parties and the Portuguese government, with each party receiving three.

The treaty described Cabinda, an exclave north of the rest of Angola, as an "integral and inalienable part of Angola". This was not agreed to by the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), who saw the agreement as a violation of the Cabindan right to self-determination.

Despite the agreement, civil war broke out in July 1975 as each of the nationalist factions attempted to take control of the country by force. By August, the MPLA had control of 11 of the 15 provincial capitals, including Cabinda and Luanda. On 10 November 1975, the Portuguese left Angola, and on 11 November, Neto declared the independence of the People's Republic of Angola. The FNLA and UNITA responded by establishing their own government, based in Huambo.

The MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA

The MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), UNITA (National Union for Total Independence of Angola), and FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola) were the three main military movements fighting for Angolan independence since the 1960s.

The MPLA, founded in 1956 with the help of the clandestine Portuguese Communist Party, was a Marxist organisation centred in the capital, Luanda, and led by Agostinho Neto. It was popular in Luanda and among some rural Mbundu, and drew foreign support from the Soviet Union. The MPLA had long-established relations with Fidel Castro's Cuba.

The FNLA, founded in 1957 under another name and led by Holden Roberto, drew its support from the Kongo and some rural Mbundu. It was based in the Republic of the Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and obtained aid from the US and China. The FNLA had strong ties to Mobutu Sese Seko, in neighbouring Zaire.

UNITA, an offshoot of the FNLA, was founded in 1966 by Jonas Savimbi and had a predominantly Ovimbundu leadership. It had some support from the Chokwe and Ovambo and enjoyed little official foreign backing, although China provided some aid. UNITA lacked a secure foreign base because Zambia leaned toward the MPLA.

In 1974, a military coup in Portugal overthrew the country's dictatorship. The three revolutionary groups met with the new Portuguese government in January 1975 and signed the Alvor Agreement, which granted Angolan independence and provided for a three-way power-sharing government. However, trust quickly broke down, and the country descended into civil war as each group vied for sole power.

The MPLA held Luanda and much of the country, declaring independence as the Angolan People's Republic on 11 November 1975, the day the Portuguese left. With the support of the US, Zaire and South Africa, the FNLA and UNITA intervened militarily, intending to take Luanda before the declaration of independence. In response, Cuba intervened in favour of the MPLA.

The MPLA, with growing backing from the Portuguese Communist Party, Cuba, and the Soviet Union, defeated the FNLA onslaught and then turned on UNITA, chasing its representatives out of Luanda. UNITA was the weakest movement militarily but had the greatest potential electoral support due to the predominance of the Ovimbundu within the population.

The civil war continued until 2002, when Jonas Savimbi was killed.

International involvement

The Angolan War of Independence was fought between Angolan nationalist forces (MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA) and Portugal from 1961 to 1974. The conflict was a branch of the wider Portuguese Colonial War, which included the independence wars of Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. The war ended when a peaceful coup in Lisbon in April 1974 overthrew Portugal's Estado Novo dictatorship, leading the new regime to stop all military action in its African colonies and grant them independence.

The three main Angolan independence movements were the Marxist MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola). The MPLA was centred in the capital, Luanda, and led by Agostinho Neto; the FNLA, led by Holden Roberto, was based in the north of the country and had strong ties to Mobutu Sese Seko in neighbouring Zaire; and UNITA, an offshoot of the FNLA, was led by Jonas Savimbi and supported by the country's largest ethnic group, the Ovimbundu.

The involvement of international powers in Angola's independence struggle was heavily influenced by the Cold War. The US supplied aid and training to the FNLA and UNITA, while troops from Zaire assisted Holden Roberto and his fighters. China also sent military instructors to train the FNLA. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union provided military training and equipment to the MPLA.

In January 1975, the three revolutionary groups met with representatives of the new Portuguese government and signed the Alvor Agreement, which granted Angolan independence and provided for a three-way power-sharing government. However, trust quickly broke down, and the country descended into civil war as each group vied for sole power.

During the summer of 1975, the Soviet-supported MPLA consolidated power in Luanda and ousted the US-backed FNLA from the capital. In response, UNITA, which enjoyed US support, approached the Apartheid government in South Africa for military reinforcement. Pretoria contributed forces that entered southern Angola in October and made rapid progress towards the capital.

Fearing a South African victory, Castro sent Cuban Special Forces to halt their advance. This move drew attention to the fact that the US had supported a group now accepting assistance from an Apartheid government. The US government had encouraged the South African intervention but preferred to downplay its connection with the Apartheid regime. Once Pretoria's involvement became widely known, the Chinese withdrew its advisers from the region, and the Ford Administration faced domestic resistance to the US role in the conflict.

In the end, Congress rejected President Ford's request for additional funds for the operation in Angola. South Africa withdrew its forces in the spring of 1976, and the MPLA remained as the official government of Angola. However, Jonas Savimbi and UNITA continued an insurgency until his death in 2002.

The Angola crisis strained relations between the US and the Soviet Union, contributing to the undoing of the period of détente between the two superpowers.

Civil war

Angola's civil war was sparked by political differences between the three major movements that had fought for the country's independence: the Movimiento Popular de Liberación de Angola, MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola); the Front for the National Liberation of Angola, FLNA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola); and the National Union for Total Independence of Angola, UNITA (National Union for Total Independence of Angola).

The MPLA, which seized power, was supported by Cuba and the Soviet Union. UNITA, which went to war, was supported by South Africa and the USA. The third group, the FNLA, was supported by the US, China, and Mobutu Sese Seko, the leader of neighbouring Zaire.

The civil war began when the coalition government established by the Alvor Agreement fell apart, and the three groups began fighting for control of the country. The MPLA gained control of Luanda and much of the rest of the country. With the support of the US, Zaire, and South Africa, the FNLA and UNITA attempted to take Luanda before the declaration of independence. In response, Cuba intervened in favour of the MPLA.

By August 1975, the MPLA had control of 11 of the 15 provincial capitals, including Luanda and Cabinda. On 10 November 1975, Portugal left Angola, and the MPLA declared independence as the Angolan People's Republic. The FNLA and UNITA responded by proclaiming their own short-lived republics, with Holden Roberto and Jonas Savimbi as co-presidents.

The civil war continued until 2002, when Jonas Savimbi was killed.

Frequently asked questions