competing spheres of influence on angola

• Angola


  • Land of stunning landscapes
  • Rich network of cultures and languages
  • Wealth of natural resources
• Angola should be one of the jewels in the crown of southern Africa
• Angola is a place of happiness, prosperity and hope
• Angola has undergone unimaginable hardship and suffering due to colonial exploitation and decades of brutal conflict
• Angola has been a scene of almost unrelenting bloodshed since the fracturing of European colonial systems in Africa in the middle of the last century
• Angola is a place where global superpowers pull strings, flick switches and cast human life aside as they play games of ideological and geopolitical supremacy
• The Angolan Civil War was a tragedy on an enormous scale and a focal point for Cold War fostering, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and millions more with no place to go
• Angola


  • Coastal nation of seafarers and explorers
  • Perched on the western extreme of Europe
• Portuguese reached the Congo Kingdom in what is now Angola

  1483
• The Portuguese set about creating a colonial base in Southwest Africa, exploiting its resources, dealing in slaves and spreading their own brand of Christianity among the local population
• The Republic of Portugal was declared

  1910
• The military seized power in Portugal in a bloodless coup, paving the way for the fascist dictatorship of Antonio Salazar


  1926
• By 1951, Angola was no longer a colony, instead transitioning to a province of Portugal itself
• Forced labor, rampant exploitation and the dilution of Angolan language, culture and belief by mass migration from Europe pushed the region to the brink
• Ideas like African nationalism, decolonization, Marxism and socialism flowed into Angola through centuries of maritime trade
• The Baixa de Cassanje Revolt by cotton plantation workers launched the Angolan War of Independence


  1961
• The Portuguese retaliation for the March 1961 Revolt left some 20,000 natives dead
• The Union of Peoples of Angola (UPA) and the Democratic Party of Angola (PDA) merged to form the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA)
• The MPLA also remained active, opening up a new front in the east of Angola
• The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) began their own campaigns in late 1966
• In the early 1970s, the colonial forces in Angola used tactics reminiscent of those employed by the US in Vietnam, including the use of defoliating agents
• The Socialist Carnation Revolution in Portugal shifted politics from right to left

  April 25, 1974
• Angola declared independence


  November 11, 1975
• Ethnic groups in Angola

  • Ambundu
  • Kongo
  • Ovimbundu
  • and more than 100 other ethnic groups
• The Portuguese never had to bother themselves too much with the diversity of Angolan cultures, languages and identities, as they dealt with the prevailing forces in the region and used military might and economic power to subjugate the land
• In a newly independent, post-colonial African nation, all groups would need to be represented if Angola was going to have a new voice for a new age
• Angolan nationalist movements


  • MPLA (Marxist-socialist)
  • FNLA (African nationalist)
  • UNITA (left-leaning and nationalist)
• The MPLA had powerful friends in the Soviet Union, Cuba, East Germany and Yugoslavia, while the FNLA gained the support of Mobutu Sese Seko in neighbouring Zaire (now DRC)
• The UNITA adopted Maoist principles and received support from South Africa during the Angolan Civil War
• The MPLA seized control of the capital Luanda after the Portuguese withdrawal and declared independence, installing President Agostinho Neto
• The FNLA launched an assault on the MPLA's Luanda base, but were defeated with the support of Soviet and Cuban forces
• South Africa provided limited assistance to the FNLA, but their apartheid regime was increasingly isolated internationally
• By 1977, the MPLA had achieved almost complete control, establishing a Marxist-Leninist government
• Nito Alves, a high-ranking MPLA member, launched an unsuccessful coup attempt against President Neto, leading to a bloody crackdown on suspected supporters
• After Neto's death in 1979, Jose Eduardo dos Santos took over as President of Angola, with the country's economy struggling but kept alive primarily by oil production and international support from Moscow's sphere of influence
• While the MPLA solidified its power, the FNLA faded away, while UNITA grew stronger, becoming the main opponent to the MPLA government
• The natias took their fury out on their prisoners, murdering six government and military officials before Cuban units restored government control
• Around 2,000 of the suspected natias were murdered during an act of retribution by the mpla
• Nito Alves' coup attempt was unsuccessful and he paid the ultimate price
• After 2 years of Marxist-Leninist rule, the country's economy was struggling, kept alive primarily by its oil production and international support from nations within Moscow's sphere of influence