Angolan Civil War begins

1975

Angola's independence in November 1975 ends in civil war among three movements, drawing in Cuba, South Africa, the Soviet Union and the United States.

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The story

Angola became independent from Portugal on November 11, 1975. Three liberation movements had fought the Portuguese and then each other: the MPLA led by Agostinho Neto, the FNLA led by Holden Roberto, and UNITA led by Jonas Savimbi. When Portugal withdrew, the movements fought for the capital Luanda, and the MPLA proclaimed the government there.

Foreign powers joined in. Cuba sent combat troops, which rose to tens of thousands by the 1980s, and the Soviet Union supplied arms to the MPLA. South Africa invaded from the south in 1975, and the United States gave covert support to the opponents. The war lasted, with pauses, until 2002, when Savimbi was killed in battle in February and a ceasefire followed. Estimates of the dead, from fighting, hunger and disease, are very uncertain, from tens of thousands to over a million, and millions were displaced. The war left Angola among the countries most contaminated by landmines.

Why it mattered

The war made southern Africa a Cold War battleground and drew in South Africa's apartheid state.
Cuban involvement and battles such as Cuito Cuanavale in 1987 and 1988 led to the end of South African control of Namibia.
Landmines and displacement left Angola devastated for a generation.

Sources

Angolan Civil War (1975-2002): A Timeline of Events South African History Online
Angola: civil war Tufts University, Atrocity Endings

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Conflicting Missions

At a glance

When: November 1975 to 2002
Where: Angola
Key people: Agostinho Neto (MPLA leader and first president)
Jonas Savimbi (UNITA leader)
Holden Roberto (FNLA leader)

27 yearsapproximate length of the war (1975 to 2002)

423earlier events it rests on

0later events that depend on it