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Revision as of 14:22, 22 July 2007 by Perspicacite (talk | contribs) (rv to STBotD edits are.. unencyclopedic. Content should be added in sentences, not bullet form and you need to provide sources.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Angolan Civil War | |||||||
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| Part of the Cold War and South African Border War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
  Republic of Cuba  U.S.S.R.  AAF  Mozambique |
FNLA  Portugal .svg){kind=small} Republic of South Africa .svg){kind=small} Republic of Zaire  U.S.A.  France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| José Eduardo dos Santos | Jonas Savimbi | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Civilians killed = hundreds of thousands | |||||||
The Angolan Civil War devastated newly-independent Angola following the end of Portuguese colonial rule in April 1974, becoming Africa's longest running conflict. Formally brought to an end in 2002, an estimated 500,000 people were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced during the 27-year civil war.
The conflict is generally considered one of the largest Cold War conflicts of the non-developed world. Three main factions were involved; the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), with a base among the Kimbundu and the mixed-race intelligentsia of Luanda, and links to the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc; the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), with an ethnic base in the Bakongo region of the north and links to the United States, the People's Republic of China and the Mobutu regime in Zaïre; and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Savimbi with an ethnic and regional base in the Ovimbundu heartland in the center of the country, and supported by the United States, apartheid South Africa and several other African leaders.
Carnation Revolution
Main article: Carnation RevolutionA 1974 coup d'état in Portugal established a military government that promptly ceased the war and agreed to hand over power to a coalition government of the three movements. However, the coalition quickly broke down and turned into a civil war. France, the United States, Portugal, South Africa, and Zaïre intervened militarily in favor of the FNLA and UNITA. In response, Cuba, backed by the Soviet Union, intervened in favor of the MPLA. In November 1975, the MPLA had all but crushed UNITA, and the South African forces withdrew as well as the Portuguese military. The U.S. Congress barred further U.S. military involvement in Angola through the Clark Amendment.
Upon hearing of the coup, Neto, who was in Montreal, Canada at the time, proclaimed, "Our victory." Neto had only 3,000 militants under his command when officers overthrew the Caetano government.
The MPLA declared Angola's independence on November 11, 1975 with Agostinho Neto as President.
1970s
South African Defence Forces engaged the MPLA forces in Moxico in February 1972, destroying the Communist presence and the Eastern Front. Differing factions in the MPLA then jockeyed for power. 1,000 FNLA fighters mutinied on March 17 in Kinkuzu, but the Zairian army put down the rebellion on behalf of Roberto. Roberto visited the People's Republic of China in December 1973, gaining Chinese support for the FNLA. South African forces invaded Angola on October 23, 1975.
1980s
In February 1976 South Africa withdrew, but renewed its involvement, intervening in the war from 1981 to 1987.
In January 1988 South African forces tried unsuccessfully to take Cuito Cuanavale, engaging MPLA and Cuban forces. The MPLA and the governments of Cuba and South Africa agreed to the withdrawal of foreign troops on December 22.
1990s
The MPLA won UN-supervised elections in 1992 with 58% of the vote, but UNITA rejected the official results and continued to fight.
On November 20, 1994 the MPLA and UNITA signed a peace agreement. The United Nations agreed to send a peacekeeping force on February 8, 1995. In August Savimbi agreed to serve as Vice President under President dos Santos. The UN extended its mandate on February 8, 1996. In March Savimbi and dos Santos formally agreed to form a coalition government.
The UN spent $1.6 billion from 1994 to 1998 in maintaining a peacekeeping force. In 1999 most UN forces withdrew.
Portugal recognized the declaration of independence. José Eduardo dos Santos became the second president in 1979. The FNLA and UNITA responded by creating joint government in the zones they controlled. The self-proclaimed "Democratic Republic of Angola" was founded on November 24, 1975, with Holden Roberto and Jonas Savimbi as co-presidents and Jose Ndele and Johny E. Pinnock as co-prime ministers. This government was dissolved after January 30, 1976 when FNLA forces were crushed by a joint Cuban-Angolan attack, known as "Operación Carlota."
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Following the dissolution of the coalition government, Savimbi retreated to his historical base in southwestern Angola and organized a resistance movement.
1980s
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s the war intensified as the Soviet Union and the U.S. poured extensive military and other resources into the country. Savimbi's UNITA was aided greatly by support from the United States government and from political and military guidance from U.S. conservatives. U.S. conservative organizations, including the influential Heritage Foundation, supported Savimbi and succeeded in persuading the U.S. Congress to overturn its previous ban on covert military aid to UNITA.
Savimbi also forged close relations with influential U.S. conservative leaders, including Michael Johns, Grover Norquist and others, who visited regularly with Savimbi in his Jamba, Angola base camps. In a major political victory for UNITA, Savimbi ultimately was invited to meet with U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the White House in 1986. Reagan spoke of UNITA winning a victory that "electrifies the world."
The Heritage Foundation's Michael Johns was one of several U.S. conservatives who urged Savimbi to make a ceasefire in Angola contingent upon the withdrawal of Soviet and Cuban troops and the MPLA's agreement to "free and fair elections". Savimbi embraced this idea rhetorically, though many Western governmental leaders questioned his commitment to democratic pluralism. In various meetings in Angola and other nations in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Johns and various U.S. governmental personnel warned Savimbi that he risked losing U.S. support if he backed off from his support of free elections in Angola.
Civil war between UNITA and the MPLA continued until January 10, 1989 when Cuba began withdrawing its forces. For much of this time, UNITA controlled vast swaths of the interior and was backed by U.S. resources and South African troops. Similarly, tens of thousands of Cuban troops remained in support of the MPLA, often fighting South Africans on the front lines. In 1988, UNITA and the MPLA met in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, generally considered the largest ground battle in Africa since World War II.
Following the battle, South Africa and Cuba appeared to meet at least some of Savimbi's demands, agreeing to the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Angola, linked to the negotiations of the independence of Namibia. However, no provision was made for "free and fair" elections, so Savimbi refused to a ceasefire and fighting actually intensified as both the MPLA and UNITA positioned for military strength in preparation for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
1990s
The following year, a cease-fire agreement was brokered by eighteen African nations and Portugal. This led to the Bicesse Accord in 1991, which spelled out an electoral process for a democratic Angola under the supervision of the United Nations. UNITA's Savimbi failed to win the first round of the presidential election in 1992. Savimbi won 40% to dos Santos's 49%, which required a runoff under the electoral guidelines. Savimbi called the election fraudulent and returned to war. Another peace accord, the Lusaka Protocol, was brokered in Lusaka, Zambia and signed on November 20, 1994.
The peace accord between the government and UNITA provided for the integration of former UNITA insurgents into the government and armed forces. However, in 1995 localized fighting resumed. A national unity government was installed in April of 1997, but serious fighting resumed in late 1998 when Savimbi renewed the war for a second time, claiming that the MPLA was not fulfilling its obligations. The UN Security Council voted on August 28, 1997 to impose sanctions on UNITA. The Angolan military launched a massive offensive in 1999 that destroyed UNITA's conventional capacity and recaptured all major cities previously held by Savimbi's forces. Savimbi then declared that UNITA would return to guerrilla tactics, and much of the country remained in turmoil.
2000s
The MPLA defeated UNITA in several battles from September 22-25, 2000, gaining control over military bases and diamond mines in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sol. The lost of the mines hurt Savimbi's ability to pay his troops.
On February 22, 2002, with his relations with the U.S. government and his traditional U.S. conservative allies strained, Savimbi was killed in a military ambush. UNITA and the MPLA agreed to sign a cease-fire six weeks later, on April 4.
In August 2002 UNITA declared itself a political party and officially demobilized its armed forces, ending the civil war. Since then, all parties involved in the conflict (MPLA, UNITA, FNLA) and those not involved (PLD, PRS, PD-PANA) formed the Government of National Unity and Reconstruction, known as GURN.
Known for its natural resource riches such as oil, diamonds, mercury, iron, copper, fisheries, and wood, Angola is currently recovering from the war. Angola expects foreign investment and international support may assist its development efforts.
Further reading
- Victoria Brittain, Death of Dignity, Red Sea Press, 1998. ISBN 0-86543-636-3. Presents an account of the conflict from the MPLA point of view.
- John Stockwell, In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story, W.W. Norton, 1978
- "Savimbi's Elusive Victory in Angola", by Michael Johns, U.S. Congressional Record, October 26, 1989.
References
- Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja and Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein. The Crisis in Zaire, 1986. Page 193.
- Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja and Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein The Crisis in Zaire, 1986. Pages 193-194.
- Kitchen, Helen A. Africa, from Mystery to Maze, 1976. Page 96.
- Chang Li Lin, Nassrine Azimi, and Nihon Kokusai Mondai Kenkyūjo. The Nexus Between Peacekeeping and Peace-Building: Debriefingand Lessons, 2000. Institute of Policy Studies (Singapore). Page 95.
- ^ Peter N. Stearns and William Leonard Langer. The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged, 2001. Page 1065.
- Strauss, Steven D. The Complete Idiots Guide to World Conflicts, 2002. Page 103.
- "With Freedom Near in Angola This is No Time to Curtail Unita Assistance". heritage.org. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
- Peter N. Stearns and William Leonard Langer. The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged, 2001. Page 1065.
External links
- Armed Conflict Events Data: Angolan Civil War 1975-1991
- Excerpts from In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story, by John Stockwell (the CIA officer who headed up the CIA's Angola Task Force)