The Angolan Civil War was a civil war in Angola which lasted from 1975 to 2002, resulting in the rise to power of the communist MPLA party, the deaths of 500,000 people, the displacement of 1 million people, the devastation of Angola's infrastructure, and the participation of the UNITA and FNLA armed groups in electoral politics.
History[]
Alone among the European nations, Portugal had fought hard to retain control over its African empire and granted its five colonies independence only after a military coup in Portugal in April 1974. Since 1961 the Portuguese had been fought in Angola by three independence movements: the left-wing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the Angola National Liberation Front (FNLA), and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). On national independence in November 1975, the MPLA seized control, backed by Cuban forces armed with Soviet tanks, and attacked the other two groups. MPLA troops soon defeated the FNLA and secured control over most of the country by February 1976, receiving widespread international recognition as the legitimate government. However, Cuban involvement in the war prompted the US and South Africa to step up their support for UNITA, resulting in a vicious conflict that continued until the assassination of the UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi, and a ceasefire in April 2002, which lasted precariously into the future.