Angolan Civil War

The Angolan Civil War was a major civil war in the African country of Angola. It started in 1975 and continued until 2002. The war began right after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The Civil War was mostly a fight for power between two former liberation movements, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Other countries got involved in the war because they wanted their own ideologies to win. This made the Angolan war part of the Cold War. In 2002 the MPLA won.

Angolan Civil War
Part of the Cold War and the South African Border War
Cuban and Angolan officers consulting a military operation.
Date 15 November 1975 - 27 April 2002 Location Angola Result MPLA military victory; transition towards a multiparty political system; dissolution of the armed forces of UNITA and FNLA; participation of these movements, as political parties, in the new political system, from 1991/92 onwards; resistance of FLEC continued beyond 2002
Belligerents
MPLA Cuba Supported by:  Soviet Union (1975-89)[1] East Germany	UNITA FNLA FLEC  South Africa (until 1989) Supported by:  United States
Commanders and leaders
Agostinho Neto José Eduardo dos Santos Arnaldo Ochoa Leopoldo Cintra Konstantin Schaganovich	Jonas Savimbi † Holden Roberto
Strength
Angolan troops: 40,000 - 70,000 (1987)[2] 130,000 (2001)[3] Cuban troops: 35 000 - 37 000 (1982)[4] 60,000 (1988)[4] Soviet troops: 1,200 (1985)[5]	UNITA militants: 65,000 (1990, highest) FNLA militants: 22,000 (1975)[6] 4,000-7,000 (1976)[7] South African troops: 20,000 (1976)
Casualties and losses
Unknown 2,077 killed,[8] 15,000 dead, wounded or missing[9] 54 killed[10]	Unknown Unknown 2,300 dead
Over 500,000 civilians killed[11]

About 500,000 people died in the war. The war also did a lot of damage to buildings in Angola. Because of all the damage, in 2003 80% of Angolans lacked access to basic medical care, 60% lacked access to water, and 30% of Angolan children would die before the age of 5, with an overall national life expectancy of less than 40 years of age. With the civil war between 1975 and 2002 it was 27 years of fighting.^[12]

Background

In 1575, the Portuguese started to colonize parts of what is now Angola. Before, some of the land was part of the Kingdom of Kongo.

Combatants

MPLA

The MPLA was a communist group fighting for Angolan independence. Its leader was Agostinho Neto. They were supported by the Soviet Union.

UNITA

UNITA was an anti-communist group also fighting for Angolan independence. Its leader was Jonas Savimbi.

FNLA

FNLA was another anti-communist independence group. Its leader was Holden Roberto. The US gave them money by funneling it through Zaire.

War

1970s

In 1975, Portugal signed the Alvor Agreement with MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA. The agreement said, that, Angola would become independent on 11 November 1975.^[source?]

Aftermath

The war destroyed a lot of buildings in Angola.^[source?] There are still landmines remaining killing and hurting people.^[source?]