preview

Angolan Civil War

Better Essays

4 Analyze the effects of the cold war on apartheid in South Africa or on another specified issue and region or country. Note: Initially, my plan was to cover the whole period of the cold war and its effects on Angola. While researching for this topic though, I came across a vast body of works and therefore decided to focus on a more specific theme: Soviet-American competition in the region between 1974 and 1976. What role did competition between the superpowers have in the early stages of the Angolan Civil War (1974-76)? ________________________________ As revolution erupted in Portugal in 1974, independence movements in virtually all of its former colonies gained considerable momentum. In Angola, unlike the other …show more content…

Mobutu soon made a second attempt to seize Cabinda, invading with a mixed FNLA-FLEC-Zairian force of about 3,000, with direct CIA arms support, but the MPLA, backed by Cuban advisors, defeated them[11]. On November 7-10 Cuba began a major expansion of its direct military assistance to the MPLA, dispatching a 650-man special forces battalion to help defend Luanda. After the US successfully pressed some Caribbean countries to not allow Cuban transfer flights to land, in the following months the Soviets provided Cuba with long-range aircraft. Shortly after the independence, on November 13, a small number of Soviet military advisors arrived in Luanda. On November 11, the day of independence, the MPLA, backed by Cuban artillerymen and Soviet-supplied 122 millimeter multiple rocket launchers, had defeated the FNLA-Zairian-Portuguese Angolan forces north of Luanda, which devastated their morale. From mid-November to early January 1976 the MPLA, with growing Cuban support, chased the FNLA-Zairian forces north and stopped the South African advance from the south. By this time the Cuban troops had reached a substantial number of an estimated 12,000[12]. American attempts through the CIA to recruit European mercenaries were quite ineffective, and caused significant embarrassment when several captured mercenaries, including an American, were captured and executed[13].

Get Access