This note pack includes in-depth and detailed notes on Case Study Angola covered in the Grade 12 IEB History syllabus. Everything you need for your exams or tests! These notes have been written by two History students who received A's from these study notes. These notes are SAGS compliant & have en...
AFRICA IN THE COLD WAR: WHAT WAS THE IMPACT OF THE INTERNAL AND
EXTERNAL FACTORS ON AFRICA DURING THE TIME
Angola
Terminology:
Sphere of influence – A country, or countries, dominated by the presence of one of the superpowers to
the exclusion of others.
Proxy wars – Provision of support by USA and USSR to opposing sides in a country but not directly
involved in the conflict (i.e. Korea, Vietnam, Angola)
FNLA – National Front for Liberation
MPLA – People’s Liberation Movement of Angola
FAPLA – People’s armed forces of Liberation of Angola
UNITA – National Union for the Total Independence of Angola
SWAPO – South West African people’s Organisation
SADF – South African Defence Force
HOW AFRICA WAS DRAWN INTO THE COLD WAR
- When Africa states became independent from colonial rule in the 1950’s and the 1960’s - was
the height of the Cold War
- US & Soviet Union found it critical to expand their spheres of influence
- Wanted to gain allies to fight or provide bases for the placement of nuclear warheads.
- The African continent, especially the southern and central portions, proved to be fertile grounds
for these kind of interventions
- Tried to gain allies among new African states by supplying aid + weapons
- Colonial powers had started declining in power due to the costs associated with WWII
- Many colonies struggled for independence & the US, USSR, and China attempted to fill the
power vacuums with money and arms.
- Intervention by Cold War rivals - negative impact on Africa
- Often meant disputes couldn’t be resolved peacefully because of superpower support for
opposing sides
COMPETING SPHERES OF INFLUENCE: TRADE, CONFLICT AND AID
- Superpowers competed for spheres of influence in Africa - areas which could dominate/control
- Did this by: providing arms or aid sometimes to gov in power or rebel groups fighting against
govt in power or opposing sides of civil war.
- Main aim of US foreign policy = counteract Soviet influence
, - Africa was important to the US as a source of minerals - industrial diamonds, uranium,
manganese, cobalt + chromium.
- Capitalist mining + trading companies that had been set up under colonial rule - threatened by
communist views of many liberation groups + looked to the US to protect their interests.
- USSR motivated by Cold War concerns in its provision of aid to Africa
- E.g. supplied aid to anti-Western govt in Mozambique + Angola + weapons to Somalia + Ethiopia
- Aid was often accompanied by Cuban rather than Soviet, troops + technicians
- During early 1970’s China provided more aid to Africa than Soviet Union + actions of Chinese
technicians and workers, who worked alongside local workers and shared their living conditions,
earned them respect
- Largest Chinese aid project in Africa = Tan-Zam railway
® 1800km long
® links Zambian copper belt to port of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania
® aim was to allow Zambia to export copper without having to use SA ports
® 20000 Chinese worked alongside 36000 South African workers on this project
® completed in 1975
- Some African govt accepted aid from both superpowers - avoided committing themselves to
supporting their policies
- One benefit - superpowers competed with each other to provide aid
- Overall impact of Cold War on Africa = Negative
- 2 African countries - severely affected by Cold War politics were the Congo + Angola
ANGOLA: COLONIALISM AND INDEPENDENCE
- Colonised by Portugal from 1575, when Luanda was established ® last European power to
maintain colonies in Africa
- This brought them into conflict with the Ndongo Kingdom. The Portuguese called the colony
Angola after the Ndongo word for ruler ‘ngola’.
- Colony was consolidated at the 1884—1885 Berlin Conference.
- Rubber, food crops and cattle were farmed, & ivory was acquired through hunting. Mines and
railways were established. Portugal gained a lot of wealth.
- After WWII, African states became independent
- Angolans started to call for independence, but the fascist Portuguese gov, under the leadership
of Anténio Salazar, ignored their demands & strengthened control
- The 1950s were largely characterized by state repression of suspected nationalists using
arbitrary imprisonment and physical abuse
- Led to outbreak of war between Portuguese troops + national liberation groups in its 3 African
colonies (Angola, Mozambique + Guinea-Bissau)
- Angola - liberation struggle began with uprisings in Luanda + northern Angola (1961)
- Underlying causes:
® anger over the loss of land
® harsh treatment of Angolans by Portuguese settlers + traders
, - By 1970s colonial wars were costing almost half the Portuguese budget + involving increasing
number of troops
THE ANGOLAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE:
- March 1961
- The Angolan War of Independence was a liberation war fought against the
Portuguese colonisers.
- Broke out when revolts on coffee plantations against forced labour and inhumane working
conditions left thousands dead. The boycott that was brutally suppressed by the Portuguese
authorities.
- Unrest then started in Luanda and spread throughout the country.
- The independence war against the Portuguese continued throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s
- Many Portuguese resented being conscripted into this war, and it caused tension in Portugal
- In 1974 there was an army mutiny in Portugal called the Carnation Revolution
® army officers in Portugal, who were determined to end these pointless wars overthrew
Portugal’s fascist regime.
Resources:
- Angola’s resource wealth became a means of funding the ongoing war between the MPLA and
UNITA, with both parties extensively exploiting the country’s oil and diamond reserves.
- During the years of civil war, UNITA was able to capture several major diamond mines (by
capturing the areas of Lunda Sul and Lunda Norte Provinces) which served as a primary resource
for financing arms and fuel and funding the liberation movement’s guerrilla campaigns against
the MPLA.
- With the approaching independence in 1975, each of the 3 major contenders began to secure
Cold War patrons.
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