The Origins of the Angolan Civil War

505 Pages·2014·11.52 MB·English

THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
The Origins of the Angolan Civil War
International Politics and Domestic Political Conflict 1961-1976
Thesis submitted to the University of London in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in internalionai Relations
Fernando Joao da Costa Cabral Andresen Guimaraes
March 1392
UMI Number: U615B6B
All rights reserved
INFORMATION TO ALL USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,
a note will indicate the deletion.
Dissertation Publishing
UMI U615363
Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author.
Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.
All rights reserved. This work is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.
ProQuest LLC
789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346
Theses
Library
British Library of Political
and Economic Science
\ 2.1655^
ABSTRACT
This thesis views the Angolan civil war as a conflict
that resulted from both internal and external political factors.
The war, fought in the period 1975-1976 between the MPLA and the
FNLA-UNITA coalition to succeed Portuguese colonialism in Angola,
involved the intervention of external powers on behalf of both
sides. This study examines, in part, the relationships that were
established between these international powers and the Angolan
movements. Due to the way in which these external relationships
modified the nature of the internal political dispute, they became
an intricate part of the origins of the conflict itself.
The internationalization of the Angolan civil war was
predicated, however, on an internal political conflict that
emerged from a dynamic interaction of the effects of both
Portuguese colonialism and divergent currents of Angolan anti­
colonialism. While the particularities of Portuguese colonialism
and the Salazarist regime played their part in establishing some
of the conditions within which Angolan anti-colonialism emerged,
the latter was also a product of specific political choices on the
part of the movements involved. In this interaction there can also
be found the roots of the conflict between the Angolan movements.
This internal conflict was further exacerbated when the
parties to it hoped to bolster their respective positions by
establishing relationships with external powers. The establishment
of these relationships was in part achieved by appealing to
external rivalries, in particular to that of the competition
between the superpowers, but also to regional rivalries, such as
that between Congo and Zaire and wider continental divisions. The
interaction between the internal conflict and these external
rivalries is shown to have contributed significantly to the
origins of the civil war.
This thesis maintains its focus tightly on the specific
question of the origins of the Angolan civil war. Those
developments that led to the war, rather than the conflict itself
are its main concern.
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The completion of this thesis was only made possible by
the support of a number of people, without whom I would not have
had neither the opportunity nor the inspiration for the work. To
them I would like to express my gratitude.
Firstly, I would like to thank my family: my mother and
father, Antonio and Graga, my grandparents and my brother Antonio,
for their unwavering support and belief in the project. They made
it possible and it is to them that this thesis is dedicated.
Secondly, I would like to thank Professor Fred Halliday
for his supervision and encouragement, and the International
Relations Department of the LSE, where I spent so much time and
felt so welcome. In particular, I would like to thank all my
colleagues in the Africa Seminar who helped to make the meetings
an important part of the development of the thesis. The financial
support provided by the British Council in the early phases of my
work is much appreciated.
Lastly, but not least, I would like to thank my friends,
who either on a day-to-day basis or far away, made my life better
and my work worthwhile: Mark for starting it and Spyros for ending
it; Lisa, Pedro, Gil, Joao, Claudia, Paulo, Hugh, Heiner, Richard,
Allison, Shari, Nicky, Margarida, Leon, Joe, Karin, Anna, Fida,
Mallory, Tony and Ariane for what they have given me.
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract............................................... p. 2
Acknowledgements........................................p. 4
Table of Contents.......................................p. 5
Abbreviations...........................................p. 8
INTRODUCTION............................................p. 11
PART ONE
THE ANGOLAN CIVIL WAR 1975-1976
CHAPTER 1 THE ANGOLAN CIVIL WAR........................ p. 28
(i) The Collapse of Portuguese Colonialism
(ii) International Intervention
PART TWO
THE INTERNAL SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN ANGOLA
CHAPTER 2 PORTUGUESE COLONIALISM IN ANGOLA p. 93
(i) Colonial Policy and the Portuguese New State
(ii) Portugal and the Economy of Colonial Angola
(iii) The Policy of Assimilation and the Formation
of Colonial Society in Angola
CHAPTER 3 ANGOLAN ANTI-COLONIALISM p. 147
(i) The Origins of Angolan Nationalism
(ii) Urban Radicalism and the MPLA
(iii) The FNLA, Roberto and Bakongo Nationalism
(iv) Savimbi and UNITA: the Third Force
PART THREE
CONTINENTAL POLITICS AND ANGOLAN RIVALRY 1961-1976
CHAPTER 4 EXILE POLITICS IN THE CONGO.................. p.220
CHAPTER 5 THE OAU AND THE ANGOLAN NATIONALISTS: CONFLICT
AND RECOGNITION................ •............ p.240
5
PART FOUR
THE GLOBALIZATION OF ANGOLAN CONFLICT 1961-1976
CHAPTER 6 THE INTERNATIONAL ACTORS......................p.292
(i) Cuba and Angola: Internationalism and
Intervention
(ii) South Africa and Angola: Regional Power
Politics
(iii) Zaire and Angola: the Search for Influence
CHAPTER 7 THE GLOBAL ACTORS........................... p.369
(i) The United States and Angola
(ii) The Soviet Union and Angola
(iii) China and the Angolan Movements
CONCLUSION............................................. p.450
Appendix............................................... p. 461
Bibliography p. 493
6
Tables and Maps
Tables
1 Value of Total Angolan Exports by Origin 1961 and 1962.p.123
2 Main Angolan Export Commodities 1966................ p. 124
3 Coffee Exports from Angola 1948-1970................ p.128
4 Investment levels in Angola 1959-1973............... p.132
5 Angolan Population by Race and 'Civilized Status' 1950.p.137
6 Racial Composition of Angolan Population 1777-1970 p.140
7 White Population in Angola 1940-1973................ p. 143
8 Voting on Angola at OAU Emergency Session January 1976.p.287
9 Cuban Troop Strengths in Angola 1975-1976............p.318
Maps
1 Angola 1975........................................ p. 9
2 Major Angolan Ethnic Groups.........................p. 10
7
ABBREVIATIONS
ALC African Liberation Committee (OAU)
ANC African National Congress
BOSS Bureau of State Security
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
CONCP Congress of the Nationalist Organizations of the
Portuguese Colonies
COPCON Operational Command of the Continent
DGS Security Directorate (ex-PIDE)
EEC European Economic Community
EFTA European Free Trade Association
ELNA Army for the National Liberation of Angola (FNLA)
EPLA Popular Army for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA)
FAPLA Popular Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola
(MPLA)
FLEC Liberation Front of the Enclave of Cabinda
FLN National Liberation Front (Algeria)
FNLA National Front of the Liberation of Angola
FRELIMO Liberation Front of Mozambique
GRAE Revolutionary Government of Angola in Exile (FNLA)
JSN Council of National Salvation
MFA Armed Forces Movement
MPLA Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NIC Newly Industrialized Country
NSC National Security Council (US)
OAU Organization of African Unity
PAIGC African Party of the Independence of Guinea and Cape
Verde
PCA Angolan Communist Party
PCP Portuguese Communist Party
PDA Democratic Party of Angola
PIDE International and State Defence Police
RSA Republic of South Africa
SADF South African Defence Force
SWAPO South West Africa People's Organization
UNITA National Union for the Total Independence of Angola
UPA Union of the Angolan Peoples (ex-UPNA)
UPNA Union of the Peoples of Northern Angola
UN United Nations Organization
US United States of America
USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
8