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The Beginning
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.1
From the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, came all the inhabitants
of the earth. Among their descendents was a man named Noah, in whose time a flood devastated the earth. As Noah's offspring
reinhabited the globe, some of them began to migrate southwest into Egypt. Generations continued to push farther into Africa,
until eventually a few decided to settle in the beautiful regions of Southern and Southwestern Africa. These small
people included the Khoi-Khoi, who herded livestock, and the San, who were primarily hunter-gatherers. Today these two groups
are known collectively as the
Khoisan,
or Bushmen.
Bushman rock paintings
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Their isolated way of life came slowly to an end as a new mass of people
migrated south during the 13th to 16th centuries. These dark-skinned people, or
Bantu,
as they called themselves, depended on agriculture and livestock for their subsistence. Their need for land, as well as
their more war-like nature, pressured the Bushmen into pockets of arid land in what is now Botswana, Namibia, and Southern Angola.
The Bantu peoples filled the land that is now known as Angola. The major tribal groupings included the
Bakongo
in the North, the
Ovimbundu
in the central highlands, and the
Mbundu
between them. The Mbundu king, known as the Ngola, would eventually provide the name for the entire region - Angola.
Portuguese Colonization
Portuguese Explorer Diogo Cão.
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 During the 15th century, Portuguese explorers navigated south along the uncharted coast of Africa. One of these
explorers, Diogo Cão, discovered the mouth of the
Congo River
in 1483. He also made contact with the Bakongo and Mbundu kingdoms. Thus began a long period of Portuguese influence in Angola. The
Portuguese almost immediately began taking Angolans
as slaves, a trade that would dominate Angola's economy for almost 400 years. To support the slave trade, the Portuguese monarchy
established a "Brother King" agreement with the Bantu kingdoms: the Portuguese would uphold the African king's right to rule
as long as he provided them with a constant stream of slaves. As their influence grew, the Portuguese established the port cities
of Luanda
(1575) - which would become Angola's capital - and
Benguela (1617).
In 1641, Holland took advantage of Portugal's distraction in the Thirty Year's War to capture Luanda and Benguela. When
Portugal regained control in 1648, they began to use extensive military force to subjugate the Bantu kingdoms. The Bakongo
were defeated in 1665, the Mbundu in 1671. It was not until 1776, however, that the Portuguese finally moved into the central
highlands and established control over the Ovimbundu. Slaves were exported from all three regions, mostly to support Portugal's
colony in Brazil. The slave trade was eventually outlawed in 1836, but did not actually stop until the law was enforced in 1865
by the British Navy. Over the centuries, an estimated 4 million Angolans were sold as slaves.
The final decades of the 1800s saw new developments as Catholic and Protestant missionaries entered Angola and
began to establish churches, schools, and hospitals. In 1901 the Luanda Railroad came into operation, linking the capital
city with the inland territory. The much longer Benguela Railroad was finished in 1931. These transportation links became
even more important when diamonds were discovered in 1912 in
Lunda Norte
and Lunda Sul.
Portugal remained intent upon extracting as much wealth from Angola as possible. Very little of Angola's wealth was reinvested
to benefit its people through infrastructure or education; almost all of the profits remained in the hands of the tiny white
minority.
As a result of centuries of Portuguese domination and exploitation, Angolan nationalistic ambitions began to grow. The 1950s
witnessed the birth of several independence movements, including the
MPLA
and the UPA.
Indeed, numerous other African nations received their independence in the 1950s and 1960s, but
Salazar,
the Portuguese dictator, remained unyielding in his grasp on Angola.
War for Independence
On February 4, 1961, MPLA militants attacked several prisons in Luanda. On March 15, masses of UPA fighters rose up against Portuguese
settlers in northern Angola, killing over 400. Thus began an era of war that would last longer than anyone expected. The Portuguese
military response was swift: perhaps 40,000 Africans were killed in the wake of the March 15 violence. But it was just the beginning.
For 14 years Portugal pumped troops into Angola, but the rebels proved impossible to subdue. The UPA, which became the FNLA,
was primarily a Bakongo movement which operated from Zaire and northern Angola, led by Holden Roberto. The MPLA drew strength from the
Mbundu peoples as well as the mestiço intellectuals in Luanda, and soon proved itself a more significant threat than the FNLA.
A third rebel movement took shape in 1966 under the leadership of Jonas Savimbi. This group, UNITA, began mostly within the Ovimbundu
tribe, though it later encompassed a wider cross-section of peoples. These three rebel groups lacked effective organization; they
even fought each other at times during the war. In the 1970s Portugal remained firmly in power, but the long war had taken its toll
on the economy and morale of the Portuguese people.
For Angola, 1974 was the birth of hope; 1975 was the death of it. Discontent among Portuguese military officers led to the painless overthrow
of the Portuguese dictatorship in Lisbon on April 25, 1974. The new leadership in Portugal immediately promised independence for its
five African colonies, including Angola.
The date for independence was set for November 11, 1975 and the transition process was outlined in the Alvor Accords, which were signed
by Portugal, the MPLA, the FNLA, and UNITA. However, rivalries between the three independence movements resurfaced. By summer 1975, the
FNLA and UNITA had left Luanda to muster their forces for a fight. Each group found international support for their military platform:
the FNLA was backed by China, France, and others, the MPLA by the USSR and Cuba, and UNITA by South Africa and the USA. In the fall 1975,
UNITA began a military push from the south to gain control of Luanda by November 11, but was too slow. The FNLA similarly pushed from the
north, but was defeated at the Battle of Death Road on November 10. So when independence finally arrived, the MPLA gained control - of a
divided country. Angola was embroiled in open civil war before it even became a nation.
Civil War
Coming soon...
Rebuilding
Coming soon...
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