To what extent were the civil wars that followed independence in Angola and Mozambique the result of internal divisions or external interventions?

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To what extent were the civil wars that followed independence in Angola and Mozambique the result of internal divisions or external interventions?

You should focus your answer on one particular territory but relate this to developments in the other.

The wars that followed the independence of both Angola and Mozambique were resultant of internal divisions, but more importantly, they were greatly catalysed by the financial, political, and physical intervention of other nations. It is also generally agreed that the intervention of these countries exacerbated the already volatile situations in Angola and Mozambique, to the extent that had they not intervened as they did, then the resulting economic collapse and massive social unrest that is still prevalent today would not have been so considerable. In this essay, I intend to focus primarily on the situation in Angola, and the range of factors that were instrumental in bringing about such a lengthy and destructive period of violence. The actual 'civil war' in Angola took place in 1975 and 1976, yet the violence still continues to this day.

Angola is a country with a vast ethnic wealth. At the latest count there are some 36 or so individual ethnic groups, to which an individual language is assigned, including, of course, the Portuguese language which has been accepted across the nation as the official language. Each of the native languages belongs to a certain area of the country, and it is the distribution of these languages and their cultures that has led to some social tension. With such a varied and extensive selection, it is inevitable that the phenomenon of tribalism will play a decisive role in the internal shaping of the country. Tribalism can be defined as "...loyalty to a tribe..."1 It is with this concept in mind that one can begin to explore the idea of internal divisions being instrumental in the civil wars that tore Angola apart after she gained her independence in November 1975.

There are three predominant ethno-linguistic groups, and they account for approximately three quarters of Angola's population. The largest of the three is the Ovimbundu tribe. The language used by this group is Umbundu. They inhabited the lands to the south, and historically were wealthier than other groups due to access to fertile land for agriculture, and there was also a noticeable degree of industrial development taking place in the major cities in the region. The perceived notion of Ovimbundu wealth, as well as the fact that some of the Ovimbundu joined the Portuguese armed forces, may have been a source of consternation in other tribes, who would have been jealous of material success, and angry at the Ovimbundu's consorting with "the enemy". An example of such tension surfacing to violent conflict can be seen with the uprisings in the north, where the white coffee plantation owners and their Ovimbundu workers were attacked by UPA rebels in 1961.

Twenty five percent of the country was made up of Mbundu. The language used in this group was Kimbundu, but Portuguese was also widely spoken. The Mbundu was located in Luanda and its environs. Being situated in the capital city was highly advantageous to the Mbundu, as they were situated in the largest industrial base, with excellent communications as well as proximity to natural resources, such as the coastal oil fields.

Finally there is the Bakongo, whose language is Kikongo. The Bakongo are situated in the north western provinces of Zaire, Uíge, and Cabinda, and also in the neighbouring Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo. Many of the Bakongo have stronger links with their neighbours than with fellow Angolans and this has been the source of some antagonism. Also invoking the green-eyed monster in the Bakongo's fellow countrymen is the fact that they are situated in oil-rich Cabinda, which has provided them with improved levels of prosperity.
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The fact that each tribe had its own religions was also a source of unease amongst the regions. The Ovimbundu had Congregationalist tendencies, the Mbundu had American Methodist missions set around their central areas, and the Baptists had infiltrated into the northern Bakongo region. It must be stressed that these religions were usually embraced by the wealthy and educated, and therefore envy and disdain at exclusion from these elitist bodies would have been a cause for conflict.

Coupled with the universal polemic of ethno-regional disparities that are caused by physical location and ethnic of ethnic groups, we ...

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