Angolan Cold War Essay

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The Cold War was the ideological, geopolitical and economic struggle between the two major superpowers at the time, the United States of America (USA) and the Soviet Union (USSR). The United States of America stood for capitalism whereas the Soviet Union stood for communism, each was regarded by the other as The Evil. The Cold War began in 1947 with the end of the Second World War and ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. These two superpowers never engaged directly in hot war as the both possessed nuclear weapons after 1949 and the concept of mutually assured destruction would become a reality if either side made any direct threats to the other. As a result, this war was fought in a series of proxy wars which is a war instigated by a major power which does not itself become involved, the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale is an prime example of this.
Angola was found to be a country rich in natural resources such as oil, diamonds, iron ore, gold, natural gas reserves and extensive areas of fertile land fit for farming and as a result it was …show more content…

The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale is one of many battles that form part of the Angolan Civil War. The two main sides in this specific battle are the Cuban-backed Angolan Armed Forces (FAPLA) and the South African Defense Force (SADF). In many of the engagements between these two sides the SADF comes out on top but there is huge debate surrounding the victors of the entire battle, one of the arguments is that it ended with a tactical withdrawal by the SADF as they knew they would be defeated by the FAPLA if they held their position.
There are many aspects one needs to evaluate before one can confirm this claim; such as the prelude, what happened during the battle and the aftermath of the

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