Comparing The Angolan Civil War And The Battle Of Cuanavale

There is much controversy that surround both the Angolan Civil War and the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. The battle was exited with both sides, Cuba and South Africa, calling the battle a victory. However when looking at the intentions of the Cubans and the South Africans and the outcomes, as well as the Angolan Civil War history, it is clear the Cuba was the victorious force.

Angola was one of the last African countries to gain its independence. This was because as other European countries were loosening their control over their colonies and moving away from colonisation, Portugal took a different approach and attempted to strengthen its control over its colonies, including Angola. This decision led to a war between the Portuguese and the liberation

In fact it was because of the humiliation that the American army and government faced in Vietnam, that the USA decided to get involved. USA felt it reasserted their position as a superpower. However they were not willing to get too involved, at the risk of another devastating blow, as in the Vietnam War. The USA government chose not to directly involve itself by sending troops but rather supplying weapons, military supplies and funding for the war. They also encouraged South African’s involvement in the conflict in the hopes of stopping the MPLA and its allies.

China originally supported all three of the liberation movements in their initial joint conflicts against Portugal. The Chinese supplied the movements with weapons and support. It was only after meetings between the leaders of the FNLA and the Chinese Foreign Minister and leaders of UNITA that China started to lean towards favouring the FPLN and UNITA. The Chinese chose to support these two movements in order to counter-act the actions of the Soviet Union, due to the tension between the two countries following the Sino-Soviet

The Portuguese withdrawal did give hope to South Africa’s majority black population, who saw Angola as proof that change can happen. Other reasons for South African’s intervention was that the African National Congress (ANC) bases would now much closer to South Africa as well as the fear that the MPLA may provide support to the ANC and the South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO), the guerrilla movement which opposed South Africa rule in South (figure 6) 6 6 6) West Africa. South Africa used its involvement in the Angolan Civil War to prolong the war and increase the amount of destruction which followed, thereby adding to the destruction of the Angolan economy and the death of many Angolans. South Africa also took the Angolan Civil War as “an opportunity to demonstrate to the USA its value as a staunch anti-communist regional power and improve its standing within Washington.” South Africa hoped to prove and solidify its power in