Editing Angola (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Angola}}

===Early migrations and political units===
{{Main|Kingdom of Kongo}}
[[File:Jean_Roy_de_Congo.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[João I of Kongo|King João I]], [[Manikongo]] of the [[Kingdom of Kongo]]]]
Modern Angola was populated predominantly by [[nomad]]ic [[Khoi]] and [[San people|San]] peoples prior to the first [[Bantu migration]]s. The Khoi and San peoples were [[hunter-gatherer]]s, rather than practicing [[pastoralism]] or cultivation of crops.<ref name=Henderson>{{cite book|last=Henderson|first=Lawrence|title=Angola: Five Centuries of Conflict|date=1979|pages=40–42|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca|isbn=978-0812216202}}</ref>

In the first millennium BC, they were displaced by [[Bantu peoples]] arriving from the north, most of whom likely originated in what is today northwestern [[Nigeria]] and southern [[Niger]].<ref name=Miller1>{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Joseph|title=Kings and Kinsmen: Early Mbundu States in Angola|date=1979|pages=55–56|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca|isbn=978-0198227045}}</ref> Bantu speakers introduced the cultivation of [[banana]]s and [[taro]], as well as maintenance of large cattle herds, to Angola's central highlands and the Luanda plain. Due to a number of inhibiting geographic factors throughout the territory of Angola, namely harshly traversable land, hot/humid climate, and a plethora of deadly diseases, intermingling of pre-colonial tribes in Angola had been rare.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

After settlement of the migrants, a number of political entities developed. The best-known of these was the [[Kingdom of Kongo]], based in Angola. It extended northward to what are now the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], the [[Republic of the Congo]], and [[Gabon]]. It established [[trade route]]s with other city-states and civilisations up and down the coast of southwestern and western Africa. Its traders even reached [[Great Zimbabwe]] and the [[Mutapa Empire]], although the kingdom engaged in little or no trans-oceanic trade.<ref name="The Story of Africa">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1624_story_of_africa/page45.shtml|title=The Story of Africa|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=27 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524040820/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1624_story_of_africa/page45.shtml|archive-date=24 May 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> To its south lay the [[Kingdom of Ndongo]], from which the area of the later Portuguese colony was sometimes known as ''Dongo''. Next to that was the [[Kingdom of Matamba]].<ref name=EB1878>{{cite EB9 |mode=cs2 |wstitle=Angola |volume=2 |page=45 }}</ref> The lesser [[Kakongo|Kingdom of Kakongo]] to the north was later a vassal of the Kingdom of Kongo. The people in all of these states spoke [[Kongo language|Kikongo]] as a common language.

===Portuguese colonization===
{{Main|Colonial history of Angola|Portuguese Angola}}
[[File:Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Kongo.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Coat of arms granted to King [[Afonso I of Kongo]] by King [[Manuel I of Portugal]]]]
[[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] [[Age of Discovery|explorer]] [[Diogo Cão]] reached the area in 1484.<ref name=EB1878/> The previous year, the Portuguese had established relations with the [[Kingdom of Kongo]], which stretched at the time from modern [[Gabon]] in the north to the [[Kwanza River]] in the south. The Portuguese established their primary early trading post at [[Soyo]], which is now the northernmost city in Angola apart from the [[Cabinda Province|Cabinda]] [[enclave and exclave|exclave]].

[[Paulo Dias de Novais]] founded São Paulo de Loanda ([[Luanda]]) in 1575 with a hundred families of settlers and four hundred soldiers. [[Benguela]] was fortified in 1587 and became a township in 1617. An authoritarian state, the Kingdom of Kongo was highly centralised around its monarch and controlled neighbouring states as [[vassal state|vassals]]. It had a strong economy, based on the industries of [[copper]], [[ivory]], [[salt]], [[Hide (skin)|hides]], and, to a lesser extent, [[Slavery|slaves]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 November 2023 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Ancient Kongo Kingdom |url=https://www.africarebirth.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-ancient-kongo-kingdom/ |access-date=31 March 2024 |website=Africa Rebirth|archive-date=31 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331094540/https://www.africarebirth.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-ancient-kongo-kingdom/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The transition from a feudal system of slavery to a capitalist one with Portugal would prove crucial to the history of the Kingdom of Kongo.<ref name=":22">{{cite journal | last=Heywood | first=Linda M. | title=Slavery and Its Transformation in the Kingdom of Kongo: 1491-1800 | journal=The Journal of African History | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=50 | issue=1 | year=2009 | issn=0021-8537 | jstor=40206695 | pages=1–22 | doi=10.1017/S0021853709004228 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/40206695 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

As relations between Kongo and Portugal grew in the early 16th century, trade between the kingdoms also increased. Most of the trade was in palm cloth, copper, and ivory, but also increasing numbers of slaves.<ref name=":22" /> Kongo exported few slaves, and its slave market had remained internal. But, following the development of a successful sugar-growing colony after Portuguese settlement of [[São Tomé]], Kongo became a major source of [[Slavery|slaves]] for the island's traders and plantations. Correspondence by King Afonso documents the purchase and sale of slaves within the country. His accounts also detail which slaves captured in war were given or sold to Portuguese merchants.<ref name=":32">{{cite book |author=Atmore, Anthony and Oliver |url=https://archive.org/details/medievalafrica1200rola |title=Medieval Africa, 1250–1800 |year=2001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/medievalafrica1200rola/page/171 171] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Afonso continued to expand the kingdom of Kongo into the 1540s, expanding its borders to the south and east. The expansion of Kongo's population, coupled with Afonso's earlier religious reforms, allowed the ruler to centralize power in his capital and increase the power of the monarchy. He also established a royal monopoly on some trade.<ref name=":32" /><ref name=":22" /> To govern the growing slave trade, Afonso and several Portuguese kings claimed a joint monopoly on the external slave trade.<ref name=":32" /><ref name=":22" />

The slave trade increasingly became Kongo's primary, and arguably sole, [[economic sector]]. A major obstacle for the Kingdom of Kongo was that slaves were the only commodity for which the European powers were willing to trade. Kongo lacked an effective [[World currency|international currency]]. Kongolese nobles could buy slaves with the national currency of [[Shell money|nzimbu shells]], which could be traded for slaves. These could be sold to gain international currency.

As the slave trade was the only commodity in which Europeans were interested in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Kongo economy was unable to [[Economic diversification|diversify]] or later [[Industrial Revolution|industrialise]] outside of sectors in which slavery was involved, such as the [[arms industry]].<ref name="Kingdom of Kongo 1390 – 1914 | South African History Online">{{Cite web |title=Kingdom of Kongo 1390–1914 |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/kingdom-kongo-1390-1914#endnote-45 |access-date=31 March 2024 |publisher=South African History Online |archive-date=23 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223184815/https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/kingdom-kongo-1390-1914#endnote-45 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":5">Rinquist, John: Kongo Iron: ''Symbolic Power, Superior Technology and Slave Wisdom'', African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter, Volume 11, Issue 3, September 2008, Article 3, pp.14–15</ref> The increased production and sale of guns within the kingdom was due to the salient issue of the slave trade, which had become an increasingly violent struggle. There was a constant need for slaves for the kings and queens to sell in exchange for foreign commodities, the absence of which would prevent them from having any influence with European powers such as Portugal and eventually the [[Dutch Republic]].

Kongolese kings needed this influence to garner support from European powers for quelling internal rebellions. The situation became increasingly complicated during the rule of [[Garcia II of Kongo|Garcia II]], who needed the assistance of the Dutch military to drive out the Portuguese from [[Luanda]], in spite of the fact that Portugal was Kongo's primary slave trading partner.<ref name="Kingdom of Kongo 1390 – 1914 | South African History Online" />

By the early 17th century, the supply of foreign slaves captured by the Kongolese externally was waning. The government began to approve the enslavement of freeborn Kongolese citizens for relatively minor infractions, nearly any disobeying of the authoritarian system and the aristocracy. If several villagers were deemed guilty of a crime, it became relatively common for the whole village to be enslaved. The resulting chaos and internal conflict from Garcia II's reign would lead into that of his son and successor, [[António I of Kongo|António I]]. He was killed in 1665 by Portuguese at the [[Battle of Mbwila]] 1665, together with a substantial proportion of the aristocracy. The colonists were expanding their power.<ref>Thornton, John K: ''Warfare in Atlantic Africa 1500–1800,'' 1999. Routledge. Page 103.</ref>

War broke out more widely in the Kingdom of Kongo after the death of António I.<ref name=":5" /> Much of the stability and access to [[iron ore]] and [[charcoal]] necessary for [[gunsmith]]s to maintain the arms industry was disrupted. From then on, in this period almost every Kongolese citizen was in danger of being enslaved.<ref>Thornton, John K: ''The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684–1706'', page 69. Cambridge University, 1998</ref><ref name="Kingdom of Kongo 1390 – 1914 | South African History Online" /> Many Kongolese subjects were adroit in making guns, and they were enslaved to have their skills available to colonists in the New World, where they worked as blacksmiths, ironworkers, and charcoal makers.<ref name=":5" />

The Portuguese established several other settlements, forts and trading posts along the Angolan coast, principally trading in [[Slavery in Angola|Angolan slaves]] for [[plantations in the American South|plantations]]. Local slave dealers provided a large number of slaves for the [[Portuguese Empire]],<ref name="Fleisch">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Fleisch |first= Axel|title=Angola: Slave Trade, Abolition of|encyclopedia= Encyclopedia of African History |editor-last=Shillington|editor-first=Kevin|volume=1|pages=131–133|publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=1-57958-245-1}}</ref> usually in exchange for manufactured goods from Europe.<ref>{{cite book|title=Angola President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos Handbook|author=<!--Not stated-->|publisher=Int'l Business Publications USA|date=1 January 2006|page=153|isbn=0739716069}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|access-date=14 May 2016|page=27|url= http://siteresources.worldbank.org/AFRICAEXT/Resources/africa-brazil-bridging-chapter2.pdf |chapter=The History of Brazil–Africa Relations|author=<!--Not stated-->|title=Bridging the Atlantic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530153221/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/AFRICAEXT/Resources/africa-brazil-bridging-chapter2.pdf |archive-date=30 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> This part of the [[Atlantic slave trade]] continued until after [[independence of Brazil|Brazil's independence]] in the 1820s.<ref name="Handbook">{{Cite book|title=Angola, a Country Study|edition=Third|editor-last=Collelo|editor-first=Thomas|year=1991|publisher=Department of the Army, [[American University]]|location=Washington, D.C.|series=Area Handbook Series|isbn=978-0160308444|pages=14–26}}</ref>
[[File:Queen_Nzinga_1657.png|thumb|right|[[Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba|Queen Ana de Sousa of Ndongo]] meeting with the [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]], 1657]]
[[File:Cidade de São Paulo da Assumpção de Loanda.jpg|thumb|left|Depiction of [[Luanda]] from 1755]]
Despite Portugal's territorial claims in Angola, its control over much of the country's vast interior was minimal.<ref name=EB1878/> In the 16th century Portugal gained control of the coast through a series of treaties and wars. Life for European colonists was difficult and progress was slow. [[John Iliffe (historian)|John Iliffe]] notes that "Portuguese records of Angola from the 16th century show that a great [[famine]] occurred on average every seventy years; accompanied by epidemic disease, it might kill one-third or one-half of the population, destroying the demographic growth of a generation and forcing colonists back into the river valleys".<ref>Iliffe, John (2007) [https://books.google.com/books?id=bNGN2URP_rUC ''Africans: the history of a continent''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610211914/https://books.google.com/books?id=bNGN2URP_rUC |date=10 June 2016 }}. Cambridge University Press. p. 68. {{ISBN|0-521-68297-5}}. For valuable complements for the 16th and 17th centuries see Beatrix Heintze, ''Studien zur Geschichte Angolas im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert'', Colónia/Alemanha: Köppe, 1996</ref>

During the [[Portuguese Restoration War]], the [[Dutch West India Company]] [[Dutch Loango-Angola|occupied]] the principal settlement of Luanda in 1641, using alliances with local peoples to carry out attacks against Portuguese holdings elsewhere.<ref name="Handbook"/> A fleet under [[Salvador de Sá]] retook Luanda in 1648; reconquest of the rest of the territory was completed by 1650. New treaties with the [[Kingdom of Kongo|Kongo]] were signed in 1649; others with [[Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba|Njinga]]'s Kingdom of [[Matamba]] and [[Ndongo]] followed in 1656. The conquest of [[Pungo Andongo]] in 1671 was the last major Portuguese expansion from Luanda, as attempts to invade Kongo in 1670 and Matamba in 1681 failed. Colonial outposts also expanded inward from Benguela, but until the late 19th century the inroads from Luanda and Benguela were very limited.<ref name=EB1878/> Hamstrung by a series of political upheavals in the early 1800s, Portugal was slow to mount a large scale annexation of Angolan territory.<ref name="Handbook"/>
[[File:Cadornega.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''History of Angola''; written in Luanda in 1680.]]

The [[History of slavery|slave trade]] was abolished in Angola in 1836, and in 1854 the colonial government freed all its existing slaves.<ref name="Handbook"/> Four years later, a more progressive administration appointed by Portugal abolished [[slavery]] altogether. However, these decrees remained largely unenforceable, and the Portuguese depended on assistance from the British [[Royal Navy]] and what became known as the [[Blockade of Africa]] to enforce their ban on the slave trade.<ref name="Handbook"/> This coincided with a series of renewed military expeditions into the bush.

By the mid-nineteenth century Portugal had established its dominion as far north as the [[Congo River]] and as far south as [[Moçâmedes|Mossâmedes]].<ref name="Handbook"/> Until the late 1880s, Portugal entertained proposals to link Angola with its [[colony]] in [[Mozambique]] but was blocked by British and Belgian opposition.<ref name=Corrado>{{cite book|last=Corrado|first=Jacopo|title=The Creole Elite and the Rise of Angolan Protonationalism: 1870–1920|date=2008|pages=11–13|publisher=Cambria Press|location=Amherst, New York|isbn=978-1604975291}}</ref> In this period, the Portuguese came up against different forms of armed resistance from various peoples in Angola.<ref>See René Pélissier, ''Les guerres grises: Résistance et revoltes en Angola, (1845-1941)'', Éditions Pélissier, Montamets, 78630 Orgeval (France), 1977</ref>

The [[Berlin Conference]] in 1884–1885 set the colony's borders, delineating the boundaries of Portuguese claims in Angola,<ref name=Corrado/> although many details were unresolved until the 1920s.<ref>See René Pélissier, ''La colonie du Minotaure. Nationalismes et révoltes en Angola (1926–1961)'', éditions Pélissier, Montamets, 78630 Orgeval (France), 1979</ref> Trade between Portugal and its African territories rapidly increased as a result of protective [[tariff]]s, leading to increased development, and a wave of new Portuguese immigrants.<ref name=Corrado/>

In 1925, an expedition to Angola was conducted by American naturalist explorer [[Arthur Stannard Vernay]].

Between 1939 and 1943, Portuguese army operations against the Mucubal, who they accused of rebellion and cattle-thieving, resulted in hundreds of Mucubal killed. During the campaign, 3,529 were taken prisoner, 20% of whom were women and children, and imprisoned in concentration camps. Many died in captivity from undernourishment, violence and forced labor. Around 600 were sent to [[Sao Tome and Principe]]. Hundreds were also sent to a camp in [[Damba (municipality)|Damba]], where 26% died.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Coca de Campos  |first1=Rafael|year=2022 |title=Kakombola: O genocídio dos Mucubais na Angola Colonial, 1930 – 1943 |journal=Atena Editora |language=pt|doi=10.22533/at.ed.663221201 |isbn=978-65-5983-766-3 }}</ref>

===Angolan War of Independence===
{{Main|Angolan War of Independence|Portuguese Colonial War}}
[[File:Luanda,desfilemilitar (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|[[Portuguese Armed Forces]] marching in Luanda during the [[Portuguese Colonial War]]s (1961–74).]]
Under colonial law, black Angolans were forbidden from forming political parties or labour unions.<ref name=Okoth>{{cite book|last=Okoth|first=Assa|title=A History of Africa: African nationalism and the de-colonisation process|date=2006|pages=143–147|publisher=East African Educational Publishers|location=Nairobi|isbn=9966-25-358-0}}</ref> The first nationalist movements did not take root until after [[World War II]], spearheaded by a largely Westernised and Portuguese-speaking urban class, which included many [[mestiço]]s.<ref name="Dowden">{{cite book|last=Dowden |first= Richard| title = Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles| year = 2010| pages = [https://archive.org/details/africaalteredsta00rich/page/207 207–208]| publisher = Portobello Books| location = London| isbn = 978-1-58648-753-9| url = https://archive.org/details/africaalteredsta00rich/page/207}}</ref> During the early 1960s they were joined by other associations stemming from ''ad hoc'' labour activism in the rural workforce.<ref name=Okoth/> Portugal's refusal to address increasing Angolan demands for [[self-determination]] provoked an armed conflict, which erupted in 1961 with the [[Baixa de Cassanje revolt]] and gradually evolved into a protracted [[Angolan War of Independence|war of independence]] that persisted for the next twelve years.<ref name="Cornwell">{{cite web
|title=The War of Independence|last=Cornwell|first=Richard|url=http://www.issafrica.org/pubs/books/Angola/4cornwell.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221015144/http://www.issafrica.org/pubs/books/Angola/4cornwell.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 February 2015|location=Pretoria|publisher=Institute for Security Studies|date=1 November 2000|access-date=20 February 2015}}</ref> Throughout the conflict, three militant nationalist movements with their own partisan guerrilla wings emerged from the fighting between the Portuguese government and local forces, supported to varying degrees by the [[Portuguese Communist Party]].<ref name="Dowden"/><ref name="Stockwell">{{cite book|title=In Search of Enemies|last=Stockwell|first=John|location=London|publisher=Futura Publications Limited|year=1979|orig-year=1978|isbn=978-0393009262|pages=44–45}}</ref>

The ''[[FNLA|National Front for the Liberation of Angola]]'' (FNLA) recruited from [[Bakongo]] refugees in [[Zaire]].<ref name="Hanlon">{{cite book|title=Beggar Your Neighbours: Apartheid Power in Southern Africa|url=https://archive.org/details/beggaryourneighb00hanl|url-access=registration|last=Hanlon|first=Joseph|location=Bloomington|publisher=Indiana University Press|date=1986|isbn=978-0253331311|page=[https://archive.org/details/beggaryourneighb00hanl/page/155 155]}}</ref> Benefiting from particularly favourable political circumstances in [[Kinshasa|Léopoldville]], and especially from a common border with Zaire, Angolan political exiles were able to build up a power base among a large expatriate community from related families, clans, and traditions.<ref name="Chabal">{{cite book|title=A History of Postcolonial Lusophone Africa|last=Chabal|first=Patrick|location=Bloomington|publisher=Indiana University Press|date=2002|isbn=978-0253215659|page=142}}</ref> People on both sides of the border spoke mutually intelligible dialects and enjoyed shared ties to the historical Kingdom of Kongo.<ref name="Chabal"/> Though as foreigners skilled Angolans could not take advantage of [[Mobutu Sese Seko]]'s state employment programme, some found work as middlemen for the absentee owners of various lucrative private ventures. The migrants eventually formed the FNLA with the intention of making a bid for political power upon their envisaged return to Angola.<ref name="Chabal"/>
[[File:FNLA1973.jpg|thumb|upright|Members of the [[National Liberation Front of Angola]] training in 1973.]]
A largely [[Ovimbundu]] guerrilla initiative against the Portuguese in central Angola from 1966 was spearheaded by [[Jonas Savimbi]] and the ''[[UNITA|National Union for the Total Independence of Angola]]'' (UNITA).<ref name="Hanlon"/> It remained handicapped by its geographic remoteness from friendly borders, the ethnic fragmentation of the Ovimbundu, and the isolation of peasants on European plantations where they had little opportunity to mobilise.<ref name="Chabal"/>

During the late 1950s, the rise of the Marxist–Leninist ''[[MPLA|Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola]]'' (MPLA) in the east and Dembos hills north of Luanda came to hold special significance. Formed as a coalition resistance movement by the [[Angolan Communist Party]],<ref name="Cornwell"/> the organisation's leadership remained predominantly [[Ambundu]] and courted public sector workers in [[Luanda]].<ref name="Hanlon"/> Although both the MPLA and its rivals accepted material assistance from the [[Soviet Union]] or the People's Republic of [[China]], the former harboured strong anti-imperialist views and was openly critical of the [[United States]] and its support for Portugal.<ref name="Stockwell"/> This allowed it to win important ground on the diplomatic front, soliciting support from nonaligned governments in [[Morocco]], [[Ghana]], [[Guinea]], [[Mali]], and the [[United Arab Republic]].<ref name="Cornwell"/>

The MPLA attempted to move its headquarters from [[Conakry]] to Léopoldville in October 1961, renewing efforts to create a common front with the FNLA, then known as the ''Union of Angolan Peoples'' (UPA) and its leader [[Holden Roberto]]. Roberto turned down the offer.<ref name="Cornwell"/> When the MPLA first attempted to insert its own insurgents into Angola, the cadres were ambushed and annihilated by UPA partisans on Roberto's orders—setting a precedent for the bitter factional strife which would later ignite the [[Angolan Civil War]].<ref name="Cornwell"/>

===Angolan Civil War===
{{Main|Angolan Civil War}}
[[File:President MPLA, heer Neto door Den Uyl ontvangen premier Den Uyl en A Neto (r), Bestanddeelnr 927-8518 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Agostinho Neto]], first [[President of Angola]].]]
Throughout the war of independence, the three rival nationalist movements were severely hampered by political and military factionalism, as well as their inability to unite guerrilla efforts against the Portuguese.<ref name=Rothschild1>{{cite book|last=Rothschild|first=Donald|title=Managing Ethnic Conflict in Africa: Pressures and Incentives for Cooperation|date=1997|pages=115–120|publisher=The Brookings Institution|location=Washington|isbn=978-0815775935}}</ref> Between 1961 and 1975 the MPLA, UNITA, and the FNLA competed for influence in the Angolan population and the international community.<ref name=Rothschild1/> The [[Soviet Union]] and [[Cuba]] became especially sympathetic towards the MPLA and supplied that party with arms, ammunition, funding, and training.<ref name="Rothschild1"/> They also backed UNITA militants until it became clear that the latter was at irreconcilable odds with the MPLA.<ref name=Revolution>{{cite book|last=Domínguez|first=Jorge|title=To Make a World Safe for Revolution: Cuba's Foreign Policy|date=1989|pages=131–133|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0674893252}}</ref>

The collapse of Portugal's [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]] government following the 1974 [[Carnation Revolution]] suspended all Portuguese military activity in Africa and the brokering of a ceasefire pending negotiations for Angolan independence.<ref name=Rothschild1/> Encouraged by the [[Organisation of African Unity]], Holden Roberto, Jonas Savimbi, and MPLA chairman [[Agostinho Neto]] met in [[Mombasa]] in early January 1975 and agreed to form a coalition government.<ref name="Weigert">{{cite book|title=Angola: A Modern Military History|last=Weigert|first=Stephen|year=2011|location=Basingstoke|publisher=Palgrave-Macmillan
|isbn=978-0230117778|pages=56–65}}</ref> This was ratified by the [[Alvor Agreement]] later that month, which called for general elections and set the country's independence date for 11 November 1975.<ref name="Weigert"/> All three factions, however, followed up on the ceasefire by taking advantage of the gradual Portuguese withdrawal to seize various strategic positions, acquire more arms, and enlarge their militant forces.<ref name="Weigert"/> The rapid influx of weapons from numerous external sources, especially the Soviet Union and the United States, as well as the escalation of tensions between the nationalist parties, fueled a new outbreak of hostilities.<ref name="Weigert"/> With tacit American and Zairean support the FNLA began massing large numbers of troops in northern Angola in an attempt to gain military superiority.<ref name=Rothschild1/> Meanwhile, the MPLA began securing control of Luanda, a traditional Ambundu stronghold.<ref name=Rothschild1/> Sporadic violence broke out in Luanda over the next few months after the FNLA attacked the MPLA's political headquarters in March 1975.<ref name="Weigert"/><ref name="Spikes">{{cite book|title=Angola and the Politics of Intervention: From Local Bush War to Chronic Crisis in Southern Africa|last=Spikes|first=Daniel|year=1993|location=Jefferson|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0899508887|pages=143–144}}</ref> The fighting intensified with street clashes in April and May, and UNITA became involved after over two hundred of its members were massacred by an MPLA contingent that June.<ref name="Weigert"/> An upswing in Soviet arms shipments to the MPLA influenced a decision by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] to likewise provide substantial covert aid to the FNLA and UNITA.<ref name=Vanneman>{{cite book|last=Vanneman|first=Peter|title=Soviet Strategy in Southern Africa: Gorbachev's Pragmatic Approach|url=https://archive.org/details/sovietstrategyin00vann|url-access=registration|date=1990|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sovietstrategyin00vann/page/48 48–49]|publisher=Hoover Institution Press|location=Stanford|isbn=978-0817989026}}</ref>

In August 1975, the MPLA requested direct assistance from the Soviet Union in the form of ground troops.<ref name=Vanneman/> The Soviets declined, offering to send advisers but no troops; however, Cuba was more forthcoming and in late September dispatched nearly five hundred combat personnel to Angola, along with sophisticated weaponry and supplies.<ref name=Revolution/> By independence, there were over a thousand Cuban soldiers in the country.<ref name=Vanneman/> They were kept supplied by a massive [[Cuba–Angola airbridge|airbridge]] carried out with Soviet aircraft.<ref name=Vanneman/> The persistent buildup of Cuban and Soviet military aid allowed the MPLA to drive its opponents from Luanda and blunt an abortive intervention by Zairean and [[South Africa]]n troops, which had deployed in a belated attempt to assist the FNLA and UNITA.<ref name="Weigert"/> The FNLA was largely annihilated after the decisive [[Battle of Quifangondo]], although UNITA managed to withdraw its civil officials and militia from Luanda and seek sanctuary in the southern provinces.<ref name=Rothschild1/> From there, Savimbi continued to mount a determined insurgent campaign against the MPLA.<ref name=Vanneman/>
[[File:Cuban PT-76 Angola.JPG|thumb|Soviet made Cuban PT-76 tank in Luanda during the [[Cuban intervention in Angola]], 1976]]
Between 1975 and 1991, the MPLA implemented an economic and political system based on the principles of [[scientific socialism]], incorporating [[Planned economy|central planning]] and a [[Marxist–Leninist]] [[one-party state]].<ref name=Arming>{{cite book|last=Ferreira|first=Manuel|editor1-last=Brauer|editor1-first=Jurgen|editor2-last=Dunne|editor2-first=J. Paul|title=Arming the South: The Economics of Military Expenditure, Arms Production and Arms Trade in Developing Countries|date=2002|publisher=Palgrave-Macmillan|location=Basingstoke|isbn=978-0-230-50125-6|pages=251–255}}</ref> It embarked on an ambitious programme of [[Nationalization|nationalisation]], and the domestic private sector was essentially abolished.<ref name="Arming"/> Privately owned enterprises were nationalised and incorporated into a single umbrella of state-owned enterprises known as ''Unidades Economicas Estatais'' (UEE).<ref name="Arming"/> Under the MPLA, Angola experienced a significant degree of modern [[industrialisation]].<ref name=Arming/> However, corruption and graft also increased and public resources were either allocated inefficiently or simply embezzled by officials for personal enrichment.<ref name=SSG1>{{cite book|last=Akongdit|first=Addis Ababa Othow|title=Impact of Political Stability on Economic Development: Case of South Sudan|date=2013|pages=74–75|publisher=AuthorHouse Ltd, Publishers|location=Bloomington|isbn=978-1491876442}}</ref> The ruling party survived an [[1977 Angolan coup d'état attempt|attempted coup d'état]] by the [[Maoism|Maoist]]-oriented [[Communist Organization of Angola|Communist Organisation of Angola]] (OCA) in 1977, which was suppressed after a series of bloody political purges left thousands of OCA supporters dead.<ref name=Tucker1>{{cite book|last=Tucker|first=Spencer|title=Encyclopedia of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency: A New Era of Modern Warfare|date=2013|pages=374–375|publisher=ABC-CLIO Ltd, Publishers|location=Santa Barbara|isbn=978-1610692793}}</ref>

The MPLA abandoned its former Marxist ideology at its third party congress in 1990, and declared [[social democracy]] to be its new platform.<ref name=Tucker1/> Angola subsequently became a member of the [[International Monetary Fund]]; restrictions on the market economy were also reduced in an attempt to draw foreign investment.<ref name=Tordoff1>{{cite book|last=Tordoff|first=William|title=Government and Politics in Africa|edition=Third|date=1997|pages=97–98|publisher=Palgrave-Macmillan|location=Basingstoke|isbn=978-0333694749}}</ref> By May 1991 it reached a peace agreement with UNITA, the [[Bicesse Accords]], which scheduled [[Angolan general election, 1992|new general elections]] for September 1992.<ref name=Tordoff1/> When the MPLA secured a major electoral victory, UNITA objected to the results of both the presidential and legislative vote count and returned to war.<ref name=Tordoff1/> Following the election, the [[Halloween massacre (Angola)|Halloween massacre]] occurred from 30 October to 1 November, where MPLA forces killed thousands of UNITA supporters.<ref>{{cite book|last=W. James|first=Martin|year=2004|title=Historical Dictionary of Angola|pages=161–162|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1538111239}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Porto de Luanda - Angola 2015.jpg|thumb|right|[[Luanda]] is experiencing widespread urban renewal and redevelopment in the 21st century, backed largely by profits from the oil and diamond industries.]]
{{Main|2000s in Angola}}
On 22 February 2002, government troops killed Savimbi in a skirmish in the [[Moxico (province)|Moxico province]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 February 2002 |title=Savimbi 'died with gun in hand' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1839252.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614151458/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1839252.stm |archive-date=14 June 2023 |access-date=14 August 2023 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> UNITA and the MPLA consented to the [[Luena, Angola|Luena]] Memorandum of Understanding in April; UNITA agreed to give up its armed wing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Naufila |first=Marmiliano Keyse de Oliveira |year=2016 |title=A search for an integrated peace framework for Angola: the case of Kuito-Bié and Viana |url=https://ukzn-dspace.ukzn.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10413/14282/Naufila_Marmiliano_Keyse_de%20Oliveira_2016.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=14 August 2023 |website=[[University of KwaZulu Natal]] |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230814223551/https://ukzn-dspace.ukzn.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10413/14282/Naufila_Marmiliano_Keyse_de%20Oliveira_2016.pdf |archive-date=14 August 2023}}</ref> With the [[elections in Angola|elections]] in [[2008 Angolan parliamentary election|2008]] and [[2012 Angolan general election|2012]], an MPLA-ruled [[dominant-party system]] emerged, with UNITA and the FNLA as opposition parties.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pacatolo |first=Carlos |url=https://iep.lisboa.ucp.pt/pt-pt/asset/10381/file |title=The Emerging Predominant Party Systems in Angola (2008– 2017) |publisher=CIEP – Centro de Investigação do Instituto de Estudos Políticos |year=2022 |location=Lisboa |pages=3–15|access-date=19 February 2023 |archive-date=19 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219152508/https://iep.lisboa.ucp.pt/pt-pt/asset/10381/file |url-status=live }}</ref>

Angola has a serious humanitarian crisis; the result of the prolonged war, of the abundance of [[minefield]]s, and the continued political agitation in favour of the independence of the [[exclave]] of [[Cabinda (province)|Cabinda]] (carried out in the context of the protracted [[Cabinda War|Cabinda conflict]] by the [[Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda|FLEC]]). While most of the internally displaced have now [[Squatting in Angola|squatted]] around the capital, in ''musseques'' ([[shanty towns]]) the general situation for Angolans remains desperate.<ref>Lari (2004), Human Rights Watch (2005)</ref><ref>For an overall analysis see Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Magnificent and Beggar Land: Angola since the Civil War, London: Hurst, 2015</ref>

A [[drought]] in 2016 caused the worst food crisis in [[Southern Africa]] in 25 years, affecting 1.4 million people across seven of Angola's eighteen provinces. [[Food prices]] rose and acute [[malnutrition]] rates doubled, impacting over 95,000 children.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vidal |first=John |date=22 May 2016 |title=How southern Africa is coping with worst global food crisis for 25 years|work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/may/22/southern-africa-worst-global-food-crisis-25-years |access-date=13 September 2023 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=18 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518174602/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/may/22/southern-africa-worst-global-food-crisis-25-years |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[José Eduardo dos Santos]] stepped down as [[President of Angola]] after 38 years in 2017, being peacefully succeeded by [[João Lourenço]], Santos' chosen successor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/who-is-angolas-new-president-joao-lourenco/a-40218458|title=Who is Angola's new president Joao Lourenco? &#124; DW &#124; 26.09.2017|publisher=Deutsche Welle|access-date=26 February 2021|archive-date=3 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203010533/https://www.dw.com/en/who-is-angolas-new-president-joao-lourenco/a-40218458|url-status=live}}</ref> Some members of the dos Santos family were later linked to high levels of corruption. In July 2022, ex-president José Eduardo dos Santos died in Spain.<ref>{{cite news |title=José Eduardo dos Santos: State funeral for Angola ex-president |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-62705492 |publisher=BBC News |date=28 August 2022 |access-date=5 September 2022 |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131233938/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-62705492 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In August 2022, the ruling party, MPLA, won another majority and President Lourenço won a second five-year term in the [[2022 Angolan general election|election]]. However, the election was the tightest in Angola's history.<ref>{{cite news |title=Angola's MPLA ruling party wins elections and presidency |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/29/angola-ruling-party-wins-vote-and-president-a-second-term |publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=5 September 2022 |archive-date=13 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213030812/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/29/angola-ruling-party-wins-vote-and-president-a-second-term |url-status=live }}</ref>