Location of Cuba (red), Angola (green), and South Africa (blue)

Illustrative Example (p. 146) – Proxy War

The Angolan Civil War was a major civil war in the African country of Angola that started in 1975 and ended in 2002. The war began right after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The Civil War was mostly a fight for power between two former liberation movements, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Other countries got involved in the war because they wanted their own ideologies to win. This made the Angolan war part of the Cold War. In 2002 the MPLA won.

About 500,000 people died in the war. The war also did a lot of damage to buildings in Angola. Because of all the damage, in 2003 80% of Angolans lacked access to basic medical care, 60% lacked access to water, and 30% of Angolan children would die before the age of 5, with an overall national life expectancy of less than 40 years of age.

The Angola Crisis (1974–75)