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The Portuguese Colonial War ( 1961 – 1974 ), also known there as '''Ultramar War''' (Ultramar meaning "overseas") was the result of Portuguese military reaction to the nationalist movements and armed rebellions that emerged in Portugal's African colonies. Independence movements became active in Angola , Mozambique , and Portuguese Guinea , and led to increasingly costly wars that failed to defeat the Guerrilla s. Despite António De Oliveira Salazar 's incapacitation in 1968 (and his death in 1970 ), and Marcelo Caetano 's marcelist spring, discontent about the wars was one of the factors leading to the 1974 Carnation Revolution . This episode in Portuguese Military History began in Angola on February 4 , 1961 , in a zone called ''Zona Sublevada do Norte'' (ZSN) (Rebel zone of the north), in the Districts of Zaire , Uíge and Cuanza Norte . The Carnation Revolution in Portugal on April 25 in 1974 ended it. Due to the change of political direction of the country the conflict was brought to an end. The new political leaders announced the process of Democratic change, were willing to accept the independence of the colonies and began negotiation with the armed separatist movements. During the process it was necessary to increase progressively the Mobilization of the Portuguese forces. This became critical in the early 1970s when mobilization levels reached their limit. On the Portuguese side, the war was sustained in the defense of what was believed to be national territory based on the concept of a multi-racial and overseas empire. On the other hand, the liberation movements justified themselves with the principle of national self-determination and independence. POLITICO-SOCIAL CONTEXT In the European colonies always existed opposition and resistance movements against the colonial powers. However, during the Twentieth Century , the nationalist feeling — heavily driven by World Wars World War I and World War II — was present in all European movements, for which won't be surprising its transfer to the colonies, because many of their natives will take part in them, exposing the paradox of the celebration of the victory, in colonial territory, still dependent and submissive. On the other hand, additionally, the emerging great powers of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union encouraged — both ideologically and materially — the formation of nationalist resistance groups, during their dispute for the influence zones. It's in this context that the Bandung Conference , in 1955 , will give voice to the colonies, that faced the same problems and tried to provide an alternative to the simple alignment in the bipolar conflict that confronted the two superpowers. These were, thus, expected to consider as another legitimacy the reivindications of the so-called Third World , both to preserve the balance in the relations of the Cold War and to canalize the autonomist feelings to their benefit, as influence zones. The external influence in the colonies lost the simply separatist and desestabilizing orientation and walked to an effective support - or impeded - in the relations of the colonial countries. In the late ; on the other hand, increased, in the regime's perspective, the responsibility of the keeping under control the vast overseas territories, where the postwar tension approached separatist fights in the colonies of the Imperial Europe. With all this, the same leaders that put Portugal aside from the war for the ''European liberation'', chose to integrate the country in the military structure of the NATO , in a subtle desire to ally with the victors, in detriment of the preparation for the threats in the colonial spaces, that the regime considered essential for the survival of the nation. This integration of Portugal in the Atlantic Alliance would form a military élite that would become essential during the planning and implementation of the operations during the Overseas War. This "''NATO generation''" would ascend quickly to the highest political positions and of command, without the need of providing evidence of the loyality to the regime. The Colonial War would establish, this way, incompatibilities between the military structure -- heaviliy influenced by the western powers, of democratic regime -- and of the political power. Some analists considere that the " Botelho Moniz Côup placed the beginning of this rupture, as the origin of a slight diffidence of the regime in relation with the upkeep of a unique command center, awaiting for the threat of the conflict as an armed force. This situation would cause, as later would be verified, a lack of coordination between the three general staffs ( Army , Air Force and Navy ). OPPOSITION Opposing what the government wanted to transmit as being of general consensus, i.e., that the colonies were a part of the national unity, more close to overseas provinces rather than colonies, the (in 1949), Quintão Meireles (in 1951) and Humberto Delgado (in 1958). The communist candidates, had, obviously, the same positions, among them were Rui Luís Gomes and Arlindo Vicente , the first would not be allowed to participate in the election and the last would support Delgado in 1958. After the electorial fraud of 1958 , Humberto Delgado formed the Movimento Nacional Independente (MNI) (meaning Independent National Movement) that, in October of 1960 , defended the need of preparing the people of the colonies, before giving the autodetermination right. Despite this, no data or metodology was suggested. In 1961 , the nº8 of the ''Militar Tribune'' had as title "''Let's end the war of Angola''". Their authors were linked to the Juntas De Acção Patriótica (JAP) supporters of Humberto Delgado, responsibles of the attack in the Barracks Of Beja . The National Liberation Front Of Angola (FPLN), founded in December 1962 , attacked the conciliatory positions. The oficial feeling of the Portuguese state, despite all this, was the same: Portugal had inalienable and legitime rights over the colonies and this was what was transmitted through the media and through the state propaganda. In April of 1964 , the Directory of Democratic-Social Action claimed a political solution rather than a militar one. In harmony with this initiative, in 1966 , Mário Soares suggested the preparation of a referendum about the overseas policy to follow by Portugal, and that should be preceded by a national discussion to be made in the following six months. The end of Salazar's rule, due to illness, in 1968, didn't propmpted any change in the political panorama. The radicalization of the opposition movements started between the younger people, that also felt victimized by the continuation of the war. The Universities played a key role in the spread of this positioning. This way, several magazines and newspapers were created, such as ''Cadernos Circunstância'', ''Cadernos Necessários'', ''Tempo e Modo'', and ''Polémica''. It was in this environment that the Armed Revolutionary Action (ARA), the armed branch of the Portuguese Communist party created in the late 1960s and the Revolutionary Brigades (BR), a leftwing organization, showed themselves as an important form of resistance against the war, carrying multiple sabotages and bombings against military targets. The ARA began its military actions in October of 1970 , keeping them until August of 1972 . The major ones were the attack to the Tancos air base, that destroyed several helicopters, in March 8 of 1971 , and the attack against the NATO headquarters at Oeiras , in October of the same year. The BR, by their side, began armed actions on November 7 of 1971 , with the sabotage of the NATO base at Pinhal De Armeiro , with the last one being made on April 9 of 1974 , against the Niassa ship, which was preparing for leaving Lisboa with troops to be deployed at Guinea . The BR acted even in the colonies, placing a bomb in the Militar Command of Bissau, on February 22 of 1974 . Furthermore, the alignment of the business and financial sectors, middle classes and worker's movements made an important inflection point in the policy of the regime, in 1973 . They now were supporting the independence of the colonies, a few months before the Carnation Revolution . ARMED CONFLICT Angola See Also: Angolan War of Independence In Angola , the rebellion of the ZSN was pursued by the União das Populações de Angola (UPA) — which changed its designation to Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (FNLA) in 1962. The February 4 of 1961 , the Movimento Popular De Libertação De Angola claimed the attack to the prison of Luanda, where seven policemen were killed. The 15th Of March of 1961, the UPA, in a tribal attack, originated the massacre of white populations and black workers born in other regions of Angola. This region would be reoccupied with large military operations that, however, would not stop the spread of the Guerrilla actions to the regions of Angola, such as Cabinda , the east, the southeast and the central plateaus. Guinea-Bissau In Guinea-Bissau, the war started in January of 1963, when the Marxist African Party For The Independence Of Guinea And Cape Verde (PAIGC) initiated a Guerrilla fight, attacking the Portuguese headquarters in Tite located to the south of the capital, Bissau , near the river Corubal. This kind of actions quickly spread to the entire territory with growing intensity, demanding a steady answer from the Portuguese. The war in Guinea placed face to face Amílcar Cabral , the leader of PAIGC and António De Spínola , the Portuguese general, responsible for the local military operations. In 1965 the war spread to the eastern part of the country and in that same year the PAIGC carried out attacks in the north of the country, where, at the time, only the minor guerrilla movement, the Front For The Liberation And Independence Of Guinea (FLING) was fighting. By that time, the PAIGC started receiving military support from the Socialist Bloc , mainly from Cuba , a support that would last until the end of the war. In Guinea, the Portuguese troops took, mainly, a defensive position, limiting themselves to keep the territories they already held. This kind of action was particularly devastating to the Portuguese troops that were constantly attacked by the forces of the PAIGC and also due to the steady growth of the influence of the liberation ideias among the population, that was being recruited in large numbers by the PAIGC. With some strategic changes by António Spínola in the late 1960s, the Portuguese forces gained momentum and gained a much more offensive status. Between 1968 and 1972, the Portuguese forces took control of the situation and, sometimes, carried attacks against the PAIGC positions. At the time, the Portuguese forces were also fighting in a subversive way, attacking the political structure of the nationalist movement that culminated with the assassination of Amílcar Cabral in January of 1973. Nonetheless, the PAIGC continued its activity and pushed the Portuguese forces to the limit; this became even more visible after PAIGC received Antiaircraft Weapons provided by the Soviets, especially the SA-7 rocket launchers, thus eliminating the Portuguese air superiority. Mozambique Mozambique was the last territory to initiate the liberation war. Its nationalist movement was led by the Marxist-leninist Liberation Front Of Mozambique (FRELIMO), which carried out the first attack against Portuguese targets on September 24, 1964, in Chai , province of Cabo Delgado . The combats later spread to Niassa , Tete and the centre of the country. However, a report from the battalion no. 558 of the Portuguese army makes reference to violent actions, also in Cabo Delgado, in August 21 of 1964. On November 16 of the same year, the Portuguese troops suffered the first losses, fighting in the north of the country, in the region of Xilama . At the time, the size of the guerilla movement was steadily increasing; this, along with the low density of Portuguese troops and colonists, allowed a steady increase of FRELIMO's strength. It quickly started moving south in the direction of Meponda and Mandimba , linking to Tete with the aid of Malawi . Until 1967, the FRELIMO showed less interested in Tete region, putting its efforts on the two northernmost districts of the country, where the use of Landmines became very common. In the region of Niassa, FRELIMO's intention was to create a free corridor to Zambézia . Until April 1970, the military activity of FRELIMO increased steadily, mainly due to the strategic work of Samora Machel in the region of Cabo Delgado. ROLE OF THE ORGANISATION OF AFRICAN UNITY The Organisation Of African Unity (OAU) was founded during the war, in May of 1963, its basic principles were the cooperation between African nations and the solidarity between the African peoples. Another main guideline of the OAU's action was the end of all forms of colonialism in the continent. This last became the major objective of the organisation in its first years, and soon, due to OAU's pressure the Portuguese action in the colonies was taken to the UN Security Council , that took position against the Portuguese colonialism and war in Africa. The OAU established a committee to support the liberation movements, based on Dar-es-Salam , with representatives from Ethiopia , Algeria , Uganda , Egypt , Tanzania , Zaire , Guinea-Conakri , Senegal and Nigeria . The committee's aid consisted of military training and weapon supply. The OAU also took action in order to promote the international acknowledgment of the legitimacy of the Revolutionary Government of Angola in the Exile (GRAE), composed by the FNLA . The support of GRAE was transferred to the MPLA and to its leader, Agostinho Neto in 1967. In November of 1972, both movements became recognized by the OAU, in order to promote its merger. Since 1964, the OAU recognized PAIGC as the legitimate representative of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde and did the same with Mozambique's FRELIMO in 1965. END OF THE WAR CONSEQUENCES Economic effort The State Budget during the 1960s and the 1970s clearly expressed the Portuguese financial effort in order to keep fighting in Africa. Obviously, the country's expenditure with the armed forces boosted since the beginning of the war in 1961. The expenses were divided into ordinary and extraordinary ones; the latter ones were the main factor in the huge increase in the military budget, making war in the colonies a severe burden to finances. Since the rise of Marcello Caetano , after Salazar's incapability, expenditure with armed forces increased even further. War veterans THE WAR ON THE ARTS Cinema Literature BIBLIOGRAPHY
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