In the mid-70s of the last century, the confrontation between the two superpowers - the USSR and the USA - reached a new level. Now these countries have begun to butt heads for global influence in Africa. And long-suffering Angola became the springboard.
The beginning of the conflict In the 1970s, Angola - a former Portuguese colony - turned into a site of intense confrontation between the superpowers. And the struggle for influence was waged at literally all levels. Representatives of the MPLA national liberation movement and the opposition fought among themselves in the internal arena, and Angola and South Africa fought among themselves in the external arena. And in the global sense - the Soviet Union and the USA. 
Accordingly, very soon all the neighboring countries were involved in the bloody “game”, and that part of the Dark Continent turned into a hot spot.
Angola declared its independence in 1975
The leadership of the Soviet Union tried in every possible way not to give up its positions in Africa. Therefore, they tried with all their might to help Angola form a combat-ready national army, and at the same time turn the country’s leadership into its puppets. Simply put, the USSR wanted to fashion Angola into a viable socialist state. 
This was important from a strategic point of view, because the country occupied an advantageous position and was also distinguished by rich reserves of diamonds, iron ore and oil. In general, the one who commanded Angola received into his hands a kind of key to all of Africa. And “giving” it to the Americans would be a complete disaster.
When the African country declared independence, representatives of the USSR urgently signed several important documents with its leadership. One of which was the use of the entire military infrastructure by the Red Army. And just as quickly, Soviet operational squadrons were dispatched to Angolan naval bases, and aircraft of various stripes (from reconnaissance to anti-submarine) were dispatched to airfields. Not without manpower, of course. Thousands of Red Army soldiers, veiledly called “advisers,” landed on the Angolan coast.
Not so simple
The USSR tried to act as quickly and efficiently as possible. During 3 months of 1975, about thirty large-capacity transports loaded with military equipment, weapons and ammunition arrived in Angola.Angola turned into an arena of confrontation between the USSR and the USA
By mid-spring 1976, Angola received at its disposal several dozen Mi-8 helicopters, MiG-17 fighters, about seventy T-34 tanks, a couple of hundred T-54s and many more diverse equipment. In general, the Angolan army was fully provided with everything necessary.
The opponents did not sit idly by at this time. For example, South Africa invaded the territory of Angola several times, trying to tear off at least some piece of it. Therefore, the most elite units went into battle - the Buffalo battalions, the 101st "black" and the 61st mechanized brigade. In total, about 20 thousand soldiers, one and a half hundred units of military equipment and four dozen artillery pieces. And they were supported from the air by about 80 planes and helicopters. By the way, the United States stood behind the Republic of South Africa, as you might guess. They provided their “brainchild” with everything necessary, sending, just like the USSR, their own “advisers.”
The Battle of Quita Cuanavale lasted more than a year
The largest battle between Angola and South Africa was the Battle of Quita Cuanavale, which lasted from 1987 to 1988. The confrontation turned out to be brutal and bloody. So, during this time, Angolan pilots carried out about 3 thousand combat sorties, about 4 dozen South African planes and helicopters were destroyed, and the death toll was in the thousands.
This protracted confrontation led to the signing of an agreement on December 22, 1988 in New York on the phased withdrawal of South African troops from Angola.
But the civil war in the country continued. And even if the official leadership made some concessions, the leader of the rebels, UNITA General Savimbi, did not want to hear about anything like that.
Only in 2002, opposition leader Savimbi was killed
It was destroyed only in February 2002 during Operation Kissonde, carried out near the Zambian border. And then the civil war ended. But the USSR itself, which supported the government with all its might, did not live to see this moment...
Secrets, secrets, secrets...
From the very beginning, the “red” operation in Angola was a sealed secret. Therefore, the majority of Soviet military personnel do not have any marks in their personal files about their stay on the territory of the Dark Continent.
The first group of Soviet military personnel consisted of 40 people. And in Angola they were allowed to act at their own discretion, even to fight personally if the situation required it.
Documents on the presence of the USSR in Angola are still classified
In general, according to official data, from 1975 to 1991 (the time of cooperation between the USSR and Angola), more than 11 thousand military personnel arrived in the country. They usually wore Angolan uniforms and had no identification documents. They lived in tents and dugouts. And together with the Angolans they participated in a wide variety of military operations. In general, the success of the Angolan army, which managed to cope with South Africa - the strongest African country at that time - is the merit of the citizens of the USSR. There were, of course, no casualties. But no one knows the reliable data. Some talk about dozens of deaths, others about thousands. And the archives dedicated to the military-political cooperation between the USSR and Angola are still classified as “Secret”.
Little is said about this, but during the Cold War, the USSR defended its interests not only in the countries of the social bloc, but also in distant Africa. Our military has been involved in many African conflicts, the largest of which was the civil war in Angola.
Unknown War
For a long time it was not customary to talk about the fact that the Soviet military fought in Africa. Moreover, 99% of USSR citizens did not know that there was a Soviet military contingent in distant Angola, Mozambique, Libya, Ethiopia, North and South Yemen, Syria and Egypt. Of course, rumors were heard, but they were treated with restraint, not confirmed by official information from the pages of the Pravda newspaper, as tales and speculation.
Meanwhile, only through the 10th Main Directorate of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces from 1975 to 1991, 10,985 generals, officers, warrant officers and privates passed through Angola. During the same time, 11,143 Soviet military personnel were sent to Ethiopia. If we also take into account the Soviet military presence in Mozambique, then we can talk about more than 30 thousand Soviet military specialists and rank and file on African soil.
However, despite such a scale, the soldiers and officers who fulfilled their “international duty” were as if non-existent, they were not given orders and medals, and the Soviet press did not write about their exploits. It was as if they were not there for official statistics. As a rule, the military cards of participants in African wars did not contain any records of business trips to the African continent, but simply contained an inconspicuous stamp with the unit number, behind which the 10th Directorate of the USSR General Staff was hidden. This state of affairs was well reflected in his poem by the military translator Alexander Polivin, who wrote during the battles for the city of Quitu Cuanavale
“Where have you and I taken us, my friend?
Probably a big and necessary thing?
And they tell us: “You couldn’t be there,
And the land did not turn red with the blood of Russian Angola.”
The first soldiers
Immediately after the overthrow of the dictatorship in Portugal, on November 11, 1975, when Angola received its long-awaited independence, the first military specialists, forty special forces and military translators appeared in this African country. After fighting colonial forces for fifteen years, the rebels were finally able to come to power, but that power still had to be fought for. At the helm of Angola was a coalition of three national liberation movements: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). The Soviet Union decided to support the MPLA. With the departure of the Portuguese, Angola became a real battleground for geopolitical interests. The MPLA, which was supported by Cuba and the USSR, was opposed by UNITA, FNLA and South Africa, which, in turn, were supported by Zaire and the USA.
What did they fight for?
What did the USSR achieve when it sent its “African special forces” to distant lands, to distant Africa? The goals were primarily geopolitical. Angola was seen by the Soviet leadership as an outpost of socialism in Africa; it could become our first enclave in South Africa and could resist the economically powerful South Africa, which, as is known, was supported by the United States.
During the Cold War, our country could not afford to lose Angola; it was necessary to do everything in our power to help the new leadership of the country, to make the country a model African socialist state, oriented in its political tasks to the Soviet Union. In terms of trade relations, Angola was of little interest to the USSR; the countries' export areas were similar: timber, oil and diamonds. It was a war for political influence.
Fidel Castro once succinctly said about the importance of Soviet assistance: “Angola would not have had any prospects without the political, logistical and technical assistance of the USSR.”
How and in what did you fight?
From the very beginning of the USSR's military involvement in the African conflict, they were given carte blanche to conduct military operations. This was reported by a telegram received from the General Staff, which indicated that military specialists have the right to take part in hostilities on the side of the MPLA and Cuban troops.
In addition to the “manpower”, which consisted of military advisers, officers, warrant officers, privates, sailors and combat swimmers (the USSR sent several of its military ships to the shores of Angola), weapons and special equipment were also supplied to Angola.
However, as Sergei Kolomnin, a participant in that war, recalls, there were still not enough weapons. However, the opposing side also lacked it. Most of all, of course, there were Kalashnikov assault rifles, both Soviet and foreign (Romanian, Chinese and Yugoslav) assembled. There were also Portuguese Zh-3 rifles left over from colonial times. The principle of “we will help in any way we can” was manifested in the supply to Angola of reliable, but somewhat outdated by that time PPD, PPSh and Degtyarev machine guns that had remained since the Great Patriotic War.
The uniform of the Soviet military in Angola was without insignia; at first it was customary to wear the Cuban uniform, the so-called “verde olivo”. It was not very comfortable in the hot African climate, but military personnel, as a rule, do not choose their wardrobe. Soviet soldiers had to resort to military ingenuity and order lighter uniforms from tailors. Lieutenant General Petrovsky once planned to make changes to the ammunition at the official level, add insignia to it and change the material, but his proposals were met with hostility by the command. People were dying on the Angolan fronts; dealing with issues of uniform in such conditions was considered frivolous.
Change of course
We missed Angola, as well as Lebanon and other African countries. Now we can talk about this. When the USSR collapsed and the political course in the country changed, our military contingent was recalled from Africa. A holy place, as we know, is never empty. The President of the same Angola, Dos Santos (who, by the way, graduated from the University of Baku and is married to a Russian) had to look for new allies. And, not surprisingly, it turned out to be the United States.
The Americans immediately stopped supporting UNITA and switched to helping the MPLA. Today, American oil companies operate in Angola, Angolan oil is supplied to China, and Brazil has its own interests in Angola. At the same time, Angola itself remains one of the poorest countries in the world with a poverty rate of 60 percent, outbreaks of the HIV epidemic and total unemployment.
Soviet Africa turned out to be an unfulfilled dream, and several hundred Soviet soldiers who came there to fulfill their “international duty” will never return.
A widespread guerrilla war in the Portuguese colony of Angola began in February 1961. It was led by a number of rebel organizations, the largest of which were the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The USSR supported the MPLA (Marxist-oriented party) since the late 50s. On November 7, 1961, Cuban specialists arrived in Angola and began training MPLA partisans. Since 1973, military personnel from the PRC and the DPRK have been involved in the training of MPLA rebels.In 1958-1974, the USSR supplied equipment and weapons worth $55 million to Angola; Angolan partisans were trained in educational institutions of the Soviet Union and a number of Warsaw Pact countries.
After Portugal recognized the independence of Angola in January 1975, a struggle for power began between representatives of rebel groups. South Africa and Zaire intervened in the civil war. Cuban units began to be deployed to help the MPLA - a total of 22 infantry and armored brigades numbering up to 40 thousand people. According to some reports, Cuba intervened in the conflict without the sanction of the USSR.
In August 1975, a massive offensive by opponents of the MPLA began: FNLA formations were approaching Luanda from the north with the support of units of the regular Zairian army and foreign mercenaries, and armored units of South Africa, with which UNITA units were moving, were advancing from the south. In October, fierce battles began for the capital of Angola with the use of heavy weapons.
The first group of Soviet military specialists - about 40 people under the command of Colonel Vasily Trofimenko - arrived in Luanda through the Congo on November 16, 1975. It included specialists in the use of various military equipment, including Strela-2 man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems, signalmen and military translators.
In addition, warships of the USSR Navy, including large landing ships with marine units, arrived on the shores of Angola.
Several training centers were established in Luanda to train MPLA fighters.
Transport ships and planes transferred 320 tanks, 300 armored vehicles, 22 aircraft, helicopters, artillery systems, small arms and ammunition to Angola in early 1976. The number of Soviet specialists increased to 344 people, including 58 special forces soldiers. Soon, a mixed air division arrived from the USSR - 120 combat and transport aircraft and helicopters with pilots, crews and maintenance personnel.
By the end of March 1976, MPLA units and Cuban troops, with the support of Soviet military advisers, drove South African and UNITA troops back to their original positions. The main strategic settlements and communications were taken under control. In April, the South African contingent was withdrawn from the country.
However, the operations carried out in the summer and autumn of 1976 with the aim of completely destroying the UNITA partisans did not produce the expected result. The civil war continued, UNITA groups (about 10 thousand people) were active in the central and eastern regions of the republic with support from South Africa. In addition, the country's aircraft continued to carry out raids into Angola.
In the 1980s, rebels and South African army units launched several offensives. According to unconfirmed reports, during one of these breakthroughs, a landing of Soviet marines (dressed in the uniform of MPLA troops) was landed in a fortified area in the rear of UNITA. Thanks to this, the opposition's offensive was thwarted.
The Soviet military mission remained in Angola until 1991, and was then closed for political reasons. That same year, the Cuban army also left the country. The civil war in Angola continues to this day. Active hostilities ceased for some time after the signing of a peace agreement between the Angolan government and UNITA on November 20, 1994, but then resumed again.
In total, from 1975 to 1991, 10,985 Soviet military personnel visited Angola. USSR losses amounted to 54 dead, ten wounded and one prisoner (according to other sources, three people were captured). The losses of the Cuban side amounted to about 1000 dead.
Thanks to its intervention in the conflict, the USSR in the 70-90s was able to place in Angola a naval base (material and technical support point) of the Atlantic squadron and three radar stations for illuminating the situation in the South Atlantic. Marine units were stationed here to guard these facilities.
The USSR helped MPLA Chairman Jose Eduardo dos Santos stay in power for many years
The Angolan Civil War was an armed conflict between three rival factions: MPLA, FNLA and UNITA. Lasted during 1975 - March 30, 2002. Participants: MPLA, FNLA and UNITA. Ended in victory for the MPLA.
After the armed forces of the MPLA established control over Luanda on the eve of the declaration of independence, the breakdown of the Alvor agreements on a coalition government became apparent. Three Angolan movements - MPLA, FNLA, UNITA - turned to their external allies for help.
As a result, already on September 25, 1975, Zairean troops entered Angola from the north: President Mobutu Sese Seko provided assistance to the FNLA and his relative, Holden Roberto.
Since the Marxist MPLA collaborated with SWAPO, on October 14, 1975, the South African army invaded Angola from the south, supporting UNITA, in order to protect its occupation regime in Namibia.
At the same time, small but active detachments of the Portuguese Liberation Army (ELP) crossed the Angolan border from the territory of Namibia, acting on the side of forces hostile to the MPLA. Their destination was Luanda.
In this situation, MPLA Chairman Agostinho Neto turned to the USSR and Cuba for help. Cuban leader Fidel Castro reacted immediately by sending volunteer Cuban troops to Angola to help the MPLA. The arrival of Cuban military specialists in Angola enabled the MPLA to quickly form 16 infantry battalions and 25 anti-aircraft and mortar batteries of the armed forces of the People's Republic of Angola (PRA). Until the end of 1975, the USSR sent about 200 military specialists to help the MPLA, and warships of the USSR Navy also arrived on the Angolan shores. The USSR and its allies supplied the MPLA with a large number of different weapons.
Cuban and Soviet support provided the MPLA with a significant military advantage over the opposing FNLA formations. Holden Roberto's forces were staffed by poorly trained Bakongo soldiers and equipped with mostly obsolete Chinese weapons. The most combat-ready unit of the FNLA was a detachment of mercenaries recruited in Western Europe, but it was small in number and did not have heavy weapons.
On the night of November 10-11, 1975, the FNLA and Zaire troops suffered a decisive defeat in the Battle of Quifangondo. On November 11, 1975, Angola's independence was declared under the rule of the MPLA.
On November 12, 1975, a column of South African Zulu troops went on the offensive. In 20 days, South African troops advanced more than 700 km into Angolan territory. However, already on November 17, 1975, MPLA troops, with the support of the Cubans, managed to stop a South African armored column at the bridge over the Kewe River, north of the city of Gangula. A few days later, MPLA troops launched an offensive in the Porto Ambain area. By December 5, 1975, the combined forces of FAPLA and Cuban volunteers had pushed back opponents north and south of the capital by 100 km.
On January 6, 1976, Carmona (Uigi), the main FNLA base in northern Angola, fell into the hands of the MPLA. A week later, the FNLA troops took a panicked flight and left Angola. The MPLA was able to transfer its forces to the south. Heavy fighting took place in the areas of Vila Luso and Teixeira de Sauza. Savimbi was forced to announce UNITA's transition to guerrilla warfare.
At the beginning of February 1976, fighting on the northern front was already taking place in the border zone with Zaire. On February 8, 1976, MPLA fighters occupied the important strategic city of Santo Antonio do Zaire, and the next day, already in a southern direction, they entered the city of Huambo (Nova Lizboa). Building on their success, MPLA units over the next few days took the port cities of Benguela, Lobita and Sa da Bandeira. With the capture of the city of Pedro da Feitiso on February 18, 1976, MPLA forces established control over the northern border of the country.
By the end of March 1976, the armed forces of the NRA, with the direct support of a 15,000-strong contingent of Cuban volunteers and the assistance of Soviet military specialists, managed to oust the troops of South Africa and Zaire from Angola. The war was continued by the UNITA movement led by Jonas Savimbi, which managed to quickly transform into a partisan army.
The Angolan authorities recorded from January to June 1980 529 cases of violation of the Angolan border by the South African armed forces.
In August 1981, South African motorized columns numbering 11 thousand people, supported by heavy artillery, airplanes and helicopters, invaded the Angolan province of Cunene, advancing 150-200 km in some areas. But in the area of the city of Cahama, their path was blocked by FAPLA (People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola). At the end of the summer of 1982, 4 additional motorized infantry brigades, 50 airplanes and 30 helicopters were transferred here. During this period, an attempt was made to capture the settlements of Kuvelay and Letala. At the end of 1982, the Angolan and South African governments began negotiations on a ceasefire, but on January 31, 1983, units of the South African army entered the province of Benguela and blew up a hydroelectric power station, which led to a new round of escalation of the conflict. Only in March 1984 did the parties sign a ceasefire agreement in Lusaka. But the war with UNITA continued.
In the summer and autumn of 1987, another large-scale FAPLA offensive failed, the goal of which was to finally put an end to the UNITA partisans. In November 1987, UNITA troops attacked the government garrison in Cuito Cuanavale. Cuban units came to the aid of government troops, and then the South African army intervened in the battle. Fighting continued until August 5, 1988, when a ceasefire agreement was reached in Geneva with the South African government. The South Africans and UNITA were unable to dislodge the government troops. Savimbi did not recognize the decisions of the peace agreement and continued the war.
On June 31, 1991, the Lisbon Peace Accords were concluded between the MPLA and UNITA on holding free elections. Elections took place in the fall of 1992, and the victory of the MPLA was declared. Savimbi refused to admit defeat and demanded a re-vote. The MPLA-organized Halloween massacre killed tens of thousands of people, mostly members of UNITA as well as the FNLA. After this, hostilities resumed with renewed vigor.
The most intense fighting took place in the province of Huambo. Intense fighting continued until mid-1994. A new peace agreement was concluded in Lusaka, which was soon torn down by both sides. A massive offensive by government troops unfolded in 1998-1999. By the beginning of 2000, government forces took the main strongholds of UNITA, including the cities of Bailundo (the political capital of the opposition) and Jamba (the main military base).
In February 2002, Georges Savimbi was killed in a shootout with government forces near the town of Lucousse, in the eastern province of Moxico. His successor, Antonio Dembo, announced the continuation of the armed struggle, but soon died from wounds received in the same battle where Savimbi died. The leadership of UNITA passed to Paul Lukamba, who was a supporter of a compromise with the government. On March 30, 2002, a ceasefire agreement was concluded in Luena. UNITA was legalized and became a parliamentary opposition party led by Isaias Samakuva.
As one of the conditions for peace, the UNITA group demanded the reburial of the embalmed body of Agostinho Neto from the mausoleum. The end of hostilities in Angola coincides with the end of the Second Congo War, before which the forces of the DRC and Angola mutually supported each other, as opposed to the alliance of the former authorities of Zaire and UNITA (previously also supported by the United States and South Africa).
One of the grave consequences of the war, complicating the peaceful development of Angola, is anti-personnel mines, which were used uncontrollably by all parties to the conflict.
The second half of the 20th century was marked by significant changes in the development of African states. We are talking about activation against the colonialist policies of European states. All these trends were reflected in the events that took place since 1961 in Angola.
Angola on the map of Africa: geographical location
Angola is one of the African states created after World War II. In order to navigate the situation that existed in this state throughout the second half of the 20th century, you must first understand where Angola is located on the map and what territories it borders on. The modern country is located in
It borders in the south with Namibia, which until the end of the 1980s was completely subordinate to South Africa (this is a very important factor!), and in the east with Zambia. In the north and northeast there is a state border with the Democratic Western border - the Atlantic Ocean. Knowing which states Angola borders with, it will be easier for us to understand the ways of invasion of the territory of the state by foreign troops.
Reasons for the start of the war
The war in Angola did not start spontaneously. From 1950 to 1960, three different groups formed within Angolan society, which considered their task to be the struggle for the independence of the state. The problem is that they could not unite due to ideological incompatibility.
What are these groups? The first group - MPLA (stands for the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) - considered Marxist ideology as the ideal for the development of the state in the future. Perhaps Agostinho Neto (the leader of the party) did not see the ideal in the state system of the USSR, because the purely economic views of Karl Marx were slightly different from what was presented in the Union as Marxism. But the MPLA relied on international support from the countries of the socialist camp.
The second group is the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), whose ideology was also interesting. FNLA leader Holden Roberto liked the idea of independent development, borrowed from Chinese philosophers. By the way, the activities of the FNLA posed some danger for Angola itself, because Roberto’s rise to power threatened the country with collapse. Why? Holden Roberto was a relative of the President of Zaire and promised to give him part of the territory of Angola if he won.
The third group - UNITA (National Front for the Total Independence of Angola) - was distinguished by its pro-Western orientation. Each of these groups had certain support in society and a different social base. These groups did not even try to make peace and unite, because each of the parties envisioned too different ways of fighting the colonists, and most importantly, the further development of the country. It was these contradictions that led to the outbreak of hostilities in 1975.
Beginning of the war
The war in Angola began on September 25, 1975. It’s not for nothing that at the beginning of the article we talked about the geographical location of the country and mentioned its neighbors. On this day, troops entered from Zaire and came out in support of the FNLA. The situation worsened after October 14, 1975, when South African troops entered Angola (from the territory of South African-controlled Namibia). These forces began to support the pro-Western UNITA party. The logic of this political position of South Africa in the Angolan conflict is obvious: there have always been many Portuguese in the leadership of South Africa. The MPLA also initially had outside support. We are talking about the SWAPO army, which defended the independence of Namibia from South Africa.
So, we see that at the end of 1975, in the country we are considering, there were troops of several states at once, which opposed each other. But the civil war in Angola could also be perceived in a broader sense - as a military conflict between several states.
War in Angola: Operation Savannah
What did the South African troops do immediately after crossing the border with Angola? That's right - there was active promotion. These battles went down in history as Operation Savannah. South African troops were divided into several strike groups. The success of Operation Savannah was ensured by the surprise and lightning speed of the actions of the Zulus and other units. In a few days they conquered the entire southwest of Angola. The Foxbat group was stationed in the central region.
The army captured the following objects: the cities of Liumbala, Kakulu, Catenge, Benguela airport, several MPLA training camps. The victorious march of these armies continued until November 13, when they occupied the city of Novo Redondo. Also, the Foxbat group won a very difficult battle for bridge No. 14.
The X-Ray group overpowered the Cuban army near the cities of Xanlongo, Luso, captured the Salazar Bridge and stopped the advance of the Cubans towards Cariango.
USSR participation in hostilities
Having analyzed the historical chronicle, we will understand that the inhabitants of the Union practically did not know what the war in Angola was. The USSR never advertised its active participation in the events.
After the introduction of troops from Zaire and South Africa, the leader of the MPLA turned to the USSR and Cuba for military assistance. The leaders of the countries of the socialist camp could not refuse help to the army and the party, which professed socialist ideology. Military conflicts of this kind were to some extent beneficial to the USSR, because the party leadership still did not abandon the idea of exporting the revolution.
Great international assistance was provided to Angola. Officially, it took part in the battles from 1975 to 1979, but in reality our soldiers took part in this conflict until the collapse of the USSR. Official and real data on losses in this conflict differ. The documents of the USSR Ministry of Defense directly indicate that during the war in Angola, our army lost 11 people. Military experts consider this figure to be very underestimated and are inclined to think about more than 100 people.
Fighting in November-December 1975
The war in Angola at its first stage was very bloody. Let's now analyze the main events of this stage. So, several countries sent in their troops. We already know about this. What happens next? from the USSR and Cuba in the form of specialists and equipment, significantly strengthened the MPLA army.
The first serious success of this army took place in the battle of Quifangondo. The opponents were the troops of Zaire and the FNLA. The MPLA army had a strategic advantage at the start of the battle, because the Zairian weapons were very outdated, and the socialist army received new models of military equipment to help from the USSR. On November 11, the FNLA army lost the battle and, by and large, gave up its positions, practically ending the struggle for power in Angola.
The MPLA army had no respite, because at the same time it was advancing (Operation Savannah). Its troops advanced into the interior of the country by approximately 3000-3100 km. The war in Angola did not calm down! A tank battle between MPLA and UNITA forces took place on November 17, 1975 near the city of Gangula. This clash was won by the socialist troops. The successful part of Operation Savannah ended here. After these events, the MPLA army continued its offensive, but the enemy did not give up, and permanent battles took place.
The situation at the front in 1976
Military conflicts continued the following year, 1976. For example, already on January 6, MPLA forces captured an FNLA base in the north of the country. One of the socialists' opponents was actually defeated. Of course, no one thought about ending the war, so Angola faced many more years of disaster. As a result, the FNLA troops, completely disunited, left Angola in about 2 weeks. Left without a fortified camp, they were unable to continue an active campaign.
The MPLA leadership had to solve an equally serious problem further, because regular units of the armies of Zaire and South Africa did not leave Angola. By the way, South Africa has a very interesting position on justifying its military claims in Angola. South African politicians were convinced that an unstable situation in a neighboring country could have negative consequences for their state. Which? For example, they were afraid of the intensification of protest movements. These rivals were dealt with until the end of March 1976.
Of course, the MPLA itself with the regular armies of the enemy could not have accomplished this. The main role in pushing opponents beyond the borders of the state belongs to 15,000 Cubans and Soviet military specialists. After this, systematic and active military operations were not carried out for some time, because the enemy of UNITA decided to wage a guerrilla war. With this form of confrontation, mostly minor clashes occurred.
Guerrilla stage of the war
After 1976, the nature of the fighting changed slightly. Until 1981, foreign armies did not conduct systematic military operations in Angola. The UNITA organization understood that its forces would not be able to prove their superiority over FALPA (Angolan Army) in open battles. Speaking about the Angolan army, we must understand that these are actually MPLA forces, because the socialist group has officially been in power since 1975. As Agostinho Neto noted, by the way, it’s not for nothing that the Angolan flag is black and red. Red color was most often found on the symbols of socialist states, and black is the color of the African continent.
Clashes 1980-1981
At the end of the 1970s, we can only talk about clashes with UNITA partisan corrals. In 1980-1981 The war in Angola intensified. For example, in the first half of 1980, South African troops invaded Angolan territory more than 500 times. Yes, these were not some kind of strategic operations, but all the same, these acts significantly destabilized the situation in the country. In 1981, the activity of South African troops increased to a full-scale military operation, which was called "Protea" in history books.
Units of the South African army advanced 150-200 km deep into Angolan territory, and there was a question of capturing several settlements. As a result of the offensive and serious defensive actions, more than 800 Angolan soldiers were killed under targeted enemy fire. It is also known for sure (although this is nowhere to be found in official documents) about the death of 9 Soviet servicemen. Until March 1984, hostilities periodically resumed.
Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
A few years later, full-scale war resumed in Angola. The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale (1987-1988) was a very important turning point in the civil conflict. This battle involved soldiers of the People's Army of Angola, Cuban and Soviet soldiers on the one hand; UNITA partisans and the South African army - on the other. This battle ended unsuccessfully for UNITA and South Africa, so they had to flee. At the same time, they blew up a border bridge, making it difficult for the Angolans to possibly pursue their units.
After this battle, serious peace negotiations finally began. Of course, the war continued into the 1990s, but it was the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale that was a turning point in favor of the Angolan forces. Today Angola exists as an independent state and is developing. The flag of Angola speaks of the political orientation of the state today.
Why was it not beneficial for the USSR to officially participate in the war?
As you know, in 1979 the intervention of the USSR army in Afghanistan began. Fulfilling an international duty seemed to be considered necessary and prestigious, but this kind of invasion, interference in the life of another people was not very supported by the people of the USSR and the world community. That is why the Union officially recognized its participation in the Angolan campaign only in the period from 1975 to 1979.
