Free as a Bird Trivia Quiz

Answer: Portugal

The Portuguese had been in contact with the Kongo state, the former Angola, since 1483. During the 16th century, the Portuguese took control of the coast and the Portuguese Colony of Angola was formed. In 1951, Portugal changed Angola's name to Overseas Province of Angola, making the colony a Portuguese overseas territory.

The Portuguese left a lot of cultural heritage to the Angolans. In fact, the country's official language is Portuguese!

Answer: Colonial War

The Portuguese Colonial War, or War of Liberation, was fought between Portugal and movements of the African countries of Angola, Portuguese Guinea and Mozambique. It lasted for 13 years, and although the Portuguese had a military victory, on 25th April 1974, in what is known as the Carnation Revolution, a military coup overthrew the Prime Minister of Portugal and the entire regime, known as Estado Novo.

This caused the withdrawal of Portugal from African countries and in the eventual Independence of the countries involved in the Colonial War.

Answer: MPLA

The MPLA (Portuguese for Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), founded in 1956, recognize themselves as Socialist, which is why they shared ideologies with the Soviets. The MPLA has dominated Angola ever since 1975, as the first four Presidents of Angola were from this party, as well as every Prime Minister the country had before the post was abolished in 2010.

Answer: UNITA

UNITA (Portuguese for National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) was allied with the United States and sought to promote democracy and a free market economy.

Answer: Democratic Republic of Congo

Anti-colonial movements started developing in Angola after the Belgian Congo gained independence from Belgium, which provoked not only Angola but many other countries to do the same. The Democratic Republic of Congo had an unstable government for many years, when it was called Zaire. There have been civil wars ever since, with extensive involvement from outside the country.

Answer: November 11

On November 11, 1975, Angola officially gained independence from Portugal, which meant that Angola was now supposed to be a free, sovereign country. However, civil wars inside Angola continued after independence.

Answer: A mass exodus of Portuguese

Right after Portugal accepted the independence of Angola, the three Angolan movements that had pursued independence all these years, unsurprisingly started fighting for power. More than 300,000 Portuguese left the country.

Answer: Alvor Agreement

The Alvor Agreement was signed on November 11, 1975, in the village of Alvor, Portugal. Before this happened, the leaders of the three different parties had met in Kenya and agreed to stop fighting each other.

Answer: No

Portugal, instead of supervising the elections for a new government of Angola, left as quickly as possible, leaving Angola without an elected power. This caused the MPLA, with support of the U.S.S.R. and Cuba, and in control of the capital of the country, to declare themselves the government of the Republic of Angola.

Answer: The Cold War

With the United States supporting UNITA and the USSR and Cuba supporting MPLA, the Angolan conflict became a part of the Cold War. These two powers (the USA and the USSR) were present in many other wars like the Yom Kippur War, where Israel was supported by the USA and Egypt was supported by the USSR. The Cold War ended in 1991. However, the civil war in Angola continued.