The South African Border War - Meanwhile over in neighboring Mozambique.
Mozambique achieved its independence from Portugal in June 1975.
That was about 5 months earlier than Angola and FRELIMO, the resistance movement, took over power, as a one party state, with Marxist-Leninist leanings.
In that same year an anti-communist movement was founded in Mozambique and sponsored by the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation.
Naturally, South Africa, fearing another communist neighbor and also due to its alliance with Rhodesia, joined the meddling across another border.
The Mozambican National Resistance or RENAMO was labeled by some as a "proxy army" of Rhodesia and South Africa.
Rhodesia had interests in Mozambique due to the fact that liberation insurgents were operating from that territory and South Africa had similar interests since MK insurgents were operating alongside those insurgents.
By Katangais , CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Mozambique, post independence, was a simple access route and housing for insurgent bases and routes after being trained and infiltrating from Tanzania.
Zaire or the Congo was the playing ground of the CIA and so most Communist backed overland support for liberation movements was channeled from the north via Tanzania.
Overland movements to the west went via Zambia and Angola to SWAPO and down the east via Mozambique.
By the end of 1975, after the Portuguese pullout out of Africa, South Africa's and Rhodesia's worst nightmares had been realized.
They were now surrounded by communist backed regimes sympathetic to their liberation movements struggles and prepared to assist in any way possible.
The border war was now on all borders.
Other posts in this series
The piece of the cold war nobody told you about - Africa's forgotten war
The Air Battles
The SA Fighter Aircraft
The SA Bomber Aircraft
The conflicts deep roots and start
Regional Tensions
Africa's forgotten cold war - Angolan War of Independence.
Africa's forgotten cold war - Mozambican War of Independence.
Africa's forgotten cold war - Rhodesian Bush War
Africa's forgotten cold war - The Angolan War of Independence transitions to the Angolan Civil War
The South African Border War - The start of Operation Savannah and Large scale South African involvement.
The South African Border War - Operation Savannah - the wheels start coming off.
The South African Border War - Operation Savannah - Battle of Quifangondo
The South African Border War - Operation Savannah - Battle of Ebo
The South African Border War - Operation Savannah - Battle of Bridge 14
The South African Border War - Operation Savannah - Battle of Luso
The South African Border War - Operation Savannah comes to an end.
The South African Border War - Operation Savannah the withdrawal.
The South African Border War - Meanwhile back on the home front.
Great to read something fresh on here. Thank you for sharing :) Resteemd
1975, my country is peaceful. Viet Nam
@gavvet I have a special interest in Zambia and thank you for posting about Africa's forgotten cold war.
I might make a couple of more comments in your post here after I check out all of your links to the different wars.
Btw, I'm new to Steemit and I saw your post in the trending tab.
there's a vote for a newbie then
Great Britain did worse things to Africans than the Nazis did to the jews in the grand scheme of things.
I appreciate your sentiment but you need to study history a lot closer, there is no close comparison. It annoys me when other groups get compared to the Nazis as aggressors and themselves to being victims like the Jews. However I will concede that "Great" Britain gave us the concentration camp system during the Anglo Boer War and ironically the British used concentration camps again when trying to keep the Jews out of the Middle East
Shhhh.. don't say that to loud... they also gave themselves the name "Great"
The population of Angola for the majority descended from ex-slaves. After the civil war, I think it was Teddy who said 'you guys want to go back to Africa'...
@gavvet followed you..kindly give me a chance to share with you my celebration i have a poem for you .kindly check it out..i need your support..
thanks and more power to you @gavvet
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support for south africa and africa nation
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The Nazis were a reaction to British and French imperialism. The Nazis never recovered Germany's lost colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Nazi's were not interested in oppressing black people becaue black people never did anything to them. The British colonized 25% of the world's land area and committed genocides on every habitable continent
It is weird to think that this bloody gruesome oppressive war happened not that long ago and in many of the lifetimes of numerous people. I didn't realise Mozambique gained its independence only in 1975 while tyrannical rule continued elsewhere in Africa.
Mozambique seems like it is placed in a very strategic place with it sharing borders with many countries and acted as a great way to get to the front line safely.
Now the autocratic Portugese are gone. Africa is left to deal with the communists throughout the land.
Great Post @gavvet
all of Africa's borders were defined in the 20th century
False. They were defined during the 19th century
Nice post about South Africa Border that end in mozambique. I have history war in my country long time ago. That is war of netherlands and Aceh people. The Netherlands issued a war against the Sultanate of Aceh, a sovereign country in Sumatra. Thousands of soldiers sent. The Acehnese fight. The war lasted up to 31 years, one of the longest wars in world history.
General Frederik Nicolass Nieuwenhuijzen was angry at the Aceh Sultanate who refused to submit to the Dutch. The Dutch East Indies Vice President then sent a letter of invitation to the leader of the Aceh Sultan Alaidin Mahmudsyah, on March 22, 1873.
General Nieuwenhuijzen called for the suspension of diplomatic relations with the Aceh Sultanate and offered new negotiations between Aceh and the colonial government.
On November 2, 1871, the British once made a deal with the Kingdom of the Netherlands called the Sumatran treaty. Its contents are the United Kingdom of Great Britain did not object to the expansion of Dutch domination of Sumatra Island and canceled the preliminary agreement in the London Agreement 1824.
Second, the British trade and shipping of the Sultanate of Siak, Riau can be done. Similarly, all the sultanates in Sumatra are the responsibility of the Netherlands.
The agreement lies behind the colonial government's great desire to expand its colonies in Sumatra. The Dutch target is to conquer the Kingdom of Aceh. Though the Netherlands and Britain have recognized Aceh as an independent and sovereign state.
"Whereas Aceh was the first kingdom to recognize Dutch sovereignty when they were hit by war. But the Dutch deny and not recognize the kingdom of Aceh, "
As a result of the agreement, Sultan Alaidin Mahmudsyah directly made diplomatic relations with the United States Kosulat, the Italian Empire and the Ottoman Empire in Singapore. The Dutch were disturbed.
After the first letter was rejected, General Nieuwenhuijzen again sent his envoy to give a second letter to the sultan of Aceh. The contents were the outrage of the general's disappointment and accused Aceh of being unfriendly to his side. The Dutch also threatened to attack Aceh.
As the heir of blood of warriors from the sultan before him, Alaidin Mahmudsyah abstinence bow to the opponent. He welcomed the threat of General Nieuwenhuijzen by issuing informations to the people of Aceh willing to fight against the Dutch.
The relationship between Aceh and the Netherlands that has been going well since the 16th century is now heating up. Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah then sent three ambassadors of the Kingdom of Aceh led by Tuanku Abdul Hamid to establish diplomatic relations again with the Netherlands.
Abdul Hamid met Prince Maurits of the Dutch Empire in Middelburg, Capital of Zeeland Province in the Netherlands in August 1602. The first political visit was made between Southeast Asia and Europe.
Due to the cold weather, Abdul Hamid then became ill and died in the Netherlands. His body was buried in the churchyard, Zeeland. In 1940, the tomb was lost without a trace due to the brunt of the flood. The Dutch also built an inscription to commemorate the ambassador of the Sultanate of Aceh in 1978.
Lost history not often spoken about in SA. Thank you... GREAT! I am doing the whole series.
Were you there? Or a family member?
@gavvet - Mozambique has a very potent geographic location with it's borders touching Tanzania, Rhodesia, Zambia and South Africa. The original Marxist leanings of it's first leadership after independence seems to have provided an ideal Perti-dish which was catalyst for growth of many insurgents from neighbouring regions. If I remember what I read correctly, history shows that insurgents always took refuge in Mozambique and South African forces even carried out secret strike operations against them. I was unaware of the nexus formed by Rhodesia and South Africa though. Fascinating forgotten Cold War in Africa. Thanks for highlighting. It is great to relearn this history. Upvoted.
Regards,
South Africa was happy to support a war that someone else fought ie the Rhodesians. The reason that the Rhodesians ended up at Lancaster house was because the West put pressure on South Africa to stop supporting Rhodesia. With no fuel the fight ended. In my heart i believe that Rhodesia and South Africa were quite different and although there were pass laws etc in Rhodesia there was far less racial animosity. We always hear about the RLI, but the RAR were almost all black and a much bigger force fighting for Rhodesia alongside Rhodesians of all colours. So opinions were not separated on racial grounds but ideological. It is therfore unusual that the West chose to put down Rhodesia of all fights ,effectively siding predominantly with communism.
What do you mean there was less racial animosity in Rhodesia? Have you not heard of the "Rhodesian Bush War"? In 1980, whites owned 40% of the farmland in Zimbabwe. That is unacceptable because whites are foreigners and they are not Africans. I am glad Mugabe gave the land back to black people. Whites have used WMD's against black people in Zimbabwe and they should be expelled from the country along with other non-blacks. Blacks in Zimbabwe and across the globe have been suffering for way too long and we need to take our countries back.
Yes I lived through the Rhodesian Bush War. I was born in Africa, I am as African as any other unless you feel that the color of my skin disqualifies me from being African?
I did say that Rhodesia had the same pass laws etc ie apartheid by a different name. But having lived in both Rhodesia changing to Zimbabwe and then South Africa after that. I can say that the relationship between the people "the feeling" if you like, was different in Zim. But I pointed to a reality that there were probably more Blacks than Whites fighting against terrorism in Rhodesia. Hence my comment that the divide was not strictly racial but more ideological.
Only blacks are truly African. That means my brothers in America and Haiti and Jamaica included. Whites are European point blank period. They only came to Africa to commit genocide. The whites in South Africa and Zimbabwe made all black people accros the globe look like clowns. I am glad Robert Mugabe and Jacob Zuma are taking back those two countries and giving it back to the humble black race. In Zaire, Leopold II, King of the Belgians was responsible for killing 10 million of my fellow Zaireans. Eventually the father of my country Mobutu and another great man from my country, Lubumba chased out the white people and they fled like cowards. Zaire used to be the richest European colony in Africa with a significant white minority. Now they are no more. They got driven out. The same thing is happening right now as we speak in South Africa and Zimbabwe. White people only ever set foot in Sub-Saharan Africa to commit genocide. My people have had enough and are coming together to combat white minority control in Africa. The white minority in South Africa still control the economy which is completely unacceptable. Jacob Zuma is changing that and making history so that the humble black race can have a better future.
@gavvet
your border war historical narrative always to me is very informative... shows the real level of things during the cold war when the USSR & USA had countries they supported for their selfish goals..at that period of apartheid regime... i think South Africa cannot be comfortable having a communist backed country in their border line area since its obvious they will support the Anti apartheid movement pushed by ANC... little wonder it was mentioned in your post that "They were now surrounded by communist backed regimes sympathetic to their liberation movements struggles and prepared to assist in any way possible."
Thanks for such information's...quite educational... i so much admire your posts which is why i mentioned this very series in my mile stone pot of today... find time and check it out...
thanks
good post
Wow I love when I am just learning such new important topics. Thanks @gavvet following!