Portugal's African empire ends

1975 · Event

Within eighteen months of the Carnation Revolution — itself brought on by thirteen years of unwinnable colonial war — Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé and finally Angola go free in a single cascade, ending Europe's oldest African empire, five centuries on. In Angola the rival movements' civil war begins the same day, with Cuban and South African armies already crossing the borders.

On these timelines: The Decolonisation of Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Master, Cold War

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