Mozambique: a cold war conflict?

Résumé du document

The colonization of Mozambique by Portugal began in the 15th century. The first settling was made in 1498, near the mouth of Zambezi River by Vasco de Gama himself. A few years later, the Portuguese founded a city in Lourenço Marques bay, nowadays known as Maputo. Thanks to the trade of slaves Maputo, quickly became an important and a rich city. The colonization increased quickly at the end of the 18th century, when the authorities decided to give properties (prazo in Portuguese) to people who came from the home country to live in the colony. In 1875, important colonial powers such as England and France, acknowledged Portugal's sovereignty in Mozambique. During the 20th century, the Portuguese administration was clearly autocratic, especially during Antonio Salazar's dictatorship (between1932 and 1968). In 1951, it was no more considered a colony but seen as an overseas territory. Before the death of Salazar, a first war broke out for the independence of the country, and lead to a wave of violence between 1964 and 1974. Eventually, the dictatorship regime was destroyed thanks to the Carnation Revolution, and the first war ended at about the same time.

Extraits

[...] The independence of Mozambique was proclaimed in 1975. The main independent party, Frelimo, which was linked to the Marxist theory, quickly became the only authorised party in Mozambique, which lead to another war, started in the early 80's to end in 1992, when the two main parties, Frelimo and Renamo signed the Sant'Egidio peace treaty. Regarding the history of Mozambican decolonization, it seems obvious that the conflicts were to be related to a Portuguese-Mozambican context. Nevertheless, the wars which took place in the area are in some ways linked with the context of cold war, as will be explained in this essay. [...]

[...] This event shows how Africans wanted to have their own way of life, their own philosophy for socialism. In Sédar Senghor's mind, the so-called “African socialism” truly is a third way, between individualist capitalism and totalitarian communism. The “African socialism” was a try to bring the best part of European cultures, especially the ideals of generosity and solidarity found in socialism, to the African society. It didn't come from the same vision as the Western socialism; for example, according to Nyerere, the leader of Tanzania at the time it became independent, socialism is an African value which emphasises the importance of community as well as unity. [...]

[...] In 1990, when Renamo continued to attack Frelimo forces despite a ceasefire between the two groups, South Africa once more showed its influence by bringing Renamo back to reason. Thus, by exposing the influence of powerful neighbours, and showing the distance of the two superpowers, it seems that the Mozambican conflict is more to be seen as a local conflict of African interests than a conflict within the cold war. Conclusion To conclude, the Mozambican wars are definitely to be related to the context of the cold war. [...]

[...] South Rhodesia and South Africa could thus lose markets, which would threaten American liberalism. Therefore Renamo was authorised by the US to get weapons and find financial helpers. Well armed and financed, the rebels of Renamo began to conduct operations in the Mozambican territory during the later part of the seventies. The aim was to sabotage economic infrastructures and thus break down the society shaped by Frelimo as well as the political stability of the country. The length of the civil war (more than 15 years) also showed the importance of both forces and how both of the superpowers got involved in the conflict. [...]

[...] A particularity of these workshops was the stable prices imposed on the production. Exportations of farm products were handled by the State. State companies and “collective villages” were created to gather the rural population in cities, so that they could be part of the modernisation of the country. These examples are clues that Frelimo was a socialist party. A congress of the organisation indeed established this situation in 1977. Thus, Mozambique became a friend of the USSR treaty of friendship was signed the same year). [...]