Portuguese Colonial War

Portuguese Colonial War ; Guerra Colonial Portuguesa
	Part of the Decolonisation of Africa and the Cold War
Date	1961–1974
Location	Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique
Result	Carnation Revolution. The end of Estado Novo rule. Independence of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Principe
Territorial; changes	Portuguese overseas territories in Africa become independent.
Belligerents
Estado Novo Supported by:	MPLA; FNLA; UNITA; FLEC; PAIGC; FRELIMO Supported by:
Commanders and leaders
Generally: António de Oliveira Salazar #; Marcelo Caetano; Américo Tomás; Angola: Francisco da Costa Gomes; Portuguese Guinea: António de Spínola; Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho; Mozambique: António Augusto dos Santos (1964–69); Kaúlsa de Arriaga (1969–74);	Angola: Agostinho Neto; José Eduardo dos Santos; Lúcio Lara; Holden Roberto; Jonas Savimbi; Portuguese Guinea: Amílcar Cabral †; Luís Cabral; João Bernardo Vieira; Domingos Ramos; Pansau Na Isna; Francisco Mende; Mozambique: Eduardo Mondlane (1962–69); Joaquim Chissano (1962–75); Filipe Samuel Magaia (1964–66); Samora Machel (1969–75);
Strength
148,000 European Portuguese regular troops 65,000 in Angola; 32,000 in Portuguese Guinea; 51,000 in Mozambique;	40,000–60,000 guerrillas +30,000 in Angola 10,000 in Portuguese Guinea; 10–15,000 in Mozambique;
Casualties and losses
8,289 killed; 15,507 wounded (physical and/or psychological);	c. 30,000 total killed in Angola; c. 4,000 wounded in Portuguese Guinea; over 10,000 killed in Mozambique;
	Civilian casualties: 50,000 killed in Mozambique;

The Portuguese Colonial War (Portuguese: Guerra Colonial Portuguesa) was fought between Portugal's military and the emerging nationalist movements in Portugal's African colonies between 1961 and 1974. Portugal fought the MPLA, FNLA, UNITA and FLEC in Angola between 1961 and 1974. Also, they fought the PAIGC in Guinea-Bissau between 1963 and 1974. Lastly, they fought the FRELIMO in Mozambique between 1964 and 1974.

Portuguese Colonial War Media

The Battle of Marracuene in 1895
The Battle of Coolela in 1895
Ethnic map of Angola (in 1970)
Cabo Verdean and Bissau-Guinean revolutionary Amílcar Cabral: In his formative years, he was awarded an agronomy degree by the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, in Lisbon.
Leader of FNLA Holden Roberto in 1973
Portuguese combatants in the woods around River Onzo, Angola
Map showing the location of Angola in modern-day Africa
Portuguese Army soldiers in the beginning of the War in Angola. The camouflage uniforms and the FN FAL assault rifles identify them as Caçadores Especiais. At this time, the remaining Army forces still wore yellow khaki field uniforms and were mostly armed with bolt-action rifles.
Portuguese military parade in Luanda, Angola.