Evolutions & Revolutions

The document provides a military history of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), detailing its origins in the struggle against Portuguese colonialism and the subsequent civil war. It examines the integration of the military wings of the MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA, the role of foreign interventions from the Soviet Union, Cuba, the US, and South Africa, and the transition of the FAA into a peacetime state institution.

• The Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) resulted from the integration of three liberation movements: the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola).
• The civil war in Angola was exacerbated by foreign military support and the supply of advanced weaponry, which shifted the conflict from guerrilla warfare to conventional war. The Soviet Union provided approximately US$400 million in military support to the MPLA, while US support for the FNLA and UNITA was estimated at US$64 million.
• The 1991 Bicesse Accords aimed to create a single unified national army of 50,000 troops and included a 'triple zero clause' prohibiting the procurement of new weapons. However, the process failed due to mutual mistrust, with UNITA retaining reserve forces and the MPLA government refusing to fully demobilise FAPLA.
• UNITA's ability to sustain its war effort during the post-Lusaka period was heavily dependent on its control of mineral resources, specifically diamonds, and the procurement of weapons from former Eastern bloc countries despite UN sanctions.
• The death of Jonas Savimbi in February 2002 led to the signing of the Luena Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which effectively ended the military resistance of UNITA.
• The FAA is currently established as a non-partisan state institution with an estimated maximum establishment of 140,000 men, including active and reserve forces.
• Angola's defence spending was significantly higher than the Southern African Development Community (SADC) recommendation of 1.5% of GDP, with Angola spending between 19% and 23% of its GDP on defence between 1994 and 1999, except for 11.4% in 1998.

APA

Leão, A., & Rupiya, M. (2005). Evolutions & Revolutions. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/EVOLUTCHAP1.PDF

Chicago

Leão, Ana, and Martin Rupiya. Evolutions & Revolutions. Institute for Security Studies, 2005. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/EVOLUTCHAP1.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Leão |first1=Ana |last2=Rupiya |first2=Martin |title=Evolutions & Revolutions |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=28 September 2005 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/EVOLUTCHAP1.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{leo2005evolutions, author = {Leão, Ana and Rupiya, Martin}, title = {{Evolutions \& Revolutions}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2005}, month = sep, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/EVOLUTCHAP1.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }