Guinea-Bissau War of Independence
The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence (Portuguese: Guerra de Independência da Guiné-Bissau), or the Bissau-Guinean War of Independence, was an armed independence conflict that took place in Portuguese Guinea from 1963 to 1974. It was fought between Portugal and the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, PAIGC), an armed independence movement backed by Cuba, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. The war is commonly referred to as "Portugal's Vietnam" because it was a protracted guerrilla war which had extremely high costs in men and materiel and which created significant internal political turmoil in Portugal.[9]
After the assassination of PAIGC leader Amílcar Cabral in January 1973, the military conflict reached a stalemate: Portuguese forces were largely confined to major cities and various fortified bases and were patently unable to dislodge PAIGC from the so-called liberated zones. In September 1973, the PAIGC-dominated People's National Assembly unilaterally declared the independence of a new Republic of Guinea-Bissau; the declaration was recognised by several foreign countries. After the Carnation Revolution, the new Portuguese government agreed to grant independence to Guinea-Bissau in September 1974 and to Cape Verde a year later. PAIGC thus became the first sub-Saharan African liberation movement to achieve independence – if only indirectly – through armed struggle.[4]
Belligerents and forces[edit]
Liberation/PAIGC forces[edit]
Guinea-Bissau's liberation movement was led and dominated by PAIGC, which was led by Cabral until his assassination in January 1973.[13] By the early 1970s, PAIGC had the support of a majority of the Guinean population,[14] but its combat strength was estimated at no more than 7,000.[10] However, the movement was "well trained, well led, and well equipped", and its guerrilla campaign benefitted both from the terrain – its forces operated primarily from Guinea's dense jungles – and from external support.[15]
Aftermath[edit]
With the coming of independence, the PAIGC moved swiftly to extend its control throughout the country. A Marxist one-party state controlled by the PAIGC and headed by Luís Cabral was established.[49] Indigenous troops who had served with the Portuguese Army were given the choice of either returning home with their families while receiving full pay until the end of December 1974, or of joining the PAIGC military. A total of 7,447 black African soldiers who had served in Portuguese native commando units, security forces, and the armed militia decided not to join the new ruling party and were summarily executed by the PAIGC after Portuguese forces ceased hostilities.[6][7][8]
PAIGC soldiers loading weapons, 1973.
Kalashnikovs for Hermangono, 1973.
Female soldier playing cards, 1973.
PAIGC soldier with his family in a military camp, 1974.
Village burnt down by the Portuguese, 1974.
PAIGC soldier with a rocket-propelled grenade at Manten military base in the liberated areas, 1974.
Morning roll call in Hermangono, 1974.
Unexploded Portuguese bomb in Canjambari, 1974.
Armed escort carries a wounded person from Sara to the Senegalese border, 1974.
