Mozambican Civil War
The Mozambican Civil War (Portuguese: Guerra Civil Moçambicana) was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992. Like many regional African conflicts during the late twentieth century, the impetus for the Mozambican Civil War included local dynamics exacerbated greatly by the polarizing effects of Cold War politics.[5] The war was fought between Mozambique's ruling Marxist Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), the anti-communist insurgent forces of the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO),[15] and a number of smaller factions such as the PRM,[16] UNAMO,[1] COREMO,[3] UNIPOMO, and FUMO.[4]
RENAMO opposed FRELIMO's attempts to establish a socialist one-party state, and was heavily backed by the anti-communist governments of Rhodesia and South Africa who supported them in order to undermine FRELIMO's support for militant nationalist organisations in their own countries.[5] Over one million Mozambicans were killed in the fighting or starved due to interruptions to food supply; an additional five million were displaced across the region.[17][18] The Mozambican Civil War destroyed much of Mozambique's critical infrastructure in rural areas, including hospitals, rail lines, roads, and schools.[15] FRELIMO's security forces and RENAMO insurgents were accused of committing numerous human rights abuses, including the use of child soldiers and indiscriminately salting a significant percentage of the countryside with land mines.[15] Three neighboring states—Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Malawi—eventually deployed troops into Mozambique to defend their own vested economic interests against RENAMO attacks.[15]
The Mozambican Civil War ended in 1992, following the collapse of support from the Soviet Union and South Africa for FRELIMO and RENAMO, respectively.[5] Direct peace talks began around 1990 with the mediation of the Mozambican Church Council and the Italian government; these culminated in the Rome General Peace Accords which formally ended hostilities.[15] As a result of the Rome General Peace Accords, RENAMO units were demobilised or integrated into the Mozambican armed forces and the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) was formed to aid in postwar reconstruction.[15] Tensions between RENAMO and FRELIMO flared again between 2013 and 2018, prompting the former to resume its insurgency[19][20] and contradicting the often repeated narrative of a successful reconciliation.[21] This smaller second conflict ended with a peace treaty in 2019.[22]