Portuguese Colonial War
Wars in Portuguese Africa that ended after Portugal's Carnation Revolution and led to independence.
Historical overview
Overview adapted from a Wikipedia summary and stored locally on May 11, 2026.
The Portuguese Colonial War, also known in Portugal as the Overseas War or in the former colonies as the War of Liberation, and also known as the Angolan, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambican Wars of Independence, was a 13-year-long conflict fought between Portugal's military and the emerging nationalist movements in Portugal's African colonies between 1961 and 1974. The Portuguese regime at the time, the Estado Novo, was overthrown by a military coup in 1974, and the change in government brought the conflict to an end. The war was a decisive ideological struggle in Lusophone Africa, surrounding nations, and mainland Portugal.
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Border context
Early Cold War and decolonization
Cold War blocs emerge while Asian and African decolonization creates new sovereign states.
Korea is divided after war. Israel and neighboring armistice lines reshape the Levant. Algeria's war signals the end of French North Africa.Decolonization and proxy wars
Postcolonial borders, Cold War interventions and regional wars define much of Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Portuguese Africa moves toward independence. The 1967 war changes control of Sinai, Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights.