Angolan Civil WarAngola · 1975-2002“Hear Angola at the hour of independence, when the flag rose and the guns refused to lower.”Portugal's empire was leaving, but Angola's liberation movements did not agree on who had earned the right to rule. MPLA, UNITA and FNLA had fought colonialism, yet before the new nation could breathe, they turned their weapons toward each other.The lesson the elders kept: A liberation movement can defeat empire and still fail to spare its people. Angola teaches that outside patrons make civil wars longer when they pay for local wounds in foreign currency.