The Togolese Team Attach

Howard Zinn once said that, “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people”. Despite this indisputable fact, innocent people are injured and killed every day for the sake of wars and disputes. From the beginning of human existence, war has existed in one form or another. With that war comes shame and remorse for the lives lost and the atrocities committed. Regardless of this, war continues in the name of pride and arrogance. People strive to control one another and in that way, rebellion is created. A chain of events begins when the rebel becomes the authority and the authority becomes the rebel.

In 1884, a conference in Berlin consisting of fourteen states was held with the intention of settling any disputes involving the division of the African continent. The country of Angola as well as the enclave of Cabinda became colonies of Portugal. Unlike the more democratic colonial powers such as France and the United Kingdom, Portugal was a dictatorship where the rule was harsh and supreme (De 304). The borders of Portuguese Angola were then decided in 1891. From the beginning of Angola’s colonization, tensions with Portugal were high (Timeline). Near constant warfare continued until 1930, through two governmental changes in Portugal beginning with the 1910 switch from a monarchy to a republic, and ending with the switch to a military dictatorship in 1926. Both of the changes resulted in even more tensions between Angola and Portugal as well as Portugal’s rule becoming even stricter (History). Subsequently, the rebellions against Portugal became more and more organized as well as violent. Through the 1950s, guerrilla warfare began and a larger sense of nationalism developed. One such example is the forma...

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