History of Mozambique

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Independence

After World War II, while many European nations were granting independence to their colonies, Portugal's dictator António de Oliveira Salazar clung to the concept that Mozambique and other Portuguese possessions were overseas provinces of the mother country, and emigration to the colonies soared (Mozambique's Portuguese population was about 250,000 in 1975). The drive for Mozambican independence developed apace, and in 1962 several anti-colonial political groups formed the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), which initiated an armed campaign against Portuguese colonial rule in September 1964.

After 10 years of sporadic warfare and Portugal's return to democracy (partially as a result of the expenses from the wars in Angola and Mozambique), FRELIMO took control of the capital via a coup in April, 1974. Within a year, almost all Portugese colonists had left – some expulsed by the new government, some fleeing in fear –, and Mozambique became independent on June 25, 1975.

Portugal's policy of under-developing its colonies combined with the Portugese' rapid exodus left Mozambique with few internal human resources. For example, some history texts claim the country was left with fewer than five engineers after June, 1975. In any event, as late as 2001, the economic outcome could still be seen in cities like Beira. Once a thriving vacation city on the coast, it is still the second largest city in Mozambique, with a population of 300,000. Many of these people live as squatters in unfinished 1970s era luxury hotels facing the Indian Ocean.

FRELIMO responded to their lack of resources and the Cold War politics of the mid-1970s by moving into alignment with Cuba and the Soviet Union. FRELIMO established a one-party Socialist state, and quickly received substantial international aid from Cuba and the Soviet Union.

History of Mozambique

Independence

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