1950s in Angola
Encyclopedia
Angola in the 1950s transitioned from colonial to provincial status. Angola
had the status of a Portuguese colony
from 1655 until the Assembly of the Republic
passed a law on June 11, 1951, giving all Portuguese colonies provincial status, effective on October 20, 1951. Separatist political organizations advocating Angolan independence formed in the 1950s
despite strong resistance from the Portuguese government, leading to the Angolan War of Independence
(1961-1975).
and others formed the Movement of Young Intellectuals
, an organization that promoted Angolan culture, in 1948. Nationalists sent a letter to the United Nations
calling for Angola to be given protectorate status under UN supervision. In 1953 Angolan nationalists founded the Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola
(PLUA), the first political party
to advocate Angolan independence from Portugal. Two years later Mário Pinto de Andrade
and his brother Joaquim
formed the Angolan Communist Party
(PCA). In December 1956 PLUA merged with the PCA to form the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
(MPLA). The MPLA, led by da Cruz, Mário Andrade, Ilidio Machado
, and Lúcio Lara
, derived support from the Mbundu
people and in Luanda
.
Congolese-Angolan nationalists formed the Union of Peoples of Northern Angola, which advocated the independence of the traditional Kingdom of Kongo
, in 1954.
Portuguese police arrested Agostinho Neto
of the MPLA and future President of Angola (1975-1979), in 1952 and again in 1955 for his involvement in the Portuguese Communist Party. He returned to Angola in 1959 and police arrested him again in 1960. Portuguese authorities arrested over 100 MPLA members in 1959.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
visited Angola on May 25, 1959.
discovered petroleum
in Angola in 1955. Production began in the Cuanza basin in the 1950s
, in the Congo basin
in the 1960s
, and in the exclave of Cabinda
in 1968. The Belgian company Fina
(today - 2007—a part of Total
) was the first to be given a concession. The Portuguese colonial government granted operating rights for Block Zero to the Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC), a subsidiary of the U.S. company Gulf Oil
, now merged into ChevronTexaco, in 1955. The rate of Angola's economic expansion grew in the 1950s, but boomed in the 1960s as industries grew by an annual average rate of 17%. Today the petroleum industry is the engine of the Angolan economy.
After World War II
, the Portuguese government encouraged citizens to move to Angola to compensate for unemployment
. The white population in Angola increased from 79,000 in 1950 to 173,000 in 1960, with 55,000 living in Luanda
alone.
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
had the status of a Portuguese colony
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
from 1655 until the Assembly of the Republic
Assembly of the Republic
The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...
passed a law on June 11, 1951, giving all Portuguese colonies provincial status, effective on October 20, 1951. Separatist political organizations advocating Angolan independence formed in the 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
despite strong resistance from the Portuguese government, leading to the Angolan War of Independence
Angolan War of Independence
The Angolan War of Independence began as an uprising against forced cotton cultivation, and became a multi-faction struggle for control of Portugal's Overseas Province of Angola with three nationalist movements and a separatist movement...
(1961-1975).
Politics
Viriato da CruzViriato da Cruz
Viriato Clemente da Cruz, an Angolan poet and politician, was born in 1928 in Kikuvo, Porto Amboim, Portuguese Angola and died in Beijing, People's Republic of China on 13 June 1973....
and others formed the Movement of Young Intellectuals
Movement of Young Intellectuals
The Movement of Young Intellectuals is a defunct, Angolan nationalist and cultural organization. Viriato da Cruz and others formed the MYI in 1948. The MYI sent a letter to the United Nations calling for Angola to be given protectorate status under United Nations supervision....
, an organization that promoted Angolan culture, in 1948. Nationalists sent a letter to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
calling for Angola to be given protectorate status under UN supervision. In 1953 Angolan nationalists founded the Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola
Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola
Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola is the first political party in Angola to advocate Angolan independence from Portugal, campaigning from its founding in 1953 until it merged with the Angolan Communist Party to form the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in...
(PLUA), the first political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
to advocate Angolan independence from Portugal. Two years later Mário Pinto de Andrade
Mário Pinto de Andrade
Mário Coelho Pinto de Andrade was an Angolan poet and politician.He was born in Golungo-Alto, in Portuguese Angola, and studied philology at the University of Lisbon and sociology at the Sorbonne in Paris...
and his brother Joaquim
Joaquim Pinto de Andrade
Joaquim Pinto de Andrade served as the first honorary President of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola , Chancellor of the Luanda Archdiocese, and as a member of the African Society of Culture. He died on February 23, 2008 following a long illness, the same day as fellow MPLA...
formed the Angolan Communist Party
Angolan Communist Party
Angolan Communist Party was an underground political party in Portuguese Angola , founded in October 1955, under influence from the Portuguese Communist Party. PCA was led by the brothers Mário Pinto de Andrade and Joaquim Pinto de Andrade...
(PCA). In December 1956 PLUA merged with the PCA to form the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Labour Party is a political party that has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975...
(MPLA). The MPLA, led by da Cruz, Mário Andrade, Ilidio Machado
Ilidio Machado
Ilidio Tomé Alves Machado co-founded the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola with Viriato da Cruz, Mário Pinto de Andrade, and Lúcio Lara on December 10, 1956. He served as the MPLA's first President from 1956 until his arrest in 1959. Agostinho Neto replaced him...
, and Lúcio Lara
Lúcio Lara
Lúcio Lara served as the General Secretary of the MPLA during the Angolan Civil War. Lara, a founding member of the MPLA, led the first MPLA members into Luanda on November 8, 1974...
, derived support from the Mbundu
Mbundu
The Northern Mbundu or Ambundu are a people living in Angola's North-West, North of the river Kwanza. The Ambundu speak Kimbundu, and mostly also the official language of the country, Portuguese...
people and in Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
.
Congolese-Angolan nationalists formed the Union of Peoples of Northern Angola, which advocated the independence of the traditional Kingdom of Kongo
Kingdom of Kongo
The Kingdom of Kongo was an African kingdom located in west central Africa in what are now northern Angola, Cabinda, the Republic of the Congo, and the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, in 1954.
Portuguese police arrested Agostinho Neto
Agostinho Neto
António Agostinho Neto served as the first President of Angola , leading the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the war for independence and the civil war...
of the MPLA and future President of Angola (1975-1979), in 1952 and again in 1955 for his involvement in the Portuguese Communist Party. He returned to Angola in 1959 and police arrested him again in 1960. Portuguese authorities arrested over 100 MPLA members in 1959.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
visited Angola on May 25, 1959.
Economy
The PortuguesePortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
discovered petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
in Angola in 1955. Production began in the Cuanza basin in the 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
, in the Congo basin
Congo Basin
The Congo Basin is the sedimentary basin that is the drainage of the Congo River of west equatorial Africa. The basin begins in the highlands of the East African Rift system with input from the Chambeshi River, the Uele and Ubangi Rivers in the upper reaches and the Lualaba River draining wetlands...
in the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
, and in the exclave of Cabinda
Cabinda (province)
Cabinda is an exclave and province of Angola, a status that has been disputed by many political organizations in the territory. The capital city is also called Cabinda. The province is divided into four municipalities - Belize, Buco Zau, Cabinda and Cacongo.Modern Cabinda is the result of a fusion...
in 1968. The Belgian company Fina
Petrofina
Petrofina was a Belgian oil company which merged with Total in 1999 to form TotalFina, but the name has now been changed back to Total after another merger...
(today - 2007—a part of Total
Total S.A.
Total S.A. is a French multinational oil company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world.Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and...
) was the first to be given a concession. The Portuguese colonial government granted operating rights for Block Zero to the Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC), a subsidiary of the U.S. company Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
, now merged into ChevronTexaco, in 1955. The rate of Angola's economic expansion grew in the 1950s, but boomed in the 1960s as industries grew by an annual average rate of 17%. Today the petroleum industry is the engine of the Angolan economy.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Portuguese government encouraged citizens to move to Angola to compensate for unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
. The white population in Angola increased from 79,000 in 1950 to 173,000 in 1960, with 55,000 living in Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
alone.
Establishments
Colonial authorities established the Institute of Angola at Luanda in 1952, the Garcia de Orta journal in 1953, Center of Historical Studies Overseas in 1955, the Center of Political and Social Studies in 1956, the Center of Scientific Records Overseas in 1957, and the Center of Missionary Studies in 1959.Colonial governors
- José Agapito de Silva Carvalho, High Commissioner of Angola (1948–1955)
- Manoel de Gusmão Mascarenhas Gaivão, High Commissioner of Angola (1955-1956)
- Horácio José de Sá Viana Rebelo, High Commissioner of Angola (1956-1960)