Daniel Orr's Blog, page 107

February 12, 1912 – Empress Dowager Longyu of China signs the “Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor”, which ends both the Qing dynasty and 2,000 years of dynastic rule in China

On February 12, 1912, Empress Dowager Longyu of China signed the “Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor”, which ended both the Qing dynasty and 2,000 years of dynastic rule in China.
The agreement granted the Qing court certain privileges: Puyi kept his imperial title and was to be treated by the republic with the honors of a foreign
monarch; the imperial court was to retain its residences at the Forbidden City and Summer Palace; and the republican government would provide the emperor with an annual subsidy.

The Xinhai Revolution ended 2,000 years of dynastic rule in China.

(Taken from China 1911-1928): Xinhai Revolution, Fragmentation, and Struggle for Reunification – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia)

The threat of a civil war now loomed between the Beijing and Nanjing regimes.  On December 18, 1911, mediators from the two sides met in Shanghai to negotiate.  Sun was fully aware that the Beiyang Army was the most powerful military force in China, and that a civil war most likely would end in his own defeat.  Thus, he was ready to cede political power
for the survival of the nationalist government.  In January 1912, the North-South Conference reached a compromise: Sun would resign as provisional president in favor of Yuan, who would succeed his post, in exchange for Yuan forcing the abdication of the child-Emperor Puyi (and thus ending the Qing monarchy).

Yuan then exerted pressure on Empress Dowager Longyu, the de facto regent of six-year old Puyi, to sign the abdication papers, warning her that the Qing court would not be spared if the southern revolutionaries invaded Beijing.  In early February 1912, Empress Dowager Longyu consented, and on February 12, signed the “Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor”, which ended both the Qing dynasty and 2,000 years of dynastic rule in China.  The agreement granted the Qing court certain
privileges: Puyi kept his imperial title and was to be treated by the republic with the honors of a foreign monarch; the imperial court was to retain its residences at the Forbidden City and Summer Palace; and the republican government would provide the emperor with an annual subsidy.

On January 22, 1912, Sun announced his willingness to cede the presidency to Yuan.  On February 14, 1912, the provisional Senate elected Yuan as the second provisional president of the republic; he was sworn into office on March 10.  The following day, March 11, a provisional constitution was ratified.

Yuan Shikai in Power From
the outset, tensions existed between the pro-Sun groups, led by the Tongmenhui, and President Yuan and his supporters.  To counter Yuan’s power base which was in the north, on February 14, 1912, the provisional Senate voted to make Nanjing the capital of the republic.  However, two weeks later, mutinous Beiyang Army units rioted in Beijing.  Yuan, who most likely masterminded the disturbance, announced that he would remain in Beijing to guard against future unrest.  The provisional Senate thus reconvened, and
in another vote taken in April 1912, named Beijing as the capital of the republic.

President Yuan soon gained full control of government, and appeared intent on extending his powers.  To counter Yuan and also prepare for the upcoming parliamentary elections, in August 1912, Sun’s supporters formed the Kuomintang (KMT,
English: Chinese Nationalist Party), merging the Tongmenhui and five smaller organizations.  In National Assembly elections held in December 1912-January 1913, the KMT won a decisive victory,
taking the most number of seats in both legislative houses over its rivals, including the pro-Yuan Republican Party.

Song Jiaoren, a leading KMT politician who had campaigned strongly against Yuan and had vowed to reduce Yuan’s powers through legislation, appeared headed to become Prime Minister, and thus would form a new Cabinet.  But in March 1913, he was
assassinated, perhaps under Yuan’s orders.  When the newly elected National Assembly convened, the KMT-dominated legislature moved to enact measures to curb Yuan’s powers, and prepared to formulate a permanent constitution and hold national elections for the presidency.  Yuan now moved to destroy
the political opposition, while his opponents in the south grew more militant – as a result, China began to fracture politically.

In July 1913, many southern provinces rose up in rebellion (sometimes called Sun Yat-sen’s “Second Revolution”), this time against Yuan.  The Beiyang government (as the government in Beijing was called during the period 1912-1927) was militarily prepared, as Yuan had recently received a foreign loan which he used to build up his Beiyang Army.  In September 1913, Yuan’s forces crushed the rebellion, and captured the insurgent strongholds in Nanchang and Nanjing, and forced Sun and other KMT leaders to flee into exile abroad.

In October 1913, the now intimidated National Assembly elected Yuan as president of the republic for a five-year term.  Yuan proceeded to break up all political opposition, first removing, coercing, or bribing KMT provincial officials.  Then in November 1913, he dissolved the KMT and expelled KMT legislators from the National Assembly.  As these expulsions caused the legislature to fail to reach a quorum to reconvene, in January 1914, Yuan dissolved the National Assembly altogether.  In its
place, Yuan formed a quasi-legislative body of 66 of his supporters, who drew up and passed a “constitutional compact”, a new charter which replaced the 1912 provisional constitution, and which gave Yuan unlimited powers in political, military, foreign affairs, and financial policy decisions.  In December 1914, Yuan’s presidential tenure was extended to ten years, with no terms limits –Yuan now ruled as a dictator.

Then in late 1915, Yuan made plans to return the country to a monarchy.  He reasoned that the 1911
Revolution that had toppled the Qing dynasty, and the ensuing republican government, were divisive, transitory phases, and that only a monarchy could
restore order and unity to the nation.  In November 1915, a “Representative Assembly” was formed to study the matter, which subsequently issued many petitions to Yuan to become emperor.  After pretending to refuse these petitions, on December 12, 1915, Yuan accepted, and named himself “Emperor of the Chinese Empire”.  Yuan’s reign, as well as the country’s return to a monarchy as the “Empire of China”, was set to commence officially on January 1, 1916, when Yuan would perform the
accession rites.

Widespread protests broke out across much of China.  Having experienced great repression under the Qing dynasty, the Chinese people vehemently opposed the return to a monarchy.  On December 25, 1915, the military governor of Yunnan Province declared his province’s secession from the Beiyang government, and prepared for war.  In rapid order, other provinces also seceded, including Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Shandong, Hunan, Shanxi,
Jiangxi, and Jiangsu.  The decisive showdown between Yuan’s army and forces of the rebelling
provinces took place in Sichuan Province, where rebel forces (under Yunnan Province’s National Protection Army) dealt Yuan’s army a decisive defeat.  During the fighting, Beiyang generals, who also opposed Yuan’s imperial ambitions, did not exert great effort to defeat the rebel forces.  In fact, Beiyang Army
commanders had already stopped supporting Yuan. 
Furthermore, while the foreign powers recognized the Beiyang regime as the official government over China, Yuan’s planned monarchy received virtually no international support.  Isolated and forced to postpone his accession rites, Yuan finally abandoned his imperial designs on March 22, 1916.  His political foes then also pressed him to step down as president of the republic.  Yuan died three months later, in June 1916, with his crumbling government already unable to hold onto much of the country.

February 11, 1920 – Turkish War of Independence: French forces, followed by thousands of Armenian civilians, flee Maras in southern Turkey

On January 20, 1920, a civilian uprising broke out in Maras.  The unrest escalated when Turkish nationalist forces joined the disturbance, beginning a battle of attrition that would last for three weeks.  On February 11, 1920, the French garrison, followed by thousands of terrified Armenian civilians, evacuated from the town.  In their retreat to Osmaniye, hundreds of soldiers and civilians perished in the winter cold.

By early 1920, the Cilician countryside was teeming with Kemalist revolutionary elements, threatening the tenuous French hold in the lightly defended towns.  Urfa came under attack in February, followed by Hadjin the next month.  Fighting also broke out in Pozanti, which the French were forced to evacuate because of strong guerilla activity, and in Antep, where Turkish forces successfully resisted a ten-month siege by the French.

French rapprochement with the Turkish nationalists began in 1919, even before hostilities broke out, when French High Commissioner François Georges-Picot engaged in talks with Kemal in Ankara. By 1921, after the Turkish victory in the eastern front, France and Kemal’s nationalists opened negotiations, which led to the Cilician Peace Treaty of March 1921.  The treaty, however, was not implemented.

The Southern Front in the Turkish War of Independence.

(Taken from Turkish War of Independence – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 3)

Turkish nationalists fought in three fronts: in the east against Armenia, in the south against France and the French Armenian Legion, and in the west against Greece, which was backed by Britain.

Southern Front

Also known as the Franco-Turkish War, the southern front resulted from the French occupation of southern Anatolia.  Under the war-time Sykes-Picot Agreement, France had been guaranteed the lands that constitute modern-day Syria and Lebanon; the French concession extended north to southeastern Anatolia and the region of Cilicia.  With the Ottoman Empire’s capitulation, the British forces who were occupying these areas at the end of World War I yielded them to the French.  The French also occupied Constantinople (together with the British and Italians), Eastern Thrace (together with the Greeks), and two Ottoman ports on the Black Sea.

Another war-time treaty, the 1916 French-Armenian Agreement, allowed France to organize
the French Armenian Legion, a majority-ethnic Armenian military force tasked to assist the French in the war, in exchange for France’s promise to support Armenian nationalists in Cilicia in their struggle for independence from Ottoman rule.  After the war, French military authorities deployed the French Armenian Legion in Cilicia.  And with its other ally, the Republic of Armenia in the east gaining independence in May 1920, France moved to fulfill Armenian
aspirations for a Cilician state as well as bring the whole region under the French sphere of influence.  French authorities encouraged the return to Cilicia of the Armenian refugees (from World War I) to Cilicia, as well as immigration of other ethnic Armenians; some 170,000 Armenians heeded the call.

From the outset, however, French rule in Cilicia
faced many problems, foremost from the local Turkish population who resisted what was perceived as occupation by a foreign force.  Bands of Kemalist nationalists soon were operating in the countryside, inciting anti-French sentiments among Turkish and
Arab residents and recruiting fighters for newly formed guerilla groups.

The local Ottoman Army garrisons, before leaving, turned over their firearms to the local population and also left behind large quantities of weapons and ammunitions that were hidden away by Turkish residents.  The (Ottoman) local civilian
government, which the French retained to carry out regular public duties, secretly supported and conspired with the Turkish nationalists.  Even the newly formed local police force was infiltrated by nationalist sympathizers.

An attempt by French authorities to return Cilician lands to repatriated Armenians met strong opposition, as Turkish locals, who now occupied the properties, refused to relinquish possession.  Even so, most Armenians did not venture into the Cilician countryside for fear of their lives, preferring to remain in the coastal cities where the French military presence was strong.  A law requiring the surrender of all loose firearms also was ignored by the Turkish population.  And the raised French and Armenian flags in public places drew indignation among local residents.

The French did not succeed in establishing a strong military presence in Cilicia, even with the support of the British who left behind a military contingent to assist in the region’s security.  The quality and quantity of weapons available to the French soldiers also were inadequate.  These factors, including France’s hesitation to carry out a full occupation in contrast to the Turkish nationalists’ determination to oust the foreigners, decided the outcome in this sector of the war.

February 10, 1954 – First Indochina War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower rejects direct American military involvement in Vietnam

On February 10, 1954, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower rejected direct American involvement in the First Indochina War between France and the North Vietnamese nationalist revolutionaries known as Viet Minh. He stated, “I cannot conceive of a greater tragedy for America than to get heavily involved now in an all-out war in any of those regions”.  At the same time, however, he authorized the release of $385 million in military aid to France for the prosecution of the war.

The Eisenhower administration would continue to keep close watch on the war and other politically sensitive events in Asia. In April 1954, he warned that if one country fell to communism, nearby countries would similarly fall in a domino effect, a concept that came to be known as the Domino Theory.

Shortly after the start of the decisive Battle of Dien Bien Phu (March–May 1954) began, upon the request of France for military assistance, the United
States considered a number of options to relieve the trapped French forces.  These included launching a massive aerial attack at the Viet Minh using 60 B-29
bombers and 150 fighter planes from the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Philippines; becoming directly involved in the war by sending American troops; or even intervening with nuclear weapons.  However, the United States announced that its becoming involved in the war was contingent on the support
of its other allies, particularly Britain.  But as this was not forthcoming, U.S. President Eisenhower decided not to intervene.

North and South Vietnam in Southeast Asia.

(Taken from First Indochina War – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia)

Aftermath

By the time of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, France knew that it could not win the war, and turned its attention on trying to work toward a political settlement and an honorable withdrawal from Indochina.  By February 1954, opinion polls at home
showed that only 8% of the French population supported the war.  However, the Dien Bien Phu debacle dashed French hopes of negotiating under favorable withdrawal terms.  On May 8, 1954, one
day after the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, representatives from the major powers: United States, Soviet Union, Britain, China, and France, and the Indochina states: Cambodia, Laos, and the two rival Vietnamese states, Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and State of Vietnam, met at Geneva (the Geneva Conference) to negotiate a peace settlement for Indochina.  The Conference also was envisioned to resolve the crisis in the Korean
Peninsula in the aftermath of the Korean War (separate article), where deliberations ended on
June 15, 1954 without any settlements made.

On the Indochina issue, on July 21, 1954, a ceasefire and a “final declaration” were agreed to by the parties.  The ceasefire was agreed to by France and the DRV, which divided Vietnam into two zones at the 17th parallel, with the northern zone to be governed by the DRV and the southern zone to be governed by the State of Vietnam.  The 17th parallel was intended to serve merely as a provisional military
demarcation line, and not as a political or territorial boundary. The French and their allies in the northern zone departed and moved to the southern zone, while the Viet Minh in the southern zone departed and moved to the northern zone (although some southern Viet Minh remained in the south on
instructions from the DRV).  The 17th parallel was also a demilitarized zone (DMZ) of 6 miles, 3 miles on each side of the line.

The ceasefire agreement provided for a period of 300 days where Vietnamese civilians were free to move across the 17th parallel on either side of the line.  About one million northerners, predominantly Catholics but also including members of the upper
classes consisting of landowners, businessmen, academics, and anti-communist politicians, and the middle and lower classes, moved to the southern zone, this mass exodus was prompted by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and State of Vietnam in a massive propaganda campaign, as well as the peoples’ fears of repression under a communist regime.

In August 1954, planes of the French Air Force and hundreds of ships of the French Navy and U.S. Navy (the latter under Operation Passage to Freedom) carried out the movement of Vietnamese civilians from north to south.  Some 100,000 southerners, mostly Viet Minh cadres and their families and supporters, moved to the northern
zone.  A peacekeeping force, called the International Control Commission and comprising contingents from India, Canada, and Poland, was tasked with enforcing the ceasefire agreement.  Separate ceasefire agreements also were signed for Laos and Cambodia.

Another agreement, titled the “Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference on the Problem of Restoring Peace in Indo-China, July 21, 1954”, called for Vietnamese general elections to be held in July 1956, and the reunification of Vietnam.  France DRV, the Soviet Union, China, and Britain signed this
Declaration.  Both the State of Vietnam and the United States did not sign, the former outright rejecting the Declaration, and the latter taking a hands-off stance, but promising not to oppose or jeopardize the Declaration.

By the time of the Geneva Conference, the Viet Minh controlled a majority of Vietnam’s territory and appeared ready to deal a final defeat on the demoralized French forces.  The Viet Minh’s agreeing to apparently less favorable terms (relative to its commanding battlefield position) was brought about by the following factors: First, despite Dien Bien
Phu, French forces in Indochina were far from being defeated, and still held an overwhelming numerical and firepower advantage over the Viet Minh; Second, the Soviet Union and China cautioned the Viet Minh that a continuation of the war might prompt an escalation of American military involvement in support of the French; and Third, French Prime Minister Pierre Mendes-France had vowed to achieve
a ceasefire within thirty days or resign.  The Soviet Union and China, fearing the collapse of the Mendes-France regime and its replacement by a right-wing government that would continue the war, pressed Ho to tone down Viet Minh insistence of a unified Vietnam under the DRV, and agree to a compromise.

The planned July 1956 reunification election failed to materialize because the parties could not agree on how it was to be implemented.  The Viet Minh proposed forming “local commissions” to administer the elections, while the United States,
seconded by the State of Vietnam, wanted the elections to be held under United Nations (UN) oversight.  The U.S. government’s greatest fear was a communist victory at the polls; U.S. President
Eisenhower believed that “possibly 80%” of all Vietnamese would vote for Ho if elections were held.  The State of Vietnam also opposed holding the reunification elections, stating that as it had not signed the Geneva Accords, it was not bound to participate in the reunification elections; it also declared that under the repressive conditions in the north under communist DRV, free elections could not be held there.  As a result, reunification elections were not held, and Vietnam remained divided.

In the aftermath, both the DRV in the north (later commonly known as North Vietnam) and the State of Vietnam in the south (later as the Republic of Vietnam, more commonly known as South Vietnam) became de facto separate countries, both Cold War client states, with North Vietnam backed by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist states, and South Vietnam supported by the United States and other Western democracies.

In April 1956, France pulled out its last troops from Vietnam; some two years earlier (June 1954), it had granted full independence to the State of Vietnam.  The year 1955 saw the political consolidation and firming of Cold War alliances for both North Vietnam and South Vietnam.  In the north, Ho Chi Minh’s regime launched repressive land reform and rent reduction programs, where many tens of thousands of landowners and property managers were executed, or imprisoned in labor camps.  With the Soviet Union and China sending more weapons and advisors, North Vietnam firmly fell within the communist sphere of influence.

In South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, whom Bao Dai appointed as Prime Minister in June 1954, also eliminated all political dissent starting in 1955, particularly the organized crime syndicate Binh Xuyen in Saigon, and the religious sects Hoa Hao and Cao Dai in the Mekong Delta, all of which maintained powerful armed groups.  In April-May 1955, sections of central Saigon were destroyed in street battles between government forces and the Binh Xuyen
militia.

Then in October 1955, in a referendum held to determine the State of Vietnam’s political future, voters overwhelmingly supported establishing a republic as campaigned by Diem, and rejected the restoration of the monarchy as desired by Bao Dai. 
Widespread irregularities marred the referendum, with an implausible 98% of voters favoring Diem’s proposal.  On October 23, 1955, Diem proclaimed the Republic of Vietnam (later commonly known as South Vietnam), with himself as its first president.  Its
predecessor, the State of Vietnam was dissolved, and Bao Dao fell from power.

In early 1956, Diem launched military offensives on the Viet Minh and its supporters in the South Vietnamese countryside, leading to thousands being executed or imprisoned.  Early on, militarily weak South Vietnam was promised armed and financial support by the United States, which hoped to prop up the regime of Prime Minister (later President) Diem, a devout Catholic and staunch anti-communist, as a bulwark against communism in Southeast Asia.

In January 1955, the first shipments of American weapons arrived, followed shortly by U.S. military advisors, who were tasked to provide training to the South Vietnamese Army.  The U.S. government also endeavored to shore up the public image of the somewhat unknown Diem as a viable alternative
to the immensely popular Ho Chi Minh.  However, the Diem regime was tainted by corruption and nepotism, and Diem himself ruled with autocratic powers, and implemented policies that favored the wealthy landowning class and Catholics at the expense of the lower peasant classes and Buddhists (the latter comprised 70% of the population).

By 1957, because of southern discontent with Diem’s policies, a communist-influenced civilian uprising had grown in South Vietnam, with many acts of terrorism, including bombings and assassinations, taking place.  Then in 1959, North Vietnam, frustrated at the failure of the reunification elections from taking place, and in response to the growing insurgency in the south, announced that it was
resuming the armed struggle (now against South Vietnam and the United States) in order to liberate the south and reunify Vietnam.  The stage was set for the cataclysmic Second Indochina War, more popularly known as the Vietnam War. (Excerpts taken from Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 5: Twenty Wars in Asia.)

February 9, 1978 – Ogaden War: Somalia mobilizes as the threat of an invasion by Ethiopia looms

As fears of an Ethiopian invasion of Somalia
increased, on February 9, 1978, Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre issued a general mobilization and placed the country in a state of emergency.  In early March 1978, Ethiopian-Cuban forces attacked Jijiga, where remnants of the Somali Army-WSLF forces had organized a last major defense of the Ogaden.  But their lines quickly fell apart under the weight of the armored, artillery, and air attacks.  The Battle of Jijiga was a crushing defeat for the Somali Army, with some 3,000 soldiers killed.  On March 9, 1978, the Somali government ordered a general retreat from the Ogaden; by this time, however, the Somali Army, now abandoning their weapons and equipment in the field, and together with the WSLF fighters, and tens of thousands of civilians, were making a hasty, chaotic retreat toward the Somali border.  Further Ethiopian-Cuban advances across the
Ogaden recaptured other areas: Degehabur (March 6), Filtu (March 8), Delo (March 12), and Kelafo (March 13).

The Ethiopian government now faced the enticing prospect of advancing right into Somalia.  Ultimately, the Soviet Union prevailed upon the Ethiopian Derg regime to stop at the border; on March 23, 1978, with much of the fighting dying down, Ethiopia declared victory and the war over. 
Estimates of combat casualties are: over 6,000 killed and 10,000 wounded in the Ethiopian Army, and over 6,000 killed and 2,000 wounded in the Somali Army.  Some 400 Cubans and 30 Soviets also lost their lives.  A combined 50 planes and over 300 tanks and armored vehicles also were destroyed.  Furthermore, some 750,000 Ogaden inhabitants (mainly ethnic Somali and Oromo) fled from their homes and ended up as refugees in Somalia.

Greater Somalia.

(Taken from Ogaden War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 4)

Background

In December 1950, with Allied approval, the United Nations granted Italy a trusteeship over Italian Somaliland on the condition that Italy grants the territory its independence within ten years.  On June 26, 1960, Britain granted independence to British Somaliland, which became the State of Somaliland, and a few days later, Italy also granted independence to the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland).  On July 1, 1960, the two new states merged to form the Somali Republic (Somalia).

The newly sovereign enlarged state had as its primary foreign affairs mission the fulfillment of “Greater Somalia” (also known as Pan-Somalism; Figure 29), an irredentist concept that sought to bring into a united Somali state all ethnic Somalis in the Horn of Africa who currently were residing in neighboring foreign jurisdictions, i.e. the Ogaden region in Ethiopia, Northern Frontier District (NFD) in Kenya, and French Somaliland.  Somalia officially did not claim ownership to these foreign territories but desired that ethnic Somalis in these regions, particularly where they formed a population majority, be granted the right to decide their political future,
i.e. to remain with these countries or to secede and merge with Somalia.

Nationalist Somalis in Kenya and Ethiopia, desiring to be joined with Somalia, soon launched guerilla insurgencies.  In the Ogaden region, many guerilla groups organized, the foremost of which was
the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF), founded in 1960, just after Somalia gained its independence.  The Somali government began to build its armed forces, eventually setting as a goal a force of about
20,000 troops that it deemed was powerful enough to realize the dream of Greater Somalia.  But constrained by economic limitations, Somalia sought the assistance of various Western powers, particularly the United States, but the latter only promised to provide military resources for a 5,000-strong armed forces, which it deemed was sufficient for Somalia to defend its borders against external threats.

The Somali government then turned to communist states, particularly the Soviet Union; although these countries’ Marxist ideology ran contrary to its own democratic institution, Somalia viewed this as a means to be political self-reliant and not be too dependent on the West, and to court
both sides in the Cold War.  Thus, for nearly two decades after gaining its independence, Somalia received military support from both western and communist countries.

In 1962, the Soviet Union provided Somalia with a substantial loan under generous terms of repayment, allowing the Somali government to build in earnest an offense-oriented armed forces; subsequent Soviet loans and military assistance led to the perception in the international community that Somalia fell under the Soviet sphere of influence, bolstered further as Soviet planes, tanks, artillery pieces, and other military hardware were supplied in large quantities to the Somali Army Forces.

Tensions between Ethiopian security forces and the Ogaden Somalis sporadically led to violence that soon deteriorated further with Somali Army units intervening, leading to border skirmishes between Ethiopian and Somali regular security units. Large-scale fighting by both sides finally broke out in February 1964, which was triggered by a Somali revolt in June 1963 at Hodayo.  Somali ground and air units came in support of the rebels but Ethiopian planes gained control of the skies and attacked frontier areas, including Feerfeer and Galcaio.  Under mediation efforts provided by Sudan representing the Organization of African Unity (OAU), in April 1964, a
ceasefire was agreed that imposed a separation of forces and a demilitarized zone on the border.  In the aftermath, in late 1964, Ethiopia entered into a mutual defense treaty with Kenya (which also was facing a rebellion by local ethnic Somalis supported by the Somali government) in case of a Somali invasion; this treaty subsequently was renewed in 1980 and then in 1987.

On October 21, 1969, a military coup overthrew Somalia’s democratically elected civilian government and in its place, a military junta called the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) was set up and led by General Mohamed Siad Barre, who succeeded as president of the country.  The SRC suspended the constitution, banned political parties, and dissolved parliament, and ruled as a dictatorship.  The country was renamed the Somali Democratic Republic.  Exactly one year after the coup, on October 21, 1970, President Barre declared the country a Marxist state, although a form of syncretized ideology called “scientific revolution” was implemented, which combined elements of Marxism-Leninism, Islam, and Somali nationalism.  The SRC forged even closer
diplomatic and military ties with the Soviet Union,
which led in July 1974 to the signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, where the Soviets increased military support to the Somali Army.  Earlier in 1972, under a Somali-Soviet agreement, the Russians developed the Somali port of Berbera,
converting it into a large naval, air, and radar and communications facility that allowed the Soviets to project power into the Middle East, Red Sea, and Persian Gulf.  The Soviets also established many new military airfields, including those in Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Baidoa, and Kismayo.

Under pressure from the Soviet government to form a “vanguard party” along Marxist lines, in July 1976, President Barre dissolved the SRC which he replaced with the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), whose Supreme Council (politburo) formed the new government, with Barre as its Secretary General.  The SRSP, as the sole legal party, was intended to be a civilian-run entity to replace the
military-dominated SRC; however, since much of the SRC’s political hierarchy simply moved to the SRSP, in practice, not much changed in governance and Barre
continued to rule as de facto dictator.

With a greatly enhanced Somali military capability, President Barre pressed irredentist aspirations for Greater Somalia, stepping up political rhetoric against Ethiopia and spurning third-party mediations to resolve the emerging crisis.  Then in the mid-1970s, favorable circumstances allowed Somalia to implement its irredentist ambitions. 
During the first half of 1974, widespread military and civilian unrest gripped Ethiopia, rendering the government powerless.  In September 1974, a group of junior military officers called the “Coordinating
Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army”, which simply was known as “Derg” (an Ethiopian word meaning “Committee” or “Council”), seized power after overthrowing Ethiopia’s long-ruling aging monarch, Emperor Haile Selassie.  The Derg succeeded in power, dissolved the Ethiopian parliament and abolished the constitution, nationalized rural and urban lands and most industries, ruled with absolute powers, and began Ethiopia’s gradual transition from an absolute monarchy to a Marxist-Leninist one-party state.

Ethiopia traditionally was aligned with the West, with most of its military supplies sourced from the United States.  But with its transition toward socialism, the Derg regime forged closer ties with the Soviet Union, which led to the signing in December 1976 of a military assistance agreement.  Simultaneously, Ethiopian-American relations
deteriorated, and with U.S. President Jimmy Carter criticizing Ethiopia’s poor human rights record, in April 1977, the Derg repealed Ethiopia’s defense treaty with the United States, refused further American assistance, and expelled U.S. military personnel from the country.  At this point, both Ethiopia and Somalia lay within the Soviet sphere and thus ostensibly were on the same side in the Cold War, but a situation that was unacceptable to President Barre with regards to his ambitions for Greater Somalia.

In the aftermath of the Derg’s seizing power, Ethiopia experienced a period of great political and security unrest, as the government battled Marxist groups in the White Terror and Red Terror, regional
insurgencies that sought to secede portions of the country, and the Derg itself racked by internal power struggles that threatened its own survival.  Furthermore, the Derg distrusted the aristocrat-dominated military establishment and purged the ranks of the officer corps; some 30% of the officers were removed (including 17 generals who were
executed in November 1974).  At this time, the Ogaden insurgency, led by the WSLF and other groups, also increased in intensity, with Ethiopian military outposts and government infrastructures subject to rebel attacks.  Just a few years earlier, President Barre did not provide full military support to the Ogaden rebels, encouraging them to seek a negotiated solution through diplomatic channels and even with Emperor Haile Selassie himself.  These efforts failed, however, and with Ethiopia sinking into crisis, President Barre saw his chance to step in.

February 8, 1904 – The Japanese Navy attacks Port Arthur, starting the Russo-Japanese War

On February 8, 1904, three hours before the Russian government received Japan’s declaration
of war, the Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the main Russian Pacific Fleet anchored at Port Arthur.  Fighting lasted until the next day, with the
two sides’ battleships being brought into action.  Russian shore batteries eventually forced the
Japanese Navy to withdraw offshore, where it commenced what became a protracted blockade of Port Arthur.  Although the Japanese attack on Port Arthur caused no serious losses to the Russians apart from some damage to a few ships (which were repaired), the suddenness of the war shocked the Russian government.  Tsar Nicholas II particularly was incredulous that a small nation such as Japan would provoke a giant, powerful nation such as the Russian Empire.

In 1904, Japan and Russia went to war for control of Korea and southern Manchuria.

(Taken from Russo-Japanese War – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia)

Background

By the 19th century, Russia’s territorial expansion into eastern Asia was encroaching into China, which was then ruled by the weakening Qing Dynasty.  Russia and China signed two treaties (the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 and the Convention of Peking in 1860), where China ceded to Russia the territory known as Outer Manchuria (present-day southern region of the Russian Far East).  Then in 1896, by the
terms of a construction concession, China allowed Russia to build the Chinese Eastern Railway, which would connect the eastern end of the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, through northern Inner Manchuria (present-day Northeast China).  In July 1897, construction work on this new railway line began.

In December 1897, the Russian Navy started to use the port of Lushunkou, located at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula.  Four months later, in March 1898, Russia and China signed an agreement, where the Chinese government granted a 25-year lease (called the “Convention for the Lease of the Liaotung Peninsula”) to Russia for Lushunkou and the surrounding areas, collectively called the Kwantung
Leased Territory.  The Russians soon renamed Lushunkou as Port Arthur, and developed it into its main naval base in the Far East.  Port Arthur was operational all year long, compared to the other Russian naval base at Vladivostok, which was unusable during winter.  Both the Chinese Eastern Railway and Kwantung Leased Territory allowed Russia to consolidate its hold over Inner Manchuria (although the region legally remained part of China), which was furthered when Russia began constructing, in 1899, the South Manchuria Railway
to connect Harbin with Port Arthur, via Mukden. 
Also by the latter 19th century, Russia was establishing firmer political and economic ties with the Korean Empire’s weak Joseon Dynasty.

Meanwhile, Japan (which had only recently industrialized and was emerging as a regional military
power) also harbored ambitions in southern Manchuria and Korea.  For over two centuries (1633-1853), Japan had implemented a near total isolationist policy from the outside world.  But in the 1850s, Japan was forced (under threat of military action) to sign treaties with the United States and European powers to establish diplomatic and trade relations.  Seeing itself powerless against an attack by
the West, Japan reunified under its emperor and then began a massive industrialization and modernization
program patterned after the West, which dramatically overturned and completely altered Japan’s traditional feudal-based agricultural society.   Within a period of one generation, Japan had become a modern,
industrialized, and prosperous state, with the government placing particular emphasis on building up its military forces to the level matching those in the West.

In the 1870s, Japan set its sights to emulating European-style imperialist expansion (during this
time, European powers were aggressively establishing colonies in Asia and Africa), and turned to its old rival, Korea.  Korea, although nominally sovereign and independent, was a tributary state of China.  In September 1875, after failing to establish diplomatic relations with Korea, Japan sent a warship to Korea.  Using its artillery, the Japanese ship opened fire and devastated the coastal defenses of Ganghwa Island, Korea.  Six months later, February 1876, Japan sent
six warships to Korea, forcing the Korean government to sign a treaty with Japan, the Gangwa Treaty, which among other provisions, established diplomatic
relations between the two countries, and forced Korea to open a number of ports to trade with Japan.  Thereafter, European powers followed, opening diplomatic and trade ties with Korea, and ending the latter’s self-imposed isolationist policy (Korea
until then had been known as the “Hermit
Kingdom”).

But Japan was interested not only in opening trade with Korea, but in dominating the whole Korean
Peninsula.  Subsequently, Japan started to interfere in Korea’s internal affairs.  Before long, the Korean ruling elite became divided into two factions: the pro-Japanese faction, comprising progressives who wanted to modernize Korea in association with
Japan; and the pro-Chinese faction, comprising the conservatives, including the ruling Joseon monarchy, who were firmly anti-Japanese and wanted Korea’s
national development under the tutelage of China or with the West.

The growing Japanese interference in Korea’s affairs made conflict between Japan and China inevitable.  War finally broke out in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), where Japanese forces triumphed decisively.  In the peace treaty (April 1895) that ended the war, China recognized Korea’s independence, (until then, Korea was a tributary state of China), China paid Japan an indemnity, and ceded to Japan the eastern part of the Liaodong Peninsula (as well as Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands).  In the aftermath, Japan replaced China as the dominant controlling power in Korea.

But immediately thereafter, Russia, which also had power ambitions in southern Manchuria, particularly the vital Lushunkou (later Port Arthur), convinced France and Germany to join its cause and force Japan to return the Liaodong Peninsula to China, in exchange for China paying Japan a larger indemnity.  Japan reluctantly acquiesced, seeing that its forces were powerless to fight three European powers at the same time.

Cash-strapped China sought financial assistance from Russia to pay its large indemnity to Japan.  Russia released a loan to China, but also proposed a Sino-Russian alliance against Japan.  In June 1896, China and Russia signed the secret Li-Lobanov Treaty where Russia agreed to intervene if China was attacked by Japan.  In exchange, China allowed Russia the use of Chinese ports for the Russian Navy, as well as for Russia to build a railway line across North East China (the Chinese Eastern Railway) to Vladivostok.  As the treaty also permitted the presence of Russian troops in the region, Russia soon gained full control of northeast China.  Then after signing the lease for the Liaodong Peninsula, particularly vital Port Arthur, Russia gained control of southern Manchuria as well.

Meanwhile, in Korea, anti-Japanese sentiment
intensified further when in October 1895, Queen Min, wife of King Gojong, was assassinated, with most Koreans blaming the Japanese, because of the queen’s strong anti-Japanese stance.  Fearing for his life, Korean King Gojong fled to the Russian diplomatic office.  With Russian protection, in October 1897, King Gojong proclaimed the Korean Empire, an act to symbolize the end of China’s
domination of his country.  Koreans were strongly anti-imperialistic and desired self-rule.  Most Koreans also wanted to establish stronger ties with European countries and the United States to stop what they believed were Japan’s ambitions to take over their nation.

Undeterred, in November 1901, Japan approached Russia with a proposal: in exchange for Japan recognizing Manchuria as falling within the Russian sphere of control and influence, Russia would
recognize Japan’s control over Korea.  As early as June 1896, Japan and Russia had agreed to form a joint protectorate over Korea, which would serve as a
buffer zone between them.  But in April 1898, in another treaty, Russia acknowledged Japan’s
commercial and economic interests in Korea

In January 1902, Japan and Britain signed a military pact (the Anglo-Japanese Alliance), where the British promised to intervene militarily for Japan in the event that in a Russo-Japanese war, a third party
entered the war on Russia’s side against Japan.  The British motive in the treaty was to curb Russia’s
territorial expansionism in East Asia; for Japan, the alliance strengthened its resolve to go to war with Russia.

Subsequently, Russia appeared to be willing to compromise with Japan, even indicating its intention to withdraw from Manchuria.  In March 1902, Russia
and France signed a military pact, but the French government stated that it would intervene for Russia (if the latter went to war) only in a war in Europe and not in Asia.  As a result, Russia would have to fight alone in a war with Japan.

A faction in the Russian government, led by the Foreign Ministry, wanted a peaceful settlement with Japan.  However, Tsar Nicholas II, the Russian monarch, and the Russian military high command, pressed for continued Russian expansionism in the Far East, being confident that the Russian military, with a long history of wars in Europe, could easily defeat upstart Japan.  Then when Russia did not withdraw from Manchuria, in July 1903, the Japanese envoy in St. Petersburg (Russia’s capital) issued a
diplomatic protest.  But in August 1903, Japan again offered Russia the proposal that in exchange for Russia’s recognition of Japan’s control of Korea, Japan would accept Russia’s control of Manchuria.  In October 1903, Russia made a counter-proposal with the following stipulations: that Manchuria fell under Russia’s sphere of influence; that Russia recognized Japan’s commercial interests in Korea; and that all territory north of the 39th parallel in the Korean Peninsula would be a demilitarized buffer zone where no Russian or Japanese forces could deploy.

Each side’s proposals were unacceptable to the other, but the two sides agreed to hold talks.  By
January 1904, with no progress being made in the talks, Japanese representatives concluded that the Russians were stalling.  Again, Japan repeated its August 1903 offer, but after receiving no reply, on February 6, 1904, Japan cut diplomatic ties with Russia.  Two days later, Japan declared war on Russia.

February 7, 1962 – The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports

In 1960, following the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro entered into a trade agreement with the Soviet Union that included purchasing Russian oil.  Then when U.S. petroleum companies in Cuba refused to refine the imported Russian oil, a succession of measures and retaliatory counter-measures followed quickly.  In July 1960, Cuba seized the American oil companies and nationalized them the next month.  In October 1960, the United States imposed an economic embargo on Cuba and banned all imports (which constituted 90% of all Cuban exports) from Cuba.  The restriction included sugar, which was Cuba’s biggest source of revenue.  In January 1960, the United States ended all official diplomatic relations with Cuba, closed its embassy in Havana, and banned trade to and forbid American private and business transactions with the island country. On February 7, 1962, all imports from and exports to Cuba were banned.

With Cuba shedding off democracy and taking on a clearly communist state policy, thousands of Cubans from the upper and middle classes, including politicians, top government officials, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and many other professionals fled the country for exile in other countries, particularly in
the United States.  However, many other anti-Castro Cubans chose to remain and subsequently organized into armed groups to start a counter-revolution in the Escambray Mountains; these rebel groups’ activities laid the groundwork for Cuba’s next internal conflict, the “War against the Bandits”.

In November 1956, Fidel Castro and 81 other rebels set out from Tuxpan, Mexico aboard a decrepit yacht for their nearly 2,000 kilometer trip across the Caribbean Sea bound for south-eastern Cuba.

(Taken from Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)

Aftermath of the
Cuban Revolution

In Havana, President Manuel Urrutia (who Castro had
appointed as provisional president and Cuba’s new head of state), and especially Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, and the M-26-7 fighters, took control of
civilian and military institutions of the government.  Similarly in Oriente Province, Fidel Castro established authority over the regional governmental and military
functions.  In the following days, other regional military units all across Cuba surrendered their
jurisdictions to rebel forces that arrived.  Then from Santiago de Cuba, Fidel Castro began a nearly week-long journey to Havana, stopping at every town and city to large crowds and giving speeches, interviews, and press conferences.  On January 8, 1959, he arrived in Havana and declared himself the “Representative of the Rebel Armed Forces of the
Presidency”, that is, he was effectively head of the Cuban Armed Forces under the government of President Urrutia and newly installed Prime Minister Jose Miro.  Real power, however, remained with
Castro.

In the next few months, the Castro regime consolidated power by executing or jailing hundreds of Batista supporters for “war crimes” and relegating to the sidelines the other rebel groups that had taken part in the revolution.  During the war, Fidel Castro
had promised the return of democracy by instituting multi-party politics and holding free elections.  Now however, he spurned these promises, declaring that the electoral process was socially regressive and benefited only the wealthy elite.

Castro denied being a communist, the most widely publicized declaration being during his personal visit to the United States in April 1959, or four months after he gained power.  Members of the Popular Socialist Party, or PSP (Cuban communists), however, soon began to dominate key government positions, and Cuba’s foreign policy moved toward
establishing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries.  (By 1961 when Castro had declared Cuba a communist state, his M-26-7 Movement had formed an alliance with the PSP, the 13th of March Movement – DR, and other leftist organizations; this coalition ultimately gave rise to the Cuban Communist Party.)

President Urrutia, who was a political moderate and a non-communist, made known his concern about the socialist direction of the government, which put him directly in Castro’s way.  Consequently in July 1959, President Urrutia was forced to resign from office, as Prime Minister Miro had done earlier in February.  A Cuban communist took over as
the new president, subservient to the dictates of Fidel Castro.  Castro had become the “Maximum Leader” (Spanish: Maximo Lider), or absolute dictator; he abolished Congress, ruled by decree, and suppressed all forms of opposition.  Free speech was silenced, as were the print and broadcast media, which were placed under government control.  In
the villages, towns, and cities across Cuba, neighborhood watches called the “Committees for the Defense of the Revolution” were formed to monitor the activities of all residents within their jurisdictions and to weed out dissidents, enemies, and “counter-revolutionaries”.  In 1959, land reform was implemented in Cuba; private and corporate lands were seized, partitioned, and distributed to
peasants and landless farmers.

On January 7, 1959, just a few days after the Cuban Revolution ended, the United States recognized the new Cuban government under President Urrutia. But as Castro later gained absolute power and his government gradually turned socialist, relations between the two countries deteriorated rapidly.  By July 1959, just seven months later, U.S.
president Dwight Eisenhower was planning Castro’s overthrow; subsequently in March 1960, he ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to organize and
train U.S.-based Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba.

In 1960, Castro entered into a trade agreement with the Soviet Union that included purchasing Russian oil.  Then when U.S. petroleum companies in Cuba refused to refine the imported Russian oil, a succession of measures and retaliatory counter-measures followed quickly.  In July 1960, Cuba
seized the American oil companies and nationalized them the next month.  In October 1960, the United States imposed an economic embargo on Cuba and banned all imports (which constituted 90% of all Cuban exports) from Cuba.  The restriction included sugar, which was Cuba’s biggest source of revenue.  In January 1960, the United States ended all official diplomatic relations with Cuba, closed its embassy in Havana, and banned trade to and forbid American private and business transactions with the island country.

With Cuba shedding off democracy and taking on a clearly communist state policy, thousands of Cubans from the upper and middle classes, including politicians, top government officials, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and many other professionals fled the country for exile in other countries, particularly in
the United States.  However, many other anti-Castro Cubans chose to remain and subsequently organized into armed groups to start a counter-revolution in the Escambray Mountains; these rebel groups’ activities laid the groundwork for Cuba’s next internal conflict, the “War against the Bandits”.

February 6, 1981 – The start of the Ugandan Civil War

The Ugandan Civil War (also known as the Ugandan Bush War) is historically cited as having started on February 6, 1981, when one of the armed
groups attacked a Ugandan military facility. The various rebel militias were tribe-based, operated independently of each other, and generally carried out their activities only within their local and regional strongholds.  One such rebel militia consisted of former Ugandan Army soldiers still loyal to deposed leader General Idi Amin, and fought out of the West Nile District, which was General Amin’s homeland.  The various rebel militias had limited capability to confront government forces and therefore employed hit-and-run tactics, such as ambushing army patrols, raiding armories and seizing weapons, and carrying out sabotage operations against government installations.

Africa showing location of Uganda and nearby countries.

The rebel group that ultimately prevailed in the war was the National Resistance Army (NRA), led by Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s former Defense Minister.  As a university student, Museveni had received training in guerilla warfare, which he would later put to use in the war.

In response, the Ugandan Army launched an extensive counter-insurgency campaign in the countryside.  The soldiers particularly targeted the rural population, which they believed was supporting the rebels.  The many atrocities committed by soldiers included summary executions, tortures, rapes, lootings, and destruction of homes and properties.  The West Nile District was hard hit because of its fierce opposition to President Obote.  Furthermore, soldiers from other ethnic groups were repressed during the reign of General Amin.  Thus, after the
dictator’s overthrow, these ethnic groups, particularly the Acholi and Lango which formed the majority in the Ugandan Army, carried out revenge by targeting
civilians in the West Nile District.

(Taken from Ugandan Civil War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 3)

Background

On April 11, 1979, General Idi Amin was removed from power when the Tanzanian Army, supported by Ugandan rebels, invaded and took over Uganda (previous article).  Uganda then entered a transitional
period aimed at a return to democracy, a process that generated great political instability.  A succession of leaders held power only briefly because of tensions between the civilian government and the newly reorganized Ugandan military leadership.  Furthermore, ethnic-based political parties
wrangled with each other, hoping to gain and play a bigger role in the future government.

In general elections held in December 1980, former President Milton Obote, who had been the country’s head of state before being deposed in a coup by General Amin in 1971, returned to power by winning the presidential race.  It was hoped that the elections would advance the country’s transition to democracy.  Instead, they served as the trigger for the civil war that followed.  Defeated political groups
accused President Obote of cheating to win the elections.  Tensions rose within the already charged
political atmosphere.  Many armed groups that already existed during the war now rose up in rebellion against the government.

February 5, 1994 – Bosnian Serb forces commit the first of two Markale massacres during the Bosnian War

On February 5, 1994, Bosnian Serb forces of the Army of Republika Srpska fired a mortar shell into the crowded Markale (market) in Sarajevo (the capital of Bosnian and Herzegovina), killing 68 civilians and wounded 144 others. A second attack on the Markale occurred on August 28, 1995, where five mortar shells killed 43 people and wounded 75 others. The two incidents occurred during the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. They are now known as the Markale Massacres, which the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) have declared as ethnic cleansing perpetrated by troops of the Army of Republika Srpska.

Yugoslavia comprised six republics, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, and Macedonia, and two autonomous provinces, Kosovo and Vojvodina.

(Taken from Bosnian War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 1)

Many atrocities and human rights violations were committed in the war, the great majority of which were perpetrated by Bosnian Serbs, but also by Bosnian Croats, and to a much lesser extent, by Bosniaks.

Bosnian Croat forces also perpetrated many atrocities, including those that occurred in the Lasva
Valley, which caused the deaths and forced disappearances of 2,000 Bosniaks, as well as other violent acts against civilians.  Bosniak forces also committed crimes against civilians and captured soldiers, but these were of much less frequency and severity.

About 90% of all crimes in the Bosnian War were attributed to Bosnian Serbs.  The ICTY has convicted
and meted out punishments to many perpetrators, who generally were military commanders and high-ranking government officials.  The war caused some 100,000 deaths, both civilian and military; over two million persons were displaced by the fighting.

After the war, Bosnia-Herzegovina retained its territorial integrity.  As a direct consequence of
the war, Bosnia-Herzegovina established a decentralized government composed of two political and geographical entities: the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (consisting of Bosniak and Bosnian Croat majorities) and the Republic of Srpska (consisting of Bosnian Serbs).  The president of Bosnian- Herzegovina is elected on rotation, with a Bosniak,
Bosnian Croat, and Bosnian Serb taking turns as the country’s head of state.

Background

Bosnia-Herzegovina has three main ethnic groups: Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), comprising 44% of the
population, Bosnian Serbs, with 32%, and Bosnian Croats, with 17%.  Slovenia and Croatia declared their independences in June 1991.  On October 15, 1991, the Bosnian parliament declared the independence of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, with Bosnian Serb delegates boycotting the session in protest.  Then acting on a request from both the Bosnian parliament and the Bosnian Serb leadership, a European Economic Community arbitration commission gave its opinion, on January 11, 1992, that Bosnia-Herzegovina’s independence cannot be recognized, since no
referendum on independence had taken place.

Bosnian Serbs formed a majority in Bosnia’s
northern regions.  On January 5, 1992, Bosnian Serbs seceded from Bosnia-Herzegovina and established their own country.  Bosnian Croats, who also
comprised a sizable minority, had earlier (on November 18, 1991) seceded from Bosnia-Herzegovina by declaring their own independence.  Bosnia-Herzegovina, therefore, fragmented into three republics, formed along ethnic lines.

Furthermore, in March 1991, Serbia and Croatia, two Yugoslav constituent republics located on either side of Bosnia-Herzegovina, secretly agreed to annex portions of Bosnia-Herzegovina that contained a majority population of ethnic Serbians and ethnic Croatians.  This agreement, later re-affirmed by Serbians and Croatians in a second meeting in May 1992, was intended to avoid armed conflict between them.  By this time, heightened tensions among the three ethnic groups were leading to open hostilities.

Mediators from Britain and Portugal made a final attempt to avert war, eventually succeeding in convincing Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats to agree to share political power in a decentralized government.  Just ten days later, however, the Bosnian government reversed its decision and rejected the agreement after taking issue with some of its provisions.

February 4, 1961 – Turmoil spreads in the Angolan War of Independence

On February 3, 1961, farm laborers in Baixa do Cassanje, Malanje, rose up in protest over poor working conditions.  In the following days, the protest quickly spread to many other regions, engulfing a wide area.  The Portuguese were forced to send warplanes that strafed and firebombed many native villages.  Soon, the protest was quelled.

Occurring almost simultaneously with the workers’ protest, armed bands (believed to be affiliated with the MPLA) carried out attacks in Luanda, particularly in the prisons and police stations, aimed at freeing political prisoners.  The raids were repelled, with dozens of attackers and some police officers killed.  In reprisal, government forces and Portuguese vigilante groups attacked Luanda’s slums, where they killed thousands of black civilian residents.

Africa showing location of present-day Angola and other African countries that were involved in the Angolan War of Independence. South-West Africa (present-day Namibia) was then under South African rule.

(Taken from Angolan War of Independence – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 1)

Background

By the 1830s, Portugal had lost Brazil and had abolished its transatlantic slave trade.  To replace these two valuable sources of income, Portugal turned to develop its African possessions, including their interior lands.  In Angola, agriculture was developed, with the valuable export crops of coffee and cotton being grown in vast plantations.  The mining industry was expanded.

Portugal’s development of the local economy, including the construction of public infrastructures such as roads and bridges, was carried out using forced labor of black Africans, a system that was so harsh, ruthless, and akin to slavery.  Consequently,
thousands of natives fled from the colony.  Indigenous lands were seized by the colonial government.  And while Angola’s economy grew, only the colonizers benefited, while the overwhelming majority of natives were neglected and deprived of education, health care, and other services.

After World War II, thousands of Portuguese immigrants settled in Angola.  The world’s prices of coffee beans were high, prompting the Portuguese government to seek new white settlers in its African
colonies to lead the growth of agriculture.  However, many of the new arrivals settled in the towns and cities, instead of braving the harsh rural frontiers. In urban areas, they competed for jobs with black Angolans who likewise were migrating there in large numbers in search of work.  The Portuguese, being
white, were given employment preference over the natives, producing racial tension.

The late 1940s saw the rapid growth of nationalism in Africa.  In Angola, three nationalist movements developed, which were led by “assimilados”, i.e. the few natives who had acquired the Portuguese language, culture, education, and
religion.  The Portuguese officially designated “assimilados” as “civilized”, in contrast to the vast majority of natives who retained their indigenous lifestyles.

The first of these Angolan nationalist movements was the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola or MPLA (Portuguese: Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola) led by local communists, and formed in 1956 from the merger of the Angolan
Communist Party and another nationalist movement called PLUA (English: Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola).  Active in Luanda and other major urban areas, the MPLA drew its support from the local elite and in regions populated by the Ambundu
ethnic group.  In its formative years, it received foreign support from other left-wing African nationalist groups that were also seeking the independences of their colonies from European rule.  Eventually, the MPLA fell under the influence of the Soviet Union and other communist countries.

The second Angolan nationalist movement was the National Front for the Liberation of Angola or FNLA (Portuguese: Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola).  The FNLA was formed in 1962 from the merger of two Bakongo regional movements that had as their secondary aim the resurgence of the once powerful but currently moribund Kingdom of Congo.  Primarily, the FNLA wanted to end forced labor, which had caused hundreds of thousands of Bakongo natives to leave their homes.  The FNLA operated out of Leopoldville (present-day Kinshasa) in the Congo from where it received military and financial support from the Congolese government.  The FNLA was led by Holden Roberto, whose authoritarian rule and one-track policies caused the movement to experience changing fortunes during the coming war, and also bring about the formation of the third of Angola’s nationalist movements, UNITA.

UNITA or National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Portuguese: União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola) was founded
by Jonas Savimbi, a former high-ranking official of the FNLA, over disagreements with Roberto.  Unlike the
FNLA and MPLA, which were based in northern Angola, UNITA operated in the colony’s central and southern regions and gained its main support from the Ovibundu people and other smaller ethnic groups.  Initially, UNITA embraced Maoist socialism
but later moved toward West-allied democratic Africanism.

February 3, 1969 – Mozambican War of Independence: Assassination of Eduardo Mondlane, founder and leader of the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) during the Mozambican War of Independence

On February 3, 1969, Eduardo Mondlane, founder and leader of the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO), was killed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from injuries sustained by a bomb explosion. The bomb was hidden inside a book that had been sent to the FRELIMO headquarters in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

In the ensuing power struggle among his followers, FRELIMO’s pro-democracy leaders were expelled and the organization came under the control of Marxists, led by Samora Machel, commander of the rebel forces.  Machel adopted a more aggressive approach to the war, increasing the number of rebel fighters, carrying out more guerilla and sabotage operations, and taking the unprecedented step of targeting Portuguese civilians and properties.  Under Machel’s leadership, FRELIMO increased its areas of control.

Portugal’s African possessions consisted of Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese-Guinea, Cape Verde, and Sao Tome & Principe.

(Taken from Mozambican War of Independence – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)

Background

After World War II ended in 1945, nationalist aspirations sprung up and spread rapidly across Africa.  By the 1960s, most of the continent’s colonies had become independent countries. 
Portugal, however, was determined to maintain its empire.  In 1951, Portugal ceased to regard its African (and Asian) possessions as “colonies”, but integrated them into the motherland as “overseas provinces”.  Tens of thousands of Portuguese citizens migrated to Mozambique, as well as to Angola and Portuguese Guinea under the prodding of the national government to lead the development of the new “provinces”.

Because of the immigration, racial tensions, which already were prevalent, escalated in Portugal’s African territories.  Portugal took great pride in its official policy of racial inclusiveness, and upheld in its
constitution the “democratic, social, and multi-racial” features of Portuguese society.  However, the Portuguese Overseas Charter also recognized distinct socio-ethnic classes: citizens – European Portuguese who had full political rights; “assimilados” – black
Africans who had assimilated the Portuguese way of life, could read and write, and were eligible to run for local and provincial elected office; and natives – the great majority of black Africans who retained their traditional ways of life. 

The Portuguese monopolized the political and economic systems of the colony, while the general population had limited access to education and upward social and economic mobility.  By the early 1960s, less than 1% of black Africans had attained “assimilado” status.  The colonial government repressed political dissent, forcing many Mozambican nationalists into exile abroad, and used PIDE (Policia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado), Portugal’s
security service, to turn Mozambique into a police state.

In June 1962, exiled Mozambican nationalists met in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika, and merged three ethnic-based independence movements into one nationalist organization, FRELIMO or Mozambique Liberation Front (Portuguese: Frente de Libertação de Moçambique).  Led by Eduardo Mondlane, FRELIMO initially sought to gain Mozambique’s independence by negotiating with the Portuguese government.  FRELIMO regarded the Portuguese as foreigners who were exploiting Mozambique’s human and natural resources, and were unconcerned with the development and well-being of the indigenous black population.

By 1964, Portugal’s intransigence and the Mozambican colonial government’s repressive acts,
including the so-called Mueda Massacre, where security forces opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators, had radicalized FRELIMO into believing that Mozambique’s independence could only be gained through armed struggle.  Further motivating FRELIMO into starting a revolution was that Mozambique’s neighbors recently had achieved their independences, i.e. Tanzania in 1961, and Malawi and Zambia in 1964, and these countries’ black-ruled governments would be expected to support Mozambique’s struggle for independence as well.