Mozambican Civil War

=== Geo-political situation ===

[[File:RhodesiaAllies1965.png|thumb|The geopolitical situation of Rhodesia in 1965. Rhodesia is coloured green and countries friendly to the government (South Africa and Portugal) are shown in purple.]]

[[File:RhodesiaAllies1975-en.svg|thumb|The geopolitical situation of Rhodesia after the independence of Angola and Mozambique in 1975. Rhodesia itself is shown in green, nations friendly to the nationalist guerrillas are shown in orange, and South Africa and its dependency South-West Africa (now Namibia) are coloured purple.]]

The independence of Mozambique and [[Angola]] in 1975 challenged white minority rule in Southern Africa. Firstly, the independence wars in Angola and Mozambique demonstrated that even with great military resources it was virtually impossible for a small white minority to guarantee the safety of its members, let alone to exert control over a mobilised and agitated population outside of major power centres. The downfall of Portuguese colonial rule gave hope to black liberation struggles in the then apartheid [[South Africa]] and [[Rhodesia]]. Second, in both countries revolutionary [[socialist]] movements gained power. These movements had been cooperating with the black liberation movements in South Africa and Rhodesia, and continued to openly support them, offering them a safe haven from where they could coordinate their operations and train new forces. As President Machel put it in a speech in 1975: "The struggle in Zimbabwe is our struggle".<ref name="jpires.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.jpires.org/?p=1240 |title=MOZAMBIQUE: Dismantling the Portuguese Empire |publisher=jpires.org |access-date=4 March 2012 }}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The independence of Mozambique was especially devastating for white-ruled Rhodesia in multiple aspects. The Rhodesian armed forces lacked the manpower to effectively protect its {{convert|800|mi|km|order=flip|adj=on}} border with Mozambique against entering ZANLA insurgents. At the same time, the apartheid government and the Smith regime lost Portugal as an ally and with it the tens of thousands of soldiers that had been deployed in the Portuguese colonial wars. Additionally Rhodesia used Mozambican ports as their primary means for imports and exports, with over 80% of all imports passing through Maputo and Beira into the heavily sanctioned country. The loss of these ports after President Machel declared sanctions against the country further weakened the already fragile economy of Rhodesia and angered the Ian Smith regime.<ref>José Mota Lopes and Mario Borgdeth, "Borders of Blood" Kanemo Production and Communication Ltd.</ref>

Thus with the South African and Rhodesian white minority government position severely weakened by the events of 1974/75 both governments sought to undermine the newly independent countries and to shatter FRELIMO's goal of building the first, non-racial socialist state in Southern Africa.<ref name="ReferenceA">Bob and Amy Coen, "Mozambique: The Struggle for Survival" Video Africa, 1987</ref> The countries capacity to support national liberation movements also concerned South Africa and Rhodesia and both countries sought for a first strike strategy to counter this new threat. This manifested itself in the Rhodesia-sponsored foundation of [[RENAMO]], then called the Mozambique National Resistance (MNR), in 1974 and in South Africa's adoption of the "[[Total National Strategy]]".