Military History | Portuguese Colonial War Protagonists of the
Portuguese Colonial War Posted 10 Jul 2009 During the Portuguese
Colonial War Portugal faced 27,000 insurgents spread across
three theatres (Cann, 1997). The insurgents represented a wide
range of, and often conflicting, liberation movements. I've only
listed those that had armed forces in the field. Generally they
fought in small groups; a force of 200 insurgents gathered in
one place was rare. The insurgents were backed by a variety of
countries and groups including, in no particular order, the
USSR, East Germany, Cuba, China, North Vietnam, Organization of
African Unity (OAU), Nigeria, Zambia, Zaire, Tanzania, Malawi,
Algeria, Egypt, and Ethiopia (Venter, 1974b). All these are from
the Communist, African and Arab block. But support also came
from the USA, Israel, Sweden, Demark, Norway and World Council
of Churches. The Netherlands may have sent support as well. The
World Council of Churches and the Scandinavians sent non-
military aid. Others,