The Cold War brought the global struggle between the West and communism to Angola and many other African countries also going through the decolonization process, but nowhere did foreign intervention reach such a large scale or involve so many different parties as in post-colonial Angola.  While the United States, China, and the Soviet Union openly or clandestinely funded and armed factions, actual soldiers from Cuba, South Africa, and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) participated in the war on the sides of various factions.  In addition to having ideological bases, the rebel groups were also affiliated with particular ethnic groups and other segments of society (such as the urban-rural divide).