the angolan civil war was a major civil war in the african country of angola. it started in 1975 and continued until 2002. the war began right after angola became independent from portugal in november 1975. the civil war was mostly a fight for power between two former liberation movements, the people's movement for the liberation of angola (mpla) and the national union for the total independence of angola (unita). other countries got involved in the war because they wanted their own ideologies to win. this made the angolan war part of the cold war. in 2002 the mpla won.