a poster from the FRELIMO organization
In 1974, after a decade of armed struggle, Portuguese colonialism collapsed. The country’s Portuguese population was ordered to leave the country within 24 hours. Panicked Portuguese left the country via plane, road, and sea. Independence was finally declared in 1975, and the leaders of the Liberation Front of Mozambique's (FRELIMO) military campaign rapidly established a one-party state allied to the Soviet bloc, eliminating political pluralism, religious educational institutions and the role of traditional authorities. Three years after gaining independence from Portugal though, Mozambican support for armed groups fighting the white-minority rule in Rhodesia and South Africa led to these two sponsoring the RENAMO movement (Mozambican National Resistance), which fought FRELIMO in the 1977-1992 civil war. RENAMO is a conservative political party that is very anti-communist. The parties were fighting each other for control of the government. One million Mozambicans perished in this civil war, causing a great toll in the country. It seems that the country cannot get away from war, which will of course cause much devastation in the area. Right after the civil war, the country was in chaos and about a million people died in the war, and millions more fled abroad or to other parts of the continent. It is easy to see that since independence from Portugal in 1975 then, the country of Mozambique has been battered by civil war, famine, and economic mismanagement.