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PORTUGUESE HISTORY IN ANGOLA

Thesis Statement

In modern society, western culture has proven to be more influential than any culture in the entire world. This culture, if cross-examined microscopically, usually has a historical bearing revealing a coexistence between diverse populations from different social systems around the world. Socia-cultural systems play a significant role in enabling historians to trace the origin of some ethnic groups, societies, and populations depending on their social diversity. In the historical study, mostly, scholars examine the phenomenal coexistence of these communities by analyzing various social, economic, and political practices practiced collaterally for a specific purpose. An example of the traditional practice includes the slave trade which, paved the way for the social-economic and political establishment in diverse areas across the globe such colonization of some territories. This paper in general examines the social, political, and economic interactions between Portuguese and the people of Angola and how it has impact the culture influence experienced today.

Background information

The history of Angola can be traced back to the 15th century. Similarly, their interaction with the Portuguese is traced back to a similar era during which the colonist invaded the region in the quest for trade and settlement. Much of the country’s historical origin is extrapolated to the Portugal movement in the Eastern part of Africa during the 15th Century[1].

From the baseline understanding, Angola is an African country located in the Southwestern part of the continent bordering Namibia and DRC. Luanda is the capital and the country’s commercial center also plays a significant importance in harboring some of the key colonial memories as it was the center for Portugal landmark. The country sliding into the semi-desert Atlantic region rides entirely on the 1,600 km coastal region on the Atlantic Ocean giving it a resourceful cultural heritage for economic and social development. Perhaps the Portugal culture might have had a significant influence on the coastal formation bearing in mind that the country depends largely on the mining, fishing, and agricultural activities.

Historical Context

As mentioned above, the traceable history of Angola matches the colonial journey of Portuguese to the West-eastern region of Africa. The coastal alignment must have provided quite an ideal docking surface to establish Neolithic inhabitation of the land. Little information on their origin however, few historical evidences reveal that the dominant group called Bantu must have migrated from the Northern side and therefore Congo could be their possible country of origin.

The historical movement of Portuguese to the West coastal plan was affected by the trade mission during the 15th century[5]. At this time, the Bantu has established concrete social systems and economic structures mainly focused on agriculture. The Portuguese mission was to mainly capture the coastal plans of the land and extend their mining to Guinea where they hope to get enough Gold for trade. After realizing the vibrant nature of the African men with respect to their industrial activities, they untwisted their mission and instead began slave trades which at the time was the most valuable trade commodity.

The 19th century marked a significant transformation in the Angolan western-eastern relations bringing an end to the long slave trade practices. In 1836, the slave trade was officially banned on the land while in Portuguese the government legalized the practice until 1875. The end of the slave trade marked the beginning of industrious development of the country in regard to agricultural revolutions where the local labor was made counterproductive by providing labor in coffee farms.

The period between 1885 to 1975 was significant in the Angolan history considering the political formations that had been established following continual warfare between the Mbundu, Kongo, and Ovambo. The rulers in these communities, who were initially in conflict, later settled their warfare and agreed to fight for their people’s grievances in unison. At this time, the European scramble for African had emerged the new norm of the day. However, the leaders resolved to aggressively claim their territories despite the European class and the Portuguese class over the same. After various transitioning regimes include from monarchy to republic, the Portugal government remained adamant in leadership until the 1950s and 1960 guerrilla war that lead to the independence of the country.

Upon the termination of the Portugal rule in Angola lead to numerous local reformations of the local government in an attempt to establish a democratic government that will resist any further colonialists. Angola announced its independence in 1975 officially after Portuguese withdrawal following intense pressure from the locals. Further conflicts arose with other states such as South Africa following the support to oust the Marxist MPLA leading to the cold war. Other neighboring countries such as Namibia withdraw their interests from the conflict leaving Angola to tackle its internal affairs.

The over 500 hundred years of Portugal rule in Angola left their country deeply rooted in the Portugal culture. Despite their withdrawal from power, most Portuguese who had participated in governance stayed in the country for a longer period further enhancing their influence on the system of governance. Their social structure had a significant impact on the native population propagated by intermarriages and other social and economic practices.

Western and Eastern elements between Angola and Portuguese

The kind of social, economic, and political influences that were born on the Angola population had a significant impact on their way of life even up to today. Despite having some separate demographic elements with diverse cultural values and traditions. The two countries still have numerous ties with respect to their western-eastern influence. Despite having independence, Portugal still had a greater influence on Angola. This influence is largely focused on economic and social cultures.

The first point of consideration while evaluating the western and eastern elements between the two countries is their original position. Portugal concurred Angola during a period when Angola had less political, social, and economic structures apart from the cultural practices that were largely imported from Congo due to the migration of Bantu. The establishment of the coastal commercial means of transported further initiated the country’s economic systems. Civilization has gradually increased the country’s economic development in various dimensions due to increased importation and exportation of goods across the networks. Angola has significantly advanced its economic structure by revitalizing the coastal functions and between 2007 and 2013, the country has recorded double nominal importation of goods and services [7].

As the coastal line played a significant role for the Portuguese to advance west-side, their eastern border further developed to higher standards and over time, the Portugal coastal line provides great economic solutions to the country’s transport systems and other functions. The increase in Portugal-Angolan trade ties has further strengthened the country’s economy by providing robust market grounds for investment. Most of the Portugal companies had invested largely in the coastal economic bridge binding other economic players across the globe.

From a cultural perspective, a historical influence still has a great impact on the country’s culture. Angola is a country of diverse culture has compared to Portugal. This culture is oriented on identity which classifies the Angolans with respect to their ethnicity, race, and the general population. The linguistic affiliation is tied to the Portuguese language however, most of the Portuguese are bilingual with eloquence in Portuguese and other African languages such as Bantu. The political and social culture is highly materialized on their traditional norms some of which were copied from the Western cultures such the Portugal culture.

The Portugal culture is comparatively diverse with predominance roots from the Christian values and specifically the Roman Catholics[5]. The cultural influences originate from historical icons such as Viking, Jewish among others. The language spoken by the people is Portuguese which is predominantly anchored on the Arabic origins. Though with distinct accent and articulation, Angolans speak the same language having experienced the interaction and intermarriages for over 100 years of co-existence.

In view of their economic trends, the two countries seem to have a balanced trade relationship whose origin can be mapped from the social-economic relationship that was built during the colonial period. The diversification of the Angola economy has been greatly supported by the Portuguese investors. Similarly, the dynamic immigrations between the two boarders has sprouted the Portugal economy through the provision of sustainable labor and economic resources.

Angola-Portugal Interaction

The Angola-Portugal interaction developed a strategic neo-colonialism relationship characterized by diverse cultural values. The ties between the two countries were particularly established on two major factors: colonial mission and economic benefits. Every particular element influenced the kind of interaction between the two populations with respect to culture, ideas, institutions, and people. The dual relationship was further boosted by the trade ties where language acted as a key booster in fastening their social, economic, and political relations.

In view of the slave trade, the Portuguese resorted to the trade as an alternative business following the increased demand of the commodity in the western region. At first, they had hoped to get gold from the area but later turned into the slave trade business. From their perception, they view Angolans as resourceful men and women with skilled labor to work on coffee farms in the European land[8]. The labor relationship created animosity between the two groups which later factored for the civil wars experienced in Angola soon after independence.

The establishment of the firm cultural values leads to strong social interactions between the locals and the foreigners. The Portugal men opted to marry Angolan women creating a more robust cultural interaction between the two. The interracial marriage provided the collateral background of interaction strengthening the relationship between the two.

During their colonial period, the Portuguese leader Salazar was assigned an important mission of accorded from the Vatican to extend the missionary project and the church message to the Western regions. He was to represent the Africans to the Vatican and therefore was required to establish educational institutions in the region that will replace the African traditions and were majorly established on traditional values. Through the Portuguese government, the leader established various primary schools in Angola which later collapsed due to lack of proper funding.

In order to reinstate the mission back to course, the government created the Department of Native Affairs and continued offering education to the natives. Apart from the primary schools, the government later established higher education institutions where few native students were provided a chance to study. Angolan communities were greatly angered by this kind of discrimination and instead opted for their traditional education systems. However, after independence, the government changed the leadership of the institutions and in the first ten years, more than three thousand native students were enrolled for university education.

The Angolans began protesting against the colonist power in 1961. During the Angolan had mobilized their troops in readiness to overturn the Portuguese government. Some the key idea they protested against was slavery which was highly ramparted. They were angered by the fact that the colonist was imposing illegal slave trade on their natives and yet they had nothing to benefit from the activities. The shipping of slaves from Angola was banned in 1836, but slavery remained legal in the Portuguese empire until 1875. So an attempt was made in Angola to make productive use of slaves who could no longer be sold abroad [7].

The Portugal government, having realized how fertile the land was, started establishing coffee, sugar, and cotton farms across the country. Their invasion on some of the inland regions especially the Luanda region agitated the Angolans remembering their active participation in the farming process. This encroachment of the most fertile areas of the land leads to the outbreak of war by the locals in an attempt to safeguard their land. Some of the vibrant tribes that protect against this vice included Mbuntu, Kongo, and Ovambo. The unity of these three groups further rich out on a mission to further liberate Africans from the hand s of Europeans in various regions across Africa. In 1885, the formation of the guerrilla group was a major breakthrough in ending slavery. Apart from fighting against the colonial power, the group abolished the overwhelming business activities that seemed to be thriving between Portugal and other European countries in Africa[8]. From there view, the colonist was largely benefiting from the railway line that was primarily constructed to transport farm produce to external markets and, contrary to their expectations, never benefited the locals. In fact, they incited Angolan workers working on the Portuguese farms to rebellion against the forced labor. This plunged the country into chaos but later spearhead the liberation of the workers from forced labor practices.

Scholarly evidence

Various authors have provided diverse views on the relationship between Angola and Portuguese. Note what Fidalgo states on the historical relationship between Angola and Portugal: “However, as the Portuguese president stated, the partnership was based on “a common history”, and this is the crux of the matter. Cavaco Silva may have been thinking of positive aspects, such as shared culture, language, and blood. But for many Angolans, this encroachment of Portuguese interests is tantamount to colonialism in other terms” [3]. From this assertion, it's evident that the intense historical interaction must have played a significant role in determining the current social, economic, and political influences experienced across the cultures.

In exploring the historical origin of Angola, Birmingham argues that over three hundred years’ period of ruler-ship, Angola grew their socio-cultural values with great reservations on their traditional beliefs. This is evident in their unity against the colonial power in attempting to divert their traditional values by imposing new laws and policies such as slave policies. The slave mission becomes futile and as Duffy, points out “the export of slaves did not last long as the Europeans were able to seize control of much of the Portuguese industry as part of the “scramble for Africa” taking place in the 1880s” [2]. Further evidence reveals the gradual conflict between the colonies especially on the establishment of institutions such as schools. For instance, Birmingham, affirms that education paved the way to the end of forced labor and other malpractices [1].

Conclusion

This paper reveals the most critical dimension of western-eastern interactions as a primary influence on civilization as experienced between Angola and Portuguese. From the explanations provided, it is evident that the social-cultural systems play a significant role in enabling historians to trace the origin of some ethnic groups, societies, and populations depending on their social diversity. Basing on the historical context, Angola had a unique origin (traced from Congo) similar to Portuguese. The Portuguese mission to the eastern brought both negative and positive impacts to the natives which still has a great influence even today.

Bibliographies

1. Birmingham, David. A short history of modern Angola. Oxford University Press, 2015.

2. Duffy, James. "Portuguese Africa (Angola and Mozambique): some crucial problems and the role of education in their resolution." The Journal of Negro Education 30, no. 3 (1961): 294-301.

3. Fidalgo, J. "The impact of the historical influence of Portugal in Angola." The International Banker (2015).

4. Heywood, Linda Marinda. Contested power in Angola, 1840s to the present. Boydell& Brewer, 2000.

5. Klein, Herbert S. "The Portuguese slave trade from Angola in the eighteenth century." The Journal of Economic History 32, no. 4 (1972): 894-918.

6. Mata, Maria Eugénia. "Inter-racial Marriage in the Last Portuguese Colonial Empire." E-Journal of Portuguese History 5, no. 1 (2007): 4.

7. Morier-Genoud, Éric, and Michel Cahen, eds. Imperial migrations: Colonial communities and diaspora in the Portuguese world. Springer, 2012.

8. Wheeler, Douglas Lanphier. "The Portuguese in Angola, 1836-1891: a study in expansion and administration." PhD diss., Boston University, 1963.