In 1961, the Colonial War in Africa began, first in Angola, and in the next year in Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. The war lasted 13 years and devastated Portuguese society, forcing many thousands of Portuguese citizens, mainly young people, to leave the country seeking a better future in countries like France, Germany or Switzerland, and also to escape conscription. The Party, which had been involved in the formation of the nationalist guerrilla movements along with the Soviet Union, immediately stated its opposition to the war, and political support of the anti-colonial movements. The war initiated a process of decline of the regime as it caused a growing unrest inside Portuguese society.