People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola

The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, also known as MPLA is a left-wing political party and a popular movement from Angola. The MPLA fought against the colonial Second Portuguese Republic (Estado Novo) in the Angolan War of Independence. The party has been the dominant party in Angola since the country's independence in 1975.
Conflicts
Angolan War of Independence

From 1961–1974, the Angolan War of Independence was fought by many parties, namely the MPLA, UNITA, FNLA, and FLEC.  The MPLA fought alongside these parties for independence from Portuguese colonialism.

Angolan Civil War

From 1975–2002, the Angolan Civil War took place. The MPLA has been considered the ruling party of Angola since its victory of the Portuguese Colonial War. The war was started by the struggle for power amongst parties, where UNITA waged war with the MPLA, eventually resulting in Jonas Savimbi's death in 2002. This reduced the power of UNITA, leading to the signing of a peace treaty.

Foreign support
During both the Portuguese Colonial War and the Angolan Civil War, the MPLA received military, political and humanitarian support primarily from the governments of Algeria, Bulgaria East Germany, Cape Verde, Czechoslovak, the Congo, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, North Korea, Polish People's Republic, China, Romania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, Soviet Union, Sudan, Tanzania, Libya and SFR Yugoslavia. While China did briefly support the MPLA, China also actively supported UNITA and Jonas Savimbi after Sino-Soviet split.

 References 

Category:20th-century establishments in Angola
Category:1956 establishments in Africa
Category:Communist parties
Category:National liberation movements
Category:Political parties in Angola
Category:Social democratic parties
Category:Socialist International