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The Compass: The Cold War Legacy: The Cold War Legacy: Angola

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Angola

20/11/2019 GMT

The Cold War Legacy: Angola

The Cold War Legacy

BBC World Service - The Compass, The Cold War Legacy, The Cold War Legacy: Angola

What will it take for Angola to be truly free of the legacy of Africa’s Cold War?

Andrew Harding travels to Angola, and the site of Africa’s largest battlefield in the Cold War. When Portugal relinquished its colonies in 1975, it looked as though a Communist-backed government would take over in Angola. Instead, there followed nearly 30 years of fighting: American and South African-backed rebels on one side, Cuban and Soviet-backed forces on the other. Nearly half a million Cubans – soldiers, doctors, teachers and technicians – made the six thousand mile journey to play their part in Angola’s long and bloody civil war. 

The Cold War ended thirty years ago, but its proxy in Angola rumbled on for another decade, fuelled as much by the rich resources of oil and minerals as by political ideology. Today, a peaceful Angola is one of the wealthiest countries on the African continent. Yet vast tracts of land are still contaminated by the hidden terror of landmines, and dotted with the rusting hulks of abandoned tanks. What will it take for Angola to be truly free of the legacy of Africa’s Cold War?

Presenter: Andrew Harding
Producer: Rebecca Lipscombe

Picture Credit: BBC

The Compass: The Cold War Legacy

The Cold War ended 30 years ago but its impact is still being felt across the world.

After six years of fighting, the Second World War was over but the respite was brief. Soon the former allies (the USA and USSR, along with their allies) were locked into another conflict against each other, one which lasted almost four and a half decades. The Cold War was a battle of ideology, politics, spies and military supremacy, with a sometimes terrifying arms race and nuclear proliferation. Like WWII before it, the Cold War was truly global as the two camps struggled for influence and control across all continents. It may have officially ended in 1991 but its ramifications can still be felt today. 

We travel to Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia to examine what impact the Cold War had back then and how it still resonates today especially with the younger generation who may not have lived through it but are still living with its aftermath.

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