Guinea-Bissau War of Independence

Guinea-Bissau War of Independence
Part of the Portuguese Colonial War, Decolonization of Africa, and the Cold War
A PAIGC soldier with an AK-47
Date January 23, 1963 - September 10, 1974 (11 years, 7 months, 2 weeks and 4 days) Location Guinea-Bissau, Guinea Result Military stalemate Guinea-Bissau political victory Portuguese forces unable to neutralize the action of the PAIGC PAIGC unable to defeat and expel Portuguese forces from Guinea Carnation Revolution in Portugal and consequent independence of Guinea-Bissau
Belligerents
PAIGC Supported by:  China  Cuba  Soviet Union  Senegal  Guinea  Libya  Algeria	Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Amílcar Cabral † Luís Cabral João Bernardo Vieira Domingos Ramos † Pansau Na Isna † Francisco Mende	António de Spínola Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho
Strength
~10,000	~32,000
Casualties and losses
6,000+ killed; Nearly 4,000 unconfirmed	2,069 killed 3,830 with permanent deficiency (physical or psychological)
5,000 civilian deaths

Military stalemate
Guinea-Bissau political victory

The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence was an armed Independence conflict that took place in Portuguese Guinea between 1963 and 1974. The war ended when Portugal, after the Carnation Revolution of 1974, granted independence to Guinea-Bissau, followed by Cape Verde a year later.

Portuguese Guinea (as well as the nearby Cape Verde archipelago) had been claimed by Portugal since 1446 and was a major trading post for commodities and African slaves during the 18th century, before the former had been outlawed by the Portuguese authorities. The interior was however not fully controlled by the Portuguese until the latter half of 19th century. Sporadic fighting continued during the early 20th century and the Bijagós Islands were not pacified under Portuguese rule until 1936.

The Portuguese Guinea was dependent from the government of Cape Verde until 1887, when it gained the status of a separate overseas province of Portugal. In 1892, it received the status of autonomous district, becoming again a province in 1896. In the beginning of the 20th century, the Portuguese Guinea started to be referred to as "colony", despite still having the generic status of overseas province. With the effectiveness of the Portuguese Colonial Act of 1930, the designation "colony" fully replaced that of "province". In 1952, by a constitutional amendment, Portuguese Guinea became again referred as an overseas province, losing the status of "colony" .

While there had always been local resistance it was not until 1956 the first liberation movement was founded by Amílcar Cabral and Rafael Barbosa, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).

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