Introduction

The Mozambican Civil War started in Mozambique during the 1970s following independence in 1975. The ruling party Front for Liberation of Mozambique, Frelimo, was violently opposed from 1977 by the Rhodesian and later South African funded Mozambique Resistance Movement, Renamo. Over five million civilians were displaced, 900,000 are thought to have died in fighting and from starvation and many were made amputees by landmines, a legacy from the war that continued to plague Mozambique. Fighting wound up in 1992 and the country's first free elections were held in 1994.

National Movements and New States in Africa