The war in Angola was not waged in isolation. The rest of the world had shown interest and had interest in the conflict. Not one of the combatants could wage war without the support of sympathetic foreign institutions.

In the first place, events elsewhere in Africa were strongly influenced by the events occurring in Angola.

It is common sense that the establishment of so many independent African states would have a big influence on the battles for independence in the Portuguese colonies. The winds of change were also blowing over Angola. Other than just the inspiration that the liberation process infused, the different states, while independent from each other but still related through organisations that were created amongst them, provided help to the nationalistic Angolan forces.

In the first place...