How come white settlement in Angola and Mozambique?

[Horatius Cocles]

If Malaria and Yellow Fever were the sole problem about Africa it'd be easy. Until the mid 1800's almost all US had Malaria and Yellow Fever outbreaks and it didn't stop Northern Europeans immigrants to come. If I'm not wrong, even Lincoln had Malaria more than once.

As for Portuguese Africa, as most people said, most of the Portuguese settled there under the Facist regime in the mid 1900's and there was never a massive settlement there. They were a really small part of these colonies population: Angola had about 6 million inhabitants and a population of 400,000 Europeans and 100,000 mixed race by 1970.

They were not immigrants, they were colonizers. They were public servants, land-owners, businessmen... Of course, the real work was done by the native African servants.

 

[katchen]

Forgive me for being cynical, but at 26% of the population, I find it difficult to believe that the white minority (which was a far higher percentage of the population) could not have rigged an election in 1974 with US help that would have enabled Angola to become part of Brazil when Portugal washed it's hands of it and enabled the whites to stay and put down the MPLA and UNITA, keeping the Cubans out of that country. It would have given Angola's Africans free access to Brazil and jobs in it's booming economy while giving Brazil Angola's oil early on. I'm surprised that it is not an option that Nixon and Kissinger considered. But then Nixon (and Ford) were far more liberal Republicans than we are used to now thinking of Republicans as being.
Angola is finally coming back (at least Luanda is) due to it's oil and Chinese investment (and some say recolonization). But it took 20 years of constant civil war before that happened. Sometimes so called self-determination and decolonization causes more killing and bloodshed than it's worth.

 

[Luciano]

(...) Novo Stado (...)

*Estado. Wouldn't be that wrong if you were to write european portuguese phonetically though, as they pronounce it like "Sh-tado"...

Forgive me for being cynical, but at 26% of the population, I find it difficult to believe that the white minority (which was a far higher percentage of the population) could not have rigged an election in 1974 with US help that would have enabled Angola to become part of Brazil when Portugal washed it's hands of it and enabled the whites to stay and put down the MPLA and UNITA, keeping the Cubans out of that country.

Interesting. 1974 was the year Geisel was "elected", so if he wouldn't accept it (i honestly have no idea how he'd act) we could have someone else being "elected" in a POD a few months before as to have this happen.

 

[Gonzaga]

Forgive me for being cynical, but at 26% of the population, I find it difficult to believe that the white minority (which was a far higher percentage of the population) could not have rigged an election in 1974 with US help that would have enabled Angola to become part of Brazil when Portugal washed it's hands of it and enabled the whites to stay and put down the MPLA and UNITA, keeping the Cubans out of that country. It would have given Angola's Africans free access to Brazil and jobs in it's booming economy while giving Brazil Angola's oil early on. I'm surprised that it is not an option that Nixon and Kissinger considered. But then Nixon (and Ford) were far more liberal Republicans than we are used to now thinking of Republicans as being.
Angola is finally coming back (at least Luanda is) due to it's oil and Chinese investment (and some say recolonization). But it took 20 years of constant civil war before that happened. Sometimes so called self-determination and decolonization causes more killing and bloodshed than it's worth.

Interesting. 1974 was the year Geisel was "elected", so if he wouldn't accept it (i honestly have no idea how he'd act) we could have someone else being "elected" in a POD a few months before as to have this happen.

Geisel would never do it and anyone who could have thought it seriously would be probably deposed. The Army had already enough work trying to destroy the Communist urban and rural guerrillas, why would they want to inherit a conflict in Africa?
Actually, despite being under a right wing dictatorship Brazil was the first country to recognize the independence of Communist Angola and the other African Portuguese colonies, as they understood that once Portugal was gone Brazil had a real chance of becoming the most important commercial and cultural partner of the new Lusophone countries (and we needed new markets for our industry). South American dictatorships could be very pragmatic and hypocritical when needed (probably the greates example was Galtieri thanking the support that Cuba - of all places - gave to Argentina during the Falklands War).

 

[katchen]

hypocrites

So that's why. No doubt Nixon and Kissinger did ask Giesel and Giesel turned them down.

 

[Julius Vogel]

From the US's point of view I'm not sure I would want to place too much trust in a settler regime made up principally of recent or first generation migrants, who could easily return home or onwards migrate.

 

[Luciano]

Geisel would never do it and anyone who could have thought it seriously would be probably deposed. The Army had already enough work trying to destroy the Communist urban and rural guerrillas, why would they want to inherit a conflict in Africa?
(...)(probably the greates example was Galtieri thanking the support that Cuba - of all places - gave to Argentina during the Falklands War).

Oh well, i thought it was probably ASB. I see.
On that last line... "We are friends with Cuba. We have always been friends with Cuba."

 

[Horatius Cocles]

Forgive me for being cynical, but at 26% of the population, I find it difficult to believe that the white minority (which was a far higher percentage of the population) could not have rigged an election in 1974 with US help that would have enabled Angola to become part of Brazil when Portugal washed it's hands of it and enabled the whites to stay and put down the MPLA and UNITA, keeping the Cubans out of that country. It would have given Angola's Africans free access to Brazil and jobs in it's booming economy while giving Brazil Angola's oil early on. I'm surprised that it is not an option that Nixon and Kissinger considered. But then Nixon (and Ford) were far more liberal Republicans than we are used to now thinking of Republicans as being.
Angola is finally coming back (at least Luanda is) due to it's oil and Chinese investment (and some say recolonization). But it took 20 years of constant civil war before that happened. Sometimes so called self-determination and decolonization causes more killing and bloodshed than it's worth.

The whites never made 26% of the Angolan population.
On the 1950 census there were a total of ~4 million inhabitants and ~1,000 whites; On the 1960 census, ~4.8 million inhabitants and ~170,000 whites and on the 1970 census I said in my other post. As I said, they were colonizers, not immigrants.

 

[Viriato]

The whites never made 26% of the Angolan population.
On the 1950 census there were a total of ~4 million inhabitants and ~1,000 whites; On the 1960 census, ~4.8 million inhabitants and ~170,000 whites and on the 1970 census I said in my other post. As I said, they were colonizers, not immigrants.

I think the 26% figure must be for the city of Luanda which in 1970 was around 26% white. The figures for Angola as a whole are below.

1900 2,716,000 (9,000 White; 14,000 Mestico)
1910 2,921,500 (12,000 White; 16,000 Mestico)
1920 3,13,200 (20,700 White; 19,000 Mestico)
1930 3,343.500 (30,000 White; 23,000 Mestico)
1940 3.737.947 (44,083 White; 28,035 Mestico)
1950 4,145,266 (78,826 White, 29,648 Mestico)
1960 4,830,449 (172,529 White, 53,392 Mestico)
1970 5,646,200 (400,000 White, 100,000 Mestico)
1972 (512,942 Whites according to a government survey)
1974 6,000,000 (600,000 White estimate; 150,000 Mestico)

There is a lot of studying of the "retornados" (returnees) going on in Portugal at the moment. This one radio programme dedicated to sharing their oral accounts of life in Africa and their return. Also, a several part documentary on the end of the empire has been shown on tv in Portugal recently.

It's really hard to call them immigrants, because the consensus seems to be that many bought into the idea that they were simply moving to another part of Portugal. Although, the cities in Angola and Mozambique were more modern than those in Portugal, these cities did look like facsimiles of the modern areas of Lisbon or Porto (no distinctive architectural style ever emerged in Portuguese Africa).

The Europeans (and many of the mesticos) born in Angola and Mozambique identified as Portuguese and as Angolan or Mozambican too, but the latter identity was merely a regional one similar to being Azorean or and Algarvio and never superimposed itself over the Portuguese national identity. It's fascinating to hear their stories because even they really bought into the idea that these lands were part of Portugal.

Unlike in South Africa or Rhodesia, no distinct settler culture really ever emerged. Even the Portuguese spoken by the settlers is considered so accentless and neutral that after 1975 the number of former settlers in broadcasting is disproportionate to their numbers. In the end though, the fact that the mere difference was that they more cosmopolitan than most Portuguese helped them blend into the greater Portuguese society with ease.

 

[Gonzaga]

Unlike in South Africa or Rhodesia, no distinct settler culture really ever emerged. Even the Portuguese spoken by the settlers is considered so accentless and neutral that after 1975 the number of former settlers in broadcasting is disproportionate to their numbers. In the end though, the fact that the mere difference was that they more cosmopolitan than most Portuguese helped them blend into the greater Portuguese society with ease.

Didn't the contact that the Portuguese troops in Africa had with the settlers there actually pushed them to dislike the Salazarist regime? Recently I watched a documentary about social change in Portugal - Portugal, um Retrato Social - where a former soldier in the colonial war told that when he and his colleagues were in Luanda they had the impression that they - and Portugal - where the backwards and the people from the colonies were the cosmopolitans and had a more interesting lifestyle. I wonder how much the cultural shock they suffered there influenced their political views once they returned home.

 

[katchen]

I'm surprised that more of the people who left Angola after 1974 didn't simply move to Brazil instead of returning to Portugal. You were the one who said that they made more money in Angola than they could in Portugal. Why would they go back to Portugal? Couldn't they do better in Brazil? Or had Brazil completely clamped down on immigration in those years?

 

[Gonzaga]

I'm surprised that more of the people who left Angola after 1974 didn't simply move to Brazil instead of returning to Portugal. You were the one who said that they made more money in Angola than they could in Portugal. Why would they go back to Portugal? Couldn't they do better in Brazil? Or had Brazil completely clamped down on immigration in those years?

Basically because they were Portuguese, and not Brazilian. As Viriato said, for them they were living in a part of Portugal, not in some foreign land. Also, most their cultural, economical and familiar ties linked them to Portugal, not to Brazil. Going to Brazil would mean immigrate to a foreign land, while going to Portugal would mean only moving to other part of their own country.

 

[Viriato]

Didn't the contact that the Portuguese troops in Africa had with the settlers there actually pushed them to dislike the Salazarist regime? Recently I watched a documentary about social change in Portugal - Portugal, um Retrato Social - where a former soldier in the colonial war told that when he and his colleagues were in Luanda they had the impression that they - and Portugal - where the backwards and the people from the colonies were the cosmopolitans and had a more interesting lifestyle. I wonder how much the cultural shock they suffered there influenced their political views once they returned home.

There was a cultural shock especially in 1961 when the first metropolitan troops arrived in Luanda. Most of the troops were from rural Portugal and I've seen interviews where they stated how shocked they were to see women smoking, driving cars and going to cafes alone. However, in the beginning at least the troops were greeted as heroes by the settlers. By 1974, especially in Angola the war was non-existent.

There were Portuguese Angolans who went to Brazil, an estimated 25,000 emigrated to Brazil post-1975. The Varig flights from Luanda to Brazil were overbooked after September of 1974. However, Brazil in 1975 was a military dictatorship and not the most attractive of options. An estimated 30,000 Portuguese from Angola went to Venezuela which already had a large Portuguese community and was experiencing an economic boom. Around 25,000 went to South Africa, and another 5,000 or so to Southwest Africa (Namibia). Some to the United States, France, Canada and other countries where they had relatives.

 

[Horatius Cocles]

Basically because they were Portuguese, and not Brazilian. As Viriato said, for them they were living in a part of Portugal, not in some foreign land. Also, most their cultural, economical and familiar ties linked them to Portugal, not to Brazil. Going to Brazil would mean immigrate to a foreign land, while going to Portugal would mean only moving to other part of their own country.

There were Portuguese Angolans who went to Brazil, an estimated 25,000 emigrated to Brazil post-1975. The Varig flights from Luanda to Brazil were overbooked after September of 1974. However, Brazil in 1975 was a military dictatorship and not the most attractive of options. An estimated 30,000 Portuguese from Angola went to Venezuela which already had a large Portuguese community and was experiencing an economic boom. Around 25,000 went to South Africa, and another 5,000 or so to Southwest Africa (Namibia). Some to the United States, France, Canada and other countries where they had relatives.

How much of them actually went back to Portugal? Like the White Russians after the 1917 Reolution, I don't think the Portuguese Africans would be thrilled about getting back to a "Socialist" Regime and I'd guess that most of retornados to Portugal would only be the people that didn't have the means to go anywhere else.

It's also nice to point out that the Independence Wars in Portuguese Africa didn't have the clear dichotomy present in South Africa, Rhodesia, etc. that puts Black people against White people. Aside the Portuguese characteristic to blend well into the national culture, some of White Africans supported Independentism and joined Black African moviments as a way to fight Portuguese Facism. They feel much more African than Portuguese.

Interestingly, some of the major exponents of Lusophone African literature are White. In Angola, Pepetela and Agualusa; in Mozambique, Mia Couto (that, by the way, recently won Camões Prize, the most important literary prize for the Portuguese language). I don't know much about their own history but I bet that they would be offended to the treated as Portuguese (or even as a external part of African society) instead to Angolans or Mozambicans, African culture is a major theme in their literature.

 

[Marius]

Angola is finally coming back (at least Luanda is) due to it's oil and Chinese investment (and some say recolonization). But it took 20 years of constant civil war before that happened. Sometimes so called self-determination and decolonization causes more killing and bloodshed than it's worth.

Angola, nor Luanda, is coming back. The Dos Santos family and about 500 of their closest associates are becoming obscenely wealthy on the back of the oil boom.

Life for the average Angolan is still terrible and has not changed measurably in the last 20 years.

Interesting thread, don't have time to comment now though.

 

[Gonzaga]

How much of them actually went back to Portugal? Like the White Russians after the 1917 Reolution, I don't think the Portuguese Africans would be thrilled about getting back to a "Socialist" Regime and I'd guess that most of retornados to Portugal would only be the people that didn't have the means to go anywhere else.

I can't find now the number of "retornados" that left only Angola. But according to official statistics in 1975 there were in Portugal 505,000 people who lived in the colonies before, and they composed 5% of the Portuguese population. Of these, 300,000 were born in Portugal but moved later to the colonies. Most of them lived originally in Angola, that according to the census of 1970 had a population of 5.6 million people. Some sources say the number of retornados was even higher, up to 800,000 people.

 

[Fenrisúlfr]

This is a incredibly interesting thread and I loved reading it. I'd defiantly buy a book on the subject if there is one similar to the debate you guys are having here.

 

[Horatius Cocles]

I can't find now the number of "retornados" that left only Angola. But according to official statistics in 1975 there were in Portugal 505,000 people who lived in the colonies before, and they composed 5% of the Portuguese population. Of these, 300,000 were born in Portugal but moved later to the colonies. Most of them lived originally in Angola, that according to the census of 1970 had a population of 5.6 million people. Some sources say the number of retornados was even higher, up to 800,000 people.

Interesting. Where did you found these numbers? This includes the African natives that fleed the Civil War and the Communist regime?

 

[Gonzaga]

Interesting. Where did you found these numbers? This includes the African natives that fleed the Civil War and the Communist regime?

Apparently they included them as well. The numbers of "retornados" were part of official statistics made by the Portuguese government, you can find them in many sources. I got them from this work of the University of Coimbra: http://cabodostrabalhos.ces.uc.pt/n6/documentos/06-Carolina_Peixoto.pdf

 

[Socrates]

The major settlement of Angola and Mozambique really occurred during the last 30 years of the empire in the 1943-1973 period. It dramatically increased in the 1962-1973 period. Ironically the guerilla threat made the Portuguese government really pay attention to economic development, and as the guerillas were faraway from the urban areas, they were not seen as a threat to settlers.

The other European powers' colonies also had their settler populations grow substantially during the 1945-1960 period. If they had held on longer like the Portuguese, I'm sure the Belgian Congo, Kenya, Northern Rhodesia and French West Africa all would have had similar white populations. Home air conditioning and air conditioned cars only became commonplace in the 1960s after most of Africa was independent.

Getting to Africa was easier than ever, by the 1940s there were ocean liners that carried prospective settlers in relative speed and comfort to Africa. By the 1960s jet liners made getting to Angola and Mozambique even faster. By April of 1974 the government was helping pay fares for prospective settlers on TAP jumbo jet flights to Africa. Once in Africa, homes had electricity, telephones, radios, etc. so living in Africa no longer resembled a scene from "Out of Africa".

One thing that really set the Portuguese colonies apart from those of other European powers was that the settler society in Angola and Mozambique as considered far more modern and liberal than back in Portugal. Also, the standard of living in Portugal was much lower than that for whites in Africa, so it made Angola and Mozambique very attractive places to move to. In contrast, white Rhodesian society was more conservative and provincial than Britain's and there wasn't as large a disparity in living standards. Portugal in 1974 was still a very conservative old-fashioned country, where women were expected to wear black mourning clothes for the rest of their lives if their husbands should die. It was also still a very rural country where many people lived in small villages where gossip was very prevalent and where the social hierarchy was very rigid.

Settler society in Portuguese Africa was very different. Most settlers were middle and upper middle class, and had a standard of living that was more comparable to that of Canada, Australia or the US. Most families owned comfortable modern homes or apartments in the major cities or their suburbs, the average family owned 2 cars, and their children were 5 times more likely to receive post-secondary education than their counterparts in Metropolitan Portugal. Even Coca-Cola, which had not been allowed in Portugal, was allowed in Angola and Mozambique.

Below I've added a have added a home film that illustrates what life was like for Europeans in Sá da Bandeira (today Lubango), Angola. The city was majority white and having a temperate climate. The video shows a wedding, and even the way the people are dressed is in contrast to what life was like in much of Portugal. The material comforts of this family are very much in evidence by the style of home they live in and the cars they own (Mercedes).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdG_WH4JbPM&list=TLWuAwjFiTp8g

Below you can contrast the video above with a scenes of rural life in Metropolitan Portugal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLZ1qL0pdEg

This was a very good post, and I think it was the first to properly answer my question. Do you really think places like the Congo and West Africa would have attracted a lot of white settlement if they'd have still been colonies in the 1970s? Why do you think Tanzania and Uganda were never settled in a manner similar to Kenya?