ABSTRACT
The Angolan war of 1975-1976 focused international attention on an area long relegated to the sidelines of world diplomacy and accentuated the historic momentum toward black control of southern African states. The revolution introduced the crucial element of surprise and its unsettling effect on Angolan affairs sent each state scurrying for an effective policy to counter the perceived threat from the other. Diplomatic somnambulism gave way to frenetic political activity and largely extraneous concerns were superimposed over those which were indigenously Angolan. Concomitant external interference by other states served to raise the political stakes and the importance of the Angolan conflict grew both strategically and symbolically. The withdrawal of South African troops in March 1976 ended what is generally known as "the Angolan war" but Cuban troops remained, civil war persisted, South African troops reentered on several occasions, and events in Angola became linked with conflicts over Shaba province in Zaire.
