MPLA
History of Angola
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| | 1956 | Andrade, Joaquim | |
| The PLUA merges with the PCA to form the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) |
| 1956 | Cruz, Viriato da | |
| The Angolan Communist Party (PCA) merges with the Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola (PLUA) to form the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola with Viriato da Cruz, the President of the PCA, as Secretary General |
| The MPLA, led by da Cruz, M rio Andrade, Ilidio Machado, and L£cio Lara, derives support from the Mbundu people and in Luanda |
| 1956 | Neto, Antonio Agostinho | |
| Movimento popular de Libertacao de Angola, a Marxist rival to the UPA |
| The Angolan Communist Party (PCA) merges with the Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola (PLUA) to form the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola with Viriato da Cruz, the President of the PCA, as Secretary General |
| The MPLA was founded in 1956 as a Marxist party with a strong following in the Angolan capital, Luanda, it is first led by Antonio Neto |
| 1960 | Cruz, Viriato da | |
| The MPLA joins with the PAIGC, fraternal party in Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde, to direct combat against the Portuguese empire in Africa |
| 1962 | Neto, Antonio Agostinho | |
| Leopoldville The MPLA adopts and reaffirms its policies for an independent Angola, democracy, multiracialism, national liberation of the entire colony, non-alignment, no foreign military bases in Angola, and nationalization |
| Leopoldville The MPLA holds a party congress, Viriato da Cruz, found to be "slow, negligent, and adverse to planning," is replaced by Agostinho Neto |
| 1963 | Neto, Antonio Agostinho | |
| The MPLA commences military operations against the Portuguese in 1963 |
| 1965 | Neto, Antonio Agostinho | |
| Neto meets Marxist leader Che Guevara and soon receives funding from the governments of Cuba, German Democratic Republic, and the Soviet Union |
| 1966 | Chipenda, Daniel | |
| Daniel Chipenda, then a member of MPLA, establishes the Eastern Front, significantly expanding the MPLA's reach in Angola |
| 1971 | Neto, Antonio Agostinho | |
| The MPLA begin forming squadrons of 100 to 150 militants, armed with 60mm and 81mm mortar, to attack Portuguese outposts |
| 1971 | Santos, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos | |
| Appointed member of the MPLA |
| 1975 | Neto, Antonio Agostinho | |
| The civil war is mainly a conflict between two primary Angolan factions, the Communist MPLA and the anti-Communist UNITA |
| 11th Nov Agostinho Neto, the leader of the MPLA, declares the independence of the People's Republic of Angola, in accordance with the Alvor Accords |
| 1985 | Santos, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos | |
| Elected a member of the MPLA-Workers' party congress, given the rank of colonel in the Angolan military and later becoming a member of the People's Assembly, beginning a succession of appointments to government ministerial posts |
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