Portal:Military history of Africa

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The Military history of Africa Portal

The military history of Africa is one of the oldest and most diverse military histories. Africa is a continent of diverse regions with diverse people speaking hundreds of different languages with many different cultures and religions. These differences have been the source of much conflict.

Like the history of Africa, African military history is often divided by region. North Africa was part of the Mediterranean cultures and was integral to the military history of antiquity. The military history of modern Africa may be divided into three broad time periods: pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial.

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Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (born c. 1944,[1] Ntungamo, Uganda[2]) has been the President of Uganda since January 29, 1986.

Museveni was involved in the war that toppled Idi Amin's (1971–79) rule and the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of Milton Obote's (1980–85) regime. With the notable exception of northern areas, Museveni has brought relative stability and economic growth to a country that has endured decades of government mismanagement, rebel activity and civil war. His tenure has also witnessed one of the most effective national responses to HIV/AIDS in Africa.

In the mid to late 1990s, Museveni was lauded by the West as part of a new generation of African leaders. His presidency has been marred, however, by involvement in civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other Great Lakes region conflicts. Rebellion in the north of Uganda continues to perpetuate one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies. Recent developments, including the abolition of Presidential term limits before the 2006 elections and the harassment of democratic opposition, have attracted concern from domestic commentators and the international community.

References

  1. ^ Sources are divided on Museveni's exact year of birth. While the year of 1944 is the most prominent in discourse on Museveni (Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia.com, Encarta and Columbia Encyclopedia), 1945 or 1946 have also been suggested as possible years of birth (Oloka-Onyango 2003 Project MUSE).
  2. ^ Different biographical sources will commonly list various birthplaces for Museveni due to reorganisation of districts in Uganda. In 1944, there were four provinces one of which was Western, encompassing Museveni's birthplace. By 1966, there were 19 administrative divisions, including the Ankole kingdom. In 1976, the districts became provinces. Southern province encompassed both Ankole and Kigezi and had Mbarara as a capital. In 1989, the 10 provinces were reorganized into 33 districts, one of which was Mbarara, and in 1994 the district of Ntungamo was formed from parts of Mbarara and Bushenyi. Museveni's birthplace has fallen, at various times, in administrative regions known as Western, Ankole, Southern, Mbarara and Ntungamo, without any contradiction. The article is reflecting the most recent region, Ntungamo. (Source: Statoids). The following sources are up to date in the respect that they give Museveni's birthplace as Ntungamo: Encyclopedia.com, Encarta, Norwegian Council for Africa and Columbia Encyclopedia.

Selected biography

Samora Moisés Machel (September 29, 1933 – October 19, 1986) was President of Mozambique from 1975 until he died eleven years later, when his presidential aircraft crashed in mountainous terrain where the borders of Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa converge.

Machel was attracted to Marxist ideals and began his political activities in a hospital where he protested against the fact that black nurses were paid less than whites doing the same job. He later told a reporter how bad medical treatment was for Mozambique's poor: "The rich man's dog gets more in the way of vaccination, medicine and medical care than do the workers upon whom the rich man's wealth is built." His grandparents and great grandparents had fought against Portuguese colonial rule in the 19th century so it was not surprising that in 1962 Machel joined the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) which was dedicated to creating an independent Mozambique. He received military training in 1963 elsewhere in Africa, and returned in 1964 to lead FRELIMO's first guerrilla attack against the Portuguese in northern Mozambique. By 1970, Machel had become commander-in-chief of the FRELIMO army which had already established itself among Mozambique's peasantry. His most important goal, he said, was to get the people "to understand how to turn the armed struggle into a revolution" and to realize how essential it was "to create a new mentality to build a new society."

Quotes

"I will find you... if it takes my life." — Solomon Vandy to his son - Blood Diamond (film)

Equipment

Soviet P-15 Termit (SS-N-2 Styx) anti-ship missile

The P-15 Termit (Russian: П-15 "Термит"; English: termite) was a type of missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was "4K40", and its NATO reporting name was Styx or SS-N-2.

Soviet-made P-15 missiles were used by Egypt against Israel in 1967 where Egyptian Komar class fast-attack craft (FAC) sank the Israeli destroyer Eilat. It is also used by Algeria, Angola, Libya and Somalia.

Selected picture

A sketch of the Zulu leader King Shaka (1781 - 1828)

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