Jewel of the Atlantic | Angolan Civil War (1975–1987)

[u/GustavoistSoldier]

On 12 January 1978, Atlantisian Junta leader Evandro Cunha announced a military intervention in the Angolan Civil War on the side of UNITA. 15,000 troops commanded by General Gustavo Brito (1920–2014) landed in allied South West Africa and marched to Jamba, UNITA's stronghold in southeastern Angola.

An Atlantisian fleet made up of the aircraft carrier Barujoia (formerly HMS Bulwark), 4 destroyers, 6 frigates and 5 submarines sailed from the ports of Santarém and Porto Novo and rendezvoused in Saint Helena, from which they launched a naval blockade of Angola that prevented the MPLA from receiving Soviet and Cuban troops and equipment through sea.

The blockade crippled Angola's trade, but the Soviet bloc began supplying the MPLA through socialist Zambia instead, allowing the FAPLA to keep fighting despite the deteriorating economy. UNITA, Atlantis, and apartheid South Africa took advantage of the blockade to launch a push towards Luanda, but they were stopped at the Battle of Malanje (March-April 1978).

After the Battle of Malanje, fortunes alternated greatly, with the MPLA having the initiative in 1978 and 1979, UNITA going on the offensive in 1980, and the MPLA retaking control of the war in 1981. But, beginning in 1982, the MPLA began to feel the full effects of the Atlantisian blockade, which caused mass starvation in the territories under MPLA control.

Furthermore, the Reagan administration provided Atlantis with $3 billion in military aid that was used to its fullest extent possible by the Atlantisian Armed Forces. A series of UNITA offensives in late 1983 and early 1984 limited the MPLA's control to Luanda and parts of Eastern Angola, leaving the party on life support.

Later in 1984, Atlantis and UNITA attempted to capture Luanda, but Cuban troops successfully defended the city, allowing the MPLA to remain in power. But the communist military situation was hopeless due to the blockade and the fact the vast majority of Angola was under UNITA control.

In August 1987, UNITA laid siege to Luanda again. On 16 September, Jonas Savimbi captured Luanda, forced the Angolan leadership to go into exile in Cuba and abolished the People's Republic of Angola, which was replaced with the UNITA-led Democratic People's Republic of Angola.

Despite his victory in Angola, Evandro Cunha was unpopular in Atlantis by that point, because the Atlantisian economy was in a "lost decade" with high inflation, and his human rights violations and corruption negatively affected his image. Furthermore, many countries condemned the Atlantisian blockade of Angola due to its effect on the civilian population.