The Mozambican War of Independence, an armed conflict between the guerrilla forces of the Mozambique Liberation Front or FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique), and Portugal, officially starts on September 25, 1964, and ends with a cease fire on September 8, 1974, resulting in a negotiated independence in 1975.Portugal's wars against independence guerrilla fighters in its 500-year-old African territories had erupted in 1961 in Angola.

In surprise attacks, rebels had butchered Portuguese farmers and their families, including women, children and their black employees, on remote Angolan plantations.

In Mozambique, the conflict erupts in 1964 as a result of unrest and frustration amongst many indigenous Mozambican populations, who perceive foreign rule to be a form of exploitation and mistreatment, which servesonly to further Portuguese economic interests in the region.

Many Mozambicans also resent Portugal's policies towards indigenous people, which discriminate their traditional lifestyle.

turning difficult for many African indigenes the access to fundamental Portuguese-style education and more skilled employment.

As successful self-determination movements spread throughout Africa after the Second World War, many Mozambicans have become progressively nationalistic in outlook, and increasingly frustrated by the nation's continued subservience to foreign rule.

For the other side, many enculturated indigenous Africans who are fully integrated into the Portugal-ruled social organization of Portuguese Mozambique, in particular those from the urban centers, react to the independentist claims with a mix of discomfort and suspicion.

The ethnic Portuguese of the territory, which include most of the ruling authorities, respond with increased military presence and fast-paced development projects.A mass exile of Mozambique's political intelligentsia to neighboring countries provides havens from which radical Mozambicans can plan actions and foment political unrest in their homeland.

The formation of the Mozambican guerrilla organization FRELIMO and the support of the Soviet Union, China and Cuba through arms and advisors, leads to the outbreak of violence that was to last over a decade.

From a military standpoint, the Portuguese regular army holds the upper hand during all the conflict against the independentist guerrilla forces.

Despite their disadvantaged position, FRELIMO insurgents are victorious, after a leftist military coup in Lisbon and a deep political change in Portugal.

Mozambique succeeds in achieving independence on June 25, 1975, after the coup d'état in Portugal known as the Carnation Revolution, thus ending 470 years of Portuguese colonial rule in the East African region.

According to some historians, the military coup in Portugal is in part fueled by protests concerning the conduct of Portuguese troops in their treatment of some local Mozambican populace.

However, the role of the growing communist influence over the group of Portuguese military insurgents who lead the Lisbon's military coup, and, on the other hand, the pressure of the international community over the direction of the Portuguese Colonial War in general, are primary causes for the final outcome.