15 March 1961

15 March 1961 marks the beginning of a racially defined uprising in northern Angola, initiated by the UPA against non-Bakongo communities. Its suppression by the Portuguese Army was followed by massacres of Bakongo and the emigration of large numbers of Bakongo to Zaïre. In the book’s chronology, the date records both the outbreak of organized violence and the severe consequences that followed for the population targeted in its aftermath.

Place in the Chronology

The entry follows the account of 4 February 1961, when MPLA fighters attacked the military prison in Luanda. The book identifies that earlier attack—not the events of 15 March—as the commencement of the armed struggle for Angola’s liberation. The distinction places the March uprising within an already developing conflict while making clear that the two dates represent different episodes and actors.

The Uprising and Its Suppression

The UPA gave the signal for an uprising directed against all non-Bakongo. The groups named among those attacked include Portuguese civilians, Angolan mulattoes, and members of the Ovimbundu and Kimbundu communities. The chronology characterizes the insurrection as racist, emphasizing that its target was defined by belonging outside the Bakongo community.

The Portuguese Army suppressed the insurrection. The account then records a massacre of Bakongo and the emigration of large numbers of Bakongo to Zaïre. This sequence makes the aftermath a central part of the date’s significance: the episode did not end with military suppression, but was followed by further mass violence and displacement.

Later Political Context

The chronology’s next dated entry concerning the UPA is 23 March 1962, when the organization changed its name to the FNLA. It identifies Holden Roberto, the UPA’s president, as the FNLA’s leader, and describes the organization as a Bakongo party whose political ambition extended to the rest of Angola. That later development should be distinguished from the events of 15 March 1961: the date marks the uprising and its immediate aftermath, not the renaming of the organization.

Significance in the Book

The date’s compact timeline entry links a specifically targeted uprising to its suppression, the subsequent massacre of Bakongo, and their departure for Zaïre. By setting this episode between the February prison attack and the later organizational change of 1962, the chronology presents Angola’s armed struggle as a succession of distinct conflicts and political developments rather than a single, undifferentiated beginning.