Armed Forces Day (Mozambique)
Armed Forces Day in Mozambique is celebrated annually on September 25, commemorating the start of the country's armed struggle for independence from Portuguese colonial rule in 1964. This day is significant as it marks the initiation of a guerrilla war led by the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), an independence movement founded by Eduardo Mondlane, who played a pivotal role in the fight for freedom. The celebration not only honors the sacrifices made during the struggle but also reflects on Mozambique's journey towards sovereignty, which culminated in independence in 1975 after years of conflict.
On Armed Forces Day, the nation engages in various festivities, including parades and speeches by public officials, to recognize the efforts of those who fought for national liberation. The day serves as a reminder of the historical context of colonial exploitation and the resilience of the Mozambican people in their quest for self-determination. With a population of approximately 20 million, including a vibrant community in the capital, Maputo, Armed Forces Day is a key public holiday that fosters national pride and unity among Mozambicans.
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Armed Forces Day (Mozambique)
Armed Forces Day (Mozambique)
September 25 of every year is Armed Forces Day in the southeastern African nation of Mozambique, honoring the beginning of the armed struggle for independence which began on September 25, 1964.
Mozambique has a population of approximately 20 million people, roughly 1 million of whom live in the capital and largest city of Maputo. The region was colonized by the Portuguese beginning in the 16th century, after their explorers and traders first began to use the area as a port of call during their voyages to and from India and around the southern tip of Africa. The Portuguese conquered the land, subdued the local chieftains, and eventually built up a bustling slave trade that preyed on the population of the interior. The slave trade was enormously profitable, sending hundreds of thousands of people to the New World, until well into the 19th century. Afterward, the Portuguese continued to exploit the land by permitting private enterprises to take control of its many natural resources at little or no cost, including the cost of local laborers who were often forced to work for subsistence wages at best.
By the 1960s an independence movement known as the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, or FRELIMO (Frente de Libertacao de Mocambique), had arisen under the leadership of Eduardo Mondlane. Mondlane, a sheepherder in Mozambique as a child, moved to the United States to begin studies at Oberlin College in Ohio at the age of 31. After graduating in 1953, he went on to obtain degrees from Northwestern University in Illinois and did research at Harvard University in Boston before working at the United Nations and teaching at Syracuse University in New York. He returned to Mozambique in 1962, when he founded FRELIMO, which launched a guerrilla war against the Portuguese on September 25, 1964. Victory and independence for Mozambique were finally gained in the summer of 1975, despite Mondlane having been assassinated in 1969. Armed Forces Day, a public holiday on September 25, honors this struggle with parades, speeches by public officials, and various festivities.