Introduction

The struggle for independence in the former Portuguese colonies drew an international solidarity. In the following decade, governments and non-state actors – international organizations, non-governmental organizations, churches, trade unions, political parties, student organizations, women’s organizations or activists – gradually endorsed, both formally and informally, the demands for national liberation of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe. The international solidarity was instrumental for the national liberation movements in the campaign against Portuguese colonialism and in the competition with other anticolonial groups and factions. Being at the receiving end of the solidarity, the liberation movements secured moral and political support, as well as the flow of military, material and humanitarian aid, which contributed to the positive outcome of their struggle. The extensive networks established by the movements across the globe placed the transnational relations prompted by the international solidarity at the center of the former Portuguese colonies’ path for independence.