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Uganda–Tanzania War
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Uganda–Tanzania War
The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War (Swahili: Vita vya Kagera) and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Ugandan President Idi Amin. The war was preceded by a deterioration of relations between Uganda and Tanzania following Amin's 1971 overthrow of President Milton Obote, who was close to the President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere. Over the following years, Amin's regime was destabilised by violent purges, economic problems, and dissatisfaction in the Uganda Army.
The circumstances surrounding the outbreak of the war are not clear, and differing accounts of the events exist. In October 1978, Ugandan forces began making incursions into Tanzania. Later that month, the Uganda Army launched an invasion, looting property and killing civilians. Ugandan official media declared the annexation of the Kagera Salient. On 2 November, Nyerere declared war on Uganda and mobilised the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) to retake the salient. Nyerere also mobilised Ugandan rebels loyal to Obote and Yoweri Museveni to weaken Amin's regime. After Amin failed to renounce his claims to Kagera and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) failed to condemn the Ugandan invasion, the TPDF occupied the towns of Masaka and Mbarara in southern Uganda.
While the TPDF prepared to clear the way to the Ugandan capital of Kampala, Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya and an ally of Amin, dispatched several thousand troops to Uganda to assist the Uganda Army. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation also sent a number of guerrillas to aid Amin. In March the largest battle of the war occurred when the Tanzanians and Ugandan rebels defeated a combined Ugandan-Libyan-Palestinian force at Lukaya. The loss of Lukaya led the Uganda Army to begin to collapse. Nyerere believed that Ugandan rebels should be given time to organise their own government to succeed Amin. He sponsored a conference of rebels and exiles in Moshi later that month, where the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) was founded. Libya ended its intervention in early April and its troops left the country. On 10 April a combined TPDF-UNLF force attacked Kampala, and secured it the following day. Amin fled into exile while a UNLF government was established. In the following months, the TPDF occupied Uganda, facing only scattered resistance. It secured the Uganda–Sudan border in June, bringing the war to an end.
The war severely harmed Tanzania's fragile economy and inflicted long-lasting damage to Kagera. It also had severe economic consequences in Uganda, and brought about a wave of crime and political violence as the UNLF government struggled to maintain order. Political disagreements and the persistence of the remnants of the Uganda Army in the border regions ultimately led to the outbreak of the Ugandan Bush War in 1980.
In 1971 Colonel Idi Amin took power following a military coup that overthrew the President of Uganda, Milton Obote, precipitating a deterioration of relations with neighbouring Tanzania. Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere had close ties with Obote and had supported his socialist orientation. Amin installed himself as President of Uganda and ruled the country under a repressive dictatorship. Nyerere withheld diplomatic recognition of the new government and offered asylum to Obote and his supporters. As Amin launched a massive purge of his enemies in Uganda that saw 30,000 to 50,000 Ugandans killed, Obote was soon joined by thousands of other dissidents and opposition figures. With the approval of Nyerere, these Ugandan exiles organised a small army of guerillas, and attempted, unsuccessfully, to invade Uganda and remove Amin in 1972. Amin blamed Nyerere for backing and arming his enemies, and retaliated by bombing Tanzanian border towns. Though his commanders urged him to respond in kind, Nyerere agreed to mediation overseen by the President of Somalia, Siad Barre, which resulted in the signing of the Mogadishu Agreement. The accord stipulated that Ugandan and Tanzanian forces had to withdraw to positions at least 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away from the border and refrain from supporting opposition forces that targeted each other's governments.
Nevertheless, relations between the two presidents remained tense; Nyerere frequently denounced Amin's regime, and Amin made repeated threats to invade Tanzania. At the same time, relations between Tanzania and Kenya grew sour, and the East African Community collapsed in 1977. Uganda also disputed its border with Tanzania, claiming that the Kagera Salient—a 720 square miles (1,900 km2) stretch of land between the official border and the Kagera River 18 miles (29 km) to the south, should be placed under its jurisdiction, maintaining that the river made for a more logical border. The border had originally been negotiated by British and German colonial officials before World War I.
Meanwhile, in Uganda, Amin announced an "economic war" in which thousands belonging to the Asian minority were expelled from the country in 1972 and their businesses placed under the management of Africans. The reform had disastrous consequences for the economy, which were further exacerbated by a United States boycott of Ugandan coffee on account of the government's failure to respect human rights. At the same time, Amin expanded the power of the armed forces in his government, placing many soldiers in his cabinet and providing those loyal to him with patronage. Most of the beneficiaries of his actions were Muslim northerners, particularly those of Nubian and Sudanese extract, who were increasingly recruited into the army. Amin violently purged southern ethnic groups from the armed forces and executed political opponents. In the following years, he survived several assassination attempts, becoming increasingly distrustful and repeatedly purging the senior ranks of the Ugandan military.
In 1977, a split in the Uganda Army developed between supporters of Amin and soldiers loyal to the vice-president of Uganda, Mustafa Adrisi, who held significant power in the government and wanted to eject foreigners from the military. In April 1978, Adrisi was severely injured in a suspicious car accident. When he was flown out of the country for treatment, Amin stripped him of his ministerial portfolios. He also announced the arrest of multiple police officials, and during the following month dismissed several ministers and military officers. The shakeup strained Amin's already narrow base of power in the military that was also declining in the face of the worsening economic situation, which eliminated patronage opportunities. Fearing for his personal safety and less confident in his charismatic abilities to diffuse the growing tension, Amin began withdrawing from the public sphere and conducting fewer visits with his troops. At around the same time, he began accusing Tanzania of violating Uganda's border.
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Uganda–Tanzania War
The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War (Swahili: Vita vya Kagera) and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Ugandan President Idi Amin. The war was preceded by a deterioration of relations between Uganda and Tanzania following Amin's 1971 overthrow of President Milton Obote, who was close to the President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere. Over the following years, Amin's regime was destabilised by violent purges, economic problems, and dissatisfaction in the Uganda Army.
The circumstances surrounding the outbreak of the war are not clear, and differing accounts of the events exist. In October 1978, Ugandan forces began making incursions into Tanzania. Later that month, the Uganda Army launched an invasion, looting property and killing civilians. Ugandan official media declared the annexation of the Kagera Salient. On 2 November, Nyerere declared war on Uganda and mobilised the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) to retake the salient. Nyerere also mobilised Ugandan rebels loyal to Obote and Yoweri Museveni to weaken Amin's regime. After Amin failed to renounce his claims to Kagera and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) failed to condemn the Ugandan invasion, the TPDF occupied the towns of Masaka and Mbarara in southern Uganda.
While the TPDF prepared to clear the way to the Ugandan capital of Kampala, Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya and an ally of Amin, dispatched several thousand troops to Uganda to assist the Uganda Army. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation also sent a number of guerrillas to aid Amin. In March the largest battle of the war occurred when the Tanzanians and Ugandan rebels defeated a combined Ugandan-Libyan-Palestinian force at Lukaya. The loss of Lukaya led the Uganda Army to begin to collapse. Nyerere believed that Ugandan rebels should be given time to organise their own government to succeed Amin. He sponsored a conference of rebels and exiles in Moshi later that month, where the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) was founded. Libya ended its intervention in early April and its troops left the country. On 10 April a combined TPDF-UNLF force attacked Kampala, and secured it the following day. Amin fled into exile while a UNLF government was established. In the following months, the TPDF occupied Uganda, facing only scattered resistance. It secured the Uganda–Sudan border in June, bringing the war to an end.
The war severely harmed Tanzania's fragile economy and inflicted long-lasting damage to Kagera. It also had severe economic consequences in Uganda, and brought about a wave of crime and political violence as the UNLF government struggled to maintain order. Political disagreements and the persistence of the remnants of the Uganda Army in the border regions ultimately led to the outbreak of the Ugandan Bush War in 1980.
In 1971 Colonel Idi Amin took power following a military coup that overthrew the President of Uganda, Milton Obote, precipitating a deterioration of relations with neighbouring Tanzania. Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere had close ties with Obote and had supported his socialist orientation. Amin installed himself as President of Uganda and ruled the country under a repressive dictatorship. Nyerere withheld diplomatic recognition of the new government and offered asylum to Obote and his supporters. As Amin launched a massive purge of his enemies in Uganda that saw 30,000 to 50,000 Ugandans killed, Obote was soon joined by thousands of other dissidents and opposition figures. With the approval of Nyerere, these Ugandan exiles organised a small army of guerillas, and attempted, unsuccessfully, to invade Uganda and remove Amin in 1972. Amin blamed Nyerere for backing and arming his enemies, and retaliated by bombing Tanzanian border towns. Though his commanders urged him to respond in kind, Nyerere agreed to mediation overseen by the President of Somalia, Siad Barre, which resulted in the signing of the Mogadishu Agreement. The accord stipulated that Ugandan and Tanzanian forces had to withdraw to positions at least 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away from the border and refrain from supporting opposition forces that targeted each other's governments.
Nevertheless, relations between the two presidents remained tense; Nyerere frequently denounced Amin's regime, and Amin made repeated threats to invade Tanzania. At the same time, relations between Tanzania and Kenya grew sour, and the East African Community collapsed in 1977. Uganda also disputed its border with Tanzania, claiming that the Kagera Salient—a 720 square miles (1,900 km2) stretch of land between the official border and the Kagera River 18 miles (29 km) to the south, should be placed under its jurisdiction, maintaining that the river made for a more logical border. The border had originally been negotiated by British and German colonial officials before World War I.
Meanwhile, in Uganda, Amin announced an "economic war" in which thousands belonging to the Asian minority were expelled from the country in 1972 and their businesses placed under the management of Africans. The reform had disastrous consequences for the economy, which were further exacerbated by a United States boycott of Ugandan coffee on account of the government's failure to respect human rights. At the same time, Amin expanded the power of the armed forces in his government, placing many soldiers in his cabinet and providing those loyal to him with patronage. Most of the beneficiaries of his actions were Muslim northerners, particularly those of Nubian and Sudanese extract, who were increasingly recruited into the army. Amin violently purged southern ethnic groups from the armed forces and executed political opponents. In the following years, he survived several assassination attempts, becoming increasingly distrustful and repeatedly purging the senior ranks of the Ugandan military.
In 1977, a split in the Uganda Army developed between supporters of Amin and soldiers loyal to the vice-president of Uganda, Mustafa Adrisi, who held significant power in the government and wanted to eject foreigners from the military. In April 1978, Adrisi was severely injured in a suspicious car accident. When he was flown out of the country for treatment, Amin stripped him of his ministerial portfolios. He also announced the arrest of multiple police officials, and during the following month dismissed several ministers and military officers. The shakeup strained Amin's already narrow base of power in the military that was also declining in the face of the worsening economic situation, which eliminated patronage opportunities. Fearing for his personal safety and less confident in his charismatic abilities to diffuse the growing tension, Amin began withdrawing from the public sphere and conducting fewer visits with his troops. At around the same time, he began accusing Tanzania of violating Uganda's border.
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