Compare and contrast the contributions made by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to independence in Angola.

The question requires that candidates give an account of the similarities and differences between the contributions of the MPLA and UNITA to the achievement of independence in Angola, referring to both throughout. Candidates may refer to similarities such as the fact that the two fought as allies during the independence war, with leaders Agostinho Neto and Jonas Savimbi directing guerrilla campaigns before jointly negotiating the Alvor Agreement which lead to independence from Portugal in 1975. They may also refer to differences such as the fact that the MPLA initiated the independence war in 1961 while UNITA took up arms only in 1966, and the differing geographical and ethnic powerbases of each movement: the MPLA predominated among the Mbundu in the north and in Luanda, while UNITA were stronger in the south among the Ovimbundu. Both similarities and differences must be clearly indicated but there does not need to be an equal number of each.