A. ISAACMAN, B. ISAACMAN. Mozambique: From Colonialism to Revolution, 1900 - 1982. Boulder. Westview Press. 1983. XII. 235 p.

Recently, in the context of the aggravation of the situation in Southern Africa, bourgeois historiography has paid increased attention to the" frontline " states, especially Angola and Mozambique. At the same time, it has strengthened its conservative direction. In the works of its representatives 1 trace-

1 Lecoff G. Angola. L'independance empoisonnee. P. 1976; Marcum J. The Angolan Revolution. Vol. 2. Massachussets.

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There is a clear desire to cast a shadow on the progressive process of revolutionary transformation, to denigrate the past of the Angolan and Mozambican peoples.

Thus, the English author M. Newitt, in fact, puts the grain of equality between the MPLA-PT and pro-imperialist groups. He motivates this by saying that both of them allegedly adhere to a " clearly expressed tribalist orientation." The difference, according to this bourgeois scholar, is only that, unlike the FNLA and UNITA, the organizational structure and ideological principles of the MPLA-PT, like the FRELIMO parties, were formed outside of Africa ,under the alien "influence of foreign thought and foreign revolutionary models" .2 The American authors D. and M. are approaching the analysis of the revolutionary democracy of Angola and Mozambique from similar positions. Otaway. In particular, they write that the ideological and political platform of the FRELIMO and MPLA - PT parties is nothing but a new phenomenon, which they call "Afrocommunism" .3
The mass media of capitalist countries launched an unprecedented campaign to whitewash the criminal apartheid regime, give it a "new look", and portray terrorist organizations such as UNITA and MNF (Mozambique National Resistance) nurtured by Pretoria and Washington as almost "champions of human rights". This campaign was further intensified after Angola and Mozambique concluded certain agreements with the Republic of Africa in February and March 1984.4

However, not all Western scientists belong to the reactionary, conservative camp. Among the bourgeois-liberal historians who deal with the problems of the revolutionary liberation movement in Southern Africa are the Portuguese E. Ferreira, the Spaniard E. del Valle, the Englishmen W. Minter and B. Manslow, and the American T. Henriksen .5 Allen and Barbara Isaakman are also involved in this field. A. Isaakman is a professor of history at the University of Minnesota (USA). He wrote a number of works on the history of Mozambique, the most famous of which is "The Africanization of the European Institute: Prazu Zambezi, 1750-1902". Together with his wife, he spent several years teaching at the E. Mondlane University in Maputo. Together they wrote the book "Traditions of Resistance in Mozambique"in 1976. The reviewed work is like a logical continuation of the previous one. It is written largely with the involvement of local archival materials.

The work of the Isaacmans shows that from the first steps on the Mozambican land, the Portuguese conquerors faced various forms of anti-colonial protest. The most effective struggle against foreign invaders took place at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries in the south (the Kingdom of Gaza) and the north of Mozambique: in the Swahili sultanates of Angoshi, Kitangon, and neighboring state formations of the Makua and Yao peoples. Massangano, the center of anti-colonial resistance in the Zambezi River Valley, became an impregnable fortress. The names of the leaders and military leaders who took up arms against the Portuguese will always remain in the memory of Africans: Gungunyan, Bonga, Mataka, Anga, etc.

After the establishment of the colonial fascist regime in the African possessions of Portugal, spontaneous, passive forms of protest began to prevail in rural areas of Mozambique from the beginning of the 30s of the XX century. The Isaacmen point out migration to neighboring countries, evasion under various pretexts from forced labor, from growing export crops, etc.The phenomenon of "social banditry"has become widespread in Mozambique, as in its time on the island of Sicily and in the north-eastern regions of Brazil. The most famous Robin Hood of South and Central Africa was the Mozambican chief Mapondera. The likes of Liu-

1978; Socialism in Sub-Saharan Africa; a New Assessment. Berkeley. 1979; Southern Africa Since the Portuguese Coup. Boulder. 1981; Marxist Governments. A World Survey. Vol. 3. Lnd. 1981.

2 Newitt M. Portugal in Africa: the Last Hundred Years. Lnd. 1981, pp. 226 - 227.

3 Ottaway D., Ottaway M. Afrocommunism. N. Y. 1981, p. 219.

4 See Bovin A. The South of Africa. What's next? - Asia and Africa today. 1984, N 6.

5 Minter W. Portuguese Africa and the West. Lnd. 1972; Ferreira E. Aspectos do colonialismo portugues. Lisboa. 1974; Valle E. del. Angola, imperialismo v guerra civil. Madrid. 1976; Henriksen T. Mozambique: a History. N. Y. 1978; Munslow B. Mozambique: the Revolution and its Origins. Lnd. 1983.

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dey, according to the authors, "were considered heroes in their societies" (p. 64). At the same time, there were cases when desperate peasants rose up to open struggle (the unrest of cotton growers in Gaza province in 1955 and 1958, the mass demonstration in 1961 in Mueda).

However, ethno-tribal separatism and the disunity of the masses were a serious obstacle to the development of the peasant movement. Despite the weakness and small size of the African proletariat, the strike struggle intensified in Mozambique after World War II. Among other forms of anti-colonial protest, the work examines the activities of "independent African" churches and urban national associations. The authors note that in the 1940s and 1950s, revolutionary nationalist propaganda and agitation began to play an increasingly prominent role in the political life of Mozambique.

The brutal colonial-fascist repressions made the qualitative evolution of the national liberation movement within the country extremely difficult. In an effort to secure freedom of movement, as the authors rightly emphasize, many patriots moved to nearby colonies (Tanganyika, Nyasaland, Kenya, Southern Rhodesia). There, they worked to establish the National Democratic Union of Mozambique (UDENAMO), the African National Union of Mozambique (MANU), and the National African Union of Independent Mozambique (UNAMI). Attempts to mobilize Mozambicans for anti-colonial struggle for a long time did not yield results.

Separated from the national base, UDENAMO, MANU and UNAMI were unlikely to pose a serious threat to the Portuguese authorities. However, in 1962 they were able to settle in independent Tanzania, which has an extensive border with Mozambique. With the active assistance of President J. R. R. Tolkien, Njerere, the leader of the Pan-African movement K. Nkrumah, the Conference of National Organizations of the Portuguese Colonies (CONCP), and the unification of Mozambican fighters for national" liberation". Under the leadership of their recognized leader E. Mondlane, the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) is being created.

FRELIMO emerged, according to the Isakmans, as "a relatively typical nationalist front of the 'third' world, uniting ideologically diverse groups based on the principles of patriotism and opposition to foreign domination " (p. 83). Such a statement is not entirely true. The principles underlying the association of independence fighters were national-democratic from the very beginning. Already during the period of preparation and development of the anti-colonial war, under the influence of scientific socialism, their ideology gradually evolved in a revolutionary-democratic direction. It is characteristic that it was then that FRELIMO, like the MPLA and PAIGC, adopted the Marxist-Leninist slogan about the need to fight for independence by all means, without stopping at armed action against the colonial oppressors .6
At first, the patriots mostly followed the tactics of "classic" guerrilla warfare - ambush attacks on Portuguese patrols, cutting communications and railway lines. At the same time, as the Isaacmen rightly believe, the desire of individual leaders of FRELIMO, under the influence of Che Guevara's writings, to rely on guerrilla warfare could not but lead to negative results (p.88). This is what happened with the 1964 military campaign in the northwestern province of Tete. However, the practice of the revolutionary liberation struggle could not pass without a trace. In the second half of the 60s, the overwhelming majority of Front activists, as the authors note, switched to "a new strategy based on popular mobilization and faith in the rural masses... The involvement of the peasantry in the struggle became the cornerstone of FRELIMO's strategy" (p. 89). This coincided with the victory in the Front of the revolutionary-democratic direction, headed by E. Mondlane, and after his death in 1968 - S. Machel.

In the liberated areas, the revolutionary democrats set about creating the foundations of a new life-peasant councils, schools, hospitals, cooperatives, people's shops, etc. Relying on the broad masses allowed the Front to significantly expand the combat zone. By 1968, the rebels controlled 20-25% of the country's territory.-

6 See The Struggle for the Liberation of the Portuguese Colonies in Africa, Moscow, 1975, p. 288.

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new ones. The numerous maneuvers undertaken by the Portuguese and the generous assistance of NATO countries could only delay the agony of the colonial regime. In 1972-1973, the rebels began active combat operations in the central regions, reaching the Shavi River, which is located 640 km from the administrative center of Lorenzu-Markisha. The collapse of the fascist dictatorship in Portugal created favorable conditions for the successful end of the national revolutionary war. Mozambique gained independence on June 25, 1975.

The conquest of independence was not an end in itself for a revolutionary democracy. According to the Isaacmans, "FRELIMO had crushed the colonial state, and now faced the more difficult task of creating a nation" (p.109). In the first phase, 1975-1977, FRELIMO's efforts were mainly focused on national integration and political mass mobilization. A special role was assigned to groups of "dynamizers "(activists), who were elected at people's meetings in their place of residence. They played a major role in the cooperation of agriculture, the creation of a public sector in industry, and a successful campaign against tribalism and racism.

The authors attribute the beginning of the second stage to the Third Congress of FRELIMO (February 1977), which set the course for socialism. The Mozambique version of building a socialist society is characterized in the book as different not only from "African" socialism, but also from the "Eastern European model" (p. 3). Such an assessment once again shows that bourgeois-liberal scientists, unlike representatives of the reactionary-conservative trend, use more skilful, sophisticated methods in the ideological struggle. This, of course, does not make their propaganda charge lose its potential power. While strongly rejecting such claims, the President of the NRM, Chairman of the party FRELIMO S. Machel, emphasized: "The experience accumulated by mankind in the struggle against exploitation, generalized by Marxism, allowed the Mozambique revolutionary movement to take advantage of it and adopt it." 7 As the authors emphasize, certain positive results have been achieved in the relatively short period that has passed since the congress. Under the leadership of the Mozambique vanguard, genuine popular elections were held from September to December 1977. Health care, social security, and the fight against illiteracy are being successfully addressed. With regard to foreign policy, Mozambique declares its commitment to the principles of non-alignment and peaceful coexistence.

The Isaacmen do not turn a blind eye to the objective difficulties that Mozambique continues to face. The heavy colonial legacy makes itself felt: backwardness, poverty, illiteracy, interethnic contradictions. The young Republic is the target of a massive offensive by foreign and domestic reaction, by South African racists. The presence of corrupt elements in the State and party apparatus also poses a direct threat to the national revolution. The situation in the economy is extremely difficult.

All in all, the Isaacman book is a serious attempt to understand the profound changes that have taken place in the life of the Mozambican people since the victory of the anti-colonial revolution. The authors aim to give their own periodization of the national liberation struggle of the people of Mozambique, to identify its features at certain stages. However, as we have seen, not all of the Isaacmans ' conclusions and assessments can be accepted. Thus, the assessment of the current stage of the Mozambican revolution is quite controversial, which largely contradicts the facts presented in the book itself. In addition, in our opinion, the authors somewhat belittle the anti-imperialist potential of FRELIMO at an early stage of the struggle.

7 Machal S. Karl Marx und unsere Zeit. - Der Kampf um Frieden und sozialen Fortschritt, Brl., 16.IV.1983.

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