War for Freedom

The territory known as Burunda, in Central Africa, had been a Portuguese colony since 1584, with Portugal bringing Chinese indentured laborers in the 19th work to work on coffee and coal industries. In the mid-20th century, however, a sudden Burundan nationalist movement demanded independence from Portugal. Portugal initially ignored them, but the situation escalated into an armed conflict that was known as the War for Freedom. In 1971, Portugal agreed to concede Burunda independence. The Burundans renamed their capital city Freedomtown to honor this victory, and later established a republic.^[1]