17.1.12 to 17.1.16

Fall In the wake of World War II, other European nations began abandoning their colonies either voluntarily or involuntarily. Portugal refused to enter this process voluntarily, and was the last nation to retain its major colonies. In 1961, Goa and the rest of Portuguese India were occupied and annexed by India, while a decade-long war raged in Portuguese Africa with various resistance groups. Eventually, the cost of the unsuccessful war led the Salazar regime to collapse in 1974 (the Carnation Revolution), and one of the first acts of the democratic government which replaced it was to end the war and negotiate the hand-over of the colonies to the indigenous rebels. In Mozambique and Angola the rebels promptly entered a civil war, with incoming Communist governments backed by the Soviet Union, Cuba, and other Communist countries, and insurgent groups supported by nations like Zaire, South Africa, and the United States. East Timor also became independent at this time, but was promptly invaded by neighbouring Indonesia, which occupied it until 1999. The Portuguese Empire ended when Portugal handed Macau over to China in 1999 under the terms of a negotiated agreement similar to the one under which the United Kingdom handed over Hong Kong. The seven former colonies of Portugal that are now independent nations, together with Portugal, are members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).