The Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People ( pt, Forças Armadas Revolucionárias do Povo) or FARP were originally the armed wing of the

African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde ( pt, Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, PAIGC) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from ...

during the struggle against Portuguese rule in

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...

and

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

. Since 1973, they constitute the national armed forces of

. A separate Cape Verdean branch of the FARP constituted the national armed forces of this country from 1975 until the early 1990s, when these were renamed " Cape Verdean Armed Forces".

History

In the process of the preparation of the armed struggle against the Portuguese rule over the then

Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...

, in 1962, the PAIGC established a Military Action and Organization Plan which defined the general scheme of a military structure. This plan foresaw two types of armed guerrilla groups: area or territorial groups and mobile or intervention groups. In the end of that year, these groups were already armed with

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern ...

s and

PPSh-41 The PPSh-41 () is a Soviet submachine gun designed by Georgy Shpagin as a cheaper and simplified alternative to the PPD-40. A common Russian nickname for the weapon is "''papasha''" (), meaning "daddy", and it was sometimes called the "burp g ...

submachine-guns. The armed struggle finally started on 23 January 1963, with a guerrilla attack against the Portuguese garrison in Tite. In the I Congress of the PAIGC of 1963, a decision was taken to created the People's Army (''Exército Popular'') and the People's Militia (responsible for the guarding of the liberated areas), as well to restructure the Guerrilla. This was to be done from the already existing units, staffed with personnel recently trained in China. In fulfillment of the decision taken in the I Congress, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People (FARP) were created in February 1964, being constituted by the then also created People's Army and by the already existent Guerrilla. The People's Militia was also created at that time, but was not part of the FARP, being instead dependent from the civil political and administrative bodies of the PAIGC. The main tactical unit of the FARP became the infantry bi-group (''bigrupo''), each being constituted by two or more infantry groups, headed by a commander and a political commissar and supported by heavy weapons. Each infantry group included around 18 elements armed with automatic weapons, three

machine-guns A machine gun is a automatic firearm, fully automatic, rifling, rifled action (firearms)#Autoloading operation, autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as Automatic shotgun, a ...

and two

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are ...

s. The structure of the bi-group was so well adapted to this type of warfare that some of the Portuguese units copied its organization, with General Spínola defending the general reorganization of all the Portuguese ''

caçadores The Caçadores (hunters) were the elite light infantry troops of the Portuguese Army, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Units of ''Caçadores'' – with features somewhat different from the original ones – continued to exist in the P ...

'' (light infantry) companies accordingly with its model. Besides the bi-groups, the FARP also included independent specialized groups of

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

s, heavy mortars,

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entire ...

s, rocket-propelled grenades,

sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing fie ...

anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...

s and

antiaircraft artillery Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

, as well as

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieg ...

batteries. In 1971, the PAIGC proceeded to a deep restructuring of the FARP. These came to be constituted by the Nationalist Armed Forces (''Forças Armadas Nacionalistas'') or FAN and by the Local Armed Forces (''Forças Armadas Locais'') or FAL. The FAN included the already existing National People's Army (former People's Army) and the newly created National People's Navy. The bi-groups, independent groups and artillery batteries of the National People's Army were grouped in army corps and these were grouped in armies. The National People's Navy included both naval units as well as Marines (''fuzileiros'') units. The FAL were the former People's Militia, now being also integrated in the FARP. PAIGC unilaterally declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau on 24 September 1973, which was recognized by a number of countries. The FARP came so to be considered the national armed forces of the new state. The armed struggle continued however, as Portugal obviously did not recognize this independence, with its forces remaining in which it still considered as its province of Guinea. Finally, following the change of political regime caused by the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lis ...

, Portugal recognized the independence of Guinea-Bissau on 10 September 1974, withdrawing its military forces from the new country. When

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

become independent in 1975, its newly created armed forces became also known as FARP, being constituted originally with some Cape Verdean elements that participated in the struggle in Guinea-Bissau. At this time, there were still plans to unite Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, with the two countries being ruled by PAIGC. This plan of unification was however abandoned, with the military of Cape Verde being renamed " Cape Verdean Armed Forces" in the early 1990s. Presently, the FARP continue to be the armed forces of Guinea-Bissau.

Organization

1964 general organization

*Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People (''Forças Armadas Revolucionárias do Povo'') - FARP ** Guerrilla (''Guerrilha'') ** People's Army (''Exército Popular'') - EP *People's Militia (''Milícia Popular'') - MP

1971 general organization

*Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People (''Forças Armadas Revolucionárias do Povo'') - FARP ** Nationalist Armed Forces (''Forças Armadas Nacionalistas'') - FAN *** National People's Army (''Exército Nacional Popular'') - EP *** National People's Navy (''Marinha Nacional Popular'') - MP ***National People's Air Wing (''Ala Aérea Popular Naciona'') ** Local Armed Forces (''Forças Armadas Locais'') - FAL

Bigroup organization

* Commander * Political commissar * 2 x Infantry groups (Reinforced bigroups had three or more groups) ** Chief ** 3 x Machine-gunners ** 2 x RPG gunners ** 5 x Riflemen ** 6 x Assaulters * Heavy weapons

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Revolutionary Armed Forces Of The People African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde Communism in Cape Verde Communism in Guinea-Bissau 1960s in Cape Verde History of Guinea-Bissau Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Colonial War