The year 1977 was a good one for Marxism-Leninism in Africa, for in the space of a few months, three important countries officially embraced that ideology. Ethiopia did so after three years of revolutionary upheaval, and in the wake of a shoot-out in the old imperial palace, during which Mengistu Haile Mariam managed to eliminate the more moderate members of the ruling military committee. In Angola and Mozambique, which had gained independence from Portugal less than two years earlier, Marxism-Leninism was officially adopted at party congresses which decided to transform the pre-independence liberation movements into orthodox vanguard parties.