The Portuguese colonies Were a vital part of the Portuguese Empire, which settled with Portugal as a country plus all its territories, settlements and colonies since the fifteenth century, driven by the discovery of America and rivalry with the Spanish and English.
Knowing a little the history of the most important Portuguese colonies, reveals the close relationship with the universal history of other empires such as Spanish. Had it not been for the discovery of a new world, it is possible that we have never known Brazil in the way it is known today.
Anachronistic Map of the Portuguese Empire (1415-1999)
From the first territory that would be a Portuguese colony, Ceuta in 1415, located in the north of Africa, to Macao that today is official part of China since 1999, the objectives that motivated the expeditions in search of colonization were evidenced.
The beginning of colonization
Ceuta was the first territory that would become a Portuguese colony after"its conquest"against a Muslim stronghold in 1415. With approximately 200,000 men, Portugal took control of the city in one day.
In 1453 Portugal suffered an economic delay because the Islamists closed the way both by sea and land, which prevented the maintenance of commercial activities until finding a new route.
As a result, Portugal became part of India, which was under its mandate until 1960. In this route were established mercantile, military and transit activities that Portugal lost because of the Islamists.
But the establishment of a Portuguese colony in Indian territory did not stop just as a trade stop. The Lusitanian country began to teach religion according to the Roman Catholic Church in the territory, which was maintained until 1812.
At the same time, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to settle in Africa. This gave them the right to be the last to withdraw from these lands in the late 1900s, after several bloody wars and pro-independence revolutions.
The colonization of Cape Verde occurred in 1456, in Sao Tome in 1472, in Guinea in 1474 and in Goa in 1498. It was considered a stage of economic splendor because Portugal imported natural and mineral resources. In addition, the empire used natives to profit from the sale of slaves to neighboring countries.
For 1482 they arrive in Angola, which provides them with a source of natural resources at all levels. Oil deposits, diamonds, gold, iron, copper and again the slave trade, a growing"trade".
In 1505, Mozambique was occupied by Portuguese to settle in a province that had previously belonged to the Islamists. This territory made it a vital part of his empire. The base of this colony was gold, silver and slaves.
By 1878 a decree for the abolition of slavery in Mozambique was published, a decree that did not make significant changes because the Africans were put to work long hours for very little money. However, Portuguese schools, hospitals and the roads that until today connect Mozambique with Zimbabwe were built to establish Portuguese families there permanently.
Despite the decree abolishing slavery and building structures for Portuguese quality of life, these latter resources were not available to those who were not Portuguese.
Mozambique was destined to create mining and sugar industries among others and of course its inhabitants were forced to work in a denigrating situation.
For the year 1891 it is agreed with the English the places that the Portuguese would maintain in the future within the South of Africa, changing the status of Portuguese province to Portuguese colony in 1910.
The nationalist groups began to fight for the liberation of Mozambique, but after years of assassinations, uprising and guerrillas, in 1975 it was declared an independent country.
In addition, there were other establishments that never became Portuguese colonies such as Nagasaki, which was only a strategic port for the sale of tobacco, spices, bread, textiles, etc.
Discovery of America and the effect on colonization
By the fifteenth century the way was opened for the age of discovery. Since the discovery of the New World, Spaniards, English and Portuguese competed for control of the lands.
Brazil was discovered in 1500 and by 1502 had begun the exploitation of its natural resources. What gives name to the new country is the presence of a tree that years later would be national emblem due to its many utilities. Among them, its use to make high quality furniture. This finding allowed us to obtain raw material that was very expensive in Europe.
Conquest of Ceuta
Brazil allowed a significant advance for the Portuguese on their rivals, because although it did not have mineral deposits, it was rich in other natural resources. Among these valuable natural products we find sugar cane, cassava, tobacco, plantations and eventually the discovery of diamonds.
Taking advantage of the African colonies, Portugal moved thousands of slaves to work in the country Carioca , Which allowed productivity and benefits to be remarkable.
Decay of Portuguese colonies
In 1530 not only are the Spaniards, the English and the Portuguese dividing the land. Countries like Holland or France, which had previously been more cautious in this Boom Colonizer, come together to take advantage. This created disputes, of which Portugal came out very badly because they were gaining ground.
For more information, in 1548 the Turks were incorporated into this mercantile battle, opening the trade Of the spices in the Mediterranean and undoing the monopoly that the Lusitanians had.
Another front that affected Portugal had to do with its alliance with Spain, a country faced with the Netherlands. Of course, the northern country was against this alliance and rivaled Portugal as well.
Receiving attacks from so many fronts and keeping their colonies so far from each other, Portugal was in a very difficult situation to maintain its colonies, especially after opening up through the coastal areas of many of the countries that wanted to get their territories.
There were many factors against it. First, the Portuguese colonies were expanded only in coastal areas, very distant from each other and had no contact with their regent in Portugal. The beginning of the decay of the colonies and the empire was unstoppable.
Perhaps the loss of control of the spice market, jewel of the Portuguese crown, was the beginning of the end. The end of the monopoly of spices makes a dent in its economic production, and is evidenced in the desertions of its armed military forces.
As a consequence of the desertions, it was a matter of time to note the shortage of soldiers, of population in the colonies and especially of the Portuguese trades.
In places like Mozambique or Goa, where there were no minimum health conditions, there was a lack of soldiers and capital to stay there. The transport routes began to pay the consequences, being hampered by other groups.
Supply bases for adjacent colonies were not close to each other for support, as well as hampering the supply of food, merchandise, and weapons to soldiers.
Most of the Portuguese empire, particularly in the east, depended mostly on its colonies and settlements for the trade of spices, products, or slaves. But because they did not count the number of soldiers needed to defend and maintain each colony, they found themselves losing territories in favor of the Dutch.
In 1622 it ceded the city of Hormuz to an Anglo-Persian unification and shortly afterwards the same happened with Hong Kong, also in favor of the British.
Already for 1641, the number one rival were neither the Spanish nor the English, but the Dutch who would take Malacca (state of Malaysia). In the same way, Portugal saw as it lost Ceilán, Cananor or Cochín, among others.
At this point it was time to make deals. In 1654 they managed to establish the first agreement of the time with England, being a trade treaty. A few years later, they ensure peace between the two countries through a marriage between Charles II and Catherine de Braganza.
Macao was the last Portuguese colony, representing one of the most important trades. It was the territory where the Portuguese surpassed the Dutch during the colonization. Subsequently, an agreement was reached with China to occupy Macao in exchange for annual payments for colonization.
In the twentieth century, the Timor, a colony in territory that would become an annexed part of Indonesia many years later, surrendered to the Dutch unleashing a series of events that followed with the invasion of Goa and Daman and Diu by India . This resulted in more than 450 years of Portuguese mandate.
By 1975, Timor declared its independence from Portugal shortly before it became an Indonesian territory. This was an impetus for China to renegotiate its status with regard to the island of Macau, which was handed over to it in full in 1999.
Cultural legacy
The Portuguese colonies had a low cultural impact because their occupants only had commercial intentions. Only in some cases the Roman Catholic religion was imposed and methods of indoctrination were carried out.
References
- Dietrich Köster (2004). Data on the independence of Portuguese colonies. Colonialvoyage.com
- Map of the history of Portuguese colonies. (Revision: March 2014). Wikimedia.org
- Coronet Films (2016). Spain and Portugal: History and geography. Documentary. 16mm Educational Films.
- Ollie Bye (2015). 500 Years of European Colonialism. Documentary. 16mm Educational Films.
- Boxer, C.R. (1969). Four Centuries of Portuguese Expansion, 1415-1825. Berkeley, CA.
- Portuguese Empire (2015). New World Encyclopedia. Contributors. Newworlncyclopedia.com
- Colonial Mozambique. Consolidation of Portuguese control. Encyclopedia Britannica.
- Liam Matthew Brockey (2016). English Colonies Cities in the Early Modern World. Routledge
- Leighton James Hughes (2012). Assessing the Success of Portuguese and Spanish Exploration and Colonization. Lancaster University, part of a university degree.
- Mozambique - History & Background. U.S. University directory. Stateuniverse.com
- Bama (2016). Macau: the World's Last Portuguese Colony. Harindabama.com