Third Portuguese Empire: A Visual History

After Brazil's independence in 1822 Portugal turned to Africa, expanding its old coastal footholds in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea into full colonies during the Scramble, and holding Goa, Macau and Timor in Asia. Salazar's Estado Novo declared the colonies 'overseas provinces' and fought independence movements from 1961 in three simultaneous wars. The Carnation Revolution of April 1974 ended both the dictatorship and the empire; the African colonies became independent in 1975, and Macau was handed to China in 1999.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Third Portuguese Empire. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Portuguese colonial territory

Timeline of the Third Portuguese Empire

1. 1822
   Brazil independent
2. 1885
   Berlin Conference confirms Portuguese claims
3. 1890
   British Ultimatum
4. 1951
   Colonies renamed overseas provinces
5. 1961
   Angolan war begins; Goa annexed by India
6. 1974
   Carnation Revolution25 April.
7. 1975
   African colonies independent
8. 1999
   Macau handed to China

The Scramble

Portugal's 'Pink Map' of 1886 claimed a belt across Africa from Angola to Mozambique; the British Ultimatum of 1890 forced it to withdraw and humiliated the monarchy. Effective occupation of the interior was achieved only through campaigns into the 1920s, and Portugal was the last colonial power to abolish forced labour, in 1961.

Estado Novo

Salazar's regime rewrote the colonies as integral provinces of a 'pluricontinental' Portugal and encouraged white settlement; Angola's Portuguese population reached 300,000. India annexed Goa, Daman and Diu in 1961. That year uprisings in Angola began the colonial war, followed by Guinea-Bissau (1963) and Mozambique (1964). Portugal fought with conscript armies and NATO weapons against MPLA, FNLA, UNITA, PAIGC and FRELIMO guerrillas.

Revolution and independence

By 1974 the wars consumed 40 percent of the budget and war-weary officers overthrew the regime on 25 April 1974. Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Angola became independent in 1974-1975, and Angola slid into civil war; East Timor was invaded by Indonesia. Nearly a million Portuguese settlers, the retornados, fled home. Macau was returned to China on 20 December 1999, the last European colony in Asia.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Second Portuguese Empire (1663 to 1822)
• First Portuguese Empire (1415 to 1663)
• British Empire (1583 to 1997)
• German colonial empire (1884 to 1919)
• Zulu Kingdom (1816 to 1897)
• Sokoto Caliphate (1804 to 1903)

Wars of the same era and region

• Portuguese Colonial War (1961 to 1974)
• Angolan Civil War (1975 to 2002)
• Mozambican Civil War (1977 to 1992)
• Vietnam War (1955 to 1975)
• Taiping Rebellion (1850 to 1864)
• Chinese Civil War (1927 to 1949)

8 surprising things about the Third Portuguese Empire

1. Portugal's empire lasted 584 years, from Ceuta in 1415 to Macau in 1999, the longest of any European power.
2. The Carnation Revolution got its name from flowers put in soldiers' rifle barrels; the signal to begin was a song on the radio.
3. The colonial wars conscripted around a million Portuguese men over 13 years.
4. Guinea-Bissau's PAIGC under Amilcar Cabral was so successful that Portugal held only the towns by 1973.
5. Angola's oil and diamonds made it the empire's richest colony and the prize of a 27-year civil war after independence.
6. The 1890 British Ultimatum inspired the Portuguese national anthem, originally written as a protest.
7. Macau's handover in 1999 came two years after Hong Kong's.
8. Portuguese remains an official language in six African countries and East Timor.

Sources

• Portuguese Empire Wikipedia
• Portuguese Colonial War Wikipedia
• Portugal: The Salazar regime Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Norrie MacQueen, The Decolonization of Portuguese Africa (1997) Longman

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