Portugal’s History

Portugal is one of the oldest countries in the world. In the 18th century the Moors conquered the land and brought with them an enormous knowledge of agriculture and science. With the exception of those of the ruling upper classes the people welcomed the arrival of the Muslims, seeing it as a liberation. Their influence and acceptance can be seen in the language (the word Algarve derives from the Arabic Al Gharb meaning land in the west). The ruling classes resisted the transition of power and during the re-conquests the Christian armies won back the land and in the 12th century the Kingdom of Portugal was founded with Afonso I as its king.

During the Muslim domination the Portuguese learned from the Jews and the Arabs. The Christian rulers realised this and as a result kept some Jewish and Arabic scientists in the land.

Due to its geographical location on the westerly point of the European continent it developed an early interest in the Sea and in 1415 the 1st school of navigation in the world was founded in Sagres. This became the foundation for Portuguese naval supremacy. Heroic voyages of discovery ensued. The knowledge of the Jewish and Arabic scientists guaranteed the scientific background to these voyages and so the Portuguese were the first to discover the ocean routes to India, Brazil, China & Japan. These voyages formed the basis of the trade in exotic merchandise such as spices from India and gold and precious stones from Brazil. With colonies in Brazil, Africa, Arabia, India and China, Portugal became a world power and the richest nation in Europe. 

This lasted until 1580 when the Portuguese Royal family died out and Philip II of Spain seized the opportunity and Portugal came under Spanish rule and was down graded to a Spanish province. It was not until 1640 and with British help that it was liberated from the Spanish. But during the 60 years of Spanish rule Portugal ceased to be a dominant force on the oceans, a role it never regained. Indeed it became increasingly dependant on Britain both politically and economically and in 1663 it handed over its colonies in East Asia to Britain.

In 1755 a devastating earthquake hit Lisbon and the Algarve – Lagos in particular. The effects were felt throughout Europe and the Tsunami that followed destroyed practically everything.

In 1822 Portugal lost its most important colony when Brazil gained its independence. Portugal tried to make up for this loss by expanding its African colonies but its economic problems became serious (State bankruptcy 1891). The unstable political situation led to the overthrow of the monarchy in 1910.

The Portuguese were the first country in Europe to declare themselves a republic. Two difficult decades followed which plunged the country into political chaos: 40 governments with 8 presidents in 15 years. A military coup took place in 1926 and in 1928 Dr António de Oliveira Salazar was appointed Minister of Finance. After a few years he managed to balance out the national budget and settle the foreign debts. In 1932 he became Prime Minister and soon installed himself as dictator and set up an authoritarian Political system known as the New State which stressed nationalism and controlled all aspects of peoples lives. Unlike Franco’s dictatorship in Spain, Salazar’s dictatorship lacked the Fascist ideology and was less bloody than other dictatorships. During his years in office he stabilised national politics and during the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War he followed a middle ground. He didn’t side with nationalists of Spain or Germany, but he did do business with them. At the same time he held secret meetings with the allies and offered them Military bases in the Azores. His policy of remaining neutral stood him in good stead internationally and in 1949 Portugal was admitted to NATO.

In 1961 the African colonies declared their independence and the unpopular wars that ensued resulted in increased National debts and inflation and isolated the country from the foreign community.  Many in the Army and the Portuguese people in general became increasingly unhappy about the way in which the country was run and on 25 April 1974 the New State was toppled in a military coup. The jubilant people came into the street and put red carnations into the weapons of the soldiers.

This more or less bloodless revolution ended the oldest dictatorship in Europe and the Portuguese Republic became a democracy once again In 1986 Portugal joined the EEC.