to Western Europe is a nation that emerged after ferocity against its
Muslim invaders who arrived centuries prior Portugal went on to pioneer many
historic developments it refused to be politically absorbed by its neighbors
and so it's people explored along the coast of Africa to reach India and
beyond kick-starting the colonial age they went on to become a lasting Empire
before unrest and revolution erupted this is the history of Portugal
thousands of years ago the Iberian Peninsula was home to several different
tribes Greeks and Phoenicians established strings of trade colonies in
this region and from here Phoenicians voyages began along the Algarve
coastline these interactions faded over time and the region became of paramount
interest to the great powers of the day the Carthaginians established control
over parts of Iberia before conflicts escalated with the Romans
Roman emerged as the great power in the Mediterranean and invaded the Iberian
Peninsula during the Second Punic War against Carthage provoked by raids from
Western Iberia they conquered more territory but met fierce resistance from
the Lusitanians and other indo-European tribes for decades the
Lusitania fought, during the leadership of Viriathus the Lusitanians fought a
bold and relentless war against the Romans
fighting numerous legions and great generals inflicting a series of
humiliating defeats upon them their triumphs would not last as following his
death the Romans defeated them the Iberian Peninsula became fully
integrated into the Roman world many Roman cities developed from pre-existing
Iron Age settlements such as Lisbon Porto and Coimbra while other cities
such as Braga were founded by the Romans with the Roman Empire falling into
decline several Germanic tribes invaded the
peninsula and eventually formed several short-lived kingdoms the suebi managed
to firmly establish themselves in the region with their capital Braga
while most Iberia fell under the control of the Visigoths the Visigoths
would eventually conquer the Suebi Kingdom and gain control of Iberia the
Visigoths converted to Catholicism and the structure of society did not differ
greatly from its predecessor although in essence it was a warrior like society by
the late 7th century the kingdom was struck by famine and plague which led to
a heavy death toll economic problems and labor shortages across the Mediterranean
a new force had swept across North Africa the Umayyad caliphate
at the time the visigothic kingdom was internally weak and politically unstable
it was ruled by king roderick who had recently seats the throne in 711 the
Berber general Tariq bin Ziyad crossed the Straits of Gibraltar with 7,000
troops unopposed while Rodrick was busy subduing a rebellion by the Basque Tariq
began to plunder a number of Visigothic cities before king roderick assembled a
force and marched south the two sides met at the Battle of Guadalupe and the
Visigoths suffered a devastating defeat the next six years saw the almost
all-out conquest of the peninsula some Visigoths fled north seeking refuge in
the Christian kingdom of Asturias protected by its mountainous terrain and
would serve as resistance to the Muslim invaders Muslims called their new
conquests in Iberia al-andalus and it became a region of scientific progress
though many Jews Muslims and Christians lived alongside each other those who did
not follow Islam were considered inferior and had to pay a heavy tax
known as the jizya tax when the Umayyad dynasty were overthrown and replaced by
the Abbasids a young prince managed to escape and took refuge this prince was
Abdul Rahman and in the city of Cordoba he proclaimed himself Emir of an
independent Umayyad state over time the emirate weakened and eventually
collapsed into a number of independent states Christians within historias began
to grow bolder in their attacks and several Christian kingdoms emerged many
young Christian princes and knights were summoned from across Europe to aid in
the fight against the Moors in what became known as the Reconquista or the
reconquest during this time Alfonso the sixth of Leon invites the Burgundian
Knight to his court named Henry and he became count of Portugal with his
marriage to Alfonso's illegitimate daughter Teresa in time Henry's son
Afonso Henriques proclaimed himself Prince of Portugal after a quarrel
against his mother and soon after he became King meanwhile a new wave of
Berber invaders known as the Almoravid's subdued the various Emir's to found
their own dynasty who were in turn replaced by the Almohads stirred by
hatred several Portuguese kings carried on the fight against
more's until the algarve was conquered securing Portuguese rule although they
would still need to discourage their most powerful Christian neighbour Castile
who for now was still fighting off their enemies after the passing of King
Fernando Portugal sank into a dynastic crisis King Fernando's half brother
Joao of Aviz was the illegitimate son of Pedro the first the predecessor of
Fernando and he assumes de facto control of Lisbon King Juan of Castile invaded
Portugal to enforce his claim to be king and the two kings met on the battlefield
one of the most important battles in Portuguese history would take place at
the Battle of alijurbarrota the Portuguese army estimates to have been
around 7,000 soldiers took defensive positions on a nearby Ridge ready to
fight against the Castilian army perhaps numbering 20,000 troops in a battle
lasting barely an hour it is said that Juan's forces were utterly defeated the
invading force disintegrated and Juan's campaign ended in failure
soon after the battle and an alliance was signed with England the Treaty of
Windsor forging close ties that still remain in effect today making it the
oldest alliance in the world with Portugal's independence firmly secured
the beginning of Portuguese expansion an empire could begin it was in 1415 that
the conquest of Ceuta have occurred one of the most fortified Islamic
strongholds in the Mediterranean had just fallen
soon after this conquest Joao's son Henrique of Portugal also known as
Prince Henry the Navigator began to sponsor many explorers to travel down
the coastline of Africa the Portuguese had developed an engineered small ships
known as carve outs of triangular sails that could sail against the wind in a
zigzag fashion allowing faster travel explorers sailed to the Congo River
under Diego cow South Africa under Bartholomew Dias India under Vasco de
Gama Brazil under Pedro álvares Cabral and Japan under Antonio de Mata each
forging detailed maps of the one voyage at a time soon after the
voyage to the Americas by Christopher Columbus Spain set about its exploration
and its ideas of building an empire a treaty was signed between Spain and
Portugal aimed at settling conflicts over lands newly discovered unlike its
neighbour Portugal had a shortage of manpower less than two million in fact
nevertheless they went about constructing an empire not based on
territory but trade they set up military Garrison's and trading posts to trade
but also to wage several wars against its rivals these rivals were mainly the
Ottomans and her allies who were often competing for control of the spice trade
within the Indian Ocean where several trading posts had been set up its Empire
may have committed misdeeds such as opening up the transatlantic slave trade
but was far less crude compared to other empires colonization of land also
introduced many to their language today Portuguese is the sixth most spoken
language in the world with over 250 million speakers worldwide Portugal was
once again thrown into political turmoil at the death of King Sebastian he had
set out on campaign into Africa but had left no heirs to his throne following
his death amid the dynastic crisis king philip ii of spain invaded portugal to
form a personal union the Iberian Union merging the Crown's of Spain and
Portugal Portugal remained an independent state under the first few
Spanish kings and till King Philip the fourth made Portugal a province of Spain
and removed Portuguese Nobles from positions of power it was during this
union other European powers started to annex Portugal's colonies most notably
the Dutch who stole the spice trade and tried to annex Brazil the loss of
colonies angered many in Portugal and the Portuguese restoration war began led
by Joao the fourth who succeeded in gaining independence in the 18th century
Portugal saw one of history's deadliest earthquakes it occurred in the city of
Lisbon and is estimated to have had a magnitude of eight point five to nine on
the Richter scale killing 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants
many were forced to sleep on a tented campsite the royal court accommodated
with its people and when the chaos had passed Maria the first of Portugal built
the Royal ajude Palace in its place the prime minister at the time Sebastian de
Mello survived the earthquake when asked what was to be done he responded by
saying bury the dead and heal the living setting about organisation and relief
efforts during the Napoleonic Wars Portugal refused Napoleon's demand to
stop trading with Britain Napoleon invaded but was unsuccessful in his
attempts to occupy the nation with British intervention the Peninsular war
helped maintain Portuguese independence with the end of the Napoleonic Wars
Portugal was left devastated and extremely poor during the war the royal
family fled to Brazil and set up courts at Rio de Janeiro making it the first
hosted royal court in a colony raising the colony's infrastructure and status
the royal family returned in 1821 and Brazil declared its independence less
than a year later it was during the 19th century that other European powers began
to carve up colonies within Africa forcing Portugal to move further inland
into Angola and Mozambique in 1890 a British ultimatum was delivered to
Portugal asking for the retreat of Portuguese military in the land between
the Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola the area had been claimed by
Portugal but this clashed with British aspirations to create a railroad link
between Cairo and Cape Town this diplomatic clash led to several waves of
protest and prompted the downfall of the Portuguese government 1910 is the year
in which Portugal underwent the most critical regime it involved the
alteration in the sequence of its national history terminating the
monarchy and becoming a republic during the first world war Portugal joined the
side of the Allies supplying troops and aid at the loss of 12,000 troops
following the war political chaos several strikes and considerable
economic problems led to a military coup in 1926 Portugal got into a long period
of right-wing dictatorship under the leadership of Antonio Oscar de frog's
Carmona after crushing a revolution Carmona was
elected as the president but economic chaos confronted Carmona and he was
forced to hand over the country's finances to a professor Antonio de
Oliveira Salazar Salazar was able to bring the country's finances in order
rapidly Salazar was so good in construction such as railways and power
stations but use censorship and a secret police to koala position under Salazar
Portugal remained officially neutral in World War two and traded with both sides
and following the war became one of the founding members of NATO in 1949 and the
European free trade association in 1960 in 1968 he acquired a stroke and was
replaced by Marcelo Caetano Marcelo was removed from power during the carnation
revolution without a single gunshot Portugal's third Republic was born and
moved towards a democratic system of government it was during this year that
colonies around their empire started to break away and his empire officially
ended in 1999 Portugal left a profound cultural and architectural influence
across the globe it remains developed nation with over 10
million inhabitants its most important industries tourism which is largely as a
result of its fascinating history thank you for watching don't forget to hit the
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