Portugal is a nation located on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe
bordering Spain the islands of the Azores and Madeira remain with the
Republic as autonomous regions who have their own regional governments the
Portuguese Empire was one of the first colonial empires and lasted many
centuries so how powerful was the Empire the Empire began in 1415 when John the
first of Portugal captured the city of Ceuta Portugal at this time were not
the wealthiest of nations although they did have a strong Navy the exploration
of the unknown world occurred mainly due to wealthy Nobles who wanted new sources
of wealth they sponsored many explorers to charter the seas and find new lands
for them to trade one of the most famous explorers was Henry the Navigator his
voyages allowed the settlement of the Azores and Madeira Henry wished to know
how far the Muslim territories in Africa extended and whether it was possible to
reach Asia via the sea in order to reach the source of the spice trade it was
possible to reach India violent however the Ottomans in the Europeans
didn't exactly get along Henry continued on his voyage and by 1455 most of West
Africa had been explored exploration really kicked off when technology
advanced the new design of triangular sails made ships travel much faster and
allowed Portugal to sail down to what is now Ghana Portuguese explorers continue
exploring further down the west coast of Africa until Bartolomeu Dias sailed
around what is now South Africa soon Vasco de Gama continued this trend and
sailed all the way around Africa and landed in India as the Portuguese
explored the coastlines of Africa they left behind a series of padros these
were stone crosses engraved with the Portuguese coat of arms which marked
their claim in 1492 Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas and eventually
discovered the new world for Spain which he believed to be Asia Spain at this
point had also begun exploration and was looking for ways to expand its Empire
thanks to a treaty the world outside of Europe was divided between Spain and
Portugal although European powers would soon
ignore this and after much exploration it was now time for Portugal to expand
their empire they establish what can be called a
trading post Empire at the time Portugal didn't exactly have the largest
population with this lack of manpower it was rather difficult to move inland and
captured territory further away from the sea with a strong Navy however Portugal
was able to easily hold coastal regions to protect their colonies and trading
posts they built many feitorias which were essentially Island forts and
factories acting as training ports and warehouses for military Garrison's
Portuguese armadas were often sent into the Indian Ocean to trade and Portuguese
weaponry was far more advanced which meant dominating an area was simple and
they could have great influence in the region many fights Horrors were settled
along the coast of the Indian Ocean and Portugal eventually decided to bring in
the system where sailors and traders could pay Portugal for a license in
return they would get safety from pirates this system was called the cartz
system and this system made Portugal very rich the Portuguese did begin to
settle in Brazil in 1500 however soon French explorers started smuggling
Brazil wood back to Europe and tried settling on the coast Portugal was
understandably mad about this and decided to begin colonization Portugal
made many trading posts and colonies throughout the world most notably was
Goa a small colony in India as well as Sri Lanka they conquered Malacca which
was very important as it gave them domination over the spice trade in 1542
Portugal met Japan and established a trading post which will one day become
Nagasaki when King Sebastian died without an heir conflict arose between
Spain and Portugal Spain gained control and Philip the second formed the Iberian
Union with this Union it brought many enemies for Portugal as Spain was at war
with England France the Netherlands and everyone else who didn't like the
Spanish in this union Portugal was mostly independent except in areas where
the military was concerned they managed to defeat the Dutch who were trying to
take Brazil however many of Portugal's overseas colonies were captured by other
European powers the loss of colonies was one of the reasons that contributes at
the end of the personal union with Spain so in 1640 John the 4th was proclaimed
king of Portugal and the Portuguese restoration war began
after Portugal have regained independence gold was discovered in
Brazil with a large influx of migrants which in turn made Portugal very wealthy
the Portuguese colony of Angola was founded with a hundred families of
colonists and four hundred soldiers but Portuguese colonialism kicked off when
other European powers began settling in Africa they focused on expanding their
outposts in Africa into nation sized territories to compete with the other
Europeans mainly pressing into Angola and Mozambique the Empire reached its
territorial height in 1821 the Empire owned many colonies including
present-day Brazil East Timor Angola Mozambique Cape Verde and Equatorial
Guinea but Brazil declared independence in 1822 along with many others South
American countries but this did not mean the end of Portugal's Empire it was only
after the devastation of world war ii that nations felt the desire for
independence portugal was one of the first empires ever to have existed and
is well and truly gone within its history blossoms tales of violence and
greatness but truly helped shape the world we live in today