In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages (or medieval period) lasted from the 5th to
the 15th century.
It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and
the Age of Discovery.
The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history:
classical antiquity, the medieval , and the modern period.
The Medieval one is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late phases.
Since the fall of Rome, there has been no empire based in Europe which extends outside
the continent.
This situation changes abruptly in the 16th century, when Spain and Portugal become the
pioneers in a new era of colonization.
But before was the Middle Ages.
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages (or medieval period) lasted from the 5th to
In that period
The Ibearian Peninsula
was a principal area
In Europe
which was marked
by wars, famine and invasion.
Muslim conquest of Hispania was the initial expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over Hispania,
largely extending from 711 to 788.
The conquest resulted in the destruction of the Visigothic Kingdom The 'Reconquista',
describe the period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula of about 780 years between
the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada
to the expanding Christian kingdoms in 1491.
One of these Christian Kingdoms which reconquered the peninsula was Portugal.
This period is so important because it is in fact the transition between the post roman
Iberia and the exploration era.
The simple idea of fighting the Muslims on their own soil was linked with more-complicated
motives: the desire to explore in a scientific sense, the hope of finding a way to the rich
spice trade of the Indies, and the impulse to spread the Christian faith.
So even before the Columbus's Voyages, Portugal being at the end of Europe on the Atlantic
coast, started some expeditions reaching some islands in the ocean and The West African
Coast.
A huge trade network was a goal for the Portuguese.
The Oriental land and sea routes terminated along the Mediterranean sea for them.
The word spices then had a loose application and extended to many Oriental luxuries.
Later Vasco da Gama, adventured south and east for Portugal, reached India in 1498 establishing
a new route to the Asian Goods.
Portugal gained possessions in India, the East Indies, and Brazil.
Besides the footholds in some parts of the world, Portugal was a country that discovered
other places and establish trade routes to China and Japan.
And their empire will start to exist as scarcely empire.
It was a commercial operation based on possession of fortifications and posts strategically
situated for trade.
Portugal didn't focus on attacking and gaining tons of land from Oriental Kingdoms due to
the probably the lack of necessary manpower and the huge distance to do so.
the Portuguese also relied on alliances with native states and didn't dominate the Indian
Ocean due to it's vastness, but managed to establish strongholds to assure a trade network.
The first parts of the portuguese empire to be lost were the eastern colonies in Indonesia,
Sri Lanka, Nagasaki, Taiwan).This lose began in 1580, when the spanish king became the
first of three consequitive spanish kings of Portugal due to family ties between the
two crowns.
In 1580 Philip II of Spain seized the Portuguese throne, which had fallen vacant and to which
he had some blood claim.
Portugal remained theoretically independent, bound only by a personal union to its neighbour;
but succeeding Spanish monarchs steadily encroached on its liberties until the small kingdom became,
in effect, a conquered province.
Spain’s European enemies meanwhile descended on the Portuguese Empire and ended its Eastern
supremacy before the restoration of Portugal’s independence in 1640.
Spain was a power at that time but, However, this union meant that Spain dragged Portugal
into its conflicts with other European powers countries.
This ones weakened The Spanish and the Portugues and marked their slow decline.
The spanish wars became portuguese wars (for instance, several portuguese ships were integrated
in the Spanish Armada that attacked England in 1588).
One of those inherited wars was with the Dutch, fighting for their freedom against spanish
rule.
They began attacking portuguese colonies throughout the world in 1602.
The Dutch conquered most of the eastern portuguese.
The eastern portuguese empire ended except some stronholds like Timor in Indonesia, Macau
in China and Goa in India.
Also in the Arab Peninsula the Portuguese will lose small possessions.
The loss of colonies was one of the reasons that contributed to the end of the personal
union with Spain.The crown established the Overseas Council, in 1643.
In the the next hundred years the English started to became the dominant power in India.
The Portuguese were defeated by the some Indian Kingdoms and after all this they were only
able to maintain Goa and other minor bases in India.
The gold rush and the plantation industry in Brazil, which was the main Portuguese colony,
considerably increased the gains of the crown in the 18th Century.
But in the same century, In 1755, Lisbon, the Capital, was hit by a catastrophic huge
earthquake, followed by a tsunami created huge destruction.
Probably this event was influenced in a pretty bad way the Portuguese colonial and internal
ambitions.
After the American Independence it was fear that some other colonies in the New World
might do the same.
But Brazil wasn't under a serious threat at that time.
The situation will change after 1808, when Napoleon changed the history of Europe and
the World by invading some countries, creating instability, new coalitions and his actions.
A were followed by other actions.
In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Portugal and the royal court was moved to Brazil.
By 1815 Brazil was elevated to the status of Kingdom, the Portuguese state officially
becoming the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves with the capital transferred
from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
The royal family came back in the Portuguese mainland in 1821, but after all this changes
with Brazil having the equal status with Portugal a growing desire for independence started
to exist.When the king tried to turn Brazil back into a colony, the crown-prince declared
the Independence of Brazil and became the first brazilian emperor.
The western portuguese empire ended.
John was still the King of this United Kingdom and his son, the prince Pedro, proclaimed
the independence of Brazil one year later in 1822, and was crowned Emperor of the new
Empire of Brazil.
Portuguese colonialism focused on expanding its outposts in Africa into nation-sized territories
to compete with other European powers there.
Portugal pushed into the heartland of Angola and Mozambique.
In 1890, the British crown made an ultimatum to the portuguese king: all portuguese efforts
to conquer african territory between Angola and Mozambique to unite both portuguese colonies
had come to a halt (the english wanted to connect by rail South Africa and Egypt through
exclusive english colonies).
This 1890 British Ultimatum later caused the fall of the portuguese monarchy and the chances
of an existing Colonial Empire.
In the 20th Century after the 2 conflicts, Portugal wasn't called an Empire and it was
more like a nation with overseas territories.
They still held lands in Africa and Asia.
Decolonization movements began to gain momentum in the empires of the European powers.
The ensuing Cold War also created instabilities among Portuguese overseas populations.
Following the granting of independence to India by Britain in 1947, and the decision
by France to allow its enclaves in India.
Requests of the Indian Government were made to return the enclaves.
In 1961, shortly after an uprising against the Portuguese in Angola, Nehru ordered the
Indian Army into Goa, Daman and Diu, which were quickly captured and formally annexed
the following year.
After 1961 pan-African pressures grew, and Portugal found itself mired in a series of
colonial wars.
The Portuguese Colonial War was fought between Portugal and the emerging nationalist movements
in Portugal's African colonies backed by by other countries, between 1961 and 1974.
The Portuguese regime was overthrown by a 1974, and the change in government brought
the conflict to an end .After this The african colonies gained full independence.
East Timor also declared independence in 1975.
Portugal signed a declaration with China to establish the process and conditions for the
transfer of Macau, its last remaining colony.
The transfer of this last colony in 1999 marked the end of Portuguese colonialism.
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