Portuguese Africa: from colonization to independence

THE Portuguese Africa comprises the territories that were colonized by the Portuguese during the 15th-16th century on the African continent.

As a result of the overseas expansion, the territories now belonging to Guinea-Bissau, Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde and Mozambique were dominated.

In addition to the colonial past, these countries today share the Portuguese language as their official language and are part of organizations such as Portuguese Speaking African Countries (PALOP) and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).

Origin

The need to establish new mercantilist relations led Portugal to build an important empire in Africa.

In search of a new route to reach India, Portuguese navigators traveled the African coast and established the incursion circuit that became known as African tour.

The wealth in the African territory was immense, however, it was the exploitation of the slave trade the activity that yielded the most profits for the Crown.

In the cultural process of African peoples, the dominant enslaved the dominated and this factor contributed to the success of Europeans in more easily capturing people who would serve as property in others colonies.

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Slave labor was allocated to sugar mills installed in Portuguese America, São Tomé and Madeira Island.

Occupation

In the beginning, the Crown installed trading posts consisting of points on the African coast where the Portuguese built forts.

Factories were essential to supply the caravels heading for the Indies and, later, would be the embarkation point for people who would be enslaved in America.

Likewise, they had the objective of trading products with natives of the region

Angola

Official name: Republic of Angola
capital: Luanda
Number of inhabitants: 28.82 million (2016)
Surface: 1,246.000 km²
Independence: November 11, 1975

The first Portuguese disembarkation in continental Africa took place between 1483 and 1485, when Diogo Cão (1440-1486) arrived in Angola.

The colonization process only began in 1575, when around 400 colonists led by Paulo Dias Novais (1510-1589) founded the city of São Paulo de Luanda.

They also allied with the local king Ngola Kiluanji Kiassamba and fought his rivals in exchange for permission to circulate in those lands.

To support the settlement, the Crown established in Angola the regimes of Captaincies Hereditary and Sesmarias which, at that time, were already applied in Brazil.

Angola was the richest of the Portuguese overseas provinces and where diamonds, oil, gas, iron, copper and uranium were found.

Mozambique

Official name: Republic of Mozambique
capital: Maputo
Number of inhabitants: 28.83 million (2016)
Surface: 801 590 km²
Independence: June 25, 1975

The first Portuguese assault on the territory of Mozambique took place in 1490, under the command of Pero da Covilhã (1450-1530).

Located in East Africa, on the coast of the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese settled on the island of Mozambique and in the city of Sofala founded by Covilhã in 1505.

The interiorization took place through navigation along the Zambezi River where it was created by the factory in Tete, in 1537, intended to control local commerce.

As with Angola, the transport of slaves was the sector that most profited from the Crown in the region. Mozambique also served as a base for the Portuguese to fight the Arabs who disputed the Indian market.

Only at the end of the 19th century, between 1890 and 1915, with the imminent colonization of Africa by the British and Germans, Portugal was going to occupy Mozambican territory.

Mozambique is rich in minerals, precious metals and an important natural gas reserve.

Guinea Bissau

Official name: Republic of Guinea-Bissau
capital: Bissau
Number of inhabitants: 1.796 million (2016)
Surface: 36 125 km²
Independence: September 24, 1975

Guinea-Bissau is located in West Africa and was the navigator Nuno Tristão (century. XV) who arrived at the site right after the transposition of Cape Bojador carried out by Gil Eanes in 1434.

In Cacheu, the first factory was founded in 1588 where slaves were traded. Nowadays, in this city, there is a museum and memorial about slavery and the slave trade.

It is estimated that in Guinea-Bissau there are more than 30 ethnic groups that use the Creole language to communicate with each other.

Currently, Portuguese is losing ground to French and it is estimated that only 10% of the population understands it.

Likewise, the Catholic religion brought by the Portuguese colonizers coexists with the growth of Islam and evangelical religions.

Rice is the mainstay of the population's diet, while the main export product is cashew. Tourism has great potential due to its natural beauty and maritime hippos, however, it is underdeveloped.

Cape Green

Official name: Republic of Cape Verde
capital: Beach
Number of inhabitants: 560 thousand (2016)
Surface: 4,033 km²
Independence: July 5, 1975

The Cape Verde archipelago is located in the Atlantic Ocean and consists of around ten volcanic islands.

The Portuguese disembarkation in the islands took place initially between 1460 and 1462 and the lands were completely uninhabited. The lack of fresh water springs explains why no human being has populated the region.

Among the first navigators who arrived there are the Venetian Alvise Cadamosto (1429-1488) and the Genoese Antonio Noli (1415-1491) who were part of the explorers in the service of Infante Dom Henrique (1394-1460), in "school" of Sagres.

The newly discovered archipelago was essential in the diplomacy between the kingdom of Castile and Portugal, as it was the dividing mark of the Treaty of Tordesillas.

The first factory was founded on Santiago Island and the other islands were used as a stopover to supply ships and the slave trade.

The formation of the local people included Christians, Jews, Moors and slaves who were transported from Guinea-Bissau.

With the prohibition of the slave trade and the gradual abolition of slavery in Brazil, the Cape Verdean economy began to decline.

Today, the country depends mainly on tourism and foreign investment to survive.

Sao Tome and Principe

Official name: Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe
capital: Saint Thomas
Number of inhabitants: 158 thousand (2016)
Surface: 1011 km²
Independence: July 12, 1975

Spread over an area of 964 square kilometers, São Tomé and Príncipe was first recognized in 1470 by navigators Pero Escobar, Fernão Pó and João de Santarém. The lands were uninhabited and settlement began 15 years later, under the command of Álvaro de Caminha.

Caminha was a grantee of the islands and introduced the plantation of sugar cane and began the occupation of it with the son of newly converted Jews, exiles and blacks enslaved for the plantations.

It also served as a depot for slaves on their way to Portuguese America and as a stopover for the caravels on their way to the Indies.

From the 19th century onwards, the cultivation of cocoa was introduced and as early as 1900, the archipelago became the largest producer of cocoa in the world and today still figures as a major exporter. Tourism also brings foreign exchange to the islands.

Independence

The independence of the former Portuguese colonies must be understood in the context of the post-World War II and Cold War.

In 1945, with the foundation of the UN and in view of the atrocities committed in the conflict, society had changed its perception of the term “colonization”.

Thus, this body began to pressure countries that still had colonies to grant them independence.

To get around this imposition, many imperialist countries change the status of their territories. The United Kingdom gathers a part of its colonies in the Commonwealth; and France, Holland and Portugal transform them into "overseas provinces or territories".

Portugal, in particular, does not accept the UN resolution and even changing the name of the colonies to Overseas Provinces continue to have a metropolis-colony relationship with their territories Africans.

However, there were territories that did not fit into any of the alternatives offered by their metropolises and went to war to guarantee their autonomy

This movement was followed with great interest by the United States and the Soviet Union, always careful to mark their influence on the periphery of the world.

Portuguese Africa

At this time, Portugal was living under the dictatorship of Antônio Salazar (1889-1970) who was against the policy of decolonization. It declares the colonies as overseas territories and begins to provide them with infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. It also stimulates Portuguese immigration.

These measures, however, are not enough for local populations. The nationalists of Portuguese-speaking territories in Africa, inspired by Cape Verdean Amílcar Cabral (1924-1973), united to face a common adversary.

Thus was founded the African Revolutionary Front for the National Independence of the Portuguese colonies, in 1960. It was integrated by Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Carnation Revolution

It was, however, the Carnation Revolution on April 25, 1974, which took place in Portugal, which boosted the recognition of the freedom of these African states.

With the installation of the transitional government, instituted after the deposition of Marcello Caetano, the independence of the Portuguese overseas provinces is recognized.

The first of these states to achieve independence was Guinea in 1974. The process of freedom of Mozambique Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola would come during 1975.

After the independence of Angola and Mozambique entered a bloody civil war.

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