4d (edited) • Portuguese History
This Weeks Portuguese History: THE 1890 BRITISH ULTIMATUM! 😤❤️
Olá, amigos! This is the story of national humiliation that still echoes in fado songs of loss and resilience. hear how the Portuguese's oldest ally, Britain, crushed their African dreams overnight. 📜
Ready for the drama? Let's dive in!
THE PINK MAP DREAM 🌍💭
Portugal dreamed big during the Scramble for Africa. Explorers like Alexandre de Serpa Pinto had mapped a rosy corridor, the "Pink Map" or Mapa Cor-de-Rosa, linking Angola on the Atlantic to Mozambique on the Indian Ocean.
- This strip included chunks of modern day Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi!
- Backed by treaties with Germany and France in 1886.
- Portugal's claim? Centuries of discovery, from Vasco da Gama's voyages. ❤️
But Britain, eyeing Cecil Rhodes' Cape-to-Cairo railway, saw red. Rivalries boiled as Berlin Conference rules demanded real occupation, not just maps. Tension built like a storm over the Tagus!
THE ULTIMATUM STRIKES - JANUARY 1890! ⚡📄
January 11, 1890: British PM Lord Salisbury sends a icy memo to Foreign Minister Júlio de Vilhena Fontes. Demanding withdrawal of troops from Mashonaland, Matabeleland, Shire-Nyasa NOW, or face consequences.
- Portugal's forces under Major Serpa Pinto dug in.
- Britain mobilizes navy, threatens blockade.
- January 14: King Carlos I's government caves, orders retreat. NATIONAL HUMILIATION! 😡
Salisbury's words? "Telegraphic instructions shall be sent... ALL Portuguese forces withdrawn." Brutal😢
Britain flexed muscle; Portugal blinked. The world watched in shock.
NATIONAL FURY ERUPTS IN LISBON! 🔥😡
News hits: Riots rock streets! British consulate stoned, effigies burned. Castro's government collapses days later; António de Serpa Pimentel takes over.
- August 1890: London Treaty tries borders, but parliament rejects it in fury.
- 1891 Treaty gives Britain Manicaland, Portugal Zambezi scraps as "consolation."
- Republicans roar: Monarchy weak! This humiliation fuels 1910 revolution seeds.
Imagine the outrage in Alfama taverns, fado singers wailing betrayal by "perfidious Albion." Portugal's pride? Shattered, but spirit unbroken.✊
SALAZAR'S WWII SHADOW: NEVER FORGET 1890! 🕰️⚖️
Fast-forward to 1939. Dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, ruling a nation scarred by 1890's sting, vows strict neutrality in WWII. Old alliance intact, but he played both sides tactically.
- No full Allied bases early; rejects US pleas, grants limited Azores access only in 1943 after British invoke 1373 treaty (Lajes Field for U-boat hunts).
- Hoards wolfram (tungsten), sells to both sides till 1944 Allied embargo; Britain gets priority credit.
- Blocks Spanish Axis join via Iberian Pact, keeps peninsula neutral.
Salazar balanced survival and remembered Britain's "brutality."
CHECK OUT THE VIDEO - Deep dive into the Ultimatum with Jabzy in a comprehensive 4.5 minute breakdown
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This Weeks Portuguese History: THE 1890 BRITISH ULTIMATUM! 😤❤️
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