The Portuguese campaigns of pacification and occupation (Portuguese: Campanhas de pacificação e ocupação) were a vast set of military operations, conducted by the Portuguese Armed Forces in the overseas provinces of the Portuguese Empire, between 1838 and 1936. Action was seen at Chaimite, in Mozambique, where Mouzinho de Albuquerque captured the Vatua king Gungunhana but also at Môngua, in Angola. They resulted in the creation of modern-day Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Timor-Leste, which came to be known as the "Third Portuguese Empire".
These campaigns took place after the Independence of Brazil but mostly during the Scramble for Africa. Portugal sought to compensate for the loss of Brazil, but it was faced with a notorious lack of manpower and resources, native resistance and encroachment by rival European powers, not least of which by its own ally, the United Kingdom. On the other hand, it benefitted from the most familiarity with the colonial theater out of any Europeans, access to modern weaponry, severe hostility between native peoples, the erosion of native states and an exceptional level of native cooperation. The Portuguese ultimately secured over 2,000,000 square kilometers of territory, inhabited by about 8,000,000 people, even though the average number of soldiers stationed overseas never exceeded 13,000 men before 1910.
Though they began as early as 1838 under the aegis of the Marquis of Sá da Bandeira, the most important campaigns on Angola, Mozambique, Guinea and Timor took place between 1890 and 1909. Operations would continue for some years afterwards. The Gaza Empire in southern Mozambique was annexed in 1895 through a campaign organized by António Enes. The pacification of Zambezia followed between 1897 and 1902, culminating in the Barue campaign. The north was occupied between 1899 and 1917. Timor was occupied and pacified between 1894 and 1912. The occupation of Angola was carried out in the north, center and south, with the north being mostly occupied between 1886 and 1912, the center between 1890 and 1902, and the south between 1886 and 1915, though it was only pacified in 1926. Mainland Guinea was fully occupied by 1915, and the Bijagos in 1936, marking the end of the pacification campaigns.
At least 430 operations were carried out in Guinea, Angola and Mozambique between 1841 and 1936, totalling 557 months or 46 years on the field, involving a total of 58,000 soldiers and hundreds of thousands of African militiamen and auxiliaries. A further 56 campaigns were carried out on Timor between 1847 and 1913, involving 2,200 soldiers and about 114,000 Timorese militiamen and auxiliaries. Though numerous, the pacification campaigns were usually small in scale and involved mostly native troops. Relatively large expeditions of well-equipped European troops were dispatched directly from Europe whenever Portuguese sovereignty over the claimed territories was seriously contested. They were otherwise marked by the mass participation of native troops on the side of Portugal, which led some authors to comment that the new territories "conquered themselves".
Background up to the Berlin Conference
Certain Portuguese proposed exploring the African hinterland between Angola and Mozambique to set up trade posts as early as 1795, when the English occupied the Cape Colony and the Boers began to move inland. Dr. Francisco de Lacerda, who proposed a chain of trade post across the interior, set out from Mozambique in 1798 to explore a path to Angola but died near Lake Mweru. The following decade, Pedro José Baptista and Amaro José plus a number of Afro-Portuguese traders set out from Angola and performed the first known crossing of Africa, reaching Mozambique.
After the Independence of Brazil and the end of the Portuguese Civil War, Portugal turned to its remaining overseas territories in Africa and Asia as a means to compensate for the loss of territory, trade, tax revenue, international prestige and ballooning debt. The devastation caused by the Napoleonic Wars, the civil-war, the scarcity of means and the political instability in Portugal made investment overseas controversial, however. Nevertheless, a consensus gradually formed among the Portuguese political elite on the potential of the colonies and the necessity to occupy the interior of Angola and Mozambique. Controversy arose from the way they ought to be administered, with some advocating for direct rule, other for greater autonomy and indirect British-style rule. Safeguarding them from foreign encroachment, namely from Britain and Germany, would also prove a major challenge until the end of World War I.
The Marquis of Sá da Bandeira was a major abolitionist and defender of a market economy as a means to promote the development of Portuguese territories overseas. Sá da Bandeira was likened to William Wilberforce. Foreign diplomats held his integrity in high regard and the notable portuguese historian Alexandre Herculano dubbed him "the most illustrious Portuguese of our century". The Royal Geographical Society considered him "one of the most illustrious of our Honorary Corresponding Members".
A number of posts, forts and settlements would be established throughout the course of the 19th century, while peanut plantation was introduced in Guinea-Bissau. Expansion began as early as 1838 in Angola, with the annexation of the Calandula region east of Luanda in the aftermath of a conflict; it was renamed Duque de Bragança and fort São Pedro established there. Two new towns subsequently rose in the region, Santa Maria and Porto Novo.
In Mozambique, the migration of Zulus in the aftermath of the Mfecane and the establishment of the Gaza Empire blocked any advance inland. The Zambezi Wars broke out in 1840 between Portuguese landowners, African kinglets and the Portuguese government, after a catastrophic period of drought and Nguni invasion. Portuguese rule was extended to the far south of Angola in 1841, with the construction of fort São Fernando do Namibe on the Namibe Bay, following a treaty with a local ruler. The city of Moçâmedes was established nearby in 1849 by a number of Portuguese refugees who were resettled there after the Praieira Revolt sparked in Brazil. Governor António Sérgio de Sousa negotiated treaties with the lords of Huíla and Gambos but the latter was succeeded on the throne by a hostile king, which brought instability to the region until 1867.
Portuguese frontiersmen at the same time gradually ventured deeper into the African interior. Joaquim Rodrigues Graça for example crossed the interior of Angol a between 1846 and 1848 and reached the Lunda Empire, with which diplomatic and commercial ties were established. The Kingdom of Kasanje became an important middle-man between Lunda and Luanda but Portuguese merchant caravans were a frequent target for raids, which caused conflict and a new fort to be built at Malanje. 1852 saw the beginning of the notable explorations of the trader Francisco da Silva Porto, who cleared several geographical problems and was "invaluable as a counselor to more scientific explorers".
Portugal claimed the mouth of the Congo River and annexed Ambriz from the Kingdom of Kongo in 1855 as the territory was disputed by the British.
Portuguese policy until the 1870s was largely based on the export of agricultural products, mainly wine, import substitution under moderate protection and foreign loans for the construction of infra-structure. A global recession traditionally seen as having begun in 1873 hit Portugal especially hard however, and public revenue fell, deficit grew alarmingly, gold reserves dwindled, and the state could no longer service its foreign debt. This and the rising tide of the "scramble for Africa" compelled Portugal to invest in territorial acquisition overseas. As the crisis deepened, Portugal reacted like other states of western Europe, first protecting the home market, then seeking to extend it overseas.
The Bolama Question
Portugal had established a presence in Guinea since the 15th century, but Britain claimed the Bolama Island from 1792 to 1870. British officer and entrepreneur Philip Beaver attempted to establish a colony on the island in 1792 but without the authorization of the Bijagós. The settlers were attacked and some were captured, being later ransomed at established slave prices. The attempt was abandoned after 18 months.
The Portuguese occupied Bolama in 1830 and the British government protested. To reinforce their claim, the brig Brisk was sent to Bolama in 1837, some men landed and replaced the Portuguese flags on the island for British ones. The Marquis António José de Ávila defended the rights of Portugal in the Portuguese parliament. He would be rewarded with the title Marquis of Ávila and Bolama for his efforts. The dispute raged on until Portugal and Britain eventually agreed to submit the issue to international arbitration. The newly elected US president Ulysses Grant was accepted as arbitror.
The Portuguese claims were delivered to Grant by Portuguese consul in New York António Pereira da Cunha Sotto Maior. After analysing the claims and arguments of both sides, Grant ruled in favor of Portugal on April 21, 1870, and the British withdrew their claims.
The Maputo Bay Question
The Great Trek had an impact on Portuguese affairs as well. Boers sought land and access to the sea in order to become independent from Britain and self-sufficient, and they reached the area around Maputo Bay in 1838. The small Portuguese settlement of Lourenço Marques was outside of direct British control and it grew out of trade with the South African Republic, but the difficult route to the port could only be solved by building a railway.
Maputo Bay was considered the finest harbour in East Africa and a railway to it would make any port established there the main one in southern Africa and one of the most important in the entire Indian Ocean. The bay would be called "The Key to South Africa". Its strategic value was not lost on the British and in 1861 the commander of H.M.S. Narcissus had the British flag hoisted on the territory and proclaimed it British. This however opened a dispute with Portugal, who already claimed the territory. Sá da Bandeira proposed submitting the issue to international arbitration, but the British government refused. In 1869 the Portuguese government signed a treaty with the South African Republic, through which the border was settled and in which Pretoria acknowledged Portuguese control of the bay along with the surrounding territory as far as the Lebombo Mountains. After Portugal concluded this agreement with the SAR, the British changed their stance and agreed to international arbitration. The British High Commissioner suggested purchasing the bay from Portugal but the British Secretary of State for the Colonies Lord Kimberley decided to proceed with international arbitration. Portuguese claims were presented by the jurist Levy Maria Jordão, Viscount Paiva Manso. The President of France Marshal Patrice Macmahon was chosen as arbitrator and on July 24, 1875, he ruled in favour of Portugal in what became known as "the Delagoa Bay Arbitration". He awarded all the land around Maputo Bay down to lat. 26º 30' S and inland towards the Lebombo, even more than the Portuguese had asked for.
In December of the same year as Macmahons arbitration, Portugal concluded an agreement with the South African Republic to establish a railroad between Pretoria and Lourenço Marques and a similar one was signed the following year with the Orange Free State, thus cementing Lourenço Marques as the natural port of the region and paving the way for its future prosperity.
Macmahons decision caused outrage in the British press as it was the third time in a row the United Kingdom had lost a case through arbitration but nonetheless it was upheld. After MacMahons arbitration, Britain and Portugal sought to jointly settle the future of south-east Africa but this project would be overtaken by events the following decade.
The Lisbon Geographic Society and exploration expeditions
As Europe developed an interest in Africa, Portugal realized action was imperative to defend Portuguese claims. The first step taken involved the creation of a "Permanent Central Geographical Commission" attached to the Ministry of the Navy and Overseas and the Lisbon Geographic Society, both in 1875.
The Lisbon Geographic Society brought together explorers, scientists and officials knowledgeable about the African interior, published ethnographical and geographical knowledge, advised the government with studies and was a major promoter of greater Portuguese involvement in Africa. Most of its members were not academics but historians, newspapermen, colonial officials, businessmen and army or navy officers. The soul of the organization was Luciano Cordeiro, who devoted his life to the society and became its steadiest contributor until his death in 1900. The Society developed the África Meridional Portuguesa project, which called for the occupation of the territory between Angola and Mozambique and lead to several scientific expeditions in the region. It was illustrated in the Pink Map.
Soon after its creation, the Permanent Central Geographical Commission proposed a major exploration mission led by Serpa Pinto, Hermenegildo Capelo and Roberto Ivens in 1877. Serpa Pinto reached Pretoria on February 12, 1879, and was honored by his own government as well as foreign ones upon returning home. For the moment he was as renowned as Henry Morton Stanley and his book How I Crossed Africa was translated into English, French and German. Capelo and Ivens mapped a large part of Angola, established links with tribes hitherto outside Portuguese orbit and returned in 1880.
Henrique de Carvalho travelled to the Lunda Empire in 1884. Carvalho was a prolific write who later published a series of works on the history, ethnography and politics of Lunda, including a four-volume work, each 700 pages long, titled Descrição da Viagem à Mussumba do Muatiânvua but which has remained largely ignored outside of Portugal.
The same year that Carvalho left for Lunda, Capelo and Ivens departed on a celebrated journey across Africa from Moçâmedes in Angola to Quelimane in Mozambique through uncharted territory. In 1885, Serpa Pinto and Augusto Cardoso set out on an expedition to explore northern Mozambique and Lake Malawi.