Portuguese Colonial Wars

[Migas999]

The Portuguese colonial war was Portugal´s attempts to suppress independence movements in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and other colonies, from 1961 to 1974 ending with the revolution of 25th of April
This thread came about because I felt that this time in Portuguese history needed to be discussed
Since OPs need to give opinion I say that this war was an exercise in futility, I mean those colonies were going to gain independence sooner or later and it took the lives of thousands of young Portuguese men and scarred and wounded tens of thousands of others
So what does everyone else in NS think?
To top it off here are some images from the war

Portuguese troops parachuting into battle in Angola

Portuguese troops embark to be shipped off to the various colonies

[Geilinor]

Portugal and the colonies would have been better off without the wars, Portugal should have focused on itself and the colonies needed a chance to develop.

[Calimera II]

Portugal and the colonies would have been better off without the wars, Portugal should have focused on itself and the colonies needed a chance to develop.

Many European governments thought that without their colonies they would be economically ruined. In The Netherlands people even said: ''Indië verloren, rampspoed geboren.'' (''Indonesia lost, disaster born'')

[Ashworth-Attwater]

It was a stupid war Portugal could have done without. On a side not, at least it was partially responsible for ending Estado Novo.

[Migas999]

Portugal and the colonies would have been better off without the wars, Portugal should have focused on itself and the colonies needed a chance to develop.

At the time Portugal was a dictatorship in which the dictator instilled in the people a strong sense of nationalism and pride in the "Portuguese Empire" and the colonies were at the time the only part of the Portuguese Empire left(Brasil obtained it´s independence in 1822)

[Migas999]

It was a stupid war Portugal could have done without. On a side not, at least it was partially responsible for ending Estado Novo.

Not partially, mostly responsible
On a side not, and with irony, many veterans of the war said that they supported Estado Novo and many still do

[Ashworth-Attwater]

It was a stupid war Portugal could have done without. On a side not, at least it was partially responsible for ending Estado Novo.

Not partially, mostly responsible
On a side not, and with irony, many veterans of the war said that they supported Estado Novo and many still do

It's a shame, because Portugal improved a lot after the end of Estado Novo, at least on the political sphere.

[Migas999]

Not partially, mostly responsible
On a side not, and with irony, many veterans of the war said that they supported Estado Novo and many still do

It's a shame, because Portugal improved a lot after the end of Estado Novo, at least on the political sphere.

About the Political sphere, Portugal regained a lot of international respect from finally overthrowing it´s 4 decade long dictatorship, but it did leave the country vulnerable and for a time made the country follow some very communist ways, not to mention vulnerable to a spanish invasion which was even discussed by Spain and the US

[Greater Istanistan]

Population want Communism? Let them have it. And the Spanish/American invasion of Portugal would have been a ridiculous farce at best.

[Migas999]

Population want Communism? Let them have it. And the Spanish/American invasion of Portugal would have been a ridiculous farce at best.

Nonetheless it was a danger to the country
And no it wasn´t the population that wanted communism, for a time it was actually the military which led the country for about a year after the revolution

[Kanaria]

Really bad idea for a 40-year-old "New State" to send guys into battle. Also, I swear they set Angola up for a civil war that COD players could take a side in.

[The Carolines]

I look fondly upon the Portuguese colonial exploits. They were one of the few nations brave enough to stand with South Africa.

[Migas999]

Really bad idea for a 40-year-old "New State" to send guys into battle. Also, I swear they set Angola up for a civil war that COD players could take a side in.

Portugal descolinization was a disgrace leaving almost every country they pulled out of with no leadership, no infrastructure, only a handful of rebel groups that then gont embroiled in a civil war, the most well known being Angola

[Frasers]

I look fondly upon the Portuguese colonial exploits. They were one of the few nations brave enough to stand with South Africa.

and edgy teenager of the day award goes to

[Migas999]

I look fondly upon the Portuguese colonial exploits. They were one of the few nations brave enough to stand with South Africa.

What I most look fondly upon is the discovery age, Portugal was the first country to discover foreign lands and even some historians believe that the credit of discovering North America
I explain Cristovao Colombo was not in fact Spanish but really a portuguese man in service of the Spanish Crown after having been turned down by the Portuguese Crown
We discovered Brasil and India

[The Carolines]

I look fondly upon the Portuguese colonial exploits. They were one of the few nations brave enough to stand with South Africa.

What I most look fondly upon is the discovery age, Portugal was the first country to discover foreign lands and even some historians believe that the credit of discovering North America
I explain Cristovao Colombo was not in fact Spanish but really a portuguese man in service of the Spanish Crown after having been turned down by the Portuguese Crown
We discovered Brasil and India

You already have Ferdinand Magellan. No need to claim Columbus, who was an Italian.

[Migas999]

I look fondly upon the Portuguese colonial exploits. They were one of the few nations brave enough to stand with South Africa.

and edgy teenager of the day award goes to

I also look fondly upon the Portuguese colonial exploits too, especially the first ones, conquest of Ceuta, the bending of the Southern edge of Africa, discovery of Brasil and India, etc..
Does that make me a edgy teenager? I don´t think so I merely have pride in my nation´s history

[Kanaria]

Really bad idea for a 40-year-old "New State" to send guys into battle. Also, I swear they set Angola up for a civil war that COD players could take a side in.

Portugal descolinization was a disgrace leaving almost every country they pulled out of with no leadership, no infrastructure, only a handful of rebel groups that then gont embroiled in a civil war, the most well known being Angola

True; I do blame it on the colonizers, however. They should have tried to leave stable, united governments and societies behind rather than building their riches off the backs of other people.

I look fondly upon the Portuguese colonial exploits. They were one of the few nations brave enough to stand with South Africa.

What I most look fondly upon is the discovery age, Portugal was the first country to discover foreign lands and even some historians believe that the credit of discovering North America
I explain Cristovao Colombo was not in fact Spanish but really a portuguese man in service of the Spanish Crown after having been turned down by the Portuguese Crown
We discovered Brasil and India

What? Columbus was Italian.

Christopher Columbus (Italian: Cristoforo Colombo; Spanish: Cristóbal Colón; Portuguese: Cristóvão Colombo; born between 31 October 1450 and 30 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer, citizen of the Republic of Genoa.

[The Carolines]

I look fondly upon the Portuguese colonial exploits. They were one of the few nations brave enough to stand with South Africa.

and edgy teenager of the day award goes to

Supporting one of Africa's most successful states is edgy?

[Frasers]

What I most look fondly upon is the discovery age, Portugal was the first country to discover foreign lands

people have been discovering foreign lands from the moment they decided to leave the place they lived in

and even some historians believe that the credit of discovering North America

no that would be the native north americans

I explain Cristovao Colombo was not in fact Spanish but really a portuguese man in service of the Spanish Crown after having been turned down by the Portuguese Crown

no nobody knows where columbus was from

We discovered Brasil and India

Brazil was discovered by native Brazilians and India was known to Europeans literally thousands of years before Vasco da Gama got there.

[Migas999]

What I most look fondly upon is the discovery age, Portugal was the first country to discover foreign lands and even some historians believe that the credit of discovering North America
I explain Cristovao Colombo was not in fact Spanish but really a portuguese man in service of the Spanish Crown after having been turned down by the Portuguese Crown
We discovered Brasil and India

You already have Ferdinand Magellan. No need to claim Columbus, who was an Italian.

A document of Castille describes Colombos as an portuguese man, there are many doubts about his true place of birth and some historians believe that he was portuguese

[Frasers]

Supporting one of Africa's most successful states is edgy?

supporting colonialism and racist oppressive states is exceptionally edgy and you know it but i won't be able to talk you out of it I'll just have to wait til you grow up because you generally lose the retarded edgy opinions you held as a teenager as you get older.

[Souseiseki]

Population want Communism? Let them have it. And the Spanish/American invasion of Portugal would have been a ridiculous farce at best.

Nonetheless it was a danger to the country
And no it wasn´t the population that wanted communism, for a time it was actually the military which led the country for about a year after the revolution

1) prove they were communist
2) tell me more about the spanish invasion plans
3) please stop defending dictatorships with the most cliched line in the book

[Kanaria]

and edgy teenager of the day award goes to

I also look fondly upon the Portuguese colonial exploits too, especially the first ones, conquest of Ceuta, the bending of the Southern edge of Africa, discovery of Brasil and India, etc..
Does that make me a edgy teenager? I don´t think so I merely have pride in my nation´s history

I don't think so either.

and edgy teenager of the day award goes to

Supporting one of Africa's most successful states is edgy?

By "brave", you mean "anticommunist/racist", don't you? South Africa was oppressing the majority of its' bloody population.
Now that's enough of this threadjack. You can start a new thread on the matter, but let's not clutter this one up any further. This is about Portugal trying to hold on to its' colonies in the 70s and failing.

[Souseiseki]

and edgy teenager of the day award goes to

Supporting one of Africa's most successful states is edgy?

supporting apartheid is edgy yes