Despite its small territorial size and small population, by the 1970s Portugal, ranked at that time as one of the most backward socio-economic countries in Europe, was the last colonial empire. It was the Portuguese who, to the last, tried to keep the vast colonial lands in Africa under their rule, although at that time both Great Britain and France - that is, states that were much more powerful politically and economically, abandoned the colonies and granted most of their overseas territories independence … The secret of the behavior of the Portuguese authorities was not only that they were in power in the country until the mid-1970s. there was the right-wing radical regime of Salazar, which was called in the Soviet press not otherwise than fascist, but also in that special meaning that the overseas colonies traditionally had for the Portuguese statehood.
The history of the Portuguese colonial empire dates back to the era of the great geographical discoveries, when virtually the entire territory of the globe was divided with the consent of the Roman throne between the Spanish and Portuguese crowns. Little Portugal, for which territorial expansion to the east was impossible - the country was surrounded by a much stronger Spain from land - saw maritime territorial expansion as the only means of strengthening the country's economic power and expanding living space for the Portuguese nation. As a result of the sea expeditions of Portuguese travelers in the sphere of influence of the Portuguese crown, quite extensive and strategically important territories appeared on almost all continents. Much of the credit for the creation of the Portuguese colonial empire belongs to the Infanta (Prince) Enrique, who went down in history as Henry the Navigator. On the initiative of this extraordinary man, numerous sea expeditions were equipped, the Portuguese trade and military presence on the African coast expanded, and the trade in African slaves captured on the coast of West Africa entered an active phase.
Numerous military and political vicissitudes of Portuguese history in the 16th-19th centuries led to the gradual loss of a significant part of its overseas possessions by Lisbon. Many colonies were recaptured by the stronger Dutch, and then by the British and French. And, nevertheless, the Portuguese crown held on to some territories especially tightly. These were Brazil - the richest overseas territory of the Portuguese state, the African colonies of Angola and Mozambique. After the proclamation of Brazil's independence, the following territories remained in the Portuguese colonial empire: Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde - in Africa, East Timor, Goa, Macao (Macau) - in Asia. However, Portugal did not intend to lose these lands either. Moreover, in contrast to England or France, Portugal developed its own original model of managing colonial territories.
In the late XIX - early XX centuries.the Portuguese armed forces had to participate in several armed conflicts on the territory of the African continent. In addition to the actual suppression of the uprisings of indigenous tribes, the Portuguese colonial troops participated in the First World War on the side of the Entente. So, in 1916-1918. military operations against the German colonial troops were fought on the territory of Mozambique, where German troops tried to penetrate from the side of German East Africa (Tanzania).
The Salazar regime adopted the concept of "lusotropicalism" developed by the Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freire. Its essence was that Portugal, as the oldest colonial power, which also has a very long experience of contacts with foreign cultural communities, starting with the Moors who ruled the Iberian Peninsula in the Early Middle Ages and ending with the African and Indian tribes, is the bearer of a unique model of interaction with indigenous population. This model consists in a more humane attitude towards the natives, a tendency to cross-breeding, the formation of a single cultural and linguistic community based on the Portuguese language and culture. To a certain extent, this concept really had a right to exist, since the Portuguese were in more contact with the African and African American population of their colonies than the British or French. During the reign of Salazar, all residents of the Portuguese colonies were considered citizens of Portugal - that is, no matter how Salazar was considered a “fascist,” his colonial policy was more lenient even in comparison with London or “enlightened” Paris.
Nevertheless, it was in the African colonies of Portugal in the 1960s - 1970s. the most fierce struggle for independence unfolded, which took on the character of protracted and bloody wars, in which the Portuguese colonial troops were opposed by local national liberation movements, most of which were supported by the Soviet Union and other countries of "socialist orientation". The Portuguese regime, striving with all its might to preserve colonial domination in Africa, was convinced that the loss of overseas territories would undermine the national sovereignty of Portugal, since it would reduce to a minimum its territorial area and population, tear away from it significant human resources of African colonies, potentially considered as a mobilization military and labor contingent.
The very emergence of national liberation movements in the Portuguese colonies was largely a consequence of the policy of "lusotropicalism" promoted by the Portuguese authorities. Representatives of the African tribal nobility went to study at the universities of the metropolis, where, along with the humanities and natural sciences, they also comprehended modern political theories, convinced of the need to fight for the independence of their native lands. Naturally, the Portuguese colonial model, as they assimilated Marxism and other directions of socialist thought, could no longer be perceived otherwise as tough and exploitative, aimed at "squeezing all the juices" from colonial possessions.
The leader of the struggle for the independence of Angola, the poet Agostinho Neto, has lived in Portugal since 1947 (since he was 25), was even married to a Portuguese woman, and studied at the University of Lisbon. And even after he became an active participant in the struggle for the independence of Angola in the early 1950s, he was given a medical education at the famous University of Coimbra and calmly returned to his native Angola.
The leader of the national liberation movement of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, Amilcar Cabral, also studied in Lisbon, where he received an agricultural education. The son of a planter, Amilcar Cabral belonged to the privileged stratum of the colonial population. This was due to the fact that the Creole population of the Cape Verde Islands, as Cape Verde was then called, was most integrated into Portuguese society, spoke only Portuguese, and actually lost its tribal identity. Nevertheless, it was the Creoles who led the national liberation movement, which transformed into the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).
The Mozambican National Liberation Movement was also led by members of the local intelligentsia who were educated abroad. Marceline dos Santos is a poet and one of the leaders of the Mozambican FRELIMO, he studied at the University of Lisbon, another Mozambican leader, Eduardo Mondlane, even managed to defend his doctoral dissertation in sociology in the state of Illinois in the United States. The first president of Mozambique, Marshal Zamora Machel, also studied in the United States, but later, however, completed his education already in military camps for training rebels on the territory of Algeria.
The national liberation movement in the Portuguese colonies, initiated by representatives of the indigenous intelligentsia raised at the University of Lisbon, received active support from the interested neighboring sovereign states of Africa, the Soviet Union, Cuba, the PRC and some other socialist countries. The younger leaders of the rebel movements no longer studied in Lisbon, but in the Soviet Union, China, and Guinea. As a result of their activities for 20 years, a bloody war was waged on the territory of the Portuguese colonies in Africa, which led to the death of tens of thousands of people of all nationalities - Portuguese, Creoles, and Africans.
It should be noted that not all Portuguese leaders sought to solve the problem of colonies and the anti-colonialist movement exclusively by military methods. So, General Antonio de Spinola, considered one of the most talented military leaders of the Portuguese army, taking over as governor of Portuguese Guinea, began to focus not only on strengthening the armed forces, but also on solving the socio-economic problems of the colony. He sought to improve policies in education and health, housing, for which his activities have earned from the lips of Amilcar Cabral, the leader of the Guinean national liberation movement, the definition as "the policy of smiles and blood."
At the same time, Spinola tried to promote the self-determination of Guinea as part of the "Portuguese Federation" he planned, for which he established contacts with a part of the Guinean fighters for independence, who killed Amilcar Cabral, the leader of the national liberation movement most intransigent towards integration with Portugal. However, in the end, General Spinola's policies did not bring significant results and did not become the model of colonial rule that the country could be guided by in attempts to maintain influence in Africa. Spinola was recalled to Lisbon, where he took up the post of deputy chief of the General Staff of the army, and after the "Revolution of Carnations" he briefly held the post of president of the country, replacing Salazar's successor, Marcela Caetana.
In an effort to resist the growth of national liberation movements in the colonies, the Portuguese government concentrated in Africa, large in size and armament, colonial troops. Historically, the colonial forces of Portugal were the most numerous and efficient part of its armed forces. First of all, this was due to the scanty territory of the metropolis proper in Europe and the colossal areas of the lands occupied by the Portuguese in Africa. In many ways, a significant contribution to the creation of the Portuguese armed forces was made by the British, who traditionally cooperated with Portugal as the opposition to Spain in the Iberian Peninsula. After the Napoleonic Wars, it was the officers of the Duke of Wellington who took an active part in reviving the Portuguese army and improving its combat training. So, in the light infantry "kazadores", which were considered the most combat-ready units of the Portuguese ground forces at that time, British officers occupied almost all command positions of the most varied levels.
Portuguese huntsman "kazadores"
The beginning of the elite units of the Portuguese army, specializing in reconnaissance and anti-insurgency operations, was laid by the creation of the "Kazadores" units, created, as noted above, on the British model. "Kazadores", that is, "hunters", "huntsmen", were created as light infantry and were distinguished by increased mobility and high-quality military training. In 1930, the first units of Native hunters were created, which were recruited from soldiers of African descent (Angolans, Mozambicans, Guineans) under the command of Portuguese officers and non-commissioned officers and were in many ways similar to other similar rifle units of the European colonial powers. In the 1950s, units of expeditionary "hunters" appeared, which were intended to strengthen the units of the Portuguese colonial troops operating in the colonies. In 1952, the parachute battalion "kazadoresh" was created, which was part of the air force and was also intended for military operations in the colonies. In 1975, it was simply renamed the Parachute Battalion.
The strengthening of the colonial troops of Portugal began with the coming to power of Salazar and the transition to a course of holding the colonial territories at any cost. By this time, the creation of numerous special forces and rapid reaction forces, which received special development in the Portuguese army due to the specifics of the hostilities that the Portuguese had to wage in African colonies, belongs to. Since it was mainly partisan formations of national liberation movements that had to resist, the Portuguese military command focused on the training and development of anti-insurgency and anti-terrorist units.
One of the most famous and combat-ready units of the Portuguese colonial troops operating in the same Angola against the national liberation movement was Tropas de interventionsau, who were colloquially called "interventionists". The interventionist units were recruited as willing military personnel of the colonial troops who had served in the colonies for at least six months, as well as representatives of the local population. It is noteworthy that among the candidates were both white Portuguese settlers and mulattos, and blacks - all of them were considered citizens of Portugal and many of the Africans were not at all eager to secede from the metropolis, fearing an economic fiasco and inter-tribal massacres.
The interventionists became the most mobile units of the Portuguese army, assigned to the command of larger military units and used to conduct reconnaissance and counterinsurgency raids. As a tactic of anti-insurgency, regular patrolling of the area was used - both on foot and in cars and armored vehicles. The mission of the patrol was to identify and destroy partisan groups entering Angola from neighboring Zaire.
Another unit of the Portuguese armed forces, constantly involved in campaigns against African rebels, were the commandos of the central command. The history of the Portuguese commandos began on June 25, 1962, when the first six groups were formed in the city of Zemba in Northern Angola. Their training was carried out by the Center for anti-guerrilla training (Centro de Instrução de Contraguerrilha), where they were taught by experienced military personnel - former officers and sergeants of the French Foreign Legion, who managed to fight in Algeria and Indochina. On February 13, 1964, the Mozambican Commando Courses in Namaacha (Laurenço Markish) were established, and on July 23 of the same year, the Guinea-Bissau Commando Courses. By the way, the battle cry of the Portuguese commandos - "We are here and ready to sacrifice" (MAMA SUMAE) was borrowed from the Bantu languages - the indigenous population of Angola and Mozambique, with whose representatives the Portuguese soldiers had to fight during the colonial war.
The selection of military personnel in commando units was carried out among Portuguese citizens over 18 years old, fit for service in special-purpose combat units in terms of their psychological and physiological qualities. Recruits underwent psychological and physical screening, which included physical fitness and endurance testing. By the way, the selective tests themselves did not differ in increased complexity (tasks like 30 push-ups or 5 pull-ups on the bar can hardly be called a serious test for young people applying for the role of candidates for special purpose units), which allowed instructors to subsequently weed out a significant contingent during training recruits and select the most suitable for service from the largest mass of candidates. Those who completed the course of special commando training received a red commando beret and were enrolled in the units.
The intensification of hostilities in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau prompted the Portuguese military command to create units that could act as independent units capable of remaining in isolation for a long time. Thus began the formation and training of the first commando companies. In September 1964, training began for the first commando company, formed in Angola and placed under the command of Captain Albuquerque Gonsalves. The second company, formed in Mozambique, was led by Captain Jaime Nevis.
The French Foreign Legion and Belgian commando units with similar combat experience in the Congo were chosen as a model of organizational structure and training. The main emphasis was placed on the development of maximum mobility, initiative and the ability to constant innovative changes, mastering the changing conditions of combat. Also, the Portuguese commandos inherited the traditions of the "hunter" units.
The commando companies in the Portuguese colonial forces were divided into light and heavy. Light commando companies consisted of four commando groups, each of which, in turn, had four subgroups of 80 troops. Naturally, these companies could hold out without the support of other military units for only a short time and were therefore used for temporary reinforcements. The main principle of operation of the commando lungs was mobility. Initially, light companies were stationed in Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, where there was less intensity of hostilities. Heavy commando companies included five airborne commando groups of 125 servicemen, as well as service personnel - drivers, signalmen, orderlies and paramedics, cooks, technicians.
With further intensification of hostilities, it was decided to move on to the creation of commando battalions in Guinea and Mozambique. In the military camp of Grafanil, near the Angolan capital of Luanda, a training center for operational units was established, in Guinea and Mozambique - the Guinean and Mozambican commando battalions, respectively.
As for Mozambique, on the initiative of General da Costa Gomes, special Flechas units - "Arrows" were created in Mozambique with the help of the Portuguese secret police PIDE. The "highlight" of "Strel" was that they were recruited from representatives of the local African population, mainly former rebels who had gone over to the Portuguese side and therefore were familiar with the methods of action of partisan movements. As a rule, these units were ethnically homogeneous and, accordingly, possessed internal cohesion and coordination of actions. The competence of "Strel" included intelligence, anti-terrorist activities, they were also engaged in tracking down and destroying partisan field commanders and prominent figures of the anti-colonial movement.
It is significant that Strel's sabotage activities also spread beyond the borders of Mozambique proper - to neighboring African countries, where the bases of the FRELIMO partisan movement operated. Similar units were also used in Angola, recruited from local ex-insurgents. Subsequently, the experience of using indigenous special anti-partisan groups was adopted from the Portuguese by the South African and Rhodesian armies, which took over the baton in the fight against anti-colonial movements in the south of the African continent.
During the Portuguese colonial wars in Africa, more than 9 thousand military personnel passed through the service in commando units, including 510 officers, 1587 sergeants, 6977 soldiers. Combat losses of commando units amounted to 357 killed in military clashes, 28 missing, 771 wounded. It is significant that although the military personnel of the commando forces accounted for only 1% of the total number of military personnel of the Portuguese troops who participated in the colonial wars, among the dead their number exceeds 10% of the total number of victims. This is due to the fact that it was the commandos who took on the main tasks of eliminating the partisans and capturing them, and took part in almost all military clashes with the national liberation fronts.
The total number of the Portuguese armed forces at the time of 1974 was 218 thousand soldiers and officers. Including, 55,000 troops were deployed in Angola, 60,000 - in Mozambique, 27,000 served in Portuguese Guinea. Over the course of 13 years, more than 1 million Portuguese military personnel have served in the hot spots of Portuguese Africa, 12,000 Portuguese military personnel have left their lives fighting the Angolan, Mozambican and Guinean rebel movements. However, it should be noted that the losses of the African population were much more significant, including from the side of the rebels, who were not helped even by the training carried out by Soviet and Cuban instructors.
The main blow, in addition to the commando units, was taken by the ground forces, but a parachute regiment of more than 3 thousand servicemen, subordinate to the command of the Air Force, and more than 3, 4 thousand marines that made up the Marine Corps were also used to conduct hostilities in the colonies. infantry (fusiliers) of Portugal.
In 1972, a special commando unit was formed as part of the Portuguese Naval Forces. It received the name "Detachments of sapper-divers" and was used in the interests of the military command on the Guinean coast. However, the first stage of the existence of the Portuguese combat swimmers was not long - after the proclamation of independence of Guinea-Bissau in 1975, the detachment was disbanded and revived again under the same name only in 1988, since the need of the Navy in its own special forces unit was still obvious …Light diving operations, search and rescue operations are also within the competence of the 1st and 2nd (created in 1995) detachments of sapper-divers. In addition, there is a sapper-diving school, where combat training of servicemen of these units is carried out.
However, the large number of units concentrated in Portuguese Africa and the increased attention of the military command to the training and equipping of anti-partisan forces could not ultimately influence the political situation in the colonies. Despite the colossal efforts made by the Portuguese government to suppress the national liberation movements in the colonies, it was not possible to overcome the growing resistance of the Angolan, Mozambican and Guinean partisans. Moreover, military spending significantly undermined Portugal's already shaky economy.
On the other hand, the leadership of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), which included Portugal since the post-war years, was also dissatisfied with the constant employment of Portuguese military units in the colonial wars, as the latter diverted the military potential of Portugal from being used in support of NATO in Europe. Moreover, the British and American leaders did not see any sense in further preserving the Portuguese colonial empire, which demanded constant financial injections and insisted that the Portuguese authorities quickly resolve the issue of the colonial territories.
The result of the political and economic crisis was the growth of oppositional sentiments in society, including the armed forces. The Portuguese servicemen for the most part were dissatisfied with the low level of their well-being, the lack of opportunities to advance the career ladder for most junior and middle officers, the constant participation of the Portuguese expeditionary forces in the colonial wars on the territory of the African continent with all the ensuing consequences - the death and injury of thousands of servicemen, discontent families.
An important role for the growth of discontent among the officers was played by the creation of such a system of manning the armed forces, in which graduates of civilian universities who were called up to serve in the Portuguese army for a period of two to three years were undoubtedly in more favorable conditions than regular officers. If a career officer, after graduating from a military school, had to serve in the army for at least 10-12 years before receiving the rank of captain, including a couple of times having been on two-year "business trips" in Angola, Guinea or Mozambique, then a university graduate received the rank of captain after six months of courses.
Accordingly, in the monetary allowance, career officers were also disadvantaged in comparison with graduates of civilian universities. Considering that most of the career officers by this time were represented by people from the social lower classes, and the university graduates who entered the military service were children of the Portuguese elite, the personnel conflict in the armed forces had a pronounced social basis. Veterans from the social bottom, who shed blood in the African colonies, saw in such a personnel policy of the Portuguese leadership not only an obvious social injustice, but also a direct insult to their military merits, covered in the blood of thousands of Portuguese who died in the colonial wars.
In 1970, the legendary Portuguese dictator Salazar died, who succeeded him as Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano, but did not enjoy wide popularity in society. As a result, an opposition movement was formed in the Portuguese armed forces, known as the "Captains Movement" and gained significant influence among the junior and middle command personnel of all branches of the armed forces. Perhaps the only stronghold of the regime in this situation was only the Portuguese secret police PIDE, but, of course, she could not do anything against the organized actions of the military.
On April 25, 1974, an armed uprising of officers and soldiers was scheduled, the task of which was to overthrow the Caetanu regime. The conspirators by this time had strong positions in the engineering regiment, the military administrative school, the Kazadorish light infantry battalion, the light artillery regiment, the infantry regiment, the artillery training center, the 10th commando group, the cavalry regiment, the special operations training center and three military schools … The military leadership of the uprising was taken over by Major Otelu Nuno Saraiva de Carvalho. On the part of the civilian population, support for the Captains Movement was provided by a fairly large Portuguese left opposition - socialists and communists, despite the repressive policies of the Salazar regime, which enjoyed considerable influence in Portugal.
On April 26, 1974, the "movement of captains" was officially named the Movement of the Armed Forces, its governing body was formed - the Coordination Commission of the ICE, which included the leaders of the uprising - from the ground forces Colonel Vashku Gonsalves, Majors Vitor Alves and Melo Antunish, from the Navy - the captain - Lieutenants Vitor Krespu and Almeida Contreras, from the Air Force - Major Pereira Pinto and Captain Costa Martins. Political and military power in the country was transferred to the Council of National Salvation, headed by the same General Antonio de Spinola - the author of the "policy of smiles and blood" and a former governor of Guinea.
As a result of the "Revolution of the Carnations", the political regime, the foundations of which were laid by Salazar, ceased to exist. As it turned out, most of the Portuguese armed forces were loyal to the rebels and did not offer significant resistance to the units that opposed the government. The newly formed Portuguese government included representatives of left-wing political parties; the official political course of the country has undergone significant changes.
For the Portuguese colonial empire, the "Revolution of the Carnations" was the final touch that ended its existence. By the end of 1975, most of the former Portuguese colonies had gained independence, including Angola and Mozambique, where for two decades there were fierce wars between partisan movements and Portuguese colonial forces. East Timor was also freed, which, however, was destined for the next twenty-five years to fall under a much more brutal Indonesian rule. Thus ended the history of the oldest and longest-lived colonial power on the European continent. The last Portuguese possession was the city of Macau (Macau) in China, which was officially transferred to Chinese jurisdiction in 1999. Today Portugal retains power only over two overseas territories - Madeira and the Azores, which are inhabited by the Portuguese and can be considered as part of Portugal proper.
For the Portuguese colonial troops, the end of the era of colonial wars meant evacuation to the mother country and subsequent partial demobilization, and partly - the transition to service in units stationed in the mother country. At the same time, until now, units of the Portuguese armed forces have been taking part in overseas operations, primarily under the auspices of the United Nations and the North Atlantic Alliance.
To participate in operations outside Portugal, a Rapid Response Brigade is functioning as part of the country's armed forces, which includes 2 parachute battalions, a school of parachute troops (it also includes combat units - a special-purpose company of high-altitude paratroopers,anti-aircraft and anti-tank platoons, a canine department), a commando training center (as part of the headquarters and support units, a training company and a commando battalion), a special operations center (as part of a command, a training company and a special-purpose detachment, whose competence includes anti-terrorist measures and participation in hostilities outside Portuguese territory).
Portugal's refusal to govern the African colonies, contrary to the expectations of the nationalist leaders of the sovereign states that emerged in the territories of the former colonies, did not bring the latter either special economic prosperity or long-awaited political stability. The political systems of the postcolonial states of Africa are distinguished by a high degree of immaturity associated with the absence of formed political nations and the numerous inter-tribal conflicts, tribalism and other problems arising in this context.
At the same time, Portugal, having lost its African colonies, can no longer be considered as a world-class sea power, having turned into an ordinary state of the European periphery. The contribution made by this country to the geographical discoveries and development of Asian, African and American territories is undeniable, but today it is only reminiscent of the spread of the Portuguese language and culture in the former colonial possessions, and the numerous literature on the era of the great geographical discoveries and the colonial policy of Portugal in the past. centuries.
