"We Know This War by Heart" — Portugal Remembers the Great War

The Republic Off to War

Belligerence is a matter of life or death for the Republic. 

Machado Santos (1875–1921), military serviceman

Initially neutral, and formally belligerent after 1916, Portugal participated in the Great War by mobilizing more than 100,000 men. Among these, about 8000 lost their lives in the trenches of Flanders or on the battlefields of Africa. The war erupted shortly after the transition of political regimes that had placed Portugal alongside France and Switzerland as the only republics in Europe, and it had great influence in the outcome of that political experience. Its impact was pervasive and brutal, with persistent effects in the history and in the heritage of the Country; it gave rise to intense social, cultural and artistic reactions and became an essential part of the history of those who lived it directly or indirectly.

The role that Portugal occupied during the Great War, peripheral within the European context, assumed a certain centrality due to its geo-strategic position. The Portuguese territory, spreading through several countries, included the colonies of Macao, Timor, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea, Cape Vert, São Tomé e Príncipe, and the state of India. In addition the location of the colonies in Africa, the Azores, where an American naval base it was established, were relevant positions in world connections and in particular in the context of the war in the Atlantic.  

If we go to war, we will show the world that we are ready to die for the fatherland, that we live because we want to live.

Teixeira de Pascoais, A Águia, 1914

On 4 August 1914, the news of the declaration of war by England to Germany arrived in Portugal. Soon after, on 7 August, Bernardino Machado, prime minister, submitted to Congress, which had met extraordinarily, a statement of principles on the conduction of Portuguese foreign policy. Portugal would not fail to comply with its international obligations, in particular those imposed by its alliance with Britain. Under pressure from the Foreign Office, Portugal could plead neither belligerent nor neutral regarding the war in Europe. 

In 1914, with the exception of Ethiopia, Liberia, and the South African Union, which were independent, and of Libya and Morocco, which had not yet been “formally conquered”, the rest of the African continent was occupied and divided among the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Germany, Spain, Italy and Belgium. Britain had the largest empire in Africa, controlling approximately four fifths of the trade in the regions to the south of the Sahara.  Germany, in turn, giving continuity to the policy initiated by Bismarck in the late 19th century, held a small, though strategically positioned Empire, stretching from Madagascar to the entrance of the Red Sea. Both empires bordered territories under Portuguese administration, and disputed those domains at the international level.

Portuguese Soldiers Deployed to Africa 

On 21 August 1914, Prime Minister Bernardino Machado decided to organize and ship away two mixed military units (mountain artillery, cavalry, infantry, and machine guns) to Angola and Mozambique. Between 1914 and 1918 Portugal mobilized about 30000 men to fight in Angola and in Mozambique. Days later, it was decided that two mixed units (mountain artillery, cavalry, infantry and machine guns) would be sent to Angola and Mozambique. The first Portuguese troops left for Africa one month later. A significant part of the military contingent that integrated these expeditions arrived in Africa sick, as they were unable to resist the terrible hygienic conditions experienced during the trip.

The division between interventionists and non-interventionists would soon become installed in Portugal, even within the Government itself. Desired and sought after by a few, avoided or rejected and criticized by others, the participation of Portugal in the war and the specific involvement of military forces on the European front triggered intense, truculent and generalized debate, opposing different ideas, arguments and extreme political positions, and raising growing unrest within a significant part of the Portuguese society. 

Although neutrality would remain until March 1916, the impacts of a world conflict extending over a period far beyond that which was originally imagined, were very intense, resulting in the scarcity of essential goods to the sustenance of the population, which grew progressively more restless.

Following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany, 734 German ships took refuge in neutral waters; of these, about 70 (approximately 242,000 tons) were in Portuguese ports. Portugal’s geographic location made the country a mandatory stopping point to all routes between the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. German submarines knew it, and did not hesitate in approaching the Portuguese coast where they became an easy prey, in addition to large cargo steam ships, and to fishing and coastal sailing. In all, 100 Portuguese vessels were sunk, not only in territorial waters but also in such places as the Azores, Madeira, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel or the North Sea.

Since 1915, Britain had been trying to force the Portuguese government to commandeer them, making the point that they ought to be placed at the Alliance’s service. On 23 February 1916, a Portuguese Armada platoon climbed aboard the German and Austrian ships anchored at the Tagus estuary and, with military honors, hoisted the Portuguese flag.

Announcement of Germany's Declaration of War
on Portugal

Two weeks later, on 9 March 1916, Germany declared war on Portugal. The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP) and the Independent Heavy artillery Corps (C.A.P. I) were then created. Germany’s Declaration of war on Portugal brought about the Portuguese intervention in the European front, giving way to the agreement between the Democratic and Evolutionist Parties in for the formation of the Government of Sacred Union. The Constitution of a Portuguese Expeditionary Corps became an absolute priority, thus beginning the so-called “miracle of Tancos”. The country's mobilization for war, gathering all possible human and material resources, was far from consensual, and there was much outcry against the Government of Sacred Union and the shipment of troops to France, as internal divisions grew at all levels, including within the armed forces.

Portuguese Troops Departing for the Western Front

The trenches were a paradigmatic and striking element in the history of World War I—front line, conquered territory, space to defend, confrontational zone, and refuge zone. They were a place of common living, imposed residence, both surprising and dull, always prolonged… They were a stronghold of conviviality and sharing for thousands of soldiers, on both sides of a sometimes blurry line, dividing a disputed, inaccurate and insecure area. The living conditions were precarious; sometimes worsened by the rain and snow that rushed into the trenches, filling them with mud, hindering the soldiers’ movements even more. The trench routine prevailed over everything else, only interrupted by gunfire, bombings and night raids. The soldiers dug, cleaned and took care of communications. The sentinels watched out for the enemy. The days were always similar, filled with repetitive and exhausting chores. The nights were long, and spent permanently on hold, in a watchful and fearful state.

Heavy Artillery Unit

Then came the German offensives of 1918. Throughout 1917 and 1918, the CEP had participated in several skirmishes. Its intervention was indelibly associated to the battle of La Lys, on 9 April 1918, which was the date set for the replacement of the Portuguese military. The CEP was shattered, taking 500 dead and losing 6,500 prisoners and a number of many of its members were taken prisoner. Since that day, 9 April has been a day of remembrance in Portugal.

Massive Prisoner Column After the April Attack

It is not the cruelty related to all those killed and wounded, the sacrifice of all those who die fighting, or that are killed without ever even taking part in any fighting, which weighs heavily on the soul: it is the stupidity of the sacrifice of lives and possessions to anything that is ultimately useless. All ideals and all ambitions are the wicked chimera of male old hags.

Bernardo Soares (Fernando Pessoa), Livro do Desassossego (Book of Disquiet)

Source: "We know this war by heart, 1918;" Original Source: Instituto de História Contemporânea - Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas