Much of what Portugal would be expanding into would be semiarid, basically desert. There's a reason it went to the Germans in OTL Scramble for Africa, it was so uninteresting that everybody else ignored it. Portugal would never waste time pushing Angola's border further south if it meant less resources going to securing the Congo basin, the Great Lakes and the Rift Valley.
Rebirth of an Empire "O Renascimento de um Império" v2.0
- Thread starter Lusitania
- Start date
Much of what Portugal would be expanding into would be semiarid, basically desert. There's a reason it went to the Germans in OTL Scramble for Africa, it was so uninteresting that everybody else ignored it. Portugal would never waste time pushing Angola's border further south if it meant less resources going to securing the Congo basin, the Great Lakes and the Rift Valley.
Angola large desert too and there that river they can follow from luanda and the green coast
Lusitania
Donor
The Portuguese trade with Russia did both assist that country with its own colonialism as well as provide it with both monies and resources it would otherwise not of had. It also provided the Portuguese in Asia with resources for it growing navy and ability to project power at a crucial time when it was being challenged by variety of countries.
As for Cisplatina and the rest of the Portuguese empire, access or authorization to settle in them was still very restricted and it would be years before full fledged emigration will happen, that being said nothing stopped a few brave men to join Portuguese ship crew in the Baltic ports and at some point in time settle throughout the empire. But wholesale emigration be a few decades away. There were exceptions but those will be posted in future posts.
Yes Portugal and Spain were at odd over the estuary but from the Portuguese side there was still some influence and trade, one aspect was smuggling of Portuguese goods into Spanish America was easier that the smuggling of English goods since they did not have to be smuggled into Portugal.
We have a very large section dealing with Portuguese battles against he Dutch and French during the war to post later on after the government section.
Many of these are legitimate points but not topics we feel comfortable discussing at this point. Butterfly affect will get larger for both Portugal as well as for other countries so it not fair to talk about the future too much until we provided readers with a detailed explanation of how we get there. Then things will make sense and readers fully understand the reason certain events happen.
Lusitania
Donor
With the increasing communications between White Portuguese looking to combat their vulnerability to tropical diseases, Africans with a history of clearing mosquito nests, and Indians which have used mosquito nets since the Middle Ages, eventually someone important in the Portuguese command chain is going to recognize that it's very important to cut down on the number of times a person in a place like the Amazon or the Congo gets bitten by mosquitos. With cloth production rising in Angola, supplying nets to the Atlantic Army and to explorers could be a very lucrative contract.
I'm posting my prediction on what the final extent of 'Portuguese Africa' might be, given Portugal continues playing its cards right and only taking land up to rivers for maximum defensibility.
[/SPOILER]
ok how do I comment on these topics...…… sorry but as a mater of fact some of these points will be answered in the current time period 1777-1782 but others will take the Portuguese several decades to reach there. We will see.
I do want to state that the premises above are not unreasonable but to say that the Portuguese Africa would encompass exactly those territories is way too early to say. iTOL the Portuguese did claim the lands between Angola and Mozambique and Portugal's failure in obtaining led to dissatisfaction with the monarchy and contributed to the 1910 revolution. Also the kingdom of Kongo had for the previous century prior to the scramble for Africa been a Portuguese protectorate but the Portuguese were just too insignificant and too weak to obtain their claim over both these territories.
hm.. interesting, we will see what happens in the upcoming war is all I can say.
First thank you for being a fan and we welcome you and always encourage your input and questions. We will take your suggestion into consideration for future chapters. Thanks
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Rebirth of Empire (2 of 2) - The Last Years of Pombal (1777 - 1782) - Minister of Planning and Infrastructure (1 of 2)
Lusitania
Donor
Rebirth of Empire (Part 2 of 2) (Cont.)
The Last Years of Pombal (1777-1782) (Cont.)
Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure (1 of 2)
“We must also ensure that wealth is not wasted, but instead used for the growth of the nation. Our roads, canals, water breaks and homes are as important to our coffers as the wealth that fills them. So that our citizens may see for themselves the result of their hard work, I hereby announce the creation of the ministry of planning and infrastructure to make certain the correct application of coin and the transformation of the country.”
-Prime Minister Marquis of Pombal, addressing the Commerce Plaza crowd on the creation of the new ministry
The Last Years of Pombal (1777-1782) (Cont.)
Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure (1 of 2)
“We must also ensure that wealth is not wasted, but instead used for the growth of the nation. Our roads, canals, water breaks and homes are as important to our coffers as the wealth that fills them. So that our citizens may see for themselves the result of their hard work, I hereby announce the creation of the ministry of planning and infrastructure to make certain the correct application of coin and the transformation of the country.”
-Prime Minister Marquis of Pombal, addressing the Commerce Plaza crowd on the creation of the new ministry
Up until 1777, the correct development of land and cities was a responsibility of all ministries, companies and citizens, but this had overtime led to long term problems which compromised the country’s growth and potential. Despite its size and wealth, the country had less development and population density than some smaller countries, particularly the Netherlands, and this was partly due to an archaic distribution of street architecture which had strangled the small spaces of fertility and safety the nation had.
After the Earthquake of 1755, the Pombaline Style streets took the capital by storm, organizing its reconstruction into an intelligent grid of buildings that not only safeguarded against Earthquakes but improved beauty and movement in the city’s center without compromising optimal space use. This was done through tremendous hard work but done nonetheless and the strong blood flow in Lisbon proved it was worth the sacrifice.
It was therefore obvious that much of the territory was improperly used. During the tax reforms and road construction of the late Pombaline government, for example, it was discovered only a small percentage of arable land was being farmed and that many lands registered as ‘wild’ were only so to avoid tax payment. This represented a gross waste of land potential every single year which prevented the country from accelerating its development.
As one of his final legacies, Pombal wished to institute a government body that would ensure the continuation of his land development philosophies after his death. He therefore constituted the new Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure. Its objective would be to promote the efficiency and long-term benefits of land development, whether through road construction, architecture, shore use, bridging or even in the bureaucracy itself. This means this Ministry would have a finger on many others, as authorization for many construction projects would have to undergo checking, testing and refinement by this government department.
Whoever assumed the helm of this task would have to be a person of vision and discipline that could not be afraid of saying no to others. Not many candidates were available, unfortunately, but preparations for the ministry’s birth had been ongoing since the Earthquake. By 1777, therefore, the candidate was chosen.
The Noble Governor
Luís António Mourão
1722-1798
Statesman, Governor and Cavalry Lieutenant
Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure 1777 - 1792
Luís António Mourão
1722-1798
Statesman, Governor and Cavalry Lieutenant
Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure 1777 - 1792
Born to an aristocratic family ruling over Amarante, ‘Louis’ Mourão served with distinction in the war of the Grand Alliance as a cavalry man, earning great prestige for his family. He gained even greater fame during none other than the Undeclared War, where he acted as governor of the booming region of São Paulo, which was unharmed by the war and, under his administration, saw the creation of many new villages as well as their elevation to towns and cities, as well as fortifications to defend against potential incursions of the Spanish Empire.
In 1771 he travelled to Mazagan, in the new province of Morbeia taken by the Portuguese from Morocco, where he stayed for three years to assist governor Brito in developing the region’s fortifications and agriculture as well as improve conditions for the new coming Island Settlers and Berber refugees. By the creation of the Marque of Morbeia, Governor Louis was recognized as an intelligent city planner and soldier with extensive experience in making use of budget for sustainable growth, something which attracted the attention of the government.
In 1777, the Marquis of Pombal invited Louis to head the office of the newly born Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure, a task the governor took to put the jewel on his career’s crown.
As result of his upbringing in aristocracy, military and administration, Louis was a lover of organization and rallying, demonstrating skill in motivating workers and lesser leaders towards the fulfillment of operations and projects. His new task required him to work in conjunction with the other ministries more than any of his new Minister peers, which meant Louis had to familiarize himself with and befriend the entire cabinet in a short time. His travelled life supplied him with a wealth of experience in dealing with others and the governor quickly fell in the graces of Finance Minister Jacome Ratton, H&A Minister Aaron and Navy Minister Castro.
He was also passionate about his job, finding great pleasure in organizing work and watching cities grow, seeing it as the greatest expression of his work. His contribution the state would be vital to accelerate growth and long-term benefits and many of the construction innovation of the late 18th century in the country were thanks to his efforts.
Mineral Map & Organization Needs
The Metropolitan Mining & Quarry Company was founded in the late 1750s and gathered under its wing several already existing mining forces such as the Lena Mining Enterprise with the objective of prospecting and regulating the extraction of coal, iron and even stone. This revitalized the limited mineral production in Portugal by delineating new, reformed regulations on company land owning and mining rights while also increasing market-to-government transparency via the new overbearing bureaucracy and market regulation.
The Aveiro Delta, Sado and Guadiana Salt Companies were founded almost simultaneously so as to chart the areas adequate for collecting the precious mineral, at the time highly valued while heavily taxed, and regulate its distribution to the market.
Riding on the steady economical and infrastructural growth, the 1777 to 1782 period was one of gradual growth for the mineral enterprise. The country’s actual resources were limited, but thanks to charting and new commerce the profits and growth returned. During this time, the MMQ Company focused on creating conditions for extraction and transportation to feed urban manufactories. Quarts and talc mines grew with special prominence, in large part thanks to the booming glass industry in Lisbon companies like ‘Vista Alegre’.
The industry, however, fought against time and fuel. Many foreign nations had several times over the mineral output capacity of Portugal, which means competition was difficult and demoralizing. All the mines could really count on was their own labor and the success of burghers in the cities to secure lucrative contracts with manufactories and colonies. Mine work also remained a dangerous profession which none dreamed of. In conclusion, there was little power and accomplishment to be gained from this enterprise.
The fires of adversity forced the Commercial Ministry to adapt and evolve; fighting to bolster commerce in the international stage but realizing the nation could barely feed its own needs. During this time, the Chambers of Commerce faced their first great challenge; could they make Portuguese minerals a successful business? Extra hard work was therefore put forth by the ministry to complement that of the Chambers. It was urgent that mineral charting was conducted to realize the true potential of the nation as soon as possible.
In 1779, by making use of the new methods of classed transportation and bureaucracy, the ministry was able to successfully organize a nation-wide prospection so as to build a ‘Mineral Map of Portugal’.
‘Mineral Map of Portugal’ Modern Edition
‘Uranium’ and ‘Titanium’ identified in newer editions
The collected data allowed for the construction of a national map which detailed the primary reserves in the country. Some metals, particularly Titanium and Uranium, were only identified upon their respective classifications in 1791 and 1789. Barium, on the other hand, also known as ‘Bologna Stone’, was a recent discovery, having been documented in 1774 by Sir Humphry Davy’s isolation of Barium Oxide and bore tremendous interest from scientific institutions due to its use in gas removal.
The Chambers of Commerce used the map to organize an exploration, mining and commercialization effort. With profits in mind, the gentlemen of the Chamber invested further in the Royal Roads project and in the construction of quarries and mines to extract the most precious metals. Their ambitions, however, were interrupted by the state. Prime Minister Pombal wished the riches, too, but feared the uncontrolled investment would compromise intelligent development of the country.
The newborn Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure took control of the effort and used documented practices to ensure the long-term benefits of the exploration. Between 1780 and 1782, the following work was need:
- Mining & Transformation Investment
- Proper Storage
- Purification Methodology
- Profitable Contract Securement
The Mineral Map was an early project of Louis’ tenure, one of the first tasks he conducted nationwide, and it was important to put to light some of the problems his department was going to face, mainly the four fields above. The records of mineral prospections were stored and used later on and the Ministry focused its energies in addressing the lingering issues in national project cohesion.
Construction Law & Engineer Order
“Work, like war, needs organization and science. A building of calculated materials can be replicated easily, a union of trained workers can be called to arms quickly and a bill of predicted expenditures can be handled cheaply.”
-Minister Louis, advocating organization of public works
Work instructions being supplied during Lisbon’s reconstruction
“Work, like war, needs organization and science. A building of calculated materials can be replicated easily, a union of trained workers can be called to arms quickly and a bill of predicted expenditures can be handled cheaply.”
-Minister Louis, advocating organization of public works
Work instructions being supplied during Lisbon’s reconstruction
As already written, the Earthquake of Lisbon was a traumatic event that also supplied the country with a wealth of experience in reconstruction efforts. The fabrication of streets in neat, organized fashion was one, but also other factors like the gathering of workers and the handling of costs were improved upon by sheer force of necessity and reformation. Louis’s Ministry sought to somehow preserve this experience and make use of it in every future endeavor of the country. More or less at the same time, the success of Orders like the Order of Dentists, Economists and Medics were showing off the fruits of their labors through the rejuvenation of Portugal’s scientific and financial communities. Assembly institutions like the Chambers of Commerce were also noteworthy in their contribution to society’s advancement.
Motivated by the needs of the Mineral Map and the growing understanding of productivity, Minister Louis sought to lay the groundwork for a scientific labor revolution in Portugal. The first step was to reform the Ministry itself to link it to national documentation on Metropolitan regions, meaning he wished the ministry to be aware of the country’s ongoing projects. He ordered the exclusive reservation of post office communication channels and attempted to gain a grip on national infrastructure growth. In January 1779, he collected a situation forecast that detailed the following preoccupations:
- Royal Road Slugging: The ongoing and incredibly consuming Royal Road project was growing in stress and sluggishness, with road construction slowing down and becoming more taxing as farthermost and harsher areas were reached;
- Project Inefficiency: Projects were, overall, whether private or public, inefficient in speed, design and quality compared to other more developed countries, showing off considerable financial and temporal waste;
- Lack of Autonomous Development: Municipal initiative was severely low due to a terrible balance between city privileges and government powers during the Pombaline Administration, low levels of countryside education and limited commercial interest;
- Lack of Judicial Framework: Laws protecting workers, companies and projects were virtually non-existent and regulations against harmful construction was underdeveloped;
- Lack of Scientific Method: Ongoing projects demonstrated a gross lack of adherence to scientific and engineering norms, leading to further loss of potential, affordability and speed;
- Justice Ministry Appeal: An appeal for legal framework creation was made by the Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure to define, enforce and develop basic labor laws;
- Accounting Expansion: Bureaucracy was reformed to include the registration of budget expenses in certain entities, primarily that of large cities or privileged towns, with the objective of discouraging corrupt budget use;
- Autonomous Development Incentives: Following the previous step, restrictions were lifted on autonomous development in minor magistracies provided minor guidelines, like the prohibition of flood-or-fire-vulnerable construction, were followed, and a reward system for profitable and law-abiding development was prepared;
- Government Department for Construction Fraud Combat: Resources were reserved for the creation of government, police and investigative departments dedicated to combating civil construction fraud and indiscipline;
- Engineering Course Promotion: Subsidies were given for the growth of Engineer courses in universities, promoting a new generation of construction leaders;
This in turn meant that the government could afford to more confidently delegate investigation to the police and the work to private companies. Combined with the lifting of restrictions in autonomous development, decentralized administration, literacy growth and immigration, the institution of the law led to the spontaneous growth of cities and of civil construction industry.
In 1782, a decent community of engineer graduates was available to take over scientific work in construction. To regularize and honor the community, as well as guarantee the employment of their skill, the government approved the founding of a new Engineer Order, thus classifying Engineers in society.
Order of Engineers Heraldry
The Order of Engineers was dedicated to serving the interests and growth of the engineers of the Empire, but also ensuring their professionalism, ethics and discipline. Much like the medical orders, this institution challenged classical Estate society by presenting a new class of citizens of distinct interests, objectives and policies. The Order of Engineers flourished in the late Pombaline and early Josephine periods thanks to the boom in urban construction in India, Brazil, Angola and Portugal but also due to the gradual liberalization of market and development of law.
Magistracy Reform & Organized Labor Force
“What good is a windmill without farmers? What good is a house without bricks? What good is an architect without workers? What good is a circus without tricks?”
-Minister Mourão, joking about the lack of organized labor in the countryside
“What good is a windmill without farmers? What good is a house without bricks? What good is an architect without workers? What good is a circus without tricks?”
-Minister Mourão, joking about the lack of organized labor in the countryside
18th Century Worker Squalor
The intensification of manufactory rise of the burgher classes and the expansion of market sizes led to a high demand of goods unlike never seen before, one that would not be properly answered until industrialization advanced itself. Competition in development between Western-European countries was very intense, especially for countries like Portugal which struggled to remain relevant in world affairs. Ideas and ambition were abounding, but projects often stalled due to monetary or workforce limits.
For the greater part of the post-Earthquake period, Portugal had pretty much drafted workers to labor, bringing in people from Brazil to rebuild Lisbon and putting impoverished families at work in land enclosure, road construction and university building. It was a cheap, rude method to answer the problem of a small, unskilled workforce, but one that also threatened to build up popular stress in the country. For a culture as anarchist and silently revolted as the Portuguese, it was not wise to underpay and overwork men, women and children.
The method by itself also failed to address other issues; the abolishment of serfdom meant that workers were harder to gather as they were no longer bound to a specific land and ensuring the professionalism and skill of said workers was a difficult task. So far, the only meaningful development in this area had been done in agriculture; the introduction of land enclosure was a major weapon against the prevalence of subsistence farming in the sense it managed to organize groups of farmers to work under companies with supplied tools, mills, cattle and technique, allowing for a significant rise of productivity.
This, however, carried dangerous social repercussions; farmers working on organized terrain developed strong senses of communal identity and the bizarre idea of land property as that ‘Of people for the people’ rather than the individual was starting to pop up. It seemed as if the peasants, when forced to work together in government land under the guise of productivity increase, even for the ultimate end of market sale, began to discard the value of personal property in favor of that of work…
Thanks to Census programs, demographic information was now being regularly collected and stored, allowing bureaucracy to evolve. Minister Mourão faced problems of gathering reliable workforce so it seemed obvious at first that making use of magistracies to guarantee the presence of workforce. The solution proposed was the expansion of town hall bureaucracy to keep in check the number of available skilled workers in major construction centers. The main idea was to allow both government and private enterprises to be able to summon workers and craftsmen at the location of construction itself.
This allowed the instantaneous drafting of reliable laborers to construction on-site. The principal advantage of this is that it made private enterprises more sustainable and quicker to start, as well as replacing the feeding of materials and workers to projects at long distance from Lisbon with short-to-medium range supply from the nearest bureaucratic center. A construction project in a city therefore provided labor and wage to local registered workers, improving popular support for development, speeding up the process and reducing costs in areas away from the capital.
Of course this measure had a number of requirements and risks; the first was that the state needed, more than ever, a truly efficient bureaucratic system that could prevent labor fraud and eliminate the typical disadvantages of delegating work from the capital to lesser magistracies, the second was that it put additional stress on urbanization matters, with cities growing even more important in relation to villages due to how they now could offer even more jobs than agriculture, and the third was that it furthered the organized labor community culture that was being observed in land enclosure, fueling further political concerns.
On the other hand, this meant something very important to Portugal during this time of market liberalization, reformation and investment; the funding and stock buying of non-central projects became more efficient, with turnouts for investing in the countryside infrastructure being less risky and beginning profits earlier. This meant acceleration in overall yearly growth. One example of this was the completion of the Royal Roads project; the secondary phase of road construction and ensuing privately-funded District Roads was accelerated and made more affordable by making skilled, organized workers readily available at the sites of construction.
Note:
We continue posting the Last Years of Pombal 1777 -1782. The continuation of the Last Years of Pombal government and country section is a very good example of the progress the country had made. For even the prior sections also were pre-requisites to the success of this Ministry. Strong leadership provided by King and Prime Minister office, allow for strong rule of law provided by Minister of Interior. Then we need two other ingredients an education system to provide the leadership and also basic skills to the workforce and lastly we need money and lots of money to allow for the construction which the Minister of Finance provided. Which gets us to the Minister of Planning and Infrastructure that relies on the work of the previous Ministries and provides additional contributions. Questions/Comments
Please return Sunday April 7 as we post the 2nd part of the Rebirth of Empire (2 of 2) - The Last Years of Pombal 1777 - 1782 (Minister of Planning and Infrastructure).
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It's interesting that the peasants would begin to have more sophisticated ideas of land ownership not too many years before Thomas Paine writes Agrarian Justice, where he makes the case that no one person could really justly claim ownership of land, only the improvements to it that they build and maintain, and so they owe rent to the community which they deprive the land from, that rent being used to fund one of the first modern conceptions of social security. It just so happens that the Portugese government is now doing a valuation of the nations land, and there's a growing section of the land owning aristocracy with a appreciation for meritocracy and which have an interest in disempowering their deadweight counterparts who don't want to modernise. With the peasantry organising and seeing the French Revolution bring down the Ancien Regime, might we see Portugal introducing a citizens dividend, and a land tax to fund it, to both strengthen the economy and to stop the people from getting too head-choppy?
Lusitania
Donor
Good morning, next post in TL will follow in next hour or so, but before we post that I wanted to reply to the above question. In summary the posted section is merely foreshadowing urbanization and socialism.
In reality the really poignant point here is that people are getting less attached to land and getting new definitions of labor. The real advancement is that Portugal is losing its agricultural mindset and the changes have nothing to do with liberalism. It's just a sign that changes in the reality of land ownership naturally have an effect on ideas of sovereignty as well. From Portugal's founding people in Portugal especially nobles and even church have driven all sorts of meaning regarding taxes and control on the ownership of land, the crown derived taxes and power from its ownership and control while nobles and church exerting power over peoples lives from its ownership. We also wanted to point to our lagging in modernization and advancement in agricultural technology, which advances much more rapidly when we change the attachment to land.
Lastly, a lot of this will become clearer when you we post the Agriculture sections, there we will be talk about the market of food and how people are sort of reorganizing the agricultural sector, and how this had long term political repercussions.
As for if Portugal will get a Liberal Revolution, the answer is obviously yes. That being said it's already been happening, just a lot more gradually. We have to also take the mindset of the TL Pombaline people who are going through a very eventful set of changes who having survived all the changes have become pretty politically minded. In many ways we could compare them to iOTL ourselves having gone through a succession of April Revolutions.
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Rebirth of Empire (2 of 2) - The Last Years of Pombal (1777 - 1782) - Minister of Planning and Infrastructure (2 of 2)
Lusitania
Donor
Rebirth of Empire (Part 2 of 2) (Cont.)
The Last Years of Pombal (1777-1782) (Cont.)
Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure (2 0f 2)
The Secretary of Transportation
The Last Years of Pombal (1777-1782) (Cont.)
Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure (2 0f 2)
The Secretary of Transportation
In the 1770s the Brazilian road building project grew in scope and gained popular momentum; southern Brazilian authorities and burghers clamored for an infrastructure project to support their growing industry and commerce. It was at this time that several studies both in Portugal and Brazil were carried out to determine the feasibility of increasing Portuguese and Brazilian rivers for transportation.
In 1779, Henrique José de Carvalho e Melo, the eldest son of the Prime Minister was appointed as the Secretary of Transportation. While his relationship with Minister of Finance was at first strained Henry Melo did not want to be defined by his father but instead wanted to be judged by his own actions and worked hard to not only continue the road building projects but the various studies on river transportation.
Henrique José de Carvalho e Melo 2nd Marquis of Pombal 1782 - 1812
Born 28 Jan 1748
Died 26 May 1812
Secretary of Transport 1779 - 1791
In 1782 he presented the two preliminary studies to Rattan and cabinet ‘Portuguese Navigation’ and ‘Brazil Navigation’. The Portuguese study dealt with the feasibility of using the Douro, Mondego and Tagus rivers as inland waterways. While the Brazil study looked at several rivers that could be used for navigation and were situated in populated areas[1]. The main rivers outlined in the study were:
- The San Francisco River to link Minas Gerais to Atlantic,
- Paraiba do Sul and Doce Rivers in Rio de Janeiro,
- Jequitinhonha River in Bahia
- Uruguay River
River Improvement – Study and Planning
Up until the early 19th Century, before the creation of railroads, river basins were extremely important to human civilizations. A valley or plain bathed by a healthy river course had a boon of atmospheric, commercial and social blessings, providing water to dense populations, fertility to fields, energy to manufacturing, cheap transportation to merchants and defense from invaders. Empires rose and fell based on the power of river networks. Rivers were not, however, without their risks; floods were responsible for some of the greatest catastrophes in human history, with the great Chinese rivers causing millions of deaths per major flood event due to ensuing disease and famine.
Humans had therefore learned to take advantage of rivers through infrastructure; dams, levees, canals, docks, ports, shipyards, aqueducts and bridges were all constructions that made rivers safer and more profitable, but these technologies were works that carried great duress and risk in themselves, carrying great immediate costs and non-guaranteed returns. This was due to a lack of scientific understanding of commerce, hydrodynamics, environment and engineering that limited project and prediction efficiencies. Even so, great canal projects like Corinth and Danube-Rhine were engineering dreams that had been attempted as early as the times of Augustus and Charlemagne, respectively. By the 8th century, in fact, a great stretch of the Chinese fluvial network possessed canals.
Portugal was no exception to the rule of importance. Its history of conquest and commerce, in fact, had been dominated by the importance of rivers throughout itself and throughout the world; the Douro, Tagus and Guadiana Rivers were major natural defenses in the metropolitan territory and contributed immensely to the development of Lisbon and Oporto as commercial and administrative centers. Throughout the late Pombaline Period, as the economy improved, the charm of river improvement projects gained new romance to engineers as the British Canal system unraveled itself in the northern Isles to complement its industry.
The rise of ambitious land transportation projects like the Royal Road highways gave momentum to the belief that heavy construction was possible and profitable in Portugal. Due to its uneven terrain, the country was dependent on bridges and hillside roads to maintain communications; even the Royal Road highways only established connections between important centers, relying on upcoming District Roads to connect with lesser locations, because radical road construction in certain areas, particular the north and northeast, was hindered by significant natural barriers. Rivers, on the other hand, cut through terrain and created banks where construction was easier. In the case of the Douro River, however, the cut is so deep that the banks are steep, causing construction to be made on terrain difficult to capitalize on.
Douro River allowed navigations but lacked lowland shores
The Royal Road ran into another conundrum in the late 1770s; most of the main Royal Roads built, like Lisbon-Coimbra, approached river obstacles perpendicularly, eventually morphing into bridges, but the construction of the Lisbon-Abrantes road followed an approach parallel to the river, following it all the way to the city. Engineers expressed concerns that inadequate road proximity to the river along its length would make future corrective construction and riverside development very difficult. Alterations were made to the project as a whole to reserve a significant amount of bank space to the development of farms, river ports and towns, but it still raised the question of how to take advantage of riverside terrain.
In the meantime, floods continued to be a problem throughout the country and irrigation remained an incognita in the Alentejo region, where the land was driest. Research projects had been issued to the University of Lisbon to draft methodologies and techniques to improve living standards in the terrain, which was vulnerable to famine and war. The Ministry of Agriculture & Health under Joseph Aaron had, before 1777, also laid out research work of land cultivation, land enclosure and irrigation. Combined with increased commerce, this allowed for the first drafting of plans for river improvement.
These studies, drafts and project maps allowed for the design of a sustainable and profitable fluvial investment plan which laid out the following objectives:
- Lock & Key Technology Engineering: Work was to be done to develop lock mechanisms, key mechanisms and river navigation plan efficiency. A scientific planning method was agreed upon by engineering schools to be taught to and used by architects and engineers;
- Height Overcoming: River height spikes were to be registered and marked to identify the spots of most difficult navigation. This was especially important in Portugal and Spain due to the Iberian Mesa’s steep height increases in river upstream areas. Work was then to be done to propose methods of overcoming said obstacles;
- Width & Flood Control: Methods to define and control river width and flooding to human benefit, like the use of levees, excavations and water-breaks, were laid out and planned;
- Urban Center Priority: Bigger investments were reserved for cities with greater return potential, particularly Coimbra and Aveiro;
- River Dam Possibility: A proposal by the University of Lisbon suggested an alternative to river straightening in areas of dry climate, namely the creation of artificial wetlands through river damming in strategic spots, creating water reserves and outflows that counter the dry climate and drought periods. The Sado and Guadiana rivers, in particular, were looked on for this possibility, which promised to provide a method to fight land erosion and salting;
The King’s Roads Project – Part 3 of 3 – Secondary Phase
Secretary Henry Melo also headed the completion of one of the nation’s most important projects, the Royal Roads. The construction of the roads throughout this period was funded with war reparations, commerce profits, small loans and reformed taxing as opposed to Brazilian gold extraction and faced a number of difficulties as a result of terrain problems. Rocky hills, wide rivers, steep falls and urban slopes limited profitable road construction to only a few viable routes but overcoming these difficulties could mean a revolution in commerce and communication. By 1777, the first phase of road construction had already connected many cities with never-before-seen roads, but some areas with important potential, especially in the Northeast, still lacked infrastructure and were relatively isolated.
The Secondary Phase then focused on wrapping up loose ends and finishing strategic connections both internally and with Spain.
Blue: Royal Roads constructed in Secondary Phase (1777-1782)
Stars: Major Cities
Red: Royal Roads constructed in Primary Phase (1755-1777)
The planning and decision-making processes for the new set of roads followed the guideline of commercial observation; the cities that demonstrated most traffic growth after the Primary Phase completion would receive the most development, as opposed to the Primary Phase which focused in establishing a network to begin with. The roads built in this period therefore reflected economic and population growth in cities more closely than the previous ones; the Royal Road highway network was denser in Lisbon (the capital), in the Oporto-Braga region (an historically denser population), in Alentejo’s main cities (where African immigration steering had been significant) and, finally, in the Aveiro-Viseu-Coimbra ‘triangle’ (where manufactory, population and education was increasing the most).
Of particular note was the engineering feat of building highways through the Viseu and Northeast regions, where steep hill lines, known as ‘Serras’, were notoriously present in large numbers, cutting through the terrain like snow-tipped rock walls. The Royal Road project as a whole was a boon to engineering development as it provided a myriad of challenges in bridging, on-slope construction, ditching, digging and tunneling, but these regions faced nearly insurmountable obstacles to path building.
Another difficulty was fund-raising; the Royal Roads were known for their full-state-ownership as investments were only allowed in the much smaller District Roads that would connect minor towns to the highways, so there was no incentive in private contributions to the project, especially as the roads were to be toll-free.
It was only thanks to intense work in planning and the development of a trained engineer community, stock market and even a bit of intentional inflammation of popular support for the project as a nation-wide mission that the state managed to overcome these difficulties, patenting many new road construction techniques and, in turn, many new quarry material processing methods, particularly stonecutting and brick fabrication. The raw material industry grew significantly thanks to this project, as construction material demand of various kinds and competition was nearly constant throughout the 1770s and early 1780s.
The introduction of wrought iron to a few designs characterized another branch of development, particularly in bridges over the Douro’s main stream which became known in several towns for their metal-and-rock style.
‘Peso da Régua’ stone and iron bridge
The work done on the project, however, was no smooth ride. While labor was paid, many workers faced difficult and very dangerous conditions, especially in the most ambitious and innovative bridging and tunneling in the north. Lives were lost and so were limbs, savings and futures. This was a project as brutal as it was promising and the prospect of working on it was about as charming as digging coal in Scottish mines.
The Government made use of the prisons, censuses and PRP to supply the workforce. Bureaucracy allowed for the rapid employment and assignment of reliable citizens, but still the majority of the workforce in some areas comprised of none other than the African and Asian immigrants and released slaves in the Metropolitan region.
African and Asian Royal Road workers
The mass employment of these ethnic groups in the same workplace allowed for the further development of their sense of racial community in parallel with the same growing sense of white labor communities in enclosed agriculture. Once again organized labor and communication meant gradual changes in people’s perception of the workplace. Long hours of paid work meant a shared duress amongst skilled and hard-working adults. Coinciding with the rise of left-wing politics, this led to the development of issues such as naturalization, work legislation and economy in the context of the basic worker’s harsh life as a serious political issue.
In any case, the completion of the Secondary Phase in late 1771 was an event of great significance. The Royal Roads, after all, were not an ordinary project and had been worked on for nearly 15 years, ever since the first construction began in early 1756. Even by European standards it was quite the feat, attracting great prestige to the newborn engineer community in Portugal. More importantly were its effects on economy and economic attractiveness on various levels; the roads not only allowed for the acceleration of commerce, but also the modernization of foreign perception of Portugal, which ceased to be a backwater country and instead became a mildly respected pre-industrial society.
The 1780s would be a decade of commercial and cultural flourishing in large part thanks to these roads. The country registered one of the most significant growth rates in its history after the completion of the project, with industrialization in various areas developing with unprecedented success rate. By 1790, the gross domestic growth would fully compensate the expenses of the project, allowing the economy to boom for the rest of the century.
It also served as the medal-of-honor to Secretary Henry and Minister Mourão’s tenure, with both figures becoming historically associated with the roads. Many important connections were baptized after these two, who succeeded in demonstrating grand infrastructural projects were both possible and profitable in the kingdom.
[1] This eliminated the use of the Amazon River since at time was almost inhabited by natives.
Note:
We continue posting the Last Years of Pombal 1777 -1782. The continuation Ministry of Planning and Infrastructure is a poignant example of the progress the country was making. Projects that were decades or even century ahead of its time. IOTL Portugal lacked good quality roads during the 18-19th century with only some progress in the 20th century. The benefits in terms of development and taxation were enormous and covered in past posts. We also discussed another major advancement that being river navigation. Note: Iberian rivers are not naturally navigable for long stretches and a lot of human development needs to be done to make them navigable. Questions/Comments
Please return Sunday April 21 as we post the 1st part of the Rebirth of Empire (2 of 2) - The Last Years of Pombal 1777 - 1782 (Ministry of Industry & Armament).
Looking at it from a military point of view, the combination of these infrastructure projects, the rebuilding of the navy and its port facilities, and the retraining of the army into a more mobile force, will give Portugal a great mastery of the interior lines in a campaign against Spain and Napoleonic France. With better roads, superiority in the Atlantic Coast, the more mobile land force, and the basic geometry that lines connecting points on the Luso-Spanish border will almost always be shorter if they cut through Portugal than if they run around it, Spain and even France will have trouble concentrating their forces at a faster rate than the Coalition can.
Lusitania
Donor
Correct, greater development and growth in Portugal to make Portugal a respected power with high standard of living will be dependent on interior being part of the growth and development. For if we had follow iOTL we would of had a few developed urban centers along the coast and a hinterland of undeveloped interior which only led to uneven development and more importantly un-development of most of the country.
Is there an upcoming war and clash with these two we should be aware? All kidding aside yes the development and re-organization of the country will position the Portuguese to both defend its territory in ways it was not able to do so in past, but just as importantly take the fight to them. How and when we will leave it to future posts. Note nothing that has happened so far in Portugal would have a "butterfly" effect to prevent the external events happening or about to happen in most of Europe (with the exception of few minor events) but majority of late 18th and early 19th century events will happen, how they unfold is what makes the TL interesting and fun.
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Rebirth of Empire (2 of 2) - The Last Years of Pombal (1777 - 1782) - Minister of Industry & Armament
Lusitania
Donor
Rebirth of Empire (Part 2 of 2) (Cont.)
The Last Years of Pombal (1777-1782) (Cont.)
Ministry of Industry & Armament
“The development of industry and logistics is the development of the national bloodstream, bringing wealth to our citizens, goods to our businesses and arms to our forces. The creation of an entity centrally responsible for the well-being of our industrialization will allow the state to better protect our interests and the citizen to be assured of his investment return. To this new post I recommend the illustrious citizen William Stephens.”
-Prime Minister Marquis of Pombal, addressing the Commerce Plaza crowd on the creation of the new ministry
The British Investor
Guillermo Stephens
Born 16 May 1731
Died 11 May 1803
Minister of Armament and Industry 1763 -1788
English-Born Industrialist & Investor
The Last Years of Pombal (1777-1782) (Cont.)
Ministry of Industry & Armament
“The development of industry and logistics is the development of the national bloodstream, bringing wealth to our citizens, goods to our businesses and arms to our forces. The creation of an entity centrally responsible for the well-being of our industrialization will allow the state to better protect our interests and the citizen to be assured of his investment return. To this new post I recommend the illustrious citizen William Stephens.”
-Prime Minister Marquis of Pombal, addressing the Commerce Plaza crowd on the creation of the new ministry
The British Investor
Guillermo Stephens
Born 16 May 1731
Died 11 May 1803
Minister of Armament and Industry 1763 -1788
English-Born Industrialist & Investor
Metallurgy Patronizing & The Metropolitan ‘Coal Plan’ (1780)
“Modernization in Portugal will be inescapably expensive. We therefore we must make every effort to support it.”
-William Stephens (1780)
“Modernization in Portugal will be inescapably expensive. We therefore we must make every effort to support it.”
-William Stephens (1780)
Up until the late 18th century, iron had been produced in Europe through the burning of vegetal charcoal, a widespread method that became increasingly expensive as non-fossil coal began depleting in England. Furthermore, its transformation into steel was done through carburizing the bars during the cementing process, a method that only surfaced in the 17th century.
Coke coal began to be used then, fueling innovation in the forges themselves and new, taller oven designs with new material ratios were created. Metallurgical research and innovation in Portugal had been reliant on foreign developments up until the Pombaline period, but the rebirth of mining industry and the expansion of universities allowed for the resurrection of scientific research on chemistry in the country. The 1770s had seen significant work done in prospecting in the project known as ‘the Mineral Map’, fueling mineral research further. The standard was now that mineral mapping had a scientific interest and that the scientific interest had an ultimate industrial benefit.
Guillermo Stephens classified metallurgy as a scientific field and funded introduction of chemistry classes to promote independent metallurgy in Portugal. The development of iron mines in Goa and non-iron mines in Brazil created a demand for metal processing industries like steel, bronze and even glass manufactories. These were all highly-processed products that were essential for big-scale profit and economic development.
Patronizing metallurgy, however, placed the ministry in a position of responsibility towards securing resources for said activity. Throughout the late 18th century, preoccupations regarding the availability of combustion agents, especially coal, began increasing rapidly, especially as industrial ideas began developing more furiously in Lisbon and Oporto in the 1770s. The country, however, had few or no tapped energy sources.
In 1779, the Ministry of Planning & Infrastructure finished the collection of superficial data on mineral resources in the country in the so called ‘Mineral Map’, which mostly served to encourage and organize the growth of the mineral sector. Minister Stephens sought to replicate the feat in metallic and fuel minerals but succeeded in confirming only two significant coal mines in metropolitan territory, namely the Pedorido mine east of Oporto and a region of disparate sources around Leiria. None of these held coal in large quantities or in acceptable quality.
Prospects for coal production in Portugal were then dim, at best, hoping only for a trickle of cheap rocks that would likely be sucked up by the sector’s main interests before long. While a number of copper sources were uncovered in southern lands and a silver and gold source was documented in Jales, the review of the effort ultimately showed that it had been mostly for naught.
This wasn’t to say that Portuguese colonies could not produce coal; soldiers and settlers of the Cisplatina War confirmed in 1769 that the Jacuí River in ‘Rio Grande do Sul’ held a source of potential coal outcrop and the miners in Santa Catarina further north also reported very significant coal deposits. Moreover, rumors were rising in Mozambique (especially in the Tete trade outpost) that the Zambezi River had a black coal reserve somewhere up its length although the terrain was too inhospitable to confirm. However, none of these sources were enough to provide confident supply for the colonies themselves, much less exportation to Lisbon, and coal was a mineral particularly expensive to transport anyway.
At the end of the year, Minister Stephens declared to the cabinet that the government would not be able to guarantee a steady and sustainable supply of coal to its industry sector if reliant solely on its own resources. As a result, the Cabinet delegated the matter, which instantly became a long-term problem icon, to the hands of the Ministry of Finance & Commerce.
The 1780 ‘Coal Plan’ was drafted in early January between the MFC and MIA as a top-secret commerce strategy plan to secure the countries coal necessities not through extraction but through trade. This meant that Metropolitan Portugal would pay an especially heavy price in coal importations in the future and that the objective of the cabinet would be to provide conditions to lessen the costs of this ahead of time.
Even so it was critical to lay out some plan and the following points were underlined:
- Reserve Build-Up (Black Pillow): National resources like low-heating coal and charcoal available to be produced internally were to be build up anyway to create the so-called ‘Black Pillow’ (por. Almofada Preta) to prevent energy shortages and financial difficulties in the event of price gauging;
- Charcoal Forestry Charters: New charters were laid out to specialize forestry in the production of charcoal;
- Harbor Activity Work: Important harbors, especially Lisbon and Oporto, would have to have commercial, bureaucratic and logistical plans ready to ensure the smooth entrance and utilization of foreign coal for modernization;
- Supporting the Merchant Fleet: Building on the previous point, the Ministry of I & A would support from its own budget the efforts by the Ministries of Finance & Commerce as well as navy & CA to build up the national merchant fleet;
- Steam Engine Research: A special focus would have to be made in universities and laboratories to study steam power to both advance national knowledge of the technology and secure useful patents, thus offsetting the handicap in the field;
- Household Fuel Education/Taxation: An arduous effort would have to be made to inspire in the populace the use of less important fuel resources, such as charcoal, in household warming and activities instead of industrially important coal, even if taxing important fuels would be eventually necessary;[1]
- Development of Fuel-Dependent Tool Supply: Furnaces, ovens and stove supply was to be developed in direct proportion to rising coke and coal needs in the economy as well as the ready availability of iron tools;
It would also motivate a state-wide prospection encouragement project that led to many explorers and miners in the metropolis and colonies alike to search out for outcrops. In 1784, this would lead to the fateful discovery of diamonds in Sierra Leone, just southeast of Bissau.
Global Logistics Plan
The American Revolutionary War and Seven Years War exposed flaws in European warfare logistics. Armies relied on local foraging and supply, coupled with accompanying support population like midwives and hunters, to keep a marching army fed and armed. The Fantastic War had been won mostly due to masterful supply line cutting, allowing the Portuguese to starve the Spanish to death. The advances in engineering and technology, unfortunately, did not allow for a full correction of this problem and armies would have to loot and forage well into the Napoleonic Wars.
Portugal possessed a significant number of oversea troops and colonial garrisons which needed to stay supplied as well. While possessions such as Brazil and Goa were completely self-sufficient due to their size and infrastructure, other territories like Angola, Timor, Macau and Guinea, this last one an important military outpost during the Pombaline era, could only support a limited number of present troops.
Thanks to administrative advances, organized communication was in place in the imperial hierarchy, allowing official mail to be conducted with efficiency and protocol. In tune with the theater charters given to the different armies, such as the Atlantic Army being given jurisdiction over Brazilian and West African colonies, William Stephens prepared an infrastructural and personnel plan for a logistics network that could support large-scale expeditions through the Ocean. The intention was to prevent what happened with the British in America, where they found themselves unable to field well organized and well supplied military interventions due to the necessary ocean trip delaying and limiting the amount of troops England could efficiently attack with.
Thanks to work done in the Navy Ministry, not only were Merchant and Royal Navies organized, but the sailors themselves held a higher living standard in which a vitamin-rich diet of citrus fruit was available. This meant that long ocean-going trips were far less dangerous to larger amounts of crewmen. William Stephens was then able to get the Navy Ministry to pass legislation that made transportation crews in the Navy responsible for the supplying of armies on limited foraging ground, such as Guinea.
This in turn allowed for the creation of oversea depots connected to food supply centers which could support a larger army with less attrition losses, as well as pass on equipment upgrades and reforms more efficiently. This increased the strategic significance of certain territories and the reach of Portuguese influence, eventually fueling war in Guinea and Moluccas with native forces.
More importantly, however, this created the logistical network that allowed for the rapid equipment reshuffling necessary for other important reforms, namely the creation of the ‘Silver Arm’ concentrated industry and the introduction of gun-drilled weapons.
National Metal & Arms Industry – ‘Silver Arm’ Weapon Complex
Patronizing metallurgy, investing in education, promoting investment, bolstering manufactories and charting metallic resources allowed Minister Stephens one last significant contribution during his first tenure; the institution of weapon manufacturing in Portugal.
Barcarena Gunpower Factory
The increased military training and activity in the country required a complex weapon and supply industry base that fed on quality metal, wood, rope, textile, combustibles and gunpowder in order to provide battalions with bayonets, muskets, sabers, pistols, cannons, cannon igniters, horse spurs, Bluecoat Uniforms and much, much more. Throughout the Pombaline Cabinet Government (1763-1777) this need had been met with an investment in gunpowder industry in Brazil and weapon manufactory in Portugal, trade deals with more industrialized nations like Britain and commercial agreements to keep costs down. By 1778, however, approximately 40,000 professional soldiers were active throughout the Empire in the ‘Secure Portugal’ project, meaning the problem was growing unsustainable.
In 1778, a cash surplus from economic reforms and from the victory against Hyder Ali in Mysore was available and trinket iron exportations from Goa were increasing into a somewhat stable supply. Timber plantations, gunpowder ingredient processing and metallic extractions in Portugal and Brazil were also gradually growing. Using this as a basis, William Stephens designed a supply and demand industrial chart in order to organize production and consumption of the military industry. In 1779, he established the Silver Arm (por. Braço de Prata) Weapon Factory, the first major military complex in the country.
‘Silver Arm’ Weapon Complex[2]
The ‘Silver Arm’ Weapon factory was not an ordinary manufactory; in its skeleton it included not only the main body that produced the final product, but also several other minor manufactories nearby linked to it that produced components, which in turn were fed by extra-urban raw material bodies, some of them even overseas. It differed from other weapon manufactories in the country in the scope of its production; the overall factory was not the weapon manufactory in itself, but the entire production complex as a whole.
Main Riverside Complex Sector Blueprint
Its objective was simple; guaranteeing the independent production of nationally-branded arms, from metal mining to weapon output, small as that production may be. In order to establish its presence early on, William Stephens hired engineers, investors, weapon experts and experienced weapon traders to form a profitable and modern weapon company. ‘Silver Arm’ therefore was a majorly private enterprise, with most stocks owned by the investors, despite its government objective. This allowed ‘Silver Arm’ to seize minor productions, efficiently competing with rival foreigners and accomplish the production trickle objective. Many of the investors in iron mining in Portuguese colonies like Goa and Angola hailed from ‘Silver Arm’ stockholders.
Later on other private rivals within Portugal would feed off this complex’ success and form their own companies, allowing weapon technology to grow faster. By 1782, three major companies had been founded, including Silver Arm, allowing William to solidify what would become the national Metal & Arms manufacturing sector. The jobs provided by this, coupled with the intensive use given to the products and the growing climate of war, accomplished what would become one of the main and darkest legacies of his office; the militarization of the national culture. Weapon acquiring ceased to be a commercial purchase and gradually became a visible production reality in the country.
This created competition against none other than the Birmingham Gun Quarter of England, at the time growing so much it already boasting to be the foremost weapon manufacturer in the world, with yearly sales to slave traders alone reaching 100,000 guns built by 4,000-gun makers by 1788.
In the meantime, the complex continued to produce weapons as it was built and upon the breakout of the ‘Three Years War’[3] period, a span of time when military needs were highly pressed, it would see an acceleration of its expansion, profit and historical impact, but also the radicalization of the policies that initially fueled its particular sector growth. The first organized gun making sectors established in Portuguese colonies came as a result of the militarization of national priorities and the resources made available by this complex.
‘Silver Arm’ therefore also became a political symbol, becoming increasingly envisioned as a pillar of jingoist, protectionist and, coincidentally, strong-arm policies.[4] This made it a disliked symbol to pacifist citizens, who would often counter the argument of its industrial benefits with the favoring of selling its products to allies rather than make use of them directly before the constitutionalist era.
20th Century Silver Arm brand became associated with militarism
[1] Charcoal and coal still remained unpopular fuels for cooking due to popular concerns for health and poor cooking results. Only large kitchens would actually go on to attempt to make use charcoal and coal as fuel.
[2] IOTL Silver Arm was announced in Royal Decree in 1902 and completed in 1907. It was made from a number of military ammunition depots, pyrotechnic workshops and armament repair facilities.
[3] See Section: The Three-Years War (1780 – 1783).
[4] iOTL Silver Arm was ultimately closed in 1998 following the reduction of domestic armament orders.
Note:
We continue posting the Last Years of Pombal 1777 -1782. The Ministry of Industry & Armament was a crucial and vital ministry that had become a pivotal in the modernization of the Portuguese Empire. As those familiar with the TL Stephens was an important transplanted entrepreneur in Portugal and heavily associated with the Pombaline policies of industrialization both iOTL and iTTL. iTTL as the years have progressed he has been instrumental in developing Portugal's industry and just as important his "associates" in the British Isles have both provided intel and also inspired some British to assist the Portuguese industrialization. His role in the late Pombaline government has moved into a strategic and senior cabinet minister continuing both the industrialization and now the growing armament industry. As shared in previous posts the Portuguese lacked some natural minerals that facilitated British industrialization and growing military abilities so be in naval or in this case armaments the Portuguese have to be resourceful and at times strategic in its development of homegrown industry and armament industry. In time as resources are secured the growth and development of these industries and technologies will be formidable in the ability of the Portuguese to exert its influence. Questions/Comments
Please return Sunday May 5 as we post the 1st part of the Rebirth of Empire (2 of 2) - The Last Years of Pombal 1777 - 1782 (Ministry of Army & Foreign Affairs).
very good update , Portugal is advancing quite well , good i hope that we become as strong as the Britihs empire , and when WW and WWII happen , we are on the side of the Allies . can hardly wait for the next update .
Given Portugal is now searching about fuel, how is going treated "white coal" or waterpower?