A Lusophone World

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World

South African Civil War​

In 1960 longtime leader of the Nationalist Party Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom, died and was succeeded by Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd. Prime Minister Verwoerd a longtime republican demanded a new referendum to sever ties with the British Monarchy and establish a Republic.[1] The referendum was set 3 months before the 1961 election so that Verwoerd could become the country’s first President. But unlike the previous referendum 10 years before this one became a referendum on the Nationalist Party and their handling of the country security and economy. Since the late 1950s as tensions with the Portuguese Federation had risen so had the country defense costs at same time the economy continued to weaken as all economic ties cut off and investments in the Federation had been confiscated. In addition, the closing of emigration during the 1950s had contributed to the domestic economy growth dropping to less than 2% by 1960 with mining exports the only thing maintaining the country economy growing.[2] The referendum proved to be another nail biter and once again the commonwealth side won the referendum this time with a larger margin 52.5 to 47.5 leaving the country again deeply divided.

The 1961 election was a bitter campaign with the Nationalist Party and rightwing Nationalist Afrikaners lashing out at all those around them. The election went the way the referendum went with Nationalist Party losing several seats but maintained a slim majority of two. During the next four years the commonwealth continued to pressure SA to end white minority rule, much to the chagrin of many whites in South Africa, especially the Afrikaners. From 1963 Prime Minister Verwoerd refused to attend any commonwealth events and meetings. In 1965 the election was again very close with several Nationalist Party members at risk of losing their seats in what had been considered strong Nationalist ridings. The United Party advocated giving Asians and Mixed Race right to vote but to placate the whites fear of loosing control still advocated against Africans voting. To appeal to the business community and people hoping for better economic opportunities it promised to invest in infrastructure and public works and open emigration to Europeans. The Nationalist Party led by Hendrik Verwoerd was defeated by United Party who continued to be led by De Villiers Graaff. Even though the United Party only had a slim one seat majority, Prime Minister Graaff government made good on his party’s election promise and introduced legislation to grant Indians, and mixed-race South Africans with equal rights as white South Africans. The Afrikaners reacted angrily to the government announcement and demonstrations and violence broke out in many towns and cities. The government responded by ordering the police to arrest the demonstrators if they broke the law, but the police majority of which were Afrikaners refused, and the government was forced to call out the army in an attempt to keep order but several elements of the army and police revolted against the government. With the government paralyzed the Afrikaner supporters of the National Party within the military and police attempted to overthrow the government and establish a Republic. Prime Minister Graaff and his government were forced to flee to Cape Town which they made their capital, meanwhile the Nationalist party with support of military established their own capital in Pretoria with Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd proclaiming himself President of Republic of SA.

Troops and citizens supporting the United Party rallied against the Afrikaner revolt which most called the Nationalist Revolt. Joining the United supporters was several black groups most notably the Zulus.[3] The cities and areas around Natal, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town became the main areas of support for United forces. At same time, communist rebels from Southwest Africa and South Africa hoping to take advantage situation also became involved in the fighting. Facing two adversaries Prime Minister Graaff requested assistance from Britain and other members of the British Commonwealth. The Commonwealth assistance was held up due to British election which resulted in Labor party winning the election and the new Prime Minister James Harold Wilson was dealt with his first major test. Compounding the British ability to respond was the fact that it was already involved in two major theaters and both the British Navy and army were stretched thin. The two other major Commonwealth countries namely Canada and Australia had also a large portion of their military forces committed to fighting communism and were hard pressed to commit large number of troops.[4] At the Commonwealth emergency meeting Britain, Canada and Australia all committed to providing supplies, weapons and advisors but together could only provide about 5,000 troops the task of providing the majority of the commonwealth troops fell to the several Indian commonwealth countries. Democratic Union of India (DUI), Tamil Nadu, Mysore and Hyderabad all committed to providing over 150,000 troops but tensions in the Indian Subcontinent prevented the Mysore and Hyderabad from sending over the troops they promised and by only 65,000 troops from DUI and Tamil Nadu were sent. Another major issue was where these forces would be deployed with both countries demanding their forces be deployed in areas with large Indian migrants. Over the next several months thousands of British and Commonwealth troops arrived in South Africa and were deployed in Eastern SA between Durban and East London.[5]

The Commonwealth troops from the two Indian countries was not received with much enthusiasm by the South Africans and cooperation between them and Commonwealth troops was strained. In addition Britain, Canada and Australia struggled to support not only the United SA government but were negligent in supporting the Indian forces. The Nationalists and Communists specifically targeted the commonwealth troops and those they perceived as their supporters, Asians and Indians along with those allied with them were specifically targeted and both United and Commonwealth forces were hard-pressed to protect the unarmed civilians from attacks. Horrific images of dead and mutilated civilians filled world televisions as the South Africa Civil War took a turn for worse.

The countries of Botswana and Swaziland due to their weak armed forces soon became the primary bases for the communist rebels who operated in these countries with impunity. From these countries the communists were able to capture and occupy the northern half of Southwest African and all lands around Swaziland by end of 1965. Commonwealth/United troops held Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Natal including the major coastal cities. During January 1966 the Portuguese moved several units to the border with South Africa and South West Africa which prompted the UK backed by other commonwealth nations to send a strongly worded “request” that Portuguese Federation remain out of South Africa. By the end of August 1966, the Commonwealth had over 50,000 troops in South Africa fighting on the United Side.

South Africa August 1966,
Portuguese (Green), National Republic (Tan), Communist (Red), Commonwealth/United (Pink) ​

The commonwealth/United forces fought a two-front war as well as fighting insurgency from both Afrikaners and communists. As it struggled to hold the land it controlled thousands of refugees from both Afrikaners and communist held areas streamed into the United held territory straining its already stretched resources. In October 1966, a Nationalist offensive cut the commonwealth/United controlled land in half with Eastern Cape falling to Nationalist Republic forces.[6] The Commonwealth countries reacted by increasing their troops levels in South Africa but were unable to reverse the loses to the Nationalist and communists forces who captured part of eastern Natal province. To the north though the Nationalist did not fare as well, with much of the Nationalist forces concentrated in south fighting the United/Commonwealth the remainder of Southwest African fell to the communists including Walvis Bay which had to be evacuated by ship but even so over 1,000 white and black civilians died in the fighting.

At the start of the civil war a few hundred refugees began arriving along Portuguese border, but as the war continued the number of refugees arriving at the Federation border reached into the thousands. When Walvis Bay was captured by the communist and the Nationalist forces cut United/Commonwealth held territory into two section the number of refugees arriving in the Federation jumped with majority of new arrivals arriving by boat. Portuguese navy and other ships became involved in mass evacuation from affected areas. The Portuguese Federation responded to the sudden influx of refugees by opening several large refugee centers in both East and West African provinces. As the communists advanced in eastern South Africa thousands of white and blacks streamed into Portuguese East African provinces while Portuguese West African provinces also housed thousands of refugees fleeing the communists.

On 15th of October 1966 the Swaziland government which had been supportive of the communists till then was overthrown by the communists and all the country’s leaders including the country’s royals were executed. On 20th of October Botswana’s government which was leaning towards the communists was also overthrown and a united communist African government was formed with Southwest Africa.[7]

South Africa October-November 1966
Portuguese (Green), National Republic (Tan), Communist (Red), Commonwealth/United (Pink) ​

During the months of December 1966 and January 1967, the communists continued to make advances against the Nationalists, on 15th of December Rhodesia entered the war on the Nationalist’s side attacking the communists along its western border. During the months of February and March 1967 the Commonwealth/United forces despite having over 70,000 troops commonwealth troops in South Africa lost almost all its territory in Natal to two independent offensives; the Communists advanced from east while Nationalists advanced from west leaving only the city of Durban and surrounding lands under commonwealth/United control at end of March. Tens of thousands of whites and blacks fled both the communist and Nationalist advances, majority of which were being evacuated to Portuguese East African provinces. By end of March the number of refugees in Portuguese East African provinces surpassed 100,000 and both Portuguese Federation and Commonwealth ships were evacuating over 10,000 civilians a day from Durban. On 25th of March, the Portuguese navy entered the fight against the communists when Portuguese ships transporting refugees to Lourenco Marques came under attack from shore. In the Cape provinces, the Commonwealth/United troops continued to lose territory with the city of Port Elisabeth evacuated and the enclave of Cape Town reduced to half its size at beginning of year. Troop loses and injuries to insurgents continued to account for half of all loses and injuries. Unfortunately for all their advances in the south the Nationalists continued be pushed back in the north with the communists pushing towards Johannesburg and more troubling reversing the Rhodesian advance with Victoria Falls on the verge of falling to the communists. Nationalist forces and Afrikaner civilians also came under increasing communist insurgency attacks with rail and infrastructure suffering major attacks. The Nationalist capital Pretoria and city Johannesburg suffered repeated blackouts as communist bombed transmission lines repeatedly. The Nationalist forces responded by attacking and suppressing the black population and any other group if felt was a threat, resulting in thousands of civilians fleeing Nationalist army and security forces. Along the Limpopo River the communist made great advances almost reaching the communist forces from Eastern South Africa. Through all this the US, British and Commonwealth nations were adamant that the Portuguese Federation “not involve” itself in an internal South African / Commonwealth matter

Left - South Africa January 1967, Right – South Africa March 1967
Portuguese (Green), National Republic (Tan), Communist (Red), Commonwealth/United (Pink) ​

During the months of February and March local support for the United/Commonwealth decreased corresponding to loss of territory they controlled while at same time the number of refugees seeking shelter from Nationalist forces grew putting growing strains on United/Commonwealth government. People clamored to be evacuated and thousands were evacuated on specially sent ships by aid organizations or aboard empty ships just unloaded aid and supplies to the commonwealth and United forces. As the situation worsened many within the Commonwealth privately searched for way to extract themselves from the war but publicly continued to support the South African government. While the world wondered how the war could be saved the unimaginable happed, on 13th of March a bomber was able to gain access to the United Government compound and park a truck filled with explosives beside the government building where Prime Minister Graaff and his government were meeting. The explosion destroyed the building along and several others close by, killing 895 people and injuring 3,456. Amongst the casualties was most United government including Prime Minster De Villiers Graaff and all his cabinet and most of the government and military officials. With the United government leaderless the Commonwealth requested negotiations with the Nationalists and on 15th of March a cease fire was announced while negotiations between Commonwealth and Nationalists began. With US support the Commonwealth negotiated the withdrawal of all commonwealth troops along with any South African civilians and United government/forces who wished to leave South Africa. The biggest disagreement was the Nationalists who demanded all troops withdraw from South Africa be completed end of May. The Commonwealth wanted a longer timetable but the Nationalist government of Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster was adamant that all rebels and foreign troops had to be evacuated within two months.[8] Faced with an impossible situation and no support back home for additional troops the Commonwealth agreed to the humiliating conditions. Thus, beginning one of the largest evacuations in modern history. News of the cease fire caused panic and rioting in the Nationalist / Commonwealth controlled areas with hundreds of thousands of civilians clamoring to be evacuated and the commonwealth troops struggled to maintain peace. A UN meeting was convened which the Federation participated to plan the civilian evacuation. It was agreed that to speed up the evacuation from South Africa several processing camps would be established in Brazil to facilitate the evacuation of people and the merchant marine fleets of most commonwealth, the US and other countries from Europe and South America were involved in the evacuation.[9]

Once the Nationalist Republican government was convinced that United/Commonwealth forces were no longer a threat and were solely occupied with evacuating it was able to transfer thousands of troops to both pacify the newly captured areas as well as fight the advancing communist forces to the north and east. The pacification took much longer than anticipated and was viciously brutal. Nationalist forces also stepped up their attack against insurgents and anyone the Nationalists perceived as their supporters. The number of displaced people and internal refugees increased, and thousands fled Nationalist areas to areas controlled by the communists and commonwealth areas.

By middle of April the Nationalists had re-deployed most of their troops and launched two different offensives against both the northern and eastern communist forces. The communists at first repulsed the Nationalist attacks but lacking air support and armored vehicles they were forced to retreat and by 25th of April had suffered major losses in the Northwest province and along the Limpopo River. This was followed by an attack into North West Africa and by 1st of May Walvis Bay had been liberated. In the East, the communists lost half their territory. As the fighting between Nationalist and communists intensified the number of refugees streaming into both Eastern and Western Portuguese Federation provinces overwhelmed local resources in those provinces. By the middle of May, the number of refugees fleeing the fighting in South Africa was close 20,000 a day. The Portuguese Federation marshalled additional military, government resources and civilian volunteers to the border regions to deal with the refugees. The communists continued to be pushed back and by 15th of May they had lost 2/3 of their territory in the east while in the north the Afrikaners had reached the province of Moçamedes in an attempt to surround the communist insurgents and cut off supply routes the sea while the Rhodesians had cut off their supply from Zambia in the north.[10]

Left - South Africa 1 May 1967​

Right – South Africa 20 May 1967​

Portuguese (Green), Nationalist Republic (Tan), Communist (Red), Commonwealth/United (Pink) ​

On 20th of May, the remaining Commonwealth troops withdrew from South Africa along with last of the evacuating South Africans. Portuguese Federation Navy and Merchant ships were involved in the evacuation of civilians from both Cape and Durban. On 20th of May, the two cities were turned over to the Nationalist Republican forces. The British and Australians joined the USA in supporting the Nationalist Republicans against the growing Communist threat, while Canada, New Zealand and Indian States continued condemning the Nationalist Republicans for atrocities against civilians.

Faced with a growing humanitarian crisis within its borders the Portuguese appealed for UN support but received little or no support so on 20th of May, the Portuguese Federation responded by closing its borders with South Africa, Rhodesia and South West Africa.[11] This caused a huge humanitarian situation along its border as tens of thousands of refugees were trapped between the sealed border and attacking Nationalist Republican and Rhodesia forces. At same time Nationalist stepped up their attacks on blacks and any other person who they perceived as supporter of the communists or United Party. Thousands of people fled by sea towards the Federation or Madagascar, hide within Nationalist controlled areas or flee into communist controlled areas.

On 21st of May at an emergency meeting of the UN the Portuguese Federation presented evidence of thousands of cases of Nationalist Republican and Rhodesians forcibly evicting blacks and whites opposed to Republican National / Minority white rule, killing men and boys, raping women and girls. A film was shown showing hundreds of black men and boys being massacred and buried in mass graves. Evidence was also provided of Nationalist forces transporting the survivors to the front and forcing them at gun point to cross across into Communist held areas. Those that refused were killed with children, women and elderly amongst the victims. The Portuguese Ambassador stated that the Portuguese Federation would not be party to “Genocide” and demanded the Nationalist and Rhodesian forces stop all actions against the civilians. News of the Portuguese evidence including videos along with copies of cases caused US public support for the Nationalist Republican to evaporate and South Africa became another place the growing American Public condemned and marched against. Both Brittan and Australia two of South African strongest supporters were rocked by massive public marches and demonstrations against the government support of the Nationalist Republic.

South Africa 25 May 1967
Portuguese (Green), Nationalist Republic (Tan), Communist (Red), Commonwealth/United (Pink) ​

On 23rd of May, the Portuguese Federation through its Ambassador to the UN sent an ultimatum to both Rhodesia and Republic of South Africa to stop their attacks against civilians and warned them that any attack on the Portuguese Federation would be considered an act of war. For two days, the world waited but the Portuguese Federation did not act on its warning and did not respond to the occasional border incursion other than to push the South African and Rhodesian forces back. Meanwhile the number of refugees along both its Western and Eastern African provinces border reached over 100,000 people, with majority starving and very little food and water available.

On 25 May 1967, Portuguese Prime Minister Dr. Antonio Rapazote held high level talks with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt and US President Humphrey over the phone regarding Portuguese Federation intervention in South Africa. At the meeting the western nations unable themselves to intervene and afraid of the growing humanitarian situation in the country consented to Portuguese intervention in South Africa. Portuguese Federation was given authorization to disarm the National Republican, Rhodesian and Communist forces. Portuguese Federation was not allowed to annex any territory and all countries (South Africa, Rhodesia, Namibia (South West Africa), Swaziland and Lesotho were to be left alone free from Portuguese interference. At 1:30 AM with an agreement in place, Prime Minister Rapazote telephoned Portuguese allies and friends foremost Brazil and Argentina and advised that Portuguese Federation would be launching an attack on the communists and white minority rule in Southern Africa within hours.[12]

[1] In 1950 the National Party had lost a similar referendum by less than 1%.

[2] The 1950s were a difficult decade for SA, it saw its place as the most industrialized nation on the African continent challenged by the Federation. The Federation’s granting of rights to blacks, contrasted with the apartheid instituted by the National Party stripping blacks of their limited rights. The number of whites in Portuguese Africa surpassed SA. Federation open immigration contrast to the closed emigration that SA endured during the 1950s. Lastly economic tensions led to political tensions and ultimately the breaking of relations due to expulsion of Portuguese emigrants from SA and the Federation confiscation of all property and holding owned by SA businesses and citizens.

[3] Premier De Villiers Graaff appealed to the leaders of the country’s African tribes to support his government. Cyprian Bhekuzulu Nyangayezizwe kaSolomon the king of the Zulus replied to his call and became a strong supporter of the United Party. While they were against the white minority rule, they fearing greater repression, violence and attacks by Nationalist, therefore king kaSolomon and many other black leaders reluctantly supported the United Party but a sizeable minority rallied to the Communists’ banner instead.

[4] The British were involved in two major theatres fighting communist rebels (the Caribbean, Guiana and British Honduras and Malaysia) while the Canadian had the bulk of the forces also fighting alongside the British communist guerillas in the Caribbean and Guiana. The Australians were heavily involved Vietnam. For additional Information see 1960s - World - Americas and the Communist Revolutions, South East Asia and the 1960s - Foreign Affairs.

[5] For Additional Information on the Indian Subcontinent see 1960s - Foreign Affairs

[6] Nationalist Leaders believed that the Commonwealth Forces were the weakest and reason the struct in the eastern SA.

[7] While the Portuguese were “prohibited” from intervening in the SA civil war it did not mean it was completely absent from SA affair. While several small incursions to rescue civilians and some foreigners occurred, they were kept out of press and public attention. In October 1966 when both Swaziland and Botswana governments were overthrown by communist forces was the first public Portuguese military action in the conflict. On 15th of October as the government of Swaziland was overthrown and most officials massacred in their offices or homes Portuguese Airforce supporting Portuguese Marines rescue of remnants of the Swaziland government and royal family along with several dozen foreigners caught in the fighting. Several members of the Swaziland Royal family including Prince Sozisa Dlamini and Prince Khuzulwandle Dlamini were rescued but king and rest of the riyal family were killed or went into hiding. This was followed by Portuguese intervention in Botswana. On October 19 the British Prime Minister telephoned Prime Minister Rapazote requesting assistance in rescuing both British/Commonwealth officials and remnants of the Botswana government. Portuguese marines abord Bristol-Lusitania transport planes supported by CACC fighter jets. The operation was successful with the extraction of 212 foreigners as well as over two dozen Botswana former government officials. Unfortunately, Botswana Prime Minister Philip Matante was not able to be rescued but Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama leader of the BDP and several other government officials were rescued. Three Portuguese soldiers died in the operations and eight were injured.

[8] In 1966 just one month into the civil war a white communist supporter assassinated Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd and the Nationalist Party nominated Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster as its new leader.

[9] It would take the Commonwealth till October 1967 to close the last of the processing camps in Brazil and relocate the refugees. Offer by the Federation to setup processing camps in the Federation was rejected due to risk of war in Africa expanding to the Federation. Even so the Portuguese Merchant navy did participate in the evacuation.

[10 Nationalist strategy for North West Africa was to control the coast and surround the Communist in the desert.

[11] The Portuguese were caring for over 750,000 South African refugees, most of whom were suffering from health problems when they arrived at the border and with tens of thousands arriving every day it was struggling to feed, and house these refugees in the camps.

[12] During the month of May Portuguese armed forces assembled its military forces both regular and reservists along the border with South Africa-Rhodesia. To hide their presence many of the forces were camouflaged as refugee camps arrayed along the border.

While the Portuguese Federation continued to grow both economically and militarily the same could not be true for SA. What could of been of the Federation most important allies in the African continent had turned into one of biggest adversaries. People of SA were unfortunately caught in two different camps with one half wishing to emulate the Federation and another wanting to place greater restrictions on Africans and continue the rule of white minority. As we see the competing ideas resulted in an armed conflict that soon became a Civil War and turned into a international calamity. The lives of millions of people in SA were turned upside down and they lost everything they owned as they fled the war and anarchy. Meanwhile the Portuguese who were the most capable of intervening had been till the humanitarian situation in SA had caused the western world to request Portuguese assistance. Now how will the Portuguese handle the situation? What about the Pan African and Africa-Arab coalitions waiting to attack the Federation? I guess we will need to wait till next post for those answers. Questions/ Comments?

Return in 2 weeks on September 13when we delve into the next part of the World section, the SA Civil War - Portuguese Intervention.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)

Portuguese Intervention in SA
​

At 5:30 AM on 26th of May, 200,000 Portuguese Federation troops launched the largest military operations in Portuguese history.[1] Both Portuguese Navies (Atlantic and Indic) with their aircraft carriers joined in the attack. Portuguese air force and navy planes struck military targets deep within South Africa. Portuguese fighter jets and bombers flying over communist Botswana struck South African airbases destroying most of South Africa’s air force on the first day. Portuguese rockets both medium and short-range hit military and vital infrastructure crippling the Nationalists, Rhodesians and communist’s ability to respond to Portuguese attacks. In the west, Portuguese Marines landed and captured Walvis Bay cutting off all South African troops to the north while the Portuguese West Army consisting of 1 Portuguese armored division, 2 mechanized divisions and 3 infantry divisions attacked from Portuguese West Africa provinces against South African, Communist and Rhodesian forces. In the East, the Portuguese East Army consisting of 1 Portuguese armored division, 1 mechanized division and 4 infantry divisions attacked from Portuguese East African provinces against South African, Communist and Rhodesian forces.[2]

The attack caught all three opposing forces completely off guard, they had dismissed Portuguese Federation threats as only talk and both South Africa and Rhodesia continued to believe the US and British governments continued to support and protected them. The communists in the east crumbled under Portuguese attack while Rhodesian forces lost most of their vehicles and tanks in the first day and were in full retreat. On 27th of May, the Portuguese continued their attack; in the west both Communist and South African troops were overrun and by end of the day the Portuguese 1st Armored division had reached Walvis Bay. Portuguese supply line became the Portuguese armed forces major obstacle. Portuguese air force achieved complete air superiority and attacked and bombed the enemy with impunity. In the east, South African troops fought several major battles to stem the Portuguese advance but while they were able to slow the advance they were continually forced back.

​

Left - South Africa 26 May 1967​

Right – South Africa 27 May 1967​

Portuguese (Green), National Republic (Tan), Communist (Red), Portuguese occupied territory (Light Green) ​

By 30th of May the Portuguese army in the west had reached the Orange River, meanwhile in the east they had broken through the South African lines and were less than 20 kilometers from Johannesburg and Pretoria. In the North, the Portuguese had reached the outskirts of the Rhodesian capital Harare.

South Africa 30 May 1967
Portuguese (Green), National Republic (Tan), Communist (Red), Portuguese occupied territory (Light Green) ​

On 1st of June, the Portuguese crossed the Orange River and entered western South Africa reaching the Berg River in the Cape Province by 4th of June. All of South west Africa and most of Botswana had fallen to the Portuguese and the remaining communist forces operated mostly in the rural areas using hit and run tactics forcing the Portuguese forces to clear many remote and difficult terrain areas before proceeding.

In the east, the city of Salisbury (Harare) fell to the Portuguese on 3rd of June, South African reinforcements were able to stop the Portuguese advance towards Johannesburg but in the south, Durban and all of Natal province was liberated. By 3rd of June the Portuguese were able to reach Lesotho and then using the neutral country as a barrier advance west towards East London.

On 5th of June, the Portuguese launched operation Mateus in the center of South Africa breaking the African front lines and pushing towards the cities of Polokwane, Pretoria, and Johannesburg. On 7th of June, the South African army suffered multiple breaches and the cities and surrounding territory were captured. While the Limpopo offensive cut Rhodesia from South Africa.

Left - South Africa 4 June 1967, Right – South Africa 7 June 1967
Portuguese (Green), Afrikaner (Tan), Communist (Red), Portuguese occupied territory (Light Green) ​

On June 8, the Portuguese advance in South Africa, Rhodesia and Botswana stopped. During the first few months of 1967 Soviet delivery of advanced military hardware had increased while training of African troops had intensified, and Portuguese Federation became increasingly worried about its border situation. Intelligence indicated that the Pan-African troops would be ready to launch an attack in August thus allowing for three months of fighting before the rainy season started in October. The Portuguese plan was to launch a preemptive attack in May, but the South African situation had spiraled out of control and the Portuguese were forced to deal with that first. Meanwhile both the Pan-African Alliance and Arab League Alliance looked on in alarm at the military strength and power of the Federation and realized that the only way to assure a victory was to attack it when it was preoccupied in another war so plans were hurriedly prepared for war. On 1st of June the Pan-African Alliance began mobilizing and moving troops to the border with the Federation while Arab League Alliance did same on 2nd of June. Disorganization, problems coordinating troop movements between several countries and poor infrastructure slowed the mobilization and it was only on the 7th of June that troops were in position and 9th of June was set as date of attack. The DGS kept track of troop movements and reported them to Belem where different scenarios and options were analyzed. During the 1st week of June mobilization of reserves began occurring although most were equipped with older recommissioned military hardware while Belem kept a close eye on situation in South Africa. The capture of Salisbury, Pretoria and Johannesburg had finally weakened the remaining Nationalist, Rhodesian and communist forces sufficiently to provide the Portuguese forces with enough leverage to reduce its forces in South African and Rhodesia and transport them north towards the massing Pan-African forces. The Portuguese moved 1 armored and 2 mechanized from western South Africa and 1 Armored and 1 mechanized division from eastern South Africa/Rhodesia and moved them north. The Portuguese navies also moved north in support of the Federation Provinces.[3]

The Pan African / Arab League - Portuguese War​

On 9th of June, the countries of Tanzania, Republic of Congo, Mali and DMR Guinea launched attacks on the Portuguese Federation and Guinea Boke, while Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia attacked Katanga. Border battalions had been reinforced to 1,500 - 2,000 while in western Africa 1 regular and 2 reserve infantry divisions guarded the borders with Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. In east Africa 1 regular infantry and 1 reserve infantry division guarded against both Uganda and Tanzania troops attacking from Tanzania while a second reserve infantry division guarded Tete against from Zambia and Malawi. Meanwhile Katanga armed forces were being attacked by both Democratic Republic of Congo in north and Zambia from south.

In Portuguese Equatorial Africa, no troop movement in Gabon or Cameroon were noticed and both governments continued neutral towards the Federation, therefore no mobilization was ordered. In Portuguese Guinea, the regular regiment and border battalions guarded against attack from Mali and Senegal while Guinea Boke was attacked by DMR Guinea. For two days the Pan-African forces battled Portuguese forces along the border while the Portuguese mobilized 10 additional reserve divisions including several mechanized divisions using equipment from the late 40s and 50s. While mobilization was happening in many cases Portuguese troops were pushed back from the border which encouraged the remaining countries of the Pan-African Alliance joined in the war on 10th of June. Supporting the Pan-African forces were Russian and Eastern Europe advisors, but the African forces were in many cases not disciplined and disregarded the advice of the advisors pressing the advance when advised against it. Benin overran and killed all Portuguese in the Portuguese enclave of Ajuda. In North Africa Nigeria and Ivory Coast joined in the war but did not participate in the fighting.

On 11th of June, the Arab League Alliance declared war on the Portuguese Federation and France. Mauritania which till then had remained neutral joined the Pan-African Alliance and attacked Portuguese Sahara. Facing the Moroccan and Algerian forces were 2 infantry and 2 mechanized divisions plus 4 reserve divisions. News of the widening war in Africa and multiple battles occurring in all Portuguese African territory had the world anxiously waiting to see if the war would expand to Asia and India but those theatres remained calm. The Portuguese general mobilization and movement of troops to the border areas continued around the clock. Portuguese air force attacked African and Arab fighter jets entering Portuguese airspace but did not initiate any attacks on African or Soviet airbases.[4] On 12th of June, the Portuguese forces and reservists were ready and over 500,000 troops amassed along its borders with Pan African and Arab League attacking countries and the Portuguese Federation launched their counter attack.

In Morocco, the Portuguese air force’s superior planes and fighters entered Moroccan airspace and gained air superiority and began bombing military and government bases and infrastructure. Included in the attacks were government offices including the sultan’s palace. The initial Moroccan advance from the demilitarized area was stopped and Portuguese forces pushed the Moroccan forces back. By 14th of June the cities of Rabat, Fez and Marrakesh had fallen to the Portuguese as the Portuguese armored and mechanized divisions were able to shatter the Moroccan forces and take the cities before Moroccan authorities had been able to react to the fast-moving Portuguese forces. The destroyed and demoralized Moroccan army was in full retreat into the Atlas Mountains. In Eastern Morocco, the Algerian forces were beaten back, and the Moroccan city of Oujda was captured, and Portuguese forces reached the Algerian border by the 13th of June.

In Portuguese Sahara, the Mauritanians small army along with Mali troops were defeated by the reserve infantry division and were also in full retreat.

In Guinea, the Portuguese forces now organized into 2 divisions moved into Senegal reaching Gambian border by end of the 12th of June, but Gambia refused both Senegal’s and Portuguese request to use its territory. The Mali and Guinea attacks on Portuguese and Guinea Boke were stopped and a joint Portuguese / Guinea Boke counterattack pushed the Pan-African forces back to the Sierra Leone border.

In West Africa, the Portuguese launched an attack on Republic of Congo, DR Congo and Zambia. The Portuguese air force which had used restrain till then proceeded to attack both forward and rear units including command units. Behind the African troops Portuguese rockets destroyed airport and other infrastructure. From the province of Cabinda Portuguese infantry divisions pushed the Congolese troops back into Congo inflicting heavy casualties. In western DMR Congo the Portuguese infantry divisions found little resistance to their advance as most of the country’s forces were engaged along the Katanga border. Along the Zambian border Portuguese armored, mechanized and infantry troops stormed into the country decimating the Zambian and Ugandan forces attacking Portuguese border. By the 12th of June Zambian and Ugandan troops along the West Africa border were complete destroyed and the Portuguese faced no organized opposition in western Zambia. News of Portuguese victories caused panic amongst the Zambian troops fighting in southern Katanga and they withdrew south towards Zambian capital during the night leaving Congo alone to face the Katanga forces.

In East Africa, Mali was overrun by 3rd reservist division easily defeating the country’s troops and Zambian forces there, by evening of the 12th of June the capital was captured and most of the country’s leaders and government officials were arrested. Malawi became the first country to surrender to the Portuguese. With the remaining Zambian troops in the east defeated and Portuguese marched into the country unopposed. Along the Tanzania – Niassa/Cabo Delgado border the Portuguese faced its strongest adversary. Portuguese naval ships and aircraft carrier planes joined in attack on the Ugandan and Tanzanian forces. By evening of the 12th of June, the Pan-African forces were on the defensive and the Portuguese were advancing north.

Meanwhile in South Africa the Portuguese forces continued to reorganize as newly arrived reserve divisions took up rear duties, in the west the Portuguese forces were able to restart the Portuguese offensive in the Northern Cape province.

The world’s reaction to the Portuguese offensive was a mixture of relief as well as dread to the increased domination and militarization of the African continent. On 12th of June at 21:00 the Soviet Union demanded that Portuguese Federation stop all offensive attacks. It proposed the UN send troops to protect the African countries from Portuguese aggression. It also gave Portuguese Federation a vague warning that it would protect African allies from Portuguese aggression (which some people interpreted it was willing to use nuclear weapons against Portuguese Federation).

In Northern Zambia Portuguese rockets damaged two soviet military and air force bases. The Portuguese rockets hit soviet runways and air defenses also limiting the Soviet’s ability to defend against Portuguese bomber and fighter attacks. Meanwhile Portuguese paratroopers landed south of the bases and launched an attack at dawn on the 13th of June capturing the bases and most of the Soviet equipment and thousands of Soviet and Eastern European advisors who had been caught unprepared.

Portuguese Nuclear Deterrence and Collapse of Pan African / Arab League fronts​

At 6:00 on 13th of June, the city of Bir Moghrein in Mauritania (which had fallen to Portuguese forces the previous day and been evacuated) was destroyed when the Portuguese dropped a 11-megaton nuclear bomb on the city. The nuclear explosion was broadcast live on Portuguese television and transmitted to rest of the world. King Duarte II appeared on television at 6:30 AM and stated that the Portuguese Federation was prepared to defend itself from all attacks and aggressions. He also stated the Portuguese government was ready to enter into peace negotiations with all countries of the Pan-African and Arab League Alliances on condition that those responsible for the invasion of Portuguese Federation and murder of Portuguese citizens be brought to trial on charges of war crimes. The detonation of the Portuguese nuclear bomb caused massive diplomatic and public repercussions throughout world. In the Portuguese Federation, it caused much celebrations and the fear many felt was replaced by optimism and pride.[5] On 13th of June an emergency UN meeting was convened to discuss the situation in Africa.

Portuguese Nuclear Bomb dropped on Bir Moghrein in Mauritania 13 June 1967​

Even as the UN met to discuss the African War on 13th of June, the Portuguese forces continued their advance, in the north the Portuguese forces moved into Algeria for first time and continued their attacks on the remaining Moroccan troops. The country of Mauritania became the second country to agree to surrender and its capital Nouakchott was occupied along with half the country, its president Moktar Ould Daddah along with most senior government and military officials were turned over to the Portuguese for trial. In Senegal, Portuguese marines landed north of the capital, Dakar, and by end of the day had captured majority of the city and many of the country’s leaders. In southern Senegal, the Portuguese forces went around Gambia and occupied most of southern Senegal with little or no opposition. Meanwhile with most of its armed forces destroyed Mali was unable to resist Portuguese invasion who easily captured the city of Kayes. In DR Guinea, Portuguese and Guinea Boke forces continued to push forward deeper into DR Guinea.

From 12 – 13 June the Republic of Congo forces lost Pointe Noire and Mdingo-Kayes along the coast, but the government of Alphonse Massamba-Debat in Brazzaville continued to be defiant. That all changed when Portuguese troops took over the DR Congo city of Kinshasa (Léopoldville) and the city of Brazzaville became surrounded. Attempts on the 14th of June by Republic of Congo troops to break through the Portuguese force’s lines surrounding Brazzaville proved unsuccessful.

The Portuguese troops continued to advance into Zambia taking the capital Lusaka on 13th of June, thus ending Zambian resistance. A military coup toppled President Kenneth Kaunda and his government as the Portuguese approached Lusaka. By the 14th of June only the city of Kasama under the control of Alice Lenshina in the north was the only Zambian city not under Portuguese control. The Portuguese troops continued their attack against Pan-African forces in Tanzania, with the Portuguese forces occupying both the provinces of Mtwara and Ruvuma.

In South Africa, the Portuguese continued their advance in Cape province in the east and central South Africa the Portuguese offensive was finally able to restart and most of the North-West Province along with half of Free State came under Portuguese occupation. The Nationalist Republic of South Africa collapsed as blacks rose up against the remaining Nationalist / Afrikaners government. Requests by the nationalist government, which had relocated to Cape Town following the loss of Pretoria, for Portuguese assistance was ignored and thousands of new refugees streamed towards Portuguese controlled areas including tens of thousands of white Afrikaners.

​

Left - South Africa 10 June 1967​

Right – South Africa 12 June 1967​

Portuguese (Green), National Republic (Tan), Communist (Red), Portuguese occupied territory (Light Green), Pan-African occupied Portuguese Territory (Orange)​

At the UN a resolution was agreed demanding cease fire and peace negotiations on the African continent. The Portuguese stalled the debate on the resolution but on 14th of June finally agreed to Resolution 258 but stipulated that the UN cease fire would only take effect on 15 of June at 24:00. While waiting for the cease fire was to take effect, the Portuguese forces continued attacking Arab League and Pan-African forces throughout the day. In Morocco, General Ben Hammu deposed the monarchy and proclaimed himself as President. He rejected any peace with Portuguese Federation and France while they continued to occupy any part of Morocco. To the south the governments of both the Republic of Senegal and Republic of Mali were overthrown, and new leaders agreed to a cease fire with Portuguese Federation. The last remnants of the DR Guinea withdrew into the jungle with the capture of its capital.

The Republic of Congo collapsed with the capture of Brazzaville along with President Alphonse Massamba-Debat. While DR Congo troops withdrew further inland away from both Portuguese Federation and Katanga forces. In Tanzania, the Portuguese defeated and captured the Uganda army exposing the entire right flank of the Tanzania forces who retreated north towards capital Dadoma and Dar es Salaam. Meanwhile the Portuguese Indic Navy attacked and seized the islands of Mafia, Zanzibar, Pemba and several smaller islands off the coast of Tanzania.

On 15th of June, minor border clashes along the Republic of Congo and DR Congo fronts were reported but for most part the major fighting was over in those areas. At 14:00 a Portuguese task force supported by Portuguese Atlantic Navy attacked the country of Benin. The capital of Porto Novo fell to a Portuguese amphibious attack within an hour of landing and by nightfall the Portuguese had moved as far north as Zagnanado and west to the Togo border. The capital of Porto Novo suffered Portuguese rage over the killing of the Portuguese in Ajuda and many Benin troops and government officials including President Émile Derlin Zinsou were captured, convicted and executed at judiciary trials held during the night. The invasion of Benin and the judiciary trials and executions were condemned by most governments throughout the world, but the Portuguese Federation used it as a strong message of what would happen to any country who moved against the Federation or its people.

Southern Africa 15 June 1967
Portuguese (Green), National Republic (Tan), Communist (Red), Portuguese occupied territory (Light Green) ​

At same time that Portuguese Federation was battling most of Africa, the French were defending their overseas provinces in Africa. The split of Algeria had infuriated the Arab league who organized an oil embargo against France. The embargo had little to no effect on the French who had hurriedly developed the huge oil and gas fields in French Algeria. During 1964 - 1967 the Arab League Alliance led by Egypt convinced the rest of the Arab countries to Embargo France along with Portuguese Federation and Brazil. Supported by Soviets the Arab League Alliance (Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Somalia) built up their armies. Tunisia also became the staging area for Egyptian and other Islamic soldiers. Meanwhile Sudan sent half its army to Somalia to “protect” it from continued French aggression.

As the Portuguese intervention in South Africa was underway the French reinforced their forces in both French Somalia and French Algeria. When the Pan-African Alliance declared war on the Portuguese Federation the French worried that they would be left alone on the African continent prepared to launch a preemptive strike against the Arab League Alliance. On 11th of June, on the same day the Arab League declared war against both the Portuguese Federation and France, the French launched their attack on Algeria, Somalia and Tunisia. The French overran Tunisia in two days and defeated the Tunisian, Egyptian armies and well as capturing most of the Islamic forces. In Somalia, the French overran the northern half of the country while its navy and marines captured Mogadishu. In Algeria where the French met the most resistance the French and Portuguese attacks proved too much for the Algerian forces and on 14th of June the capital Algiers was captured by France.

Nigeria with one of the largest militaries in Africa was neutered during the war by the outbreak of Nigerian civil war between the Biafara State against the government of Nigeria. It offered no resistance when Portuguese Federation landed troops in Benin and occupied part of the Nigerian border region. Meanwhile the rest of Africa and most of the world watched in awe at the speed in which the Portuguese not only defeated South Africa but also both the Pan-African and Arab League forces.

During the Portuguese intervention of South Africa, Pan-African Alliance, and Arab league Alliance wars the Portuguese suffered 6,258 deaths 34,589 casualties, lost 589 tanks and 126 planes. The Nationalist South Africa fighting the Portuguese suffered 5,589 deaths, 11,458 casualties 69,589 captured, lost 459 tanks and 258 planes. The Pan African Alliance suffered 32,588 deaths, 85,589 casualties, 259,000+ captured, lost 2,489 tanks and 589 planes. The Arab League Alliance suffered 9,589 deaths, 19,589 casualties 58,896 captured, lost 682 tanks and 230 planes.[6] [7]

African continent during Summer of 1967 after the African War Cease Fire​

[1] In January 1965 the Portuguese armed forced intensified the reservist training and the number of reservists on duty tripled. Also, at same time the military began recommissioning thousands of older military equipment to supply the growing number of reservists.

[2] Included in the South African invasion force was 4 reserve infantry divisions.

[3] On 6th of June all border towns and villages were evacuated, and border defenses were reinforced. The Portuguese plan was for its forces along the border to delay Pan-African advances into the Federation while reservists and additional forces prepared for the Portuguese counterattack.

[4] Pan-African and Arab League air loses were 4-1 against the Portuguese and by the time the Portuguese launched their counter attack their respective air forces had been reduced to 50% of pre-war strength.

[5] In 1967 the Portuguese Federation became the 5th country and the only non-UN permanent member to publicly develop nuclear weapon. The US, Soviet Union, Britain, and France had all developed nuclear weapons in the 1940s and 1950s. The detonation of a nuclear weapon including the dropping of the weapon by Portuguese heavy bomber caused shock throughout the world and forced both the West and Soviets to greatly reassess Portuguese military and nuclear capabilities. When Israel launched their 6-day war on 10 of June against United Arab Republic (Egypt and Syria), Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon the fear of further nuclear attacks increased. The US, Britain and France all had suspected Israel was developing nuclear weapon and had closely monitored uranium shipments to the country. They now realized that the Portuguese Federation was most likely Israel’s accomplice and that both countries had been manufacturing nuclear weapons for years, although Israel continued to neither deny nor confirm it had nuclear weapons.

[6] The Portuguese captured 10,234 and killed 8,256 Soviet and East European advisors during the war against the Pan-African Alliance and Arab League Alliance. Following the cease fire, the Portuguese released all captured advisors and the bodies of advisors killed during the war. The Portuguese refused the Soviets demand that all personal and military affects and equipment captured also be returned. Captured with the advisors was a treasure trove of documents, hardware and weapons detailing the massive extent of Soviet participation in arming the African and Arab countries in the war against the Portuguese. Included in the soviet army vehicles captured was some of the latest and best in Soviet military hardware such as Soviet Tanks T-62 and T-64, SA-5, S-125 and S-200 surface to air missiles, BTR-60 APC, ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun, Type 63 MLRS, BM-21, ZU-23-4, BPM-1, PT-76 and MT-LB. In addition to Soviet hardware captured from African/Arab armies was combat aircraft captured at two soviet airbases in Zambia and Tanzania. The Portuguese captured several Soviet Su-7B, Su-15, MiG-21 and Yak-28 fighter planes, TU-16 Bombers, TU-126 (damaged) along with Antonov transport planes and variety of helicopters including (Mil Mi-1 to Mil Mi-6).

[7] The rapid collapse of the African troops and their Soviet advisors to the Portuguese as well as the seizure of the Soviet bases by Portuguese commandos along with the vast number of Soviet weapons was a huge shock to the Kremlin. The inability or unwillingness of advisors to destroy the Soviet hardware and in specific cases commit suicide when captured was seen as huge failure by the Soviet authorities and military. Fear of retribution and execution led more than half the foreign advisors to request asylum in the west with US, Canada and Britain taking 90% of the advisors. The Portuguese did provide asylum to some Polish and Hungarian Catholic “advisors” though. Those that returned either had been captured injured or were adamant communists. Note: After the Soviet Union fracture it was learned that more than 80% of the advisors who returned were either executed or sent to the gulags as punishment for their failure.

The Portuguese Federation was able to defeat SA, Pan African Alliance and Arab African Alliance because they fought as a single force but several smaller and weaker forces. The two biggest losers are SA which is still fighting itself and a much weaker Nationalist Forces are finding it difficult to protect whites as the territory under its control is shrinking. Vengeful Africans are on the loose looking for whites and any whom they can extract their revenge. What this means for remaining whites in SA we will need to see. The Soviets have seen their dream of Communist Africa collapse like a house of cards. It had shipped it most advanced military material and thousands of advisors but they had suffered a humiliating defeat. One that will reverberate all the way to Moscow. The Africans were another casualty since it was them who suffered the most.

The French have been drawn into deeper quagmire as they continued to face repeated attacks and threats forcing them to also act against the countries against them. Somalia, Tunisia and Algiers government have all been toppled by the French who too so desperately search for way out of the mess they got themselves in by remaining in Africa,

Lastly the Federation who responded with a huge show of force and also put the world on notice that it would not be trampled on an bullied but will the win result in lasting peace?? Questions/ Comments?

Return in 2 weeks on September 27 as we attempt to answer some of those questions.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)

Africa

The African Cease Fire and Elusive Peace ​

While the implementation of the Cease Fire was easy, accomplishing a lasting peace was elusive and 1967 turned to 1968 with no peace treaty in place. In South Africa, the situation for whites and Asians became dangerous and most of them either fled to Portuguese controlled areas or emigrated out of Africa. Continued border clashes in Congo and Tanzania occurred regularly. The Portuguese setup “war crimes” tribunal to deal with the thousands of African officials in its custody who had authorized or participated in the attack on the Portuguese Federation.[1] With so many of the previous government officials under arrest many of the occupied countries were left without proper government and made negotiating peace treaties difficult. Many of those that still had functioning governments refused to negotiate. The Portuguese burdened by the cost and effort of occupying area larger than the Federation began to look at alternatives to the continuation of the status quo.[2]

In North Africa, the Portuguese occupation of almost half of Morocco was a huge logistics and security effort as the Portuguese forces faced continual attacks from insurgents and the general population. Attempts to recruit locals to assist the Portuguese was hampered by fear that once the Portuguese withdrew, they would be subject to retribution by Morocco. Attempts to negotiate a new peace treaty never got off the ground as the new Moroccan government refused to negotiate with the Federation. The Moroccan strategy was to force the Portuguese to withdraw without any concessions from Morocco. Faced with a huge dilemma the Portuguese decided to establish independent Portuguese aligned countries encompassing the occupied Moroccan territory as buffers to the new Islamic Republic of Morocco. In the north the Kingdom of Fez was established and in the south the Kingdom of Marrakesh was created with relatives of the deposed Moroccan Sultan as head of both states. Each of the countries then established their own military and security forces so they could protect themselves and Portuguese Federation from Moroccan attacks. The Portuguese were able to scale back its troop and security forces presence in the two new countries substantially and by end of decade its forces primary mission in the new countries was to train and advise the two countries’ military and security forces.

In West Africa the Portuguese faced different situations; the countries of Mauritania, Senegal and Mali which were relative calm, as opposed to the situation south of Portuguese Guinea where both the French backed Guinea and Portuguese backed Guinea Boke continuing to battle Democratic Republic of Guinea, meanwhile the fall of Benin’s capital and occupation of south part of the country had resulted in the remainder of the country descending into anarchy.

The countries of Senegal and Mauritania were occupied by the Portuguese and their leaders captured or killed during the war while Mali was ruled by President Moussa Traoré who had overthrown the previous government of Modibo Keita. He broke with Pan African strategy and signed a peace treaty with the Portuguese thus sparing Mali from the same fate as its neighbors. Following the establishment of cease fire Mali’s new President approached the Portuguese about reviving the Senegal – Mali Federation. The Portuguese at first were hesitant to support the idea but in February 1968 finally agreed to the idea on condition it also include Mauritania but exclude all lands south of Gambia which was to be become an independent country (Republic of Casamansa). President Traoré agreed to the Portuguese conditions and on 1 March 1968 the Senegal – Mali Federation was formed. Subsequent French recognition of the new country provided it with much legitimacy and by end of decade half of Europe and most of South America had recognize it as well as the French Community. Senegal – Mali Federation joined the French Community and maintained an independent foreign policy, while at same time having security, diplomatic and economic agreements with the Portuguese Federation and Lusitania Commonwealth countries. The Republic of Casamansa was formed on 1 January 1969 encompassed all lands between Senegal-Mali Federation, Gambia and Portuguese Guinea and became home to the Jola people half of whom were refugees in Portuguese Guinea at the time.

In Guinea, the Portuguese backed Guinea Boke and the re-established French backed Guinea continued their attacks on Democratic Republic of Guinea pushing its forces deep into the jungle and mountains. Both Portuguese Federation and France provided logistic and support to the two Guinea while with assistance of its neighbors (neutral Sierra Leone and Liberia as well as Senegal-Mali Federation and Ivory Coast maintained a blockade around it. Portuguese and French commandos joined in the fighting while the surrounding countries blocked attempts by the last DR Guinea fighters from fleeing. In August 1968, the new DR Capital fell and by April 1969 the last remnants of the DR Guinea were defeated. The Soviets protested the French and Portuguese actions and UN attempted to pass several resolutions regarding fighting in Guinea, but France used its veto powers to block all UN motions. In June 1969, a peace treaty between Guinea Boke, Guinea and Portuguese Federation was signed. Guinea Boke took a third of DR Guinea while French backed Guinea annexed the remainder. Like the Senegal – Mali Federation, Guinea signed a peace and friendship treaty with Portuguese Federation and joined the re-launched French Community.

In Benin, the Portuguese had a difficult time trying to establish a stable government, the fall of the previous government of Christophe Soglo and the entire country military commanders had left a huge power vacuum and in the north revolts by several tribes forced the Portuguese to deploy commando units to quell the growing anarchy and rebellions in the north. In February 1968, the Portuguese reached an agreement with President Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo in which Togo received military and financial support while it assisted the Portuguese Federation to pacify northern Benin. Over the remainder of the decade Togo slowly gained control of the northern half of Benin. By end of 1969 Togo with Portuguese support had captured and controlled all of northern Benin including the city of Kandi. While Togo actions were condemned by some of its neighbors and the UN which demanded Togo and Portuguese Federation withdraw from Benin. Togo with the financial and military support of the Federation as well as French tacit approval continued to ignore the diplomatic protests. In December 1969 it also joined the re-launched French Community, a sign of its acceptance within Africa and by France.

In August 1968, the Portuguese signed a peace treaty with majority of the OUA countries including the western African countries of Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leonne, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Niger and Nigeria which was the only one that Portuguese had troops in. The peace treaty with Nigeria allowed the Portuguese armed forces to withdraw from Nigeria, who continued to battle the Igbo people in the province of Biafra. The Portuguese along with British continued to support Nigeria military and in June 1969 the last Biafra held city fell and the Biafra-Nigeria War ended.


The Portuguese occupation of southern part of Republic of Congo continued into 1968 without any hope of peace. The northern half of country was rocked by anarchy as tribal leaders and remnants of the communists viewed for control of the remaining unoccupied part of the country leaving the Portuguese forces subject to continued attacks by communist forces. In July 1968 with the situation in North Congo escalating the Portuguese launched a new offensive in an attempt to defeat the last communist forces and unite the country under a friendly or neutral government. They captured the cities of Oyo, Owando, Ouesso and Impfondo. The communist forces were defeated, and the remaining soldiers fled deep into the jungle or into Zaire. On 25th of September, the Portuguese announced their withdrawal back to the cease fire line but as the Portuguese withdrew the forces of the Republic of Gabon crossed into northern Congo and by 5th of October had occupied all of northern Congo citing continued anarchy and frequent border attacks as reason.[3] Gabon then annexed all lands it had occupied and became the 4th African country to gain territory as result of Portuguese Pan-African war and like Senegal – Mali Federation, Guinea and Togo was ostracized by some African countries as it entered friendly relationship with Portuguese Federation. It too became one of the principle supporters of the re-launched French Community. This left the Portuguese with the southern part of Republic of Congo which the Portuguese planned on granting independence but in December 1968 the Portuguese abandoned those plans and instead began planning to incorporate occupied Republic of Congo and occupied Democratic Republic of Congo into one country called Kingdom of Kongo. This was done due to the three remaining Pan – African Alliance countries of Zaire, Uganda and Tanzania refusing to recognize the Portuguese Federation and not negotiating with the Portuguese while they still “occupied” territory in Africa. The Portuguese plan had been to create Kingdom of Congo encompassing Portuguese occupied Zaire but after consulting with the new leaders of Kingdom of Congo the Portuguese decided to establish a Portuguese aligned country encompassing all occupied territory in the Republic of Congo and DM Congo (Zaire). This decision was opposed by the French who had expected the Portuguese to free Republic of Congo like Senegal – Mali Federation. Portuguese ally Katanga also gained territory from Zaire in the war and with no peace treaty it annexed the territory it had captured in the war but more damaging to Zaire it cancelled the agreement to share mineral wealth with it.

In the countries of Namibia, Zambia and Malawi the Portuguese established allied governments allowing it to strengthen its borders and reduce its troop presence in Southern Africa. Meanwhile following the end of the South African war South Africa’s spiral into anarchy continued and the dire situation in the country worsened. Due to British, US and UN pressure the Portuguese withdrew all troops from western part of South Africa, keeping the 2nd infantry division in Namibia for mutual protection. Namibia had declared its independence from South Africa and aligned itself to the Federation.

During the remainder of 1967 and 1968 neither British/Commonwealth nor Portuguese were able to establish a proper government in South Africa. In December of 1967 the Zulus who predominantly lived between Lesotho and Swaziland began organizing themselves and reached an agreement with the Federation where the Portuguese agreed to withdraw from Zulu lands if it assured that the territory would not be used by communists to attack the Federation. When the British and British Commonwealth learned of the agreement they intervened and after several meeting recognized and supported the creation of the Kingdom of Zulu. The Zulu received both financial and military support from Britain and British Commonwealth and during the winter and spring 1968 the Zulu army with the backing of the majority of the Zulu people attacked and defeated the communist rebels still operating in the country. It also became a refuge for tens of thousands of South African whites and Asians who continued to flee ongoing fighting in rest of SA. In July 1968, the Portuguese withdrew from remainder of South Africa except for a strip of land along Eastern Portuguese Africa and Swaziland which had suffered greatly under Communist occupation.

For the remainder of 1968 SA scene of continued fighting between rival African groups and remnants of the White National government. In February 1969, the African National Congress Party under the leadership of Nelson Mandela emerged as the strongest political and military force in South Africa. Espousing an Africa for blacks’ policy it united many of South Africa’s blacks under its wings. The remaining White Nationalist forces were defeated one by one and the last whites and non-Africans fled South Africa towards either Federation controlled territory or Lesotho and Zulu. By the summer of 1969, the ANC had seized all of remaining South Africa either not under Zulu or Portuguese control.

The Portuguese had stayed in Northern Botswana and many of the Botswana leaders who had either fled the communists or been rescued by the Federation returned to Portuguese occupied Botswana and tried to unite the country. The communists in the south refused to negotiate and sought Soviet support instead. Nelson Mandela and the ANC offered to help them, and ANC and the Botswana communists agreed to SA forces entering Botswana to assist them. In August 1969 its forces moved into southern Botswana but instead of assisting the Botswana communists they attacked them and established control over southern Botswana.


Rhodesia was another country the Portuguese had hoped to quickly withdraw from but immediately after the cease fire violence erupted between both various African groups and whites living in the western part of the country not occupied by the Federation. After repeated attempts to broker a peace deal between the different groups the Portuguese sent its forces into the remainder of Rhodesia it did not occupy to pacify those regions and unarm the combatants. In November 1968, the Republic of Rhodesia was established with a multi-racial government similar to the Portuguese Federation.[4]

In October 1969, a conference was held in the capital of Lesotho Maseru regarding the future of Southern Africa. Portuguese backed leaders from Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia came along with the Portuguese, while Prime Minister of Zulu and Britain along with the leader of the host country attended and facing all these was Nelson Mandela. He demanded the withdrawal of Federation from all countries and SA along with the freeing of all those held captive by the Portuguese. Nelson Mandela also demanded the incorporation of Kingdom of Zulu and refused to negotiate with what he called Portuguese “lapdogs”. The conference collapsed when all the countries refused his demands. South Africa then withdrew from the British Commonwealth and annexed southern Botswana instead of letting it rejoin Portuguese backed Botswana.

The Portuguese responded to the SA actions by giving the people living in the strip of land it occupied along its eastern African provinces from Rhodesia to the coast (also included what had been Swaziland a choice of joining Rhodesia or South Africa and a vote was planned for 1 November 1969. The announcement of the referendum was condemned by Nelson Mandela who called it a trick and illegal. When the Portuguese announced that the tens of thousands of South Africans who had fled into the Portuguese occupied areas would be allowed to vote the South African threatened to attack but the Portuguese responded by moving additional troops into the region and threatening that any attack would be dealt with deadly response. The Portuguese stated that the people were South African citizens and were entitled to vote. On 1 November 1769, 71% of all voters in the occupied South Africa and Swaziland rejected the South African and voted instead to join Republic of Rhodesia. At the end of the decade the Portuguese who still had over 800,000 refugees within its borders and gave all refugees 12 months to leave the Portuguese Federation. Over 500,000 went to live in Namibia and Rhodesia, 150,000 went to live in the Kingdom of Zulu while less than 50,000 Africans chose to return to South Africa with remainder choosing to emigrate elsewhere.

The British and the British Commonwealth strengthened the Kingdom of Zulu and Lesotho providing it with additional military and economic support in the face of continued SA threat. South Africa expelled all non-Africans from SA with majority fleeing to Zulu. As 1960s came to a close SA entered into a new era free of any colonial ties and only for Africans. Thus, ending one of Africa’s most tragic and costlier wars. Over 350,000 civilians and combatants had died in two years of war. Over 3 million white, Asian and mixed South Africans had been forced to flee. The kingdom of Zulu became home to majority of the fleeing Asians and about 500,000 whites while the rest had been forced to emigrate. The majority of Afrikaners emigrated to the USA and Australia while Canada and to a lesser extent New Zealand took in over 1 million South Africans both white, African and Asian. While the Portuguese Federation and newly aligned African countries were the recipients of 900,000 South Africans.

On 1 November 1969, the Portuguese Federation announced the creation two new nations encompassing the remaining Portuguese occupied territory. The Republic of Rovuma was created from all occupied territory in Tanzania north of Portuguese East Africa while the Sultanate of Zanzibar was created from the islands occupied off the coast of Tanzania, which encompassed the primary three islands (Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia) that were populated as well as several 40 or so small islands and islets. Due to continuous attacks from Tanzania only the three main islands were occupied while the remaining were designed as wildlife sanctuaries. Portuguese and Zanzibar naval and air force patrols were maintained around the clock to guard against Tanzanian attacks.

In addition to the countries affected by Portuguese – African War several other countries also suffered continued unrest and military intervention. The countries of Somalia, Tunisia and Algeria which had fought the French were especially affected.

The country of Somalia experienced a civil war as troops from Sudan backed General Ali while Ethiopia supported Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal. During the Civil war Mogadishu fell several times to the various factions. When Sudan announced it was going to bolster its forces in Somalia to 100,000 soldiers, Ethiopia and Kenya came to an agreement to divide remaining part of Somalia not under French control between them and prevented Sudan from seizing control of the country. On 5 August 1969, the Ethiopian and Kenyan troops entered Somalia and defeated all Somalian and Sudanese forces and annexed the remainder of Somalia already not under French control. French Somalia incorporated the territory the French had captured from Somalia. In Tunisia the French ousted Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba and installed a French friendly government under President Hedi Nouira. In Algeria, the French had withdrawn after President Houri Boumediene was overthrown following Algeria’s defeat by France and Portuguese Federation. Mohamed Khider returned to Algeria in 1968 and was instrumental in negotiating a peace treaty with France and withdrawing Algeria from the Arab league Alliance. As part of the peace treaty with France, Algeria received 35% of all oil and gas royalties from French Algeria.

By summer of 1969 the Pan-African Alliance had been reduced to only three countries: Zaire (DR Congo), Uganda and Tanzania. The Pan-African Alliance refused to negotiate any treaty with the Portuguese Federation, and technically remained at war with the Federation. The war had weakened them considerable and they became reliant on the Soviet Union which led to the three countries governments becoming full-fledged communist governments and the countries becoming completely aligned with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union announced that the Pan - African Alliance was now under the protection of the Soviet Nuclear umbrella. On 5 November 1969 Zaire, Uganda and Tanzania as well as the Arab League Alliance countries were expelled from OUA. At the end of the decade the OUA now comprised of Algeria, Libya, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Upper Volta, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, Burundi, Zulu and Madagascar. Senegal-Mali Federation, Guinea, Togo and Gabon were expelled from the OUA due to their annexation for occupying foreign territory in collaboration with the Portuguese Federation. Meanwhile the countries of Guinea Boke, Katanga, Zambia, Malawi, Rhodesia, Botswana and Namibia were considered under Portuguese administration and thus also rejected. South Africa withdrew OUA when it accepted Zulu, the OUA also rejected Russian, USA and Portuguese Federation involvement in the continent of Africa and thus became part of the Non-Aligned movement.

The Arab League Alliance too suffered with the loss of Somalia and Algeria and had been reduced to Egypt, Sudan and Morocco. Egypt the alliance’s most powerful nation was a former shadow of itself, as it had lost Yemen and Syria which had declared their independence. The Sinai Peninsula was under the occupation of Israel and the Suez Canal an important foreign currency earner was closed. To the south, Egypt’s major ally Sudan was embroiled in a civil war. Sudan battled both the Azania Liberation Front and Anyanya who formed an alliance with Ethiopia against the Sudan. Ethiopia and the two Sudanese rebel groups were supported by China while Sudan was supported by Egypt and the Soviets. On a positive note for the alliance, at the end of 1969 Libya under the leadership of Colonel Kaddafi joined the alliance.

African Continent in 1968 - 1969​

At the end of the decade the Portuguese Federation had established itself as the most powerful country on the African continent but for all its power, the Portuguese Federation became isolated by Europeans and many western countries for what they considered its “imperialistic” actions, the establishment of several Portuguese satellite nations. The USA was especially hostile towards the Portuguese Federation. It tightened its restrictions on technology and trade with the Portuguese Federation and allies. It placed considerable pressure on other NATO countries and western countries to restrict technology and trade with the Portuguese Federation. The British, Portuguese Federation largest European trading partner was foremost on the American’s list of countries whom it targeted. The British Labor government already hostile to the Federation doubled down on its resolve to cut the British-Portuguese economic-military cord that in many opinions had allowed the Portuguese to survive and flourish. While the country was economically aligned with the Portuguese Federation with British manufactures and businesses accounted for almost 25% of all economic activity in the Portuguese Federation and more importantly it was estimated that 10% of all British jobs were reliant on trade with Portuguese Federation in some manner the government believed the British would come out of the process fine. As the British politicians and public turned against the Federation many British companies looked with worry at the loss of such an important market.

The African continent at the end of the 1960s was divided by several political and military groups and organizations. Dominating the continent was the Portuguese Federation and the various aligned countries called Lusitania Alliance. The second group which also rivaled the Portuguese were the French with their scattered French overseas provinces and the reformed French Community. At the end of the 1960s the French Community was divided into two camps those that were also allied with the Federation (Mali-Senegal Federation, Guinea, Benin and Gabon) and the rest which had diplomatic relations with the Federation. Opposing both the Federation/Lusitania Alliance and France/French Community was Arab League Alliance and Pan African Alliance. Stuck in the middle was the much-diminished British Commonwealth and non-aligned countries.

Political – Military Alignment of African Continent in 1969​

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[1] The UN and western countries demanded that the Portuguese turn over the leaders to the International Court for trial, but the Portuguese rejected the demands and setup their own trials which were open to observers. In December 1969 the Portuguese withdrew from the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile Soviets demanded complete immediate Portuguese withdrawal and release of all captives.

[2] Pan African and Arab League nations followed Egyptian lead in refusing to negotiate with the aim of forcing the occupying country to withdraw due to security and insurgency attacks.

[3] Negotiations with Gabon and France had commenced during the spring of 1968 trying to resolve the issue of Republic of Congo. At first both Gabon and France wanted the country to be reestablished with same borders and the Portuguese agreed. The difficult part was implementing the agreement. The plan was for Portuguese to clear out the opposing forces and both France and Gabon to help establish an independent Congo. The first part of the plan went off without any major problem and the Portuguese were able to defeat communist forces by end of August but when the northern tribes were informed of the plan to reunite the country they were opposed to it due to previous negative experience with dominance by Kongo tribe in the south. In September, an agreement was reached between the main northern Congo tribes Sangha, M'Bochi, Teke and Gabon for their incorporation as part of Gabon but with considerable autonomy.

[4] With the establishment of Republic of Rhodesia and the continued occupation of strip of land in South Africa along with Swaziland thousands of South African refugees still living in Portuguese Federation started moving into these areas. The move was encouraged by the Portuguese who saw it as way to lessen the huge burden of the refugee camps as well as provide enhanced security in those areas.


The Portuguese Federation had achieved a decisive military victory over 3 major African powers in less than one month but could not achieve peace treaty with any of its adversaries. It was left trying to make the best of a bad situation. What it could not do was simply withdraw its forces and hope that it would no longer be threatened. This scenario while demanded to by many in west, the UN and the Soviets especially was not even considered when its adversaries refused to even recognize the Federation or its right to exist. Therefore it decided the best alternative was to create friendly governments in many of its neighbors. This could of been the end but the refusal to even sit down with the Federation by its adversaries backfired on them and new countries emerged from the occupied territory. That the Federation found willing partners both on a national level and political level spoke of the deep divisions within Africa.

The French too have decided to flex their diplomatic and military muscle by reforming the French Community, very much under French control and aligned to it. The African-Arab Alliance had been dealt with a triple jolt, loss to the Federation, France and Israel. While the Pan African Alliance became the African equivalent to the Warsaw Pack. The other major looser diplomatically was the British commonwealth who lost a large number of its members to the Lusitania Alliance and withdrawal from the organization.

Questions/ Comments?

Return in 2 weeks on October 11 as we move across the Atlantic and delve into the Americas & communist threat..

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)

Americas and the Communist Revolution(s)​

In 1960 the seizure of Cuba by Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries had left Cuba as the only Soviet Aligned country in the Americans with the rest of the American states either democratic or right-wing dictatorship. Poverty, corruption and repression made the Americas a prime location for the rise of communism and over the decade more than a dozen countries were affected in some ways by communist insurrections. Against the communists stood the USA who saw itself as the defender of free world against the communist threat. At the beginning of the decade its first priority was the containment and elimination of Fidel Castro and the Communists on the island of Cuba but by 1969 it was locked into a continental wide battle with communist rebels.

The Major Players ​

The US was the Americas foremost political, and military power, it dominated the other countries in the Americas and with an economy that dwarfed all the Latin American countries together. The USA GDP was over 2 trillion while all 50+ Latin American and Caribbean countries was just over 800 million. While it was more evenly matched by population 174 million vs 218 million due to the disparity in economic power the GDP per capita was 11,328 vs 3,029. Another major hurdle hindering Latin American development was the simple fact that the US was for most part able to dominate the Latin American and Caribbean countries. The US viewed the Americas as their back yard and took dim view of countries from other regions meddling in their region. While European countries including Portuguese Federation traded in region the Americans always made point of flexing their economic, political and military power to demonstrate their power in the Americas.

In late 1950s the American resolve and determination had been shaken by fall of Fulgenio Batista military junta government of Cuba by Fidel Castro and his “movement”. While at first Fidel Castro was ambiguous about his political leanings his subsequent declaration of alignment with USSR both angered the US government and set the two countries as political and military antagonists.

With the election of John F Kennedy as President of the USA in 1960 it was thought that relations between the two countries would improve, while President Kennedy administration advocated calm publicly behind the scenes the American government worked to isolate the Cuban government from other American states and maintained the American embargo. During the winter of 1960-1961 the American CIA provided funding and training to ex-patriot Cubans for both the elimination of Fidel Castro government and liberation of Cuba.

Operation “Liberdade” ​

On 5 March 1961, the Cuban leader Fidel Castro barely survived an assassination attempt, but was incapacitated for several months in the hospital. Cuban and Soviet doctors operated for six hours and removed four bullets from Castro who remained in coma from 5th of March to 7th of April.

On 1st of April, ex-patriot Cubans who had fled Castro’s takeover of Cuba landed on the southern Cuban coast. The 2,100 paramilitary Cubans member of the Cuban DRF supplied and trained by the US CIA met little resistance at first. The commandos surprised the local militia and moved inland without alerting Cuban communist government. American transport ships brought supplies and additional commandos during the night. On 2nd of April news of the DRF invasion finally reached Havana and José Ramón Fernández Álvarez leader of the militia led the Cuban militia and military response to the invasion. As the Communist government readied the island’s military and militia to move against the invaders news of additional invasions throughout the island kept the units spread out ready to deal with additional invasion and unable to move in larger numbers against the DFR forces. At 16:00 General Álvarez and 8,000 troops and militia attacked the Cuban DRF troops who with support from American military stopped the Cuban counterattack. News of the invasion was greeted with joy by the expat Cuban population in Miami and thousands of Cubans rushed to volunteer. The Cubans on the island teetered in fear of invasion while at same time anticipating a quick resolution to the invasion as the government continually promised in hourly news updates on Cuban radio. For over a week while the communists and DFR continued to battle without major movement on the front the US military transported thousands of Cubans and American volunteers from Florida to Bay of Pigs area held by DRF troops.[1] On 6th of April, communist Cuban forces which now numbering over 20,000 launched a new offensive. For two days, the Communist forces tried to break through the DFR lines but were unable as American aircraft joined in the repulsing the communist forces.

On 16th of April, the DRF launched their own offensive breaking the communist lines to the east. The communists were caught by surprise by the DRF offensive which included tanks and rocket artillery. By 16th the DRF had over 25,000 troops in Cuba of which about ¼ were American regular troops or veterans (all volunteers). On 15 April 1961, the Cuban Nationalists established their capital in the city of Cienfuegos and requested assistance from USA. President Kennedy immediately recognized the Cuban Nationalists as the legitimate government of Cuba and ordered the US Navy to establish a naval and air blockade around the island of Cuba. All ships travelling to Cuba would be stopped and searched, no military equipment or fighters were to be allowed to the communist “rebels” areas including Havana. Included in the blockade was an air blockade and all planes flying to Cuba were forced by American fighters to divert to American airports in Texas or Florida for inspection before being allowed to continue to fly to Cuba.

On 1st of May, the city of Santa Clara was liberated, which was the first major city liberated on the island but just as important the Nationalist now threatened to cut the island in two. The news of the city falling to Nationalist forces was a shock to the Cubans who for most part believed the government’s account of continued advances against the imperialistic invaders. On 3rd of May, the Nationalists own radio station “Cuba Livre” began broadcasting throughout the island providing an alternative to the communist reporting of the “liberation” of Cuba. The communists reacted with rhetoric and Fidel Castro finally came on the radio appealing for the Cuban people not to give up and loose the revolution and to fight back. The problem for the communists is that while they had marshalled an army of 50,000 troops and 500,000 militia almost half were situated in the north of the island and around Havana due to risk of invasion from Florida as reports of American and Imperialistic sightings along the coast overwhelmed the defense. Raids and attacks against remote villages kept the communist believing an attack from north was imminent and they requested assistance from Soviet Union and other communist countries. Due to fears of further invasions less than 50,000 troops and militia were involved in attack on the Nationalist forces on the island.

The fall of Santa Clara finally forced the communists to recommit their forces to fighting the Nationalist invasion and during the 2nd battle of Santa Clara over 100,000 troops were involved. For two weeks, the Nationalist forces repulsed the communist attacks from north and south while also trying to cut the island in two. Then on 5th of May news of simultaneous large-scale nationalist/American invasion east of Havana and around Santa Cruz forced the communist forces to divert over half their attacking forces to the new invasions. On 6th of May, the Nationalists responded to the reduced communist strength by launching an attack along the southern front, which was the weakest front, and by 10th of May they were able to take all land south of Santa Clara including the city of Trinidad. The invasions in the north and south proved to be false reports instigated by saboteurs and nationalist sympathizers within the government and military. The communists responded by launching a ruthless purge of any military and government person with any perceived Nationalist inclinations. Listing to “Cuba Livre” became a treasonable crime. On 11th of May, the communists launched the “Sancti Spiritus counterattack” and by 15th of May had pushed the nationalists back 15 kilometers. Once again communists spoke of driving the invading imperialist forces back to the sea but on the 16th the nationalist broke the communist front line around Santa Clara and were able to cut the island in half. By the 20th the city of Sancti Spiritus was liberated and the communists on the southern part of island were cut off from Havana and on the defensive. The communists in the north launched several attacks on the nationalist northern front without success. By 25th of May the nationalist forces numbered over 100,000 troops on the island with locals now accounting for about 40% of the nationalist forces. By 4th of June Ciego de Avilo was liberated and the communist forces in southern Cuba were in disarray.

On 5th of June, the USA and Soviet Union almost came to war as a Soviet naval taskforce with military weapons and two divisions on way to Havana were blocked by the US navy. For the next four days, the world waiting in suspense as the two major powers navies faced each other north of the Bahamas. The US, British and French armed forces including nuclear weapons waited for the Soviet reaction to the American blockade. On 10th of June, the Soviet Union leader Khrushchev conceded to the American demands and ordered the Soviet Navy ships to return to Black Sea port.[2]

During the remainder of June, the communists lost half the remainder of southern Cuba including the cities Las Tunas and Holguin while Nationalist northern forces still were unable to break through the communist lines in the north.

The Liberation of Cuba 1 April – 30 June 1961​

The Expanding Communist Threat ​

For the remainder of 1961 the island of Cuba remained divided between the Nationalist and Communist and many felt it was just a matter of time for the remainder of the island to be liberated. The civil war in Cuba had a profound impact to the rest of Latin America and the fledging communist rebels in Guatemala, Nicaragua grew stronger and belligerent in their attacks on government and military targets. In 1962 the countries of El Salvador, and Honduras were also rocked by communist rebel movements. The US responded to the communist threats by increasing military aid and providing military advisors but the conditions that caused the emergence of rebels did not improve, the opposite was true as military reprisals and abuses of civilians strengthened the rebels. By 1964 both Columbia and Peru were also rocked by communist rebel attacks. The countries of Columbia and Peru were not only rocked by communists supported by Soviet Union but also communists supported by China. The two communist groups fought not only the right-wing governments but also each other.

In 1965 the USA not only continued to send these countries and other American nations military support and military advisors but deployed thousands of US troops which by 1965 numbered over 120,000 troops in Central and South America. The US also put in place a continental blockade trying to stop any and all weapons and support from reaching the communists.

On the island of Cuba, the nationalists and Communists continued to fight but without any major movement in the front in the north or South. This all changed in 1964 when the Cuban Nationalist forces with the assistance of USA launched their long anticipated renewed liberation. The US Navy provided naval and amphibious support to Nationalist forces east of the USA Naval base of Guantanamo Bay. This occurred at same time the Nationalist forces attacked the Communist front lines both in the north and south. The communist forces in Southern Cuba tried vehemently to stop the Nationalist forces landing but were slowly pushed back. From 1st – 15th of August the communists in the south of the island slowly lost the war and by 15th had retreated to the Sierra Maestra Mountains. For the remainder of the year and into the next two years the Nationalist forces slowly cleared the mountain range. On 1 May 1967, the last communist rebels in the south surrendered to the Nationalist forces.

While progress was visible in Cuba the same could not be said in the rest of Latin America as rebel insurgents appeared in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia. The most dangerous was the communist attacks on the American Pan Canal Zone. In 1965 several locks in the canal were sabotaged causing the Panama Canal to be out of service for six months. The US responded by increasing military presence in the Canal Zone to 50,000, and by 1968 the US had over 400,000 troops in Latin America.[3] The US troops were involved alongside government troops in fighting communist rebels throughout the Americas. By 1969 the US was struggling to support over 1 million combat troops in both South-East Asia and Latin America. In 1967 the US government of President Humphrey realizing they were losing the war in Latin America and began a major reversal of US policy in Latin America by starting to resolve the root causes of the poor’s anger and support for the communists. On 5 October 1967, the Guatemala government of Julio César Méndez Montenegro was overthrown and in a shocking development Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán the former Guatemala president from 1951 – 1955 was installed with US support. He negotiated the purchase of large portion of United Fruit Company plantations and re-launched his agrarian reforms providing land to thousands of landless peasants. He reformed the 20,000 Guatemala army forcing many soldiers and leaders to resign and leave Guatemala else face prosecution. Support for the rebels decreased drastically and they responded to the abandonment by the poor and natives by attacking them thus turning them against the communists. Within two years the communist threat that threatened to topple the previous government had weakened greatly.[4]

In 1968 the governments of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras either “changed” on their own or with American help and began their own agrarian, military and government reforms in an attempt to counter the rebel insurgencies. By the end of 1969 the communists were beginning to lose territory and more importantly support from poor for the first time in the decade. In 1969 Richard Nixon became the US president and his administration did not support the previous administration policies or reforms. While the US support to the reformed Central American governments continued, they refused to implement such policies in Panama, Columbia and Peru. At same time, the governments of Panama, Peru and Columbia also had no appetite to implement any reforms and believed the only way to defeat the communists was through military means. The US increased its financial and military support to the three countries, but the communist forces continued to make advances. The only reason they were not able to defeat the Americans and Right-Wing governments was due to them fighting each as much as the Americans/Right Wing opposition.

In Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Bolivia the governments also followed the new American policy of using military as only means to deal with the rebel insurgency. Columbia and Peru which bordered, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia were the primary source of weapons and supplies to the communist rebels in those countries, so the USA provided them with support in an attempting to secure their borders and prevent movement of rebels and weapons between the countries. In Mexico, the communists who were mostly natives from the southern states became stronger and more active than the much-diminished communists in Guatemala and most of Guatemala army was stationed along the Mexico border in an attempt to stop the flow of Mexican communist rebels and weapons from reaching Guatemala. In Venezuela the 2nd largest oil producer in the Americas behind the US and a key US oil source, suffered several major attacks on its oil installations by communist rebels. This coupled with embargo by Arab oil producing countries against western countries caused oil prices to climb to over 6USD a barrel. The US pressured the Venezuelan government to request American military support and troops and by end of the decade over 50,000 US troops along with 75,000 Venezuelan troops fought communist insurgents along with protecting Venezuelan oil installations. The huge spike in oil prices led to increased search for new sources of oil in the Americas with both Mexico and Ecuador, two countries with known oil reserves, granting new oil exploration and extracting concession to international oil companies while both countries were also at risk of communist insurgency attacks.

The other South American country also facing a communist rebel movement was Brazil. The “Araguaia Guerrilla War” pitted both Soviet and Chinese Communist rebels against the Brazilian government of Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira or as he was better known JK. The rebels were based in the state of Goias and from 1965 to 1967 they expanded into states of Bahia and Mato Grosso. In 1968 the Brazilian military offensive started pushing the rebels from both Bahia and Goias and by 1969 the communists had retreated deeper into the Amazon and to their bases in Mato Grosso.

Map of Latin America in 1969 with presence of communist rebels as indicated
Countries not colored indicate no armed communist rebels​

​

[1] Over the month of April American Naval seals carried out hit and run attacks on Cuban coastal villages and installations. Withdrawing before Cuban forces could respond, leaving destruction and panicking Cubans behind. While the Cuban government continually accused the Americans of the incursions there never was any proof and the American goal was accomplished with Cuban government forced to maintain over 200,000 troops and militia arrayed along the northern coast as rumors of American invasion abound. Over 100 American Naval ships patrolled just outside the Cuban 12-mile sea limit and their presence fed the Cuban government’s fear of American invasion.

[2] Less than two months after the Cuban Blockade the Soviet Politburo removed Khrushchev as leader of the Soviet Union and appointed Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev as leader. For the next decade, the Soviet Union upped its military support to communist rebels in dozen countries in Africa, Americas and Asia against the capitalists and Chinese.

[3] In 1965 as the US was forced to greatly increase its military forces in Central American and South America two other western countries became involved in the fight against communists. Former British commonwealth countries in the Caribbean and Latin America became rocked by communist insurgencies and communist attacks. The British forces were attacked in British Honduras (Belize) and was by 1966 had over 20,000 troops in the region fighting or supporting British Commonwealth troops in their fight with Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago as two countries it had the most troops. Starting in 1965 Canada was the other country that slowly got sucked into the fight against insurgencies. It sent over 2,000 soldiers to help train the commonwealth troops and its navy joined the British navy in patrolling the Caribbean and Mid Atlantic Ocean. By 1967 the Canadian forces in the region had grown to over 5,000 with half of them fighting the communist insurgency in Guiana.

[4] The Cuban Nationalist government had allowed American companies to return to the island but to the surprise of many had preserved many of the worker rights and benefits instituted by the communists. This coupled with increased economic activity in the Nationalist areas led to increased satisfaction and support for the Nationalists. By 1966 many Americans wrote and spoke about the Cuban Nationalist alternative as the answer to the continued Latin America communist rebel problems.


The situation in the Americas had a profound affect on the Portuguese Federation and the environment it found itself in during the 1960s. The humiliation the USSR had felt in face of the US blockade and threat to attack the Soviet Union if their forces attempted to bypass the American blockade had resulted in the Soviets choosing a new target for their expansion which included both the rest of the Americas but more importantly for the Portuguese Africa, Middle East and South East Asia. This was partly to blame for the reckless manner in which the Soviet sent their best and most advanced hardware plus thousands of advisors to Africa. We will discuss both the Middle East and South East Asia in the next posts. What is also important is the Soviet - Chinese animosity which translated to border wars along their mutual border as well as between rival communist groups.

The near collapse of communist Cuba had the opposite affect in rest of Latin America and Caribbean. With both Canada and Britain being drawn in to fight both insurgencies and rebels in various newly independent British Commonwealth countries in Caribbean, British Honduras and Guiana. These military actions and increased USA involvement in Americas along with South East Asia had the affect of limiting both American and British Commonwealth ability to respond to SA crises or Civil War.

We will be detailing Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay situation in a more detailed posts soon.

Questions/ Comments?

Return in 2 weeks on October 25 as we move to Asia and talk about Israel and its struggles against Arab neighbors and the clash of the communists.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)

Israel and Middle East​

In 1964, Egypt, Jordan and Syria developed a unified military command. In 1961 with Portuguese assistance Israel completed work on a national water carrier, a huge engineering project designed to transfer Israel's allocation of the Jordan river's waters towards the south of the country in realization of Ben-Gurion's dream of mass Jewish settlement of the Negev desert. The Arabs protested the Israeli action with Syria trying to divert water from the Yarmuk River a tributary of the Jordan River which led to growing conflict between Israel and Syria.

In Israel Mapai and Labour parties united for the 1965 elections, winning the most seats and Mapai leader Levi Eshkol remained Prime Minister. In 1963 the new French government announced that it would no longer be supplying Israel with arms. In 1964 the Portuguese Federation and Israel announced the sale of 300 Rino IV Portuguese tanks and 150 Chaimite III armored cars and 100 Besoiro IV halftrack trucks to Israel. The sale of Portuguese hardware surprised many military officials in the west especially the US who began viewing Portuguese Federation as adversary for influence and military sales. In 1963 the Israelis sold the Portuguese 250 LAR-82 rocket artillery vehicles. In October 1964, the US agreed to provide A-4 Skyhawk tactical aircraft to Israel which was similar in functionality to the Portuguese CACC 205.2 jet fighter but had more advanced electronics and Israel wished to have as diverse relationship as possible.

In 1966 security restrictions placed on Arab-Israelis were eased and efforts made to integrate them into Israeli life. Israeli television also debuted in 1964 with the first transmission of Black and white TV broadcasts.

In 1966 – 1967 Israel and the world’s attention were fixated on the South African civil war and its wider implications to both Israel and the Portuguese Federation. On 26 May 1967, the Portuguese Federation entered the civil war which now comprised of four countries and was on the verge on becoming a humanitarian disaster with Nationalist White Forces attacking unarmed civilians and expelling them out of South Africa into Portuguese Federation with the hope of destabilizing it. The speed in which the Portuguese forces crushed both Nationalist and Communist forces both surprised and alarmed many countries. On 9th of June at the height of the Portuguese – South Africa War the Pan-African Alliance launched an attack on the Portuguese Federation along all the Federations border provinces in Africa.

The Egyptians and their Arab League Alliance also made preparation to attack both the French and Portuguese Federation in Africa while at same time it ordered UNEF to leave Sinai and the United Arab Republic (UAR)[1] and Jordan amassed troops along the Israeli borders and closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. Israel considered the Straits of Tiran closure Casus belli. Israel responded by calling up its civilian reserves, bringing much of the Israeli economy to a halt. The Israelis set up a national unity coalition.

On the morning of 11 June 1967, the same day the Arab League Alliance launched its attack on France and Portuguese Federation in Africa, the Israeli air force launched pre-emptive attacks destroying first the UAR air force in Egypt, and then later the same day destroying the air force of Jordan and the remaining UAR Airforce in Syria. Israel then defeated (almost successively) Southern UAR forces in Egypt, Jordan and Northern UAR forces in Syria. By 16th of June the Arab forces were routed, and all parties had accepted the cease-fire called for by UN Security Council Resolutions 259 and 260. Israel gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the formerly Jordanian-controlled West Bank of the Jordan River. Over the next three months tens of thousands of Palestinians fled the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Much to the chagrin of Israel’s neighbors who struggled to manage the thousands of new refugees in addition to the hundreds of thousands who already resided there since the 1948 war.

On 22 November 1967, the Security Council adopted Resolution 265, the "land for peace" formula, which called for the establishment of a just and lasting peace based on Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967 in return for the end of all states of belligerency, respect for the sovereignty of all states in the area, and the right to live in peace within secure, recognized boundaries. The resolution was accepted by both sides, though with different interpretations, and has been the basis of all subsequent peace negotiations. After 1967 the Soviet bloc (except Romania) broke off relations with Israel. Anti-Semitic purges led to the final migration of the last Polish Jews to Israel.

For the first time since the end of the British Mandate Jews gained access to the Cave of the Patriarchs (the second most holy site in Judaism) for the first time since the 14th century (previously Jews were only allowed to pray at the entrance) in Hebron. A third Jewish holy site, Rachel's Tomb, in Bethlehem, also became accessible. Sinai oil fields made Israel self-sufficient in energy. Starting in 1968 Moshe Levinger led a group of Religious Zionists who created the first Jewish settlement near Hebron called Kiryat Arba.

In March 1968, Israeli forces attacked the Palestinian militia, Fatah, at its base in the Jordanian town of Karameh. The attack was in response to land mines placed on Israeli roads. The Israelis retreated after destroying the camp. Despite heavy casualties, Palestinians claimed victory, while Fatah and the PLO (of which it formed part) became famous across the Arab world. In early 1969, fighting broke out between Egypt and Israel along the Suez Canal. In retaliation for repeated Egyptian shelling of Israeli positions along the Suez Canal, Israeli planes made deep strikes into Egypt in the 1969–1970 "War of Attrition".


[1] United Arab Republic was comprised of Egypt, Syria and Yemen (see Arab Union)


A few special notes for those not familiar with the Israel situation post 1948. Israel had received support both troops and military equipment during its war of independence and as a result of that support and extra troops it had captured all of Jerusalem and had made it its capital. It had also been able to push the Syrians further east of the Sea of Galilea. During the 1950s Israel had tried to have normal relationship with its neighbors but instead had been attacked. It had participated in the Suez Crises which it saw as a test run for the 1967 War. The Israel had finally given up on peace with the Arab and openly collaborated with Portuguese in its defense industry and Israel defense industry also grew larger than iOTL. The Portuguese Falcon rocket program had received much support from the Israelis and they had used them extensively in its war. Destroying runways and building at air force bases just before Israeli jets attacked the planes. Before the war Israel had received a squadron of Portuguese bombers and when the Portuguese had drooped their nuclear bomb the western countries received confirmation that the Israelis also had the bomb.

Another major note was the survival of the United Arab Republic till war of 1967. IOTL Syria was already independent.

Questions/ Comments?

Return in in few minutes as we post Arab Union.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)

Arab Union​

The enthusiasm for the United Arab Republic began dissipating in 1960 as Nasser and the Egyptians were unable to resolve the economic problems the Syrians were facing at the beginning of 1960s. Nasser instituted a socialist approach in an attempt to reform Syria and fix its problems. Like in Egypt, heavy industry, banks and the production of materials vital to the economy were nationalized and a socialist economy proclaimed. The reforms were not very popular with several members of the Syrian elites and in 1961 units of the Syrian army launched a coup against Nasser and the UAR but were defeated. Nasser responded by launching a crackdown on dissidents but at same time he reformed his government to provide additional say in government and economy to Syrians. In 1962 the United Arab States suffered fresh attack with armed revolt in Yemen. Nasser responded by sending 70,000 Egyptian and Syrian troops into Yemen to fight the insurgents. In 1964 the insurgency in Yemen crossed the South Yemen border and fighting between North Yemen with the assistance of UAR and South Yemen supported by Saudi Arabia began.

In February 1963 the Iraqi Prime Minister, Abd al-Karim Qasim government was overthrown in a coup by the Ba'ath Party's Iraqi-wing which opposed closer relationship with UAR. Then on 10 November 1963 Ba’ath Party's Iraqi-wing government was overthrown by Nasserist elements of the military. For the next two years Iraq aligned itself with the UAR, but the Iraqi Arab Socialist Union party resisted joining the UAR. In January 1967 President Abdul Salam Arif government suffered an unsuccessful coup and Iraqi Arab Socialist Union party came under increasing pressure. In March, while discussions between the UAR and Iraq were occurring the Ba'ath Party led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, overthrew President Abdul Salam Arif in a bloodless coup, thus ending all negotiations regarding Iraq joining UAR.

In 1965 Nasser led the formation Arab League Alliance with African Arab countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan and Somalia) to combat the continuing colonial presence of France and Portuguese Federation. UAR moved the 5th infantry division to Tunisia and provided Algeria with support for its struggle with France. On 11 June 1967 with the Portuguese Federation fighting for its existence against Pan-African Alliance countries the Arab league Alliance countries of Morocco and Algeria launched an attack on the Portuguese provinces in North Africa. That same day both Israel and France launched their own preemptive strike against both the Arab League Alliance and UAR. By 15 June, the Arab League Alliance had suffered catastrophic losses in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Somalia resulting in Algeria, Tunisia and Somalia leaving the Alliance. Meanwhile in the 6-day war with Israel the UAR forces in Egypt and Syria were almost wiped out with the UAR air force losing 90% of its planes while the army lost 70% of its tanks to the Israeli offensive. In 6 days, the UAR suffered over 21,000 casualties and 15,000 soldiers were captured by Israel. On 16 June when the cease fire came into effect the UAR suffered major hemorrhage when the remaining Syrian forces staged a coup d'état with the support of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party thus ending the UAR. The military loses to Israel and Alliance defeat in Africa was a huge shock to both Nasser, Egypt and the Arab world. The Egyptians who had looked up with admiration to Nasser lost confidence in his government and on 15 August Nasser announced his resignation and died within 2 weeks at his home. On 15 August 1967 Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat succeed Nasser as President of Egypt. He withdrew the remaining Egyptian troops from Yemen and recognized Syria. He did continue Egypt support for the Arab League Alliance and the governments of Morocco and Sudan.

The collapse of the UAR ended the last Arab Nationalist political movement even though the idea continued to be supported by majority of Arabs. On 1 September 1969 President Sadat and Egypt supported the coup d'état led by Muammar Gaddafi against the Kingdom of Libya in retaliation for King Idris of Libya failure in supporting the Arab League Alliance. Muammar Gaddafi established the Libyan Arab Republic and joined the Arab League Alliance.

Israel and its neighbors at end of 6 Day War. ​

The war with Israel was only 6 days due to Egypt being involved in too many alliances and trying to fight so many adversaries. While Egyptian forces had been able to defeat the revolt in Syria, Nasser was not able to convince neither Iraq and Jordan to join in the union. Egypt's security forces continued fighting Syrian separatists after the failed revolt, while the war in Yemen tied up a large number of troops and resources. The Arab African Alliance was a dream of Nasser and while it seemed to increase Egypt influence it put a great strain on its economy and military. Soviet Union supplied it with large amount of weapons but the cost which Egypt had to pay was putting a huge strain on its economy and government. Dissatisfaction even in Egypt was growing day by day as people lives were not getting better. The triple defeat (Federation, France and Israel) plus occupation of Sinai and closure of the Suez Canal finally brought UAR down and Egypt's influence along with Nasser was a mere shadow from before the war. The Egyptians and Nasser reserved special hatred to France for what they considered the principle enemy in North Africa. While Egypt ability to support Morocco war against the Federation was also greatly reduced and Morocco while still part of the Arab African Alliance was sort of left on its own to deal with the Federation as Egypt attention became completely centered on countering Israel, supporting Sudan in its growing civil war while at same time suppressing growing internal discontent over the economic conditions Egyptians found themselves after the war.

Questions/ Comments?

Return on October 30 as we move to Asia and talk about the clash of the communists.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)

Battle of the Communists

The Soviet – Chinese Fallout​

Following the collapse of diplomatic relationship between the Soviet Union and China in 1958 due to the perceived Russian involvement in Chairman Mao’s death all economic and scientific cooperation between the two communist countries stopped. At same time border clashes along the 4,380 km (2,738 mi.) border escalated with each side blaming the other. As these clashes were occurring the rhetoric between the two countries also increased. China prevented the remaining Russian and Eastern European Scientists and technicians from leaving including the Russian nuclear physicists helping the Chinese build an atomic bomb. Chinese nuclear program suffered several setbacks with China blaming Russia of sabotaging the program. As the border war between the two countries intensified the Chinese program was seen by the Chinese government as crucial in its defense but the program continued to be plagued by delays culminating in a massive explosion at the nuclear research facility killing most of the Chinese and captive Soviet scientist.

Zhou Enlai the Chairman of the Communist party and Premier of China blamed Soviets for the attack and explosions and increase the level of troops along the border with the Soviet Union but more importantly set China on a diplomatic and economic confrontation with not only the west but also the Soviets. China from then on sought out to not only spread communism but also counter Soviet influence at time having competing insurgents in same country or region who fought one another as much as capitalists.[1]

The Chinese - Russia Border War​

During 1960 both countries moved hundreds of thousands of troops along the 4,380 km (2,738 mi.) border between the two countries. Militarily, by end of 1960, the USSR had 525,000 men and 1,350 airplanes and 105 medium-range missiles to which the Chinese countered with 1.1 million men stationed along the border. The Chinese strategy was to use its superior numbers to counter Soviet superior weapons.

From 1961 to 1969 there were a total of 15 border clashes with the longest lasting 12 weeks. Neither country truly wished to invade the other with Soviet leaders believing that it would be impossible to occupy China and its millions of people while China was afraid an invasion of Soviet Union would lead to a Soviet nuclear attack on it. Mongolia the only country stuck between Soviet Union and China became a strategic pawn for both countries. In 1964 Mongolia announced its intention of joining the Soviet Union. This caused the Chinese to launch a major offensive against Mongolia to stop it from joining the Soviet Union. The Soviets responded in similar fashion and from 2 October to 25 November 1964 the two countries fought for control of Mongolia. The Chinese offensive of 15 divisions was stopped 13 kilometers south of the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. By middle of November the Chinese forcers had been pushed back to the Chinese border. For the remainder of next three years sporadic border clashes continued but the two countries did not fight another major military battle. On 7 October 1968, the Chinese were finally able to detonate their first atomic weapon and the possibility of Nuclear War became a reality. On 5 December 1969, a cease fire was negotiated between the two communist countries. Over the next two years, troops and military hardware along the Chinese-Soviet border was gradually reduced.

The Chinese Growing Strength and Russia Disorder​

During the 1960s Chairman Zhou Enlai was able to guide China as it industrialized and developed its economy along communist philosophy. Early in his premiership he had tempered Mao’s Great Leap forward with more realistic and achievable targets, but many challenges continued especially with hundreds of millions of Chinese peasants who had not seen any improvements in their standard of living under communism. Collective agricultural policies instituted under communism had not achieved the desired great growth in agricultural output and the countryside continued to suffer from lack of infrastructure, fertilizers, pesticides and mechanization.

Chinese industry on the other hand continued to grow with steel, coal production growing enough to meet many of the country’s military needs. Hampering Chinese development was the ongoing military rivalry with Soviets along its northern border and its competing military support for communist rebels and insurrections in South East Asia, Africa and Americas which diverted needed resources from its own development.

On the other side the Soviet leader Khrushchev which had started relaxing Soviet suppression of its people and European allies after Stalin’s reign of terror was himself deposed in a coup for his failure in confronting American aggression in Cuba. After the humiliating Soviet retreat from US navy off the coast of Cuba Khrushchev lost all support within the Soviet politburo and Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev became the new Soviet leader. Under his leadership the Soviets refused to back down on confrontation with China and became increasingly aggressive in their support of rebels and insurgents throughout the world. From 1963 Soviet Union provided weapons to groups in Central America and South America while also increasing its support of North Vietnam, Republic of Riau and Malaysian communist insurgents.

While Soviet support to the rebel groups in South East Asia and the Americas was very successful with Soviets using submarines and clandestine ships to deliver weapons through the American naval patrols their strongest support though was in Middle East and Africa which Brezhnev promised to make it a Soviet bastion of support and strength. From 1964 – 1967 it looked like the Soviets were about realize their goal with both the Pan-African Alliance and the Arab League Alliance under the Soviet influence. More importantly many African countries such as Tanzania, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda instituted socialist economic policies nationalizing industries and following communist ideals. Thousands of Soviet and East European advisors were sent to Africa to assist the governments and military of the various countries. At the height of the Soviet influence over 50,000 communist advisors were stationed in over a dozen African countries.

The primary target of the Soviets and both the Africa and Arab countries was the Portuguese Federation. While a regionally strong country it was dispersed over several parts on the African continent along with provinces in both Europe and Asia. The Soviet government of Brezhnev believing that NATO would only intervene if the European part of the country was attacked and saw it as an easy target. The Soviets poured money, weapons not only older weapons but the latest Soviet military hardware along with thousands of Soviet military personnel to train the African troops of the Soviet aligned African nations. In addition the Soviets setup bases in Tanzania, Zambia, and DRC to provide the backbone for the Pan African forces arrayed against the Portuguese.

The Portuguese involvement in the South African Civil War was the trigger for both the Pan African and Arab League Alliances to launch their attacks on the Portuguese Federation. The Pan African and Arab League armed forces met stiff resistance, but all were expecting the Portuguese forces to buckle under the combined weight of three wars, but the surprise Portuguese counter offensive reversed the African and Arab advances and, after a few days, had troops from both alliances in full retreat. Country after country was defeated and both Alliances disintegrated under the Portuguese advance. More shocking was the capture of several soviet bases in Zambia and Tanzania as well as destruction of the bases in DRC along with capture of most Soviet weapons and military advisors. The magnitude of the defeat and capture of soviet bases left the Soviets and the Pan-African Alliance in complete shock. Brezhnev’s warning to the Portuguese Federation it would feel the full force of Soviet might if it did not withdraw to its borders was met by the Portuguese own nuclear deterrence. Suddenly the cold war in Africa had the potential to become very hot. The entry of France in the war against the Arab League Alliance increased the probability of Nuclear War. When the Israeli’s launched their own war against its Arab neighbors the world waited anxiously to see how Soviets would respond. The announcement by both Great Britain and USA that an attack on Israel or any NATO country would be met by British and American response shocked the Soviets to forced it to limit Soviet support to non-Nuclear only.

Following the African wars the Pan African Alliance collapsed with only Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire (formerly DRC) remaining in the alliance and the only communist governments on the continent. The Arab League Alliance also suffered major defections with Algeria, Tunisia and Somalia leaving the Alliance. Brezhnev and his allies in the politburo who after the Cuban incident had built their strategy on not directly confronting the USA but to fight a proxy war had been defeated by the unlikeliest of countries and they lost support of the politburo and were ousted in a coup. A power struggle within the top echelons of the Soviet Communist party arose as various factions struggled for power. By spring of 1968 Vladimir Semichastny had become leader of the Soviet Union. On 1 May 1968, the world watched as less than third of Brezhnev supporters in the politburo stood with Semichastny in Red Square watching the Soviet military parade.

In 1969 the Soviet Union suffered a major financial incident as the new governments of the former Pan-African countries either refused to honor any debt to the Soviets as in the case of (Zambia, Malawi, Republic of Congo, Guinea and Malawi) or were unable to pay their debts such as (Tanzania, Uganda or Zaire). The billions of dollars that was owed to it by both the African countries for the weapons and support it had provided them went uncollected and the Soviet’s ability to simply support every rebel movement in the world was hurt and the Soviet government was forced to reassess its support for various countries and causes. At same time it was facing a major challenge by China, who in 1968 had also managed to detonate their own atomic weapon, for influence of communist movements worldwide.

The two communist countries also became major adversaries on the world stage supporting at times rival communist rebel movements in same country such as in Columbia and Peru. In Asia, the Soviets supported the North Vietnam Communist government in its attempt to unite North and South Vietnam, while China provided the communist rebels in Laos and the government in Cambodia with support and weapons. In 1967 – 1969 the Vietnamese Communist forces fought not only the south Vietnamese and US forces but also Laotian communist rebels and Cambodian government. In 1968 the clashes between Laos/Cambodian and North Vietnam communists became major war and the North Vietnamese lost their ability to use Laos and Cambodia as bases for attacks on the South Vietnamese and US forces. In 1969 for the first time the South Vietnamese and US forces were finally able to push the North Vietnamese forces and put them on the defensive.

Map of Indochina and the countries involved in the Indochina communist insurrection ​

In Africa, China became Ethiopia’s sponsor and supporter, while Zaire, Uganda and Tanzania were aligned with the Soviets. In Sudan, the Soviets supported the government while the Chinese and Ethiopia supported the two Sudanese rebel movements. In Europe Albania’s Communist leader Enver Halil Hoxha rejected Khrushchev’s communist reforms and aligned himself with China.


[1] In 1960 Zhou Enlai began a program of dismantling Mao “Great Leap Forward” and started a program of industrialization similar to the one that communist in Soviet Union had used to industrialize the Soviet Union. At same time Maoism was proclaimed as a perfection on Leninism and as true form of communism and the only true path to social equality and power to the people.


The death of Mao during Soviet leader Khrushchev official visit had not only caused major repercussions in China but due to Soviet leader's initial reaction resulted in political, economic and military rift between China and Soviet Union. (Khrushchev exhausted and tired of being humiliated by Mao in a swimming pool let out s short but loud laugh when Mao had slipped om the pool deck and hit his head on the hard ground. While he tried to apologize and was very sorry the Chinese had taken great offense at his initial attitude).

Relations between China and Soviet Union was damaged and China withdrew its ambassador from Soviet Union and most of the Warsaw Pack countries till 1965 when following the largest Chinese- Soviet battle over the admission of Mongolia to the Soviet Union the two countries had agreed to re-establish relations even though periodic border clashes continued for remainder of the decade. This rift was most evident in China backing anti-Soviet Communist forces in Americas and attacking Vietnam forcing it to be loose access to the Ho Chi Minh trail thus blocking its ability to attack South Vietnam.

In 1966 as part of the normalization of relations between Soviet Union and China was Soviet's support for transferring of Nationalist China's UN seat to Communist China. In 1967 the UN voted with US and rest of other permanent members of the council to transfer the UN seat to communist China. While a visit by US president Humphry to Beijing was secretly negotiated it never took place due to continued Republican attacks against the American support. Ironically the most vocal opponent of President Humphry's China policy would be the person who in 1970 would visit Communist China. Questions/ Comments?

Return on November 8 as we discuss South East Asia.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)

South East Asia​

South East Asia during the 1960s was a region in turmoil with civil wars and insurrections. The region was also a battleground for thousands of foreign troops and advisors as the world’s major powers all viewed for influence and projection of power in the region. During the 1960s the major flash points in the Indo-China region with communist insurrections was Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam. This was followed by the Malaysian Peninsula and the islands of Borneo and Sumatra as they too became major battle grounds as various communist groups attempted to topple regions governments. In 1966 the former Dutch East Indies and Malaya Federation were rocked by Islamic Fundamental groups who sought to unite the various island nations and establish an Islamic State.

Many people of the region blamed the legacy of European colonialism as the precept cause of the diplomatic and military conflicts that afflicted the region during the 1960s.

Republic of Riau
In 1960 Colonel Ahmad Husein overthrew the Republic of Riau government of Prime Minister Syafrudding Prawiranegara and established the Revolutionary Government of Riau. Colonel Ahmad Husein overthrew the Riau government due to what he and his followers stated were the government’s unconstitutional actions and ignoring the development and welfare of the people of Riau. Over the next few years he aligned himself with the Soviet Union and began to institute a socialist ideology, nationalizing most major companies and forming collective farms. He also began to persecute all religions, closing all religious schools and restricting or closing all temples, churches and mosques. Kolonel Ahmad Husein (lahir di Padang , Sumatera Barat , 1 April 1925 – meninggal di Padang, 28 November 1998 pada umur 73 tahun) adalah seorang pejuang kemerdekaan Indonesia dan pemimpin militer PRRI .Pada tanggal 15 Februari 1958 di Padang dia membentuk Pemerintahan Revolusioner Republik Indonesia (PRRI) di bawah pimpinan Syafruddin Prawiranegara sebagai Perdana Menteri dengan tujuan mengoreksi pemerintahan otoriter Soekarno yang dianggap inkonstitusional dan mengabaikan pembangunan dan kesejahteraan masyarakat di daerah.Tindakan koreksinya itu ternyata mendapat sambutan berupa aksi militer dari pemerintah pusat di Jakarta sehingga menimbulkan perang saudara di Sumatera Barat.With the military and economic support of the Soviet Union, Colonel Husein began spreading the communist message to neighboring countries; the Islamic Republic of Aceh to the north, Republic of Indonesia to the South and the Federation of Malaya to the east. Riua actions became very alarming to its neighbors and the region teetered on war. Riau’s support for Communist insurrections and their persecution of Islamic Faith soon saw the country being besieged by military forces from both north and south while the communist forces in the Federation of Malaya were besieged by both Islamic and Malayan forces. By the end of the decade the combined military actions from its neighbors and western powers were able to isolate Riau and its borders were breached by both Aceh and Indonesian forces. Colonel Husein government requested help from the UN which brokered a peace treaty in which all countries agreed to withdraw to their borders and Riau agreed to stop all support for communist insurrections in other countries.

Islamic Republic of Aceh
Following independence Teungku Daud Beureueh as his Darul Islam party set about to make Aceh an Islamic state. He introduced Sharia law and banned all other religions in the country. This led many of the country’ religious minorities to flee south to Riau. In the 1960s when Republic of Riau government was overthrown by Ahmad Husein tension rose on the island. President Husein communist government persecution of Islam and destruction of mosque caused much anger in Aceh. In 1964 Aceh government offices and military installation started coming under attack from the Aceh Communist Liberation Army (ACLA) which was being supported by the government of Riau. For the next three years Aceh armed forces battled ACLA slowly pushing them further into the jungle and mountains. In 1968 Aceh in conjunction with Indonesia which was suffering the similar fate launched a simultaneous assault on Republic of Riau in retaliation for its support of the communist insurgents. After six months of fighting along the border Aceh forces captured several villages and towns along the border and Riau asked for UN intervention. Following the cease fire Aceh forces pulled back into Aceh but continued fighting ACLA guerrillas for remainder of decade.

Republic of East Indonesia
Following the resignation of Tjokorda Gde Raka Soekawati as president of East Indonesia one of the country’s most famous military leaders Jahja Daniel Dharma was proclaimed president. President Dharma task was complicated by rival tensions both within the country as well as tensions with its neighbors. Its relationship with the Republic of South Moluccas was difficult as East Indonesia still claimed the lands of South Moluccas. Tensions between the two countries remained high and both navies engaged in several clashes along their long marine border against locals as well against each other. The people in both countries so used to traversing between the hundreds of islands that made up both countries were not inclined to pay attention to new laws, borders and especially taxes. As the clashes between the two countries intensified trade between the two countries decreased and in 1965 the two countries finally sat down in Singapore and negotiated trade, movement of people and joint defense as political and religious tensions in region brought the two countries around to the need to cooperate and get along.

East Indonesia relations with its two other major neighbors the Dayak Federation and Republic of Indonesia was also strained but for different reasons. The Dayak Federation on the island of Borneo had a strained relation with most of its neighbors as its people resentful of Indonesian long invasion and plunder of its resources held all foreigners in contempt. The invasion of Dayak lands by East Indonesia was still fresh in the Dayak’s memory and the two countries continued ignoring one other. Meanwhile the Republic of Indonesia continued to claim all former Dutch territory and even British territory. It was only due to continued internal security issues on the island of Java and Indonesia’s ongoing border clashes with the communist of Riau that limited the Republic of Indonesia’s contempt and interference in East Indonesia internal affairs.

During the 1960s President Dharma with the assistance of the IMF and support of USA and other western countries began several economic reforms that by end of decade made its economy the fastest growing in the region.

Since its independence, the Republic of East Indonesia had followed the other signatories of the Indonesia independence movement and either ignored or limited its interaction with the Portuguese Federation and its two dependencies the Republic of Lombok and Republic of Bali. It refused to recognize Portuguese control of the southern Sunda Islands but as the economies of these islands continued to surge and the standard of living increased many people of East Indonesia attempted to migrate there in search of better life. The apprehension and detention of thousands of illegal East Indonesian immigrants in the Federation and their forced repatriation forced the two countries to have some diplomatic interaction. In addition, many Portuguese goods were being smuggled into the country depriving the government of much needed tax revenue and undermining local businessmen. Attempts to police the hundreds of kilometers of marine border proved difficult and in 1965 following the success of South Moluccas own accord with the Portuguese Federation in combating smuggling, piracy and regulating emigration the Republic of East Indonesia established diplomatic relations with the Portuguese Federation and signed a similar treaty with the Portuguese. Trade between the Lusitania Commonwealth and East Indonesia was opened up and the Federation helped East Indonesia patrol their joint border and fight both smuggling and piracy. Portuguese immigration from both East Indonesia and South Moluccas was set at 20,000 a year and processes were established to properly send back any illegal immigrants caught in the Federation.

Republic of South Moluccas
The establishment of the Republic of South Moluccas under the leadership of President Chris Soumokil was the republic in which the Portuguese had the biggest involvement in the former Dutch East Indies. Portuguese DGS had provided Chris Soumokil and his struggling movement with weapons, cash, and support. Portuguese naval support was also involved in the clandestine sinking and destruction of several Indonesian naval ships belonging to a naval task force about to depart for South Malocas capital of Ambon from the island Java during the independence struggle thus allowing for the republic to survive.

While the Portuguese had worked hard to establish the Republic of South Moluccas and unofficial diplomatic channels existed between the two countries the Federation’s relationship with the Republic of South Moluccas was like other countries in the region. It continued to provide clandestine support when possible including against its larger neighbor the Republic of East Indonesia.

In 1962 President Soumokil visited USA and several European countries including the Netherlands where he signed several agreements on trade and defense. While in Europe he became the first President of an East Indies country to visit the Portuguese Federation. While in Lisbon he opened the South Moluccas embassy and signed several agreements with not only the Federation but also the Lusitania Commonwealth. When he returned home there was some discontentment about the agreements but over the next few years many of the major issued being faced by the republic regarding piracy, smuggling and emigration with the Federation got better and the economy and security improved.

In 1965 relations between South Moluccas and East Indonesia began improving with the signing of several agreements between the two countries. As well as diplomatic recognition of each other the regulating of trade and movement of people between the two countries allowed for the two to develop and present a united front against continued harassment from Republic of Indonesia and the growing communist and Islamic Fundamentalist movements in the region.

Pontianak Sultanate
The Pontianak Sultanate had suffered greatly during the Japanese occupation during WWII. The sultan, Muhammad Ibrahim Shafi ud-din II, survived the brutal Japanese occupation which included the execution of almost half of the Sultanate’s elites and most foreigners. After the war, the Sultan was adamant to not let the country come under the same result in the future. Pontianak locals took all the Japanese weapons and worked at building an independent army and government. The Pontianak Sultanate was small enough and far enough removed from the major areas of fighting that when UN supported peace negotiations started, they along with the Dayak Federation were able to assert their demand for independence.

During the 1950s the Pontianak Sultanate remained relative free from many of the political and military issues plaguing many of the other east indies countries and it was able to develop its resources and economy. In the 1950s they along with the Dayak Federation signed several trade and investment agreements with Portuguese Federation oil / gas companies as well as mining companies. The generous royalties provided by the Portuguese were far greater than what other European and American companies were willing to offer, and it allowed the government to investment in education, health, and infrastructure. While trade between the two countries remained strong politically due to Pontianak Sultanate’s Islamic majority relations remained low key.

Dayak Federation
Like Pontianak Sultanate the Dayak Federation was very leery of foreigners, its people had been suppressed and invaded by most of its neighbors and colonial powers for centuries. The revolt of the Dayak people against both the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of East Indonesia arose from a popular movement of those two countries using the Dayak’s land as a battlefield for their nationalistic purposes. The revolt also had the effect of expelling almost all foreigners including all people from the islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi. Expelled were also many of the skilled laborers and technicians who had formed the backbone of the Dutch East Indies government and the oil and mining industry on the island.

Following the revolt many leading Dayak intellectuals met and formed the Dayak Unity Party and Oevaang Oeray was elected as its leader and became the country’s first President. His government task was immense as the government lacked administrators and qualified people for many of the posts. For many years Dutch government provided consultants and administrators to run and train Dayaks for many government positions.

Regarding the Oil / Gas and mining industry like Pontianak Sultanate the Portuguese companies gained a competitive advantage with their high royalties and guarantees to train one Dayak for every three foreigners working in the field during the 1st 10 years and one to one after that. The Portuguese own oil and gas industry provided the Dayak government with a real-life example of how important it was to transfer skills and training to local people.

Free from the religious, political and military threats the Dayak Federation was able invest great amount of taxes and royalties into education and health as well as infrastructure. By the middle of the 1960s both the oil/gas and mining industries in the Dayak Federation had doubled in size since independence. Taking their que from the Portuguese first European and then some American companies also began operating in the Dayak Federation by offering similar deals and assurances. Employment growth in the Federation remained very strong during this time.

In 1962 the communist insurrection against the British and the government of Sarawak spilled over into the Dayak Federation. The Dayak Federation was forced to increase its military spending and triple its armed forces. It formed an alliance with the Pontianak Sultanate to fight the communist incursions and in 1964 and together with Pontianak Sultanate supported the independence of both Sarawak and Brunei from Britain and opposed the union of the two British protectorates with the Federation of Malaya.

Republic of Indonesia
Following the independence of Indonesia from the Dutch along with eight other countries in the former Dutch East Indies the government of Indonesia spent the following decade verbally attacking all its neighbors and attempting to meddle in their internal affairs. The government did not recognize any of the other countries and continued to claim sovereignty over all the former Dutch East Indies. While the Indonesian government was a thorn in most of its neighbors it reserved special hatred for the Portuguese Federation and its two allies the Republic of Bali and Republic of Lombok. The Portuguese spent the 1950s and early 1960s repulsing continued Javanese attacks disguised as fishermen or smugglers from Indonesia. Meanwhile the government did little to develop the economy.

In 1960 the insurgent Negara Islam Indonesia (Indonesian Islamic State) formed in Java by Kartosuwirjo with the goal of establishing an Islamic State similar to the Islamic State of Aceh. They attacked Nationalistic Indonesian forces and non-Muslims in Indonesia. The government response to the Islamic insurgency was hampered by the communist insurgency that erupted on the island of Sumatra. In 1965 the USA increased its aid to the Indonesians and began providing military advisors and weapons for use in their battle against the communist and Islamic Insurgents. The government of Indonesia attacks against the two insurgencies and their supporters left tens of thousands of Indonesians dead. While the attacks against Republic of Riau and the communist insurgents proved to be successful and peace descended on the island of Sumatra the battle against the Islamic insurgents proved to be much more difficult. Attacks against Christians and non-Indonesians including the Summer 1966 Jakarta massacres that claimed more than 500 lives left the remaining Christians and non-Indonesians scared and most left Indonesia. Majority settled in either East Indonesia or the newly independent Malacca Federation.

Republic of Bali and Republic of Lombok
The two republics were very dependent both militarily and economically on the Portuguese Federation. During the war of independence from the Dutch and Indonesia the two republics had used Portuguese escudo to pay government workers and it soon became the unofficial currency used by most merchants in the two republics. After independence attempts by the two governments to introduce their own currencies was resisted by both merchants and government workers who feared depreciation and loss of purchasing power as had happened in about half the other independent countries in the East Indies. During the 1950s support from the Portuguese Federation increased but more importantly investment by Portuguese companies provided economic boost to the two countries. When talk of forming the Lusitania Commonwealth was brought up both governments wholeheartedly supported the idea.

During the negotiations, the role of the escudo became an important topic. The Portuguese government refused to share control of the escudo with the other four countries (Lombok, Bali, Guinea Boke and Galicia). Of the four only Galicia continued using its own currency, and in 1960 it was established at 1.5 Galician Reals to 1 Portuguese Escudo by 1969 the amount had decreased to 1.79 to 1.

Continued Indonesian attacks resulted in the two republics requiring a large military and security presence on the islands and they relied heavily on Portuguese army and navy for support. In addition, DGS/SIS agents and support staff were present in both republics assisting the republics’ own intelligence and security forces in apprehending insurgents and government opponents.

Kingdom of Sarawak
In April 1946 following the end of WWII Rajah Vyner of Sarawak the ruler Sarawak returned to his country following the withdrawal of the Japanese occupying forces. The country had suffered greatly during the Japanese occupation and needed a great amount of work to rebuild. The 71-year-old Rajah felt the task was too great for him and entered into negotiations with the British government to cede Sarawak as a crown colony. It was during these negotiations that he received amongst many visitors two that changed his mind. First was his nephew Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke the Rajah Muda of Sarawak (heir apparent) who requested his uncle not to cede Sarawak but to maintain the country as independent country although like Brunei as protectorate under the British Empire. The second and much more influential Datu Patinggi Abang Haji Abdillah who was a passionate leader and had great influence in the State Supreme Council. On 2 October 1946 Rajah Vyner of Sarawak died in his sleep and what was said between Rajah and Abdillah is not known but Sarawak suspended the negotiations with the British government. Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke became the 4th Rajah of Sarawak. In 1947 he met with Sultan Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Brunei to form a common plan in achieving independence from Great Britain.

Negotiations were often difficult with British attempting to pressure Sarawak and Brunei in joining the Federation of Malaya to which Rajah Dayrell was opposed. In the 1950s the Federation of Malaya was besieged by communist rebels and Sarawak sent part of its forces to the Peninsula to help fight the communists. This led to many left-wing people Sarawak angry and in 1955 the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party was formed. It opposed Sarawak intervention in Federation and demanded Rajah expel all British from the country. In 1956 the militant wing of the party angry at the government’s inaction began its own insurrection movement trying to topple the Rajah and establish a communist government. In 1957 the Sarawak government withdrew its forces from Malaya to fight the communists.

In 1962 the war against the communists expanded with the communists attacking government installations and using the Dayak Federation territory as base to launch attacks against Sarawak and British forces. In 1965 just as the Sarawak, Brunei, Dayak Federation, Pontianak and British forces were able to push the communists out of several areas the Federation of Malaya was rocked by a renewed communist insurrection forcing the British to reduce their forces in Sarawak.

During the 1960s the British resisted Sarawak and Brunei attempt at independence and instead attempted to sway them to join the Federation of Malaya. It was the British belief that a larger and more powerful Malaysian country would be better able to deal with the ongoing economical and communist insurrection. The plunging of the Federation of Malaya into a communist and subsequently Islamic fundamental insurrection halted all British talks of unification. From 1966 – 1968 the area controlled by the communist shrank as the communists continued to lose ground to government forces and lost support amongst the population including the Chinese minority.

In 1968 with the splintering of the Federation of Malaya into two separate countries; one under Islamic Fundamentalist control and the remaining under Christian/Non-Islamic control all attempts by the British to unite their East Indies colonies into a single country disappeared and the British finally agreed to a timeline for Sarawak and Brunei independence. On 1 January 1970 the Kingdom of Sarawak took off its last vestiges of colonial rule and became an independent country.

Brunei Sultanate
In 1946 the crown colony of North Borneo was created and together with British Protectorate of Brunei and Sarawak made up the British part of the island of Borneo. From 1946 to 1960 both North Borneo and the Protectorate of Brunei were administered independently, that year the British eager to unite its last colonies in the East Indies supported the idea of unification of British Borneo with the Federation of Malaya. The Protectorate of Brunei joined together with Sarawak in opposing the merger. Sultan Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Brunei worked together with groups opposed to the merger in North Borneo and together Sarawak presented a united front. In North Brunei support for unification with Malaya slowly fell especially after it was rocked by renewed fighting by communists and then Islamic Fundamentalists.

During the 1950s Sultan Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien III revised the country’s constitution, modernized its government, and used the vast oil wealth, which was Brunei major export, to build up the country education, health and infrastructure. By the time of his abdication in 1968 in favor of his eldest son the country’s development was one of the major attracting aspects for many in North Borneo in merging with Brunei.

In 1966 Sultan Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien III began a campaign to join the crown colony of North Borneo and Protectorate of Brunei into a single country based on the historical inclusion of North Borneo as part of Brunei and shared goal of independence. In 1968 with the dream of uniting British colonies together the British consented to the crown colony and Brunei uniting. In 1969 a new Brunei protectorate agreement was established. The enlarged Brunei Sultanate was established in British northern part of island of Borneo with Kingdom of Sarawak occupying the remaining British portion in the south. Brunei Sultanate became an independent country on 1 January 1970. The British continued to have both naval, and military bases in the country as part of the protectorate agreement and subsequently friendship agreement.

Malaya Federation - Malacca Federation
The Malaya Federation was created in 1948 by the British combining all the British colonies on the Malaysian Peninsula. The Malaya Federation allowed for the various states local leaders to remain in power. In 1957 the Malaya Federation became independent country within the British Commonwealth. During this time the country was rocked by insurgents, communist rebels inspired by success of communism in China sought to overthrow the traditional Malaya Federation local and national governments and establish a communist government. The 10-year struggle became known as the Malaya Emergency with British and other commonwealth countries providing major portion of the military forces fighting the communists. In the late 1950s the communist threat had been greatly reduced and when the country became independent its leaders and British began planning for a greater federation including the British colonies and protectorates on the island of Borneo.

In early 1960s the Federation was negatively impacted by the emergence of Islamic Fundamental state of Aceh and the Communist takeover of the Republic of Riau on the island of Sumatra. These two competing states were soon fighting each other bringing instability to the region but more detrimental exporting their ideology throughout the region. The communist rebellion in the Federation received significant support and supplies from Riau and communists began waging a guerrilla war not only in the rural areas but also in many of the country’s cities. Political assassinations began occurring regularly. Many Malaysians lost faith the government and its allies would be able to resolve the communist threat and instead turned to Islam. Islamic hardliners inspired by Aceh success against the communists in their country also advocated an Islamic State. Soon a three-way war was being fought on the Peninsula with communist, Nationalist and Islamic forces fighting each other. The British and commonwealth provided troops, supplies and weapons to fight both the communists and Islamic rebels. The exclusion of the Australians though hampered the Nationalist/Commonwealth side though as they had committed substantial forces supporting the South Vietnamese from communist attacks alongside the Americans. The surprise offer by the Portuguese Federation to provide an infantry division along with naval and air support was quickly accepted by the desperation National Malaya government.

From 1963 – 1966 progress was made in fighting the communists who slowly lost support amongst the population and its areas under control was gradually reduced. At same time though the reliance on the Nationalist side on the Commonwealth and Portuguese forces only seemed to strengthen the Islamic side and they continually gained ground especially at the communist’s expense. In 1966 the state of Johor was seized by the Islamic forces and the sultan was deposed and his oldest son who had become a supporter of the Islamic state became Johor’s new sultan. Sultan Tunku Mahmood Iskandar gave the Islamic forces legitimacy and over the following year several additional states came under their control. When the state of Pahang fell to the Islamic forces Sultan Abu Bakar refused to support them and he along with his whole family including all children were executed. His younger brother Tengku Baharuddin became the new Sultan of Pahang. When the states of Terengganu and Kelantan fell both of its Sultans publicly supported the Islamists. The fall of the four states to the Islamic forces had left them in control of over half the Malaya Federation. In 1967 fighting in the states of Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka was more successful for the Nationalist forces and its allies as they were able to either hold their positions in the State of Perak or push the Islamic forces out of the other states but in the north the states of Kenda, Perlis and Penang all fell to the Islamists.

In 1968 the Islamic states of Malaya Federation elected Sultan Tunku Mahmood Iskandar as leader of the state and called for jihad war against remaining foreign troops and unbelievers in the country. The British continued to provide support as well as several of the Indian Commonwealth states with troops in the Malaya Federation. The surprise was the Portuguese for some feared they would abandon the fight especially after witnessing African Wars and its troops involved in either occupying several African states, but the Portuguese continued to surprise everyone with the announcement of deploying three additional divisions into the Peninsula as well as moving its Indic Naval fleet into the region. The announcement sent shockwaves through the Malaya Federation and many within the region feared an escalation of the war. The Islamic government of Malaya through the government of Thailand stated it was willing to end military action on the Peninsula and split the country along the lines of control. The remaining nationalist government which was led by Abdul Ghafar bin Baba from Melaka agreed to hold talks in Bangkok. The Malaya Federation peace talks were held 15 - 25 May 1968 between the two sides of the Malaya war, the inclusion of the British and Portuguese representatives on the Nationalist side angered the Islamic government but over the 10 days of on and off meetings an agreement was reached.

The Islamic government with its capital in Johor Bahru would retain the Malaya Federation name and continue controlling the states of Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan Kenda, Perlis and Penang as well as northern part of Perak. While the Nationalist areas now called Malacca Federation would encompass Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and southern Perak and its capital remained Kuala Lumpur. As part of the agreement any non-Muslim in the Malaya Federation could sell his possessions and emigrate to the Malacca Federation while any Muslim who wished to live under Islamic law could similarly emigrate to the Malaya Federation till 31 December 1968. During the remainder of 1968 almost all Christians, Chinese and foreigners left the Malaya Federation without any problem although most got less than half the value for their property. Meanwhile less than 50,000 Malaysian Muslims within the Federation of Malacca left for the Malaya. When thousands of Muslims attempted to emigrate from Malaya to Malacca the government in Johor Bahru was enraged that Muslim would wish to live in a non-Muslim country and closed the border to Muslims emigrating from Malaya.

As part of the agreement, the Malacca Federation was barred from joining the British Commonwealth, so instead they joined the Lusitania Commonwealth. While British and Commonwealth troops were withdrawn from the Peninsula the Portuguese responded by signing mutual defense agreement and leasing military and naval base from the Malacca Federation much to the anger of the Malaya Federation thus allowing it to maintain a substantial troop presence in area providing protection to Malacca Federation and also patrolling the vital shipping lanes against piracy.

Cambodia and Laos
In 1953 the Kingdom of Cambodia became a constitutional monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk. In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favor of his father to participate in politics and was elected prime minister. Upon his father's death in 1960, Sihanouk again became head of state, taking the title of prince. As the Vietnam War progressed, Sihanouk initially adopted an official policy of neutrality in the Cold War. But as the split between the Soviets and Chinese became more pronounced Sihanouk alignment with the Chinese caused problems with the Soviet backed Vietnamese communists who were using parts of eastern Cambodia as a sanctuary and a supply route for their arms and other aid to their armed forces fighting in South Vietnam. China provided kingdom of Cambodia with weapons and training and in 1968 the Cambodians launched attacks on the Vietnamese Communist bases within Cambodia. It was huge blow to the North Vietnamese who were also being attacked by the Laos communist rebels. The Cambodians did not move into South Vietnam and it remained neutral in regard to both South Vietnamese and US fighting the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam.

Meanwhile in the country of Cambodia Prince Sihanouk alignment with China caused members of the government and army to became resentful of Sihanouk's ruling style as well as his tilt away from the United States. In 1965 several military officers attempted a coup but after several days of fighting they were defeated by forces loyal to the government. During the 1960s the government of Cambodia implemented several agrarian and economic reforms in favor of the peasants and nationalized several large companies much to the anger of the landowners and business owners.

To the north of Cambodia, the Kingdom of Laos which had gained independence from France at same time as Cambodia suffered repeated from communist forces attacks. In the early years fighting was between the Royal Lao Army and the communist North Vietnam-backed, and Soviet Union-backed Pathet Lao guerillas. A second Provisional Government of National Unity formed by Prince Souvanna Phouma in 1962 proved to be unsuccessful, and the situation steadily deteriorated into large scale civil war between the Royal Laotian government and the Pathet Lao. The Pathet Lao were backed militarily by the NVA and Vietcong. Laos was a key part of the Vietnam War since parts of Laos were invaded and occupied by North Vietnam for use as a supply route for its war against the South. In 1965 a new Laos rebel group appeared in the north along the Chinese border, the Mekong Communist Army backed by China attacked not only the Royal Lao Army but also the NVA, Vietcong and Pathet Lao Guerillas. By 1966 the Royal Lao Army facing multiple armies suffered mass desertion and loses it could not recover from. Meanwhile the Mekong force continued to grow, and Pathet Lao Guerillas joined them fighting the remnants of the Kingdom of Laos forces but mostly fighting the NVA and Vietcong. The NVA invaded Laos and the United States initiated a bombing campaign against the North Vietnamese positions.

In 1968 the North Vietnamese Army launched a multi-division attack on the Mekong Army which by 1968 had captured the Laos capital. The attack proceeded well at first but the combined USA bombing on the invading army and Mekong guerrilla tactics severely weakened NVA and it was forced to withdraw from Laos at end of 1968 and NVA and Vietcong lost the use of Laos as means to attack South Vietnam. This coupled with Cambodian attack on Vietcong bases in eastern Cambodia provided the US and South Vietnam forces with opportunity to go on offensive against the Vietcong and weaken it.

Singapore
The British colony of Singapore gained self-government in 1959 and became independent in 1964. The main political party was People Action Party (PAP) as the main political party and Lee Kuan Yew and Yusof bin Ishak as the first prime minister and president respectively. The country struggled during the 1960s with trying to keep the Malayan fighting from spilling over into the island. In 1965 as fighting between communist, Islamic and National Malayan forces in Malaya Federation raged on the city witnessed its own internal fighting between Muslim minority and Chinese majority resulting on over 32 deaths, 250 injured and over 1,450 arrested. The British government which still had naval base in Singapore provided PAP with support.

During the first half of the 1960s there was concern PAP would align Singapore with Communist China and the British plan was to integrate Singapore with an expanded Malaysia. The British pushed for Singapore to join the negotiations between Malaya Federation, Kingdom of Sarawak and Brunei but both pushback from Brunei and Sarawak but more importantly the civil war in Malaya put a stop to these talks.

The threat of Communism in Malaya was slowly dispelled by the Islamic threat and Singapore along with Malacca Federation received thousands of refugees from Islamic Malaya.

In 1965 PAP embarked on a free market and capitalist growth and signed several military agreements with the British that provided the country with security against an Islamic Malaya and Communist Riau states. In 1968 it established diplomatic relations with both Malacca Federation and Portuguese Federation as it sought out both economic and diplomatic support in a very volatile South East Asia.

South East Asia 1969​

We have introduced the completely revamped South East Asia. This was an opportunity to discuss several new countries that came into being in the mid 1950s. The substitution of a Indonesia that encompassed all former Dutch East Indies by nine (9) separate states. These countries straddled a variety political ideologies with communist, Islamic, and capitalist countries. Some tried to be non-aligned, while others were aligned with the Federation or the USA. The presence of the Federation in the region cannot be understated and its attempt to normalize relations with its neighbors. Its success in establishing political and economic with East Indonesia and South Mollucas were great accomplishments. While its low key relations with Pontianak Sultanate and Dayak Federation continued its approach of prioritizing improving relations over profits and the close relations between Portuguese government and Portuguese companies which hoped providing generous trade and economic would result in continued Portuguese increase influence and trade.

The shock alignment of Malacca Federation with Portuguese Federation made world realize that Portuguese influence was not only limited Africa and South America. This was followed by other countries also increasing their trade with the Federation foremost amongst these countries was Nationalist China which became an associated member of the Portuguese Federation political, economic and military organization called the Lusitania Commonwealth. Questions/ Comments?

Return on November 22 as we discuss Brazil in the 1960s.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)

Brazil (1 of 2)​

Brazil entered the 1960s full of optimism and hope as the JP presidency ended, the crowning of achievement under JK had been the rapid development of the country with huge investment in infrastructure, investment by both Brazilian and foreign companies in both resource development as well as manufacturing as the country attempted manufacture its own products and increase its exports. But the crowning achievement of the presidency was the building of a new capital in the interior called Brasilia along with rapid transit connection from it to its two largest cities Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Construction of Brasilia 1956-1960

Brazil High Speed train connecting Rio – Sao Paulo – Brasilia
Inaugurated in 1960
Operating line in Red
Planned unbuilt line in Green​

The high-speed train built by Federation / Brazilian consortium had gone badly over budget with costs almost twice the original cost and part of the line connecting Belo Horizonte to Brasilia unfinished. While the 1950s had seen Brazil begin its transformation from an undeveloped country to one that at long last started becoming an industrial and economic regional power able to assert its own values and views the development and manner in which it had been done had garnished a lot of criticism and claims of corruption. Nevertheless, the Brazilian people felt proud and filled with pride in the country’s accomplishments believing that a new modern Brazil would become a partner in the security and progress of the free world.

While President Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira and those around him felt that much was needed still to be done the Brazilian constitution prevented him from running a second consecutive term and in the 1960 Brazilian Presidential election the electorate had a choice of four different candidates with very different views regarding their vision for Brazil in the 1960s.

1960 Brazilian President Candidates
Fernando Ferrari, Jânio Quadros, Carlos Lacerda & Ademar de Barros​

The coalition that had governed Brazil during the 1950s and been instrumental in electing both Vargas and JK was splintered and struggled to agree on the best candidate. In the majority agreed to support Fernando Ferrari but in doing so the left wing of the coalition headed by the PTN left and joined in Ferrari main opponent Jânio da Silva Quadros. Quadros was a divisive candidate who both seemed to unify many who were critical of the Vargas/JK decade and its abuses but also turned off many by his dismissive and combative nature. Nothing personified this contrast than the very public spat between Carlos Lacerda leader of the main anti Vargas/JK party the UDN and Jânio da Silva Quadros. The dispute and animosity between the two leaders resulted in the UDN withdrawing from Quadros coalition and nominating their own leader for President. Lastly Adhemar de Barros the leader of the PSP. With the anti-establishment camp splintered Fernando Ferrari seemed likely to win but Jânio da Silva Quadros with the support of both left and nationalist parties (PTN, PR, PL and PSP) captured the public imagination with his catchy campaign slogans and jingles all while attacking the corruption and waste of the previous administration and government officials. Fernando Ferrari supported by (PSD, PTB, PST, PSB and PRT). The anti-establishment, conservative and pro USA factions admonished by the current political and foreign policy positions of Brazil seemed to favor Adhemar de Barros. But neither Barros or Lacerda were able to expand their message beyond their political base and as the campaign progressed the election seemed between Quadros and Ferrari. Meanwhile the election for VP pitted Joao Goulart (Jango) supported by Vargas/JK coalition against Milton Campos who was Quadros running mate.

As the campaign progressed it grew very acrimonious with personal attacks against each candidate. Ferrari while a very capable deputy could not match the populist Quadros who was able to galvanize the average Brazilian and portray Ferrari as stooge to the powerful and foreign interests. Ferrari tried to counter by pointing out the progress the country had made and the advancements but, in the end, Quadros was a political phenomenon, his jingle was everywhere, and it became impossible to counter his popularity and he won the election by 129,000 votes. But while Quadros was able to garner the voters support the same could not be said about his VP running mate Milton Campos, Goulart won VP by 350,000 votes.

Following the election Quadros decided to visit Europe for three months much to the anger of his allies who wanted him to stay in Brazil to plan his administration. He visited France, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Italy and the Federation. While in Europe he met with political and business leaders as well as leaders of opposition parties, labor leaders and leftwing intellectuals signaling he wanted to have a much broader exposure than his predecessors. In the Federation Quadros seemed to go out of his way to reach out to opposition leaders and other groups. The Portuguese government never interfered with Quadros and he left the Federation a week before his inauguration neither condemning the Federation as some of his leftwing supporters had hoped nor did he praise the country but only stated he enjoyed visiting the people of the Federation.

On 31 January 1961 Quadros took office and in his inaugural speech, he emphasized the issues of government inefficiency, inflation, and debt. Quadros laid the blame for the country's high rate of inflation on his predecessor, Juscelino Kubitschek, whom he berated for nepotism and corruption. Quadros quickly replaced most incumbent ministers with members of the PTN, PSP and PR and other parties that had supported him. This proved the start of his problems as Quadros ability to govern effectively was hampered throughout his presidency by his inexperience with party politics and his small staff.

At the beginning of his presidency, Brazil was faced with high inflation and large debts to foreign countries. Quadros' government announced an anti-inflation program in March that simplified exchange rates and cut public spending. The reforms gained the approval of the IMF, and Quadros was able to renegotiate debts with the United States and Europe. Brazil received a total of 3.5 billion dollars of new loans, greatly mitigating the debt crisis that it had been facing. That represented a major breakthrough for the Quadros administration, as several previous Brazilian presidents had failed to renegotiate the debt and had relied on secondary markets such as the Federation.[1] In addition to his campaign against inflation, Quadros attempted to reduce bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption. He launched an anti-corruption campaign and largely bypassed the bureaucracy by issuing presidential decrees. However, the policies undermined morale within the government and alienated many members of Congress, and this was exacerbated by his failure to cooperate with his allies, as he rarely consulted with his main political backers on important decisions and held only two cabinet meetings in his first month in office. As Quadros alienated the bureaucracy many government programs suffered as government oversight was reduced. As president, Quadros also dissipated his energy on relatively unimportant issues, exerting significant effort to outlaw gambling and to ban women from wearing bikinis on the beach.

Quadros pursued an independent foreign policy, outlining "freedom, independence, and non-interference" as his guiding principles. He also tried to pursue closer relationships with Africa and Middle East, hoping to gain influence in the non-aligned movement. He attempted to show solidarity with newly independent African countries by promoting decolonization and opposing racism. He also tried to promote trade and cultural exchanges with those countries. However, Quadros' government often supported states that contradicted his efforts such as his continued support of white minority government South Africa. But the biggest deterrent to Quadros increasing Brazil’s influence in Africa and Middle East was the continued close economic relations with the Federation. For all his rhetoric he realized that the Federation was already following a foreign policy he supported. But while his predecessors had aligned themselves with the Federation instead of America, he hoped to strike a more balanced approach and play the major powers against one another. However, his willingness to embrace the communist governments of Cuba, China, and the Soviet Union alienated many of his supporters, and upset most major parties in congress. One of his most controversial positions came as a result of the Cuban Nationalist (with American support) liberation of Cuba. While most of South American governments either supported or remained quiet at the onset of the invasion Quadros came out against the invasion. His position and rhetoric were condemned by many of his critics and as the Cuban war progressed and territory under Nationalist Cuban control expanded, he tempered his criticism and voiced his support to the Cuban people.

On the economic front, Quadros policies proved inadequate in resolving the problems that Brazil was facing. Inflation was still over 40% while economic growth had slowed to just over 2% and as 1961 turned into 1962, inflation grew instead of falling as productivity decreased. The JK economic plan had been to increase Brazil’s industrial, agricultural, and manufacturing production with the goal of reducing imports and stabilizing the economy. But under Quadros many of the initiatives started under JK stalled and imports grew, and as a result Brazil’s economy stalled.

In December of 1961 Quadros proclaimed two new initiatives:

• Educational Reforms – building on the education plan started under JK administration the Education plan called for expansion of free elementary education to grade 6 for all children both rural and urban. This plan included free textbooks and equipment. Stating in 1963 school attendance for all children till age of 12 was made mandatory this included requirement that all jurisdictions be they cities or villages were required to have enough schools for all school age children and that attendance became the responsibility of mayor and council with severe penalties if not met.[2] Secondly the government plan was to double the number of secondary schools, colleges and Universities by end of decade. Lastly borrowing from Federation was an aggressive adult illiteracy program that utilized the schools in the evening and had a goal of eliminate illiteracy for those under 60 by end of the decade.
• Electoral Reform - granting all adults over age of 18 the right to vote including those who were illiterate.

While there was some opposition in Congress by conservatives who objected to the costs of the education programs and voiced concerns at the poor and illiterate being manipulated by certain parties, namely the left, the reforms were supported by majority of the parties and were passed by congress.

In spring of 1962 Quadros got into a new conflict with the US government of President Kennedy. In 1962 the US administration began a program of replacing Communist Cuba with Nationalist Cuba on the international stage. Foremost in the American plan was replacing Communist Cuba with Nationalist Cuba in the OAS. Quadros came out against it and became the principal opponent of the American plan. While American influence within the OAS was very strong the growing communist threat in the Americas and US inability to suppress it had left many leaders demanding additional support. Many governments had used the Cuban issue as a way to pressure the Americans. The Americans continued gathering support for their position and by summer of 1962 had gathered sufficient support to be able to remove Communist Cuba from the OAS. The motion was scheduled to be voted at the Mexican OAS Conference in October 1962.

Quadros continued his opposition to the American plan and put forward his own plan. His idea was to allow for the addition of Nationalist Cuba while at same time maintaining Communist Cuba in the OAS. Quadros decided to not only attend the OAS conference but to seek additional support for his proposal. One week prior to the conference Quadros visited several capitals in Latin America to gather support for his proposal. He visited Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador and Mexico and met with the government leaders. For all Quadros failures domestically he was able to gather enough support that many in the American administration worried that Quadros would derail the American plan. Quadros arrived in Mexico City on October 5 and met with Mexico’s president Adolfo López Mateos who was very receptive to his plan. It was during his meeting with President Mateos that Quadros learned of the attempted coup in the Federation. During the rest of the day President Quadros stayed at the Brazilian Embassy keeping up to date on the developments in Lisbon and Federation by the Brazilian embassy in Lisbon. When word of the coup failure reached him, he was both relieved and disappointed. He was heartened at the Federation people rejection of the coup and contemplated the use of such tactics in Brazil to further his agenda and weaken his critics. The next day Quadros left the Embassy and his motorcade travelled to the OAS conference under Mexican police protection. When his limousine was 2 blocks from the OAS conference a powerful bomb hidden in a car parked along his route exploded just as the limousine passed. The force of the blast lifted up his limousine and sent it flying over 50 feet into the building across the street. Quadros was killed along with most of his entourage travelling in the accompanying vehicles.

News of the attack and Quadros death coming at same time as the attempted coup in the Federation came as a great shock to majority of the people in Brazil. The Brazilian congress was in shock too as five of its members who had accompanied Quadros to Mexico City were also killed. The Brazilian constitution stipulated that in the event of death of President the VP would become president, but many conservatives argued that VP Goulart was ineligible to be president due to his strong support and closeness to the Federation. Goulart himself had been the target of an assassination attempt on the same day as President Quadros was assassinated but the plot had been discovered and four individuals arrested. Even though the attempt on Goulart was thwarted several prominent conservative and pro-American elements of the military still pushed forward with their plan to replace Goulart. The arrest of the assassins could of undid the conspirators but several supporters within the Brazilian police slipped poison in the captured assassins’ food and they died before they could reveal anything. The death of the prisoners revealed that there were conspirators throughout the Brazilian police. The conservatives in congress were not strong enough to prevent Goulart from becoming President and as he took the oath of Presidency General Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco commander of the military in Belem ordered his forces to seize state of Para and proclaimed that he was calling on other political and military leaders in opposing the seizure of Brazil by the Federation and its conspirators led by Goulart. The country stood in fear and anxious to see who would else would revolt and what other military units would join in the attempted coup. As General Branco issued his proclamation news started appearing in many Brazilian newspapers and media stations that both Quadros assassinations and the attempt on Goulart had been orchestrated by the Americans working with the conservatives. The conservatives and their newspapers, radio and television stations denied all of this.

The government response to the assassination and military revolt was twofold; the Brazilian Congress launched hearings into the assassination and attempted coup by the military to see if they were connected while the remainder of the Brazilian military moved against General Branco forces in the state of Para. 12 October 1962 became known as the “Operação Frei Caneca” as thousands of conservatives including Congressman Pascoal Ranieri Mazzilli and members of the government and police were arrested. Several prominent conservatives such as Plínio Salgado and Olimpio Mourão Filho testified against conspirators and evidence was resented that not only was the American CIA involved but that American embassy officials including Ambassador had taken part in organizing the coup.[3] Most damaging was the news that several Americans had been captured alongside Brazilian conspirators. With all the evidence against the Americans President Goulart declared the American Ambassador Abraham Lincoln Gordon persona non grata and was given 24 hours to leave Brazil

Meanwhile General Branco forces suffered significant desertions as news of CIA and American involvement spread throughout Brazil. On 20th of October news of CIA involvement in Portuguese Federation attempted coup made headlines in Brazil, this alongside news of American involvement in planning and participation of the Brazilian coup resulted in the attempted coup loosing much of its support, worse many conservatives felt duped and betrayed by the news that it was a CIA plot and they been duped by the Americans. By 25th of October General Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco had lost over half of his forces and soldiers sometimes whole units abandoned Belem and switched to the Government side. When Brazilian forces moved in against the remaining revolting forces, they surrendered and General Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco was found dead from a gunshot in the Belem City Hall.


[1] The US government in an attempt to break Brazil’s cozy alignment with the Federation coerced IMF to suddenly approve new loans to Brazil. An attempt to make a condition of the IMF loans to repeal several agreements with the Federation including the barter agreement almost scuttled the deal but in the end the Americans were too anxious to break close relationship with the Federation dropped the conditions.
[2] iOTL well into the 1980s and 1990s school attendance by poor was still an issue with many families not able to afford the costs of school supplies and uniforms. Here Quadros drawing on the Portuguese example made Education a cornerstone of his administration with free uniforms and school supplies. In 1963 free lunch was started in some schools which by 1970 had become standard in all schools. To the anguish of many jurisdictions, they have less than two years to adhere to the primary, secondary and adult illiteracy requirements before severe penalties including dismissal and arrests.
[3] Several prominent conservatives that were approached but refused to join due to Goulart pro Federation stand. These conservatives such as Plínio Salgado and Olimpio Mourão Filho both of whom suffered assassination attempts in the summer of 1962 turning them from indifferent to anti-coup and government informers
[4] The Portuguese had maintained a dual embassy in Brazil with the Federation renting an office in a building in Brasilia while its large Embassy was built, at same time most of the Federation personnel and functions remained in Rio de Janeiro. When the Embassy was moved to Brasilia Rio building became the 12th consulate in Brazil.

Sorry for the delay several events conspired to delay my writing of this post. First as I have indicated I write several months in advance and had all of 60s and 70s completed but when I started posting the Portuguese-South America section did not seem right and been revising the section since the 1940s. We have till the 1950s seen a small deviation in the events and lives of South America with majority being concentrated in Brazil and Argentina. As we got to 1960s several major events were needing to be changed as the iTTL Brazil had deviated sufficiently to make the changes necessary.

The first major change is in Quadros victory, for iOTL he won by over 1.5 million with the largest lead in Brazilian history. iTTL the victory was less pronounced and without that huge landslide victory Quadros never put forward his resignation attempt. The second biggest change is in regards to Goulart for the years under JK administration and continued exposure and interaction with the Federation had converted him to an advocate of Portuguese Corporatism (the working together of government, industry and labor ) to the betterment of the country and its people. Gone was the Goulart who was supposedly pro Communist. Questions/ Comments?

Return on January 3rd we discuss the 2nd part of Brazil in the 1960s.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)

Brazil (2 of 2)

The Goulart Presidency ​

The attempted coup weakened the conservatives greatly both within congress and also in the military. Several military leaders either resigned as more evidence was uncovered of additional supporters of the coup within the military but President Goulart refused to launch any further investigations into the military and police. Demonstrations against America including several marches against both American embassy and consulates forced the police to cordon them off from protestors. When several American missionaries were attacked the American government issued a warning to all Americans in Brazil to leave. On 12 December 1962 President Goulart proclaimed the foreign residency registration, requiring any foreigner to receive government permission to stay in country more than 30 days. Many Americans including many evangelical and protestant missionaries left Brazil refusing to present themselves to the Brazilian government “kangaroo court”. On 15 January 1963, Goulart passed a law that no foreigner could speak in public without permit and all foreign government or religious leaders were required to register with the police upon arrival in the country. By end of March 1963 almost all the American missionaries had left the country with only a handful authorized to stay. On 1 May 1963 President Goulart attended the inauguration of the new Federation Embassy in Brasilia and announced the requirement of all countries to move their embassy to Brasilia by 1970.[1] It was not till 1 July 1963 that relations between Brazil and America normalized and American Ambassador John Wills Tuthill arrived in Brasilia as the new US Ambassador but by then the American position in Brazil had been greatly weakened and he spent his whole term defending American position but stayed out of Brazilian politics and affairs.

While President Quadros has expended a lot of his time and effort on political fights with the US and others political leaders President Goulart main priority was to jump start the Brazilian economy and to reduce the high inflation. To accomplish this, he and his cabinet came out with three major economic initiatives:

• Tax Reforms - increased taxes on dividends sent out of country, taxes for corporations and high-income earners were also increased. A Value added tax was also instituted on luxury items.
• Banking and Stock Exchange Reforms – Suffering from fiscal problems and investor confident the government brought forward legislation to modernize both the country’s banks as well as stock market. New Government oversight was proposed with the creation of the Banco Central do Brasil (Central Bank of Brazil) to manage the country currency, set exchange rates and manage the country foreign currency reserves but most importantly regulate Brazilian banks. As part of the legislation individuals, families and corporations were prohibited from owning more than 15% of more than one bank. Bank Oversight Law allowed the Central Bank to not only set banking regulations but also audit banks. Also included in the reforms was the creation of the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil) to regulate and manage Brazil stock exchanges. As part of the reforms the two principal stock exchanges (Rio and Sao Paulo) were linked together and privatized.[2]
• Economic Reform - To tackle the economic situation the government plan was named Plano Trienal, which Proposed by the Minister of Planning Celso Furtado.[3] The plans major objectives to reduce inflation and to improve the country current account deficit by reducing imports. The crucial component of the plan was to stimulate the growth of domestic production of basic commodities used by Brazilians, construction materials, clothing, and energy to meet or exceed domestic demand. The plan called for taxing of agricultural land not being utilized, expansion of agricultural production which included increased herbicides and fertilizers and increasing productivity.[4] The plan also called for the doubling of both steel and cement production and to reduce or eliminate import in many critical components as well as manufactured goods.[5]

The Plano Trienal faced stiff opposition from Congress and several amendments including a 50% wage increase for all workers was added to gain sufficient support. Many new companies including several from the Federation expanded in Brazil during Goulart term. By 1968 cement production doubled along with steel production increased by 40%. Inflation reduced from 79% in 1962 to 27% by 1965 while GDP increased from 1% in 1962 to 7.2% in 1965.

At same time Brazil benefited from the deteriorating economic situation in both Columbia and Peru, two primary coffee producers, due to communist insurrection in those countries. By 1964 Columbia coffee production had suffered 80% drop while production in other Latin American countries also suffered leading to an increase in price of coffee. Gone too was the American control of the Brazilian commodities which accounted for majority of the country’s exports in the early 1960s. In December 1963, the government of Goulart announced a minimum price for Brazilian coffee which was opposed by American and European companies. From January to April 1964 Brazil refused to sell at lower price, Brazil got a huge boost when the Federation and several other countries in Central America also joined in the Brazilian floor price, when coffee producers in South East Asia joined the Brazilian position the Europeans relented and started buying at the new price. The American government fought against what they called the Coffee Consortium. But with coffee inventories at record lows many American coffee companies such as Nabob agreed to purchase the coffee at the new floor price. This had the effect of providing the coffee producing countries with an increase in foreign currency and producers with larger profits. In October 1964 Goulart government announced the creation of Coffee Producers Council that would regulate coffee quality and production within Brazil. This was opposed by many producers who planned on greatly increasing production to take advantage of higher prices for coffee. The idea was adopted by several other countries who together with Brazil worked to limit production so that over production would be reduced and prices did not fall.[6] This of course ran counter to the International Coffee Organization (ICO) who claimed oversight over the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) that had been set up in 1962 to manage coffee production and prices. In 1965 Brazil and majority of coffee producers withdrew from the ICO. In 1966 a new ICA was negotiated which abided by Brazilian position and a new ICO was formed.[7] The new ICA had strict national quotas that were enforced. As prices increased many producers expanded their production with size of coffee plantations increasing 30% between 1964 – 1968 but governments were required to cut overproduction and Brazil took the initiative by burning and destroying much of the increased acreage. This had the effect of forcing other small producers to follow suit. Although vigilance against overproducing and smuggling continued to be an ongoing issue that occupied the ICO for decades to come.

For all the economic success the Goulart presidency failed to take the growing communist threat in neighboring countries seriously by bolstering border defenses and military spending concentrating instead of economic matters.[8] In August 1964 the communist threat that had been plaguing its neighbors: Columbia, Peru, Bolivia reached Brazil as rebels attacked both civilians and the government institutions in the states of Acre, Rondônia and Mato Grosso.[9] This coincided with attacks on several police stations and government buildings in both Rio and Sao Paulo. The government was completely caught off guard to both the communist attacks in the cities and the guerrillas along the border provinces.

The communist threat was being directed by two Brazilians Carlos Lamarca and Carlos Marighella. “Os Dois Carlos” the two Carlos as they were known were instrumental in both organizing and directing the Brazilian communists both inside and outside of Brazil during the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1954 Carlos Marighella left Brazil where he been living in hiding since the communist party been outlawed and travelled to China where he stayed for four years. There he was trained by Chinese communists in organizing and directing a communist insurrection. In 1958 he returned to South America and founded the Ação Libertadora Nacional (ALN) as a Chinese communist inspired organization. Due to ongoing war between Chinese Communists and Soviet Communists he was hunted by both the Brazilian Communists who were Soviet backed and the Brazilian police he left Brazil a year later and setup in Bolivia which was partially under Communist control (Chinese backed). He received funds from China and setup “Radio Brazil” to inspire and educate the Brazilian people in the glories of communism and overthrowing the Brazilian government. In 1960 one of the new recruits Carlos Lamarca, a former military officer joined Carlos Marighella and became one of ALN principal military leaders. In 1962 he returned to Brazil to organize the clandestine communist cells in Brazil’s major cities. In 1964, one month after the communist guerillas crossed border and initiated their attacks in Brazil’s border states the communist cells under Lamarca started attacking government offices and civilians in Brazilian major cities.

The two Carlos, Principle leaders of the ALN from 1960-1966
Carlos Marighella (left) and Carlos Lamarca (right)​

In 1964 the military neglected by Goulart since the 1962 attempted coup struggled to deal with both attacks. The initial military strategy to the communist attacks along the border states was to move most of Brazil’s army units to the border region in the west. The attacks in the cities resulted in that strategy being questioned and condemned by the various state governors and congress who demanded army be deployed to protect the cities and assist the police in combatting the communist forces in the east. As the attacks in the cities continued both the military and Federal Public Safety Department (Departamento Federal de Segurança Pública) bungled their response resulting in public discontent, frustration and demands for action while public faith in Goulart administration diminished, especially when both the military and police responded to congress inquiries at their failures showcased the Goulart government underfunding and short staffing of both. What was lacking was the intelligence from both Departamento de Ordem Política e Social (DOPS) Delegacia Especial de Seguranca Política e Social (DESPS).[10] The two intelligence organizations were tasked with keep vigilance both in Brazil and at its borders against these types of insurgencies. In the days following the attacks along the border there had been many questions asked why the country was not better prepared, then when the attacks in some of Brazil’s major cities happened the questions became demands to know why the country had been caught unprepared and neither intelligence organization sounding the alarm at the country’s greatest security threat. Rumors of internal infighting and interdepartmental rivalry leading to security breach resulted in the government launching investigations into intelligence failing.[11] [12]

In October 1964 news that over 10,000 communist rebels were operating along the border and that the military was having problems dealing with the insurgents along with increase in bombings and attacks including the assassination of the governors of Rio de Janeiro and Recife resulted in many within Congress and many news organizations to condemn Goulart presidency with incompetency. On 20 October 1964, to combat the insurgency and provide the government with ability to deal with the threat and growing emergency President Goulart declared State of Emergency. Unfortunately, the situation grew worse with military admitting it had lost half of the state of Mato Gross and images of thousands of civilians fleeing the fighting decreased public confidence in both Goulart and congress who were taking a lot of blame for not passing the state of emergency. From 25 October to 10 November Brazil suffered 157 bombings and attacks. On 10th of November the Portuguese Federation’s Prime Minister Dr. Antonio Rapazote secretly visited Brasilia meeting with President Goulart, Prime Minister Tancredo Neves along with senior members of the governing coalition (PSD, PTB, PST, PSB and PRT) who were both leery and intrigued at the Federation involvement. He also met with General Emílio Garrastazu Médici the most senior military leader. Included in the Portuguese entourage was a divisive figure, former President Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira who had been living in the Federation since 1962.[13] For three days the Portuguese and Brazilians discussed how to deal with the communist threat besieging the country. But while the Portuguese offered support and ideas, he made sure leaders knew they had to come up with their own Brazilian solution.[14]

The National Council ​

The Portuguese PM left on 15th of November same way he had arrived in secret while discussions continued between the President, Congress and Military. Goulart now a shell of the man who had vehemently tried to lead his country for the last three years became very reclusive and instead let other such as Prime Minister Tancredo Neves or the Minister of Economic Development and Planning Celso Furtado lead the discussion, at same time former President JK role also increased and he took a leading position in the negotiations and planning. On 1 December 1964, the government announced the creation of a National Council led by Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, and President Goulart, it included two other members: Celso Furtado in charge of the finance and economy[15] and General Emílio Garrastazu Médici in charge of the country military in combatting the crises facing the country. A new state of emergency was declared, and this time congress passed it. The state of emergency included measures granting the government additional powers and restricting people’s rights. As part of the declaration of the State of Emergency the upcoming presidential elections were cancelled but the National Council promised to hold elections at a later date when the country was safe.[16]

The creation of the National Council was an attempt at bring in several different political elements into the government to and to provide it with a broader appeal. The populist side was represented by JK and Goulart, while the conservatives were represented by General Emílio Garrastazu Médici, who as part of their demands for joining was control of both military and security. As the country faced unprecedented attacks both along its borders and within the progressive side thought it was a necessary compromise.

Under General Médici direction the new government outlawed many leftwing parties both in congress and outside and had their leaders and MPs arrested for supporting the rebels.[17] Most of the country’s leftwing and communist newspapers were also closed and its editors and journalists imprisoned. At same time some of the countries radical labor organizations such as Sindicato dos Metalúrgicos do ABC and Movimento Unificador dos Trabalhadores (MUT) were targeted. Many of the unions leaders and organizers were imprisoned and government attempted to have more moderate unions to represent the workers. To deal with the communist threat the government both increased the length of time men had to serve from 18 months to 24 and increased the number of recruits. On top of that the government recalled 20,0000 men in the reserves to boost the size of the military[18] and gave the Federal Public Safety Department unchecked powers to arrest anyone who acted or spoke against the government. Any person could be detained for seven days without charges. While all these actions would boost Brazil military it would take two to three months for the extra troops to be ready therefore to help combat the communist rebels the Brazilian government requested Portuguese assistance and less than two weeks later two infantry divisions and one mechanized division along with several units of the Portuguese air force began arriving in Brazilian ports.

The country and its people were in shock at both the insurgency attacks and the government action, luckily opposition to the government was unorganized and small although widespread as people reacted with shock at what they perceived a coup. Demonstrations were met with heavy police presence and massive arrests. During the months of December 1964 to February 1965 Brazil suffered an additional 500 bombings and violent attacks with opposition parties and those opposed to the government suffering the greatest casualties. While government offices, police stations and military installations also were attacked the highest casualties were civilians and the supporters of those who opposed the government. Universities became hotbed of protests therefore the government kept universities closed after the Christmas break. All education and university staff background and political action were investigated, and thousands were fired. Starting in 1965 thousands of left-wing politicians, intellectuals, union members and those opposed to the government of Brazil not in police custody fled the country for US or Europe.[19]

With the boost in military forces and the arrival of the Portuguese forces the Brazilian army was able to push the rebels back in the states of the states of Acre, Rondônia and Mato Grosso. By April 1965 calm had returned to the majority of Brazilian cites and countryside with most Brazilians starting to finally feel safer. Many people praised the government action and were thankful for the end of the communist threat. On 5 June 1965 Operation Môa was launched against the rebel insurgents in the border states, the operation comprised of seven Brazilian and three Portuguese divisions along with air support from both Brazilian and Portuguese air force. Over the months of June, July and August over 15,000 rebels were captured and 5,979 killed with the remaining rebels being pushed back into Peru and Bolivia. Of the 15,000 rebels caught less than 25% were Brazilian with majority coming from Peru and Bolivia. The Brazilian government paraded the captured rebels in front of the Brazilian and World presses and used the foreign insurgents in Brazil as reason Brazil needed to expand its fight against communism by fighting communist rebels in the neighboring countries, unfortunately the terrain was some of the most difficult both in Brazil and its neighbors.

On 10 September 1965, Brazil and Federation signed two important treaties that brought the two countries closer. The Brazil – Portuguese Federation Cooperation and Mutual Defense Treaty was signed linking the two countries militaries closer. The Portuguese agreed to keep one division in Brazil to help fighting the communist rebels along with air support. While both countries agreed to share their military intelligence. Brazil agreed to send to the Federation two divisions two assist it in its fight against the growing communist threat from its neighbors. At same time Brazil took huge step diplomatically by joining the Lusitania Commonwealth as its first Associate member. The Commonwealth had been formed in 1961 between Federation and its smaller Portuguese aligned neighbors (Galicia, Guinea Boke, Lombok and Bali). It was a military, political and economic alliance allowing for free movement capital, people, and goods between the member countries. Portuguese Federation was also required to provide both economic and military support to the smaller members. In summer of 1965 Katanga became the sixth member and provided additional clout and power to the Commonwealth. It was then that Brazil started negotiations to join the Commonwealth but as an associate member instead of regular member. Allowing the country to reduce the tariffs and duties between the six full members and Brazil. (Brazil membership was viewed as equal to the Federation and would be a model for other countries to join as associate members.

Following the establishment of the National Council, President Goulart went from being in complete charge of the country to being forced to share the burdens of governing. As 1965 progressed the other members of the council started exerting their own influence in their area of specialty. General Médici was responsible for not only the country’s military but also its security and the country’s police and intelligence organizations. Celso Furtado managed the country finances and economic development, while one of the country’s biggest industrialists, Mario Wallace Simonsen, became the Minister of Industry reporting to Celso Furtado. Overseeing the Council was JK who easily slipped into the leadership position of the country. This left President Goulart in an awkward situation. While technically still the President of Brazil his authority and power within the government was much diminished. JK had much admiration for his old VP and in several meetings with Goulart discussed areas of national importance that Goulart could oversee. Over the spring of 1965 Goulart slowly assembled the Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Education and Culture under his oversight. Fashioning a super ministry Goulart would lead the country’s efforts to continue modernizing its education system and health systems.

Under JK directions Brazil became more assertive on the international stage. In 1966 following the stabilization of the border situation in the west JK turned his attention to Uruguay. That year following the referendum failure Commander Gregorio Conrado Álvarez Armelino who was in charge of the capital’s Republican Guard moved to establish order and seize power. Many of the country civilian politicians opposed the coup. Diego Gestido one of the country’s leaders and considered by many a hero appealed for support from Uruguay neighbors. Meanwhile the Americans came out in support of the coup. In a hurried telephone conversation between governments of Argentina and Brazil it was agreed they send in their forces and re-establish civilian control. On 19th of March both Brazilian and Argentina forces moved into Uruguay and quickly established control of the country. Majority of Uruguay forces did not oppose the Brazilian/Argentinian forces and the Republican Guard only put-up token opposition before surrendering while Commander Gregorio Conrado Álvarez Armelino took refuge in the American Embassy. The US condemned the “invasion”, and the UN with American pressure passed a motion condemning Brazil and Argentina “aggression”. President JK announced that both Brazilian and Argentina troops would be out of Uruguay within six months at most as soon as elections and civilian government could be sworn in. On 1 July 1966 after the election of new civilian President, Diego Gestido, both countries withdrew from Uruguay well ahead of the six-month deadline.[20]

In 1968 Brazil was involved in another power struggle with another one of its neighbors this time Paraguay. In 1966 Brazil and Paraguay started negotiating the development of the continents’ largest hydro electric project at the time. The Itaipu hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. In 1967 Paraguay President Alfredo Stroessner, broke off negotiations due to Brazil and Argentina invasion of Uruguay the previous year.[21] News of the Paraguay decision put the two countries in direct confrontation with Brazilian government accusing President Alfredo Stroessner of reneging on his agreement due to American pressure. On 23 December 1967 President Alfredo Stroessner was overthrown by fellow Paraguay General and onetime friend General Andrés Rodríguez. General Rodríguez was able to seize the capital, Asunción, and surrounding region but units loyal to Stroessner and the Colorado Party still loyal to him controlled majority of the country. President Rodríguez requested help from its neighbors and both Argentina and Brazilian forces moved into the country and defeated the Paraguay forces loyal to Stroessner. Once again, the US, Stroessner main backer condemned the military action of the two countries but both countries cited President Rodríguez request and once more pledged to withdraw within six months. On 15 June 1968 Brazil and Paraguay signed the Itaipu dam treaty allowing for the start construction of the dam the following year.[22]

The military intervention by Brazil in both Uruguay and Paraguay soured Brazilian and USA relations and had the situation in Peru and Bolivia not deteriorated that year the American government would of surely imposed sanctions on both Argentina and Brazil. But as fate would have it in 1968 the government of Peru suffered its greatest defeat to the communist rebels with the fall of Lima. Meanwhile the Bolivia government collapsed, and Communist General Juan José Torres González assumed power in La Paz. To make matter worse one of the principal advisors of the Bolivian communist movement was none other than Ernesto "Che" Guevara. A fact that much boosted both his political and military prestige. The fall of Bolivia and loss of Peruvian capital could not have come at a worse time with the US forces fully committed both in South America elsewhere the USA in desperate need of partners that could engage the growing communist threat in continent and reluctantly supported Brazil, Argentina and Chile to military action against Bolivia. The USA blocked any sanctions against the three countries and resumed normal trade in return the three countries committing close to 100,000 troops between the three countries and on 1 March 1969 the liberation of Bolivia started.[23]

But the biggest Brazilian military action during the 1960s did not occur on the South American continent but instead on the African continent. In 1967 the Federation was attacked by the Pan African Alliance and two Brazilian divisions stationed in Portuguese West Africa participated in counterattack against Zambian forces and were some of the first units to enter Zambian capital Lusaka. Meanwhile Brazilian navy including jets on its aircraft carrier Minas Gerais supported Portuguese forces against both Republic of Kongolese and Benin forces. Meanwhile from 1967 to 1969 Brazil operated over a dozen refugee camps for South Africans fleeing the SA civil war. While the country treated the South Africans with respect in 1969 when the last camps were closed less than 10% of the South Africans had accepted Brazilian offer for residency opting instead for America, or other British commonwealth countries.[24]

The National Council – Economy ​

In 1965 Minister of Finance and Economy Celso Furtado and Ministry of Industry Mario Wallace Simonsen analyzed Plano Trienal started under President Goulart and made several major adjustments:

• Power production had not reached the goal due to allocation of investment while nearly a third of the country electricity was still be generated by oil generators. With no oil production of its own Brazil was dependent on oil imports which had to be bought either using foreign reserves or barter with the Federation. While in 1965 over 12 hydro dams were in various stages of construction and another 10 were in the planning stage, the country had huge coal reserves that could be used to generate electricity and Minister of Industry planned on greatly increasing the country electricity production. Minister Simonsen worked with the half dozen Brazilian energy companies to develop the “Plano Energia Brasil”. The plan called for the building of over 50 coal power generating stations which included the conversion of the oil generating stations to coal or their closure.
• Brazil was blessed with hundred of rivers that could be used to generate electricity and only a small fraction were being exploited. While several large-scale projects were being studied the government worked with both state governments and industry to put together a state task forces to look at feasibility of regional and local hydro dams that would supplement the national hydro dams.[25]
• Rail and Highway expansion – after more than five year delay the last leg of the Rio de Janeiro – Brasilia high speed train was started but after much discussion the government decided to link Belo Horizonte to Urberlandia instead of directly to Brasilia. At same time the most used portion of the high-speed rail between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro was to be doubled and several portions straightened to increase speed to 245 km/h using the new Portuguese RM E.569 Electric locomotive. The rail plans that had the greatest impact in the country was the updating and expansion of the national rail system operated by Rede Ferroviária Federal. The ambitious plan called for not only the expansion of both passenger and freight transportation between Brazils major cities but also standardization of gage and trains allowing for train to run on different tracks throughout the country. A year after the Brazilian intervention in Uruguay Brazil signed an agreement with Uruguay and Argentina to link the three countries train network with the goal of train service between Brazil and Argentina through Uruguay.[26] The government also authorized the construction by private companies of several major toll highways and bridges connecting many of the major cities.
• The government decided to reduce oil consumption and to boost the country’s sugar cane plantation and processing plants which were partial idle by bringing back a WW2 program requiring all gasolines in the country to be at least 25% ethanol by 1965 and 45% by 1969.The government announcement had the effect of providing the country agriculture industry with a huge shot in arm.[27]
• Another major government initiative was vehicle production in the country, in 1965 over half the vehicles sold in Brazil were imported while export of vehicles manufactured in Brazil was negligible. With Brazil joining the Lusitania Commonwealth a new potential market and also source of vehicles was opened to Brazil. The Portuguese Federation which by 1965 was not only self-sufficient in vehicle production but was exporting vehicles to over 50 countries provided a new market to one of the worlds largest vehicle manufacturers the Japanese. Since 1960 they had been wanting to break into Portuguese market, but Portuguese tariffs and investment restrictions had kept them out. With Brazil entering the Commonwealth market they felt they finally had an opportunity to break into the tight Portuguese market. As part of Brazil entry into the commonwealth the Portuguese and Brazilian signed the Brazilian-Federation auto pack, the agreement allowed for tariff free vehicle trade between the two countries (for every vehicle Portuguese automakers sold in Brazil, Brazilian automakers could sell same amount in Federation tariff free). The only issue was that vehicle content had to be 80% built in the commonwealth. The Japanese automakers expanded and built new vehicle and parts plants in Brazil while European automakers such as Fiat also expanded their Brazilian presence.[28] The American automakers GM and Ford both operating in Brazil had different strategies. GM which had been absent from the Portuguese market was able for the first time to start selling vehicles in the Federation while Ford which was present in both Federation and Brazil decided to dedicate Ford Brazil production to trucks while its plants in Federation would produce cars for both markets. By 1969 vehicle production in Brazil had reached 700,000 vehicles.

In 1966 Minister of Finance and Economy Celso Furtado and Ministry of Industry Mario Wallace Simonsen had a major falling out regarding budget deficit. Minister Celso Furtado wanted to implement changes fast and at times without regard to economic and budgetary implications and shortcoming. Many of these disputed would end up splitting the National council and on 1 May 1966 under pressure from the other member Celso Furtado resigned from the national council and Mario Wallace Simonsen become Minister of Finance and Economy. Assisting Simonsen the national council brought in Maria Helen Moraes Scripilliti as Ministry of Industry.

The National Council – Political Reforms and Repression​

From 1965 to 1966 the National council continued to promise new Congressional, state and local elections as well as Presidential Elections. But in late 1966 the government stunned both its congressional allies and adversaries by announcing constitutional consultations which would be voted by the people in a referendum in 1968. The new elections would be only held after the referendum. Meanwhile police and DOPS continued to arrest demonstrators for the slightest infractions. On 10 June 1965 government passed a law that all demonstrations and marches had to be approved by government and organizers were responsible for any damage and injuries.

The number of arrests and people in prisons continued to increase and by 1966 there were tens of thousands of individuals incarcerated for political and demonstration infractions. New internment camps were built in the Amazon and interior of the country. Majority of those arrested were offered parole on condition they abstain from future demonstrations and protests. Many of those released had severe restrictions placed on them and many fled the country. To the surprise of many the government did not place any restriction on leaving the country and countries such as USA, Canada, France, Sweden and Britain had large number of Brazilians seeking asylum.

DOPS expanded its surveillance of the population and recruited many informants to keep tabs on those the government considered dangerous. News of torture and deaths circulated amongst the population. In January 1966 JK and General Médici had a major rupture due to JK and many progressives in and out of government anger over the continued attacks against Brazilians by DOPS and police forces under direction of General Médici. In a showdown with General Médici JK spearheaded major security and intelligence reforms. The National Council separated the security and policing from the Ministry of Defense under General Emílio Garrastazu Médici. Armando Ribeiro Severo Falcão was appointed Minster of Justice while Juracy Montenegro Magalhães was appointed Minister of Interior. In During 1966 the number of individuals detained for political reasons was reduced to few thousand. At same time, the surveillance by DOPS increased exponentially. On 18 August 1966 DOPS agents were able to capture communist Carlos Lamarca after received intelligence that he was in Belo Horizonte staying at safe house. In 1967 and 1968 the number of detained stayed low with vast majority serving less than three months in detention followed by 2-5 years of probation in which they were prohibited from participating or speaking at non-authorized political rallies or meetings. Even members of the ruling coalition or “cleared” parties were subject to arrest for speaking out or participating in non-authorized rallies.

In 1967 the constitutional consultations and meeting heard from many different people arguing for return to pre state of emergency while others demanded immediate elections, only a few people spoke out in favor of limiting voting and increased security. On 9 May 1967 six officers stormed the constitutional consultation in the city of Curitiba. They killed three guards and took over 50 hostages. They demanded the resignation of the National Council and Presidential and congressional elections as well as the freeing all political prisoners. They announced that they would execute one hostage every hour till their demands were met. After they executed the third hostage the Federal Police and Military Police launched a join attack to free the hostages and capture the terrorists. In the raid 15 hostages were killed along with all six of the hostage takers.

The government declared three days of mourning but continued with the consultations. After over eight months of consultation the council with the help of the National Council drafted a new constitution which was presented on 20 December 1967.

The main features of the new Constitution were:

• Restriction of political rights: direct elections for leaders would only be held at state and county level. In federal territories governors were chosen in indirect elections by the correspondent Legislative branch (the National Congress and State Legislatures). All state and Federal territories Legislatures and counties would still be elected by people.
• Restriction of civil rights: any meeting, assembly or gathering of people should be formal, must be previously authorized and conducted under supervision. Unauthorized meetings would be disbanded by the police and participants sued or detained.
• Military (uniformed) State Police Corps will provide both Federal police and state police with support in case of civil disturbance.
• Political parties could not be associated or affiliated with any foreign government or foreign organization. All political parties must swear allegiance to the constitution. Political parties were required to have their party policies and list of candidates to to be approved by Election commission to be allowed to participate in elections.
• All individuals seeking to run in elections had to swear allegiance to the constitution, not have any criminal record and belong to approved party.
• Definition of both states and county responsibilities and jurisdiction.
• Establishment of a permanent National Council that would be headed by President, Prime Minister, Minister of Economy & Finance and Minister of Defense. Reporting to the National Council would be Government Cabinet and bureaucracy.
• The national and state congresses would be comprised of elected deputies and appointed senators that would represent state and national regions and organizations.
• Granting the President and National Council, the right to issue decrees (Decretos-Lei) that would enter in force at the moment of their publication and be inscribed in the statute-book after 30 days in the absence of Congressional deliberation on them.
• Granting right to vote to all people over age of 18 born in Brazil or nationalized Brazilian per Brazilian law who did not have a criminal record or received a pardon.

The constitution was presented to Congress and passed by 54% of the deputies and senators.[29] After the approval of Congress a referendum was held on 1 March 1968. Many of those opposed to the referendum urged the people to boycott the referendum and participation was only 29% but 65% of those who voted approved the new constitution. When the government announced that per the referendum rules (which had been modified prior to the vote but not publicized that stated only a simple majority of those voting was sufficient to approve the new constitution).

When news of the result and approval of the constitution there were many demonstrations in many Brazilian cities, the largest demonstrations were in Rio and Sao Paulo where over 50,000 people marched against the implementation of the constitution. While the government took a hands off approach to the peaceful demonstrations they took a heavy hand to the nightly rioting by some of the more radical opposition members and anarchists. In four nights of sporadic rioting 369 people died and 4,561 were arrested. While the rioting was going on several opposition congressmen asked the Supreme Constitutional Court to annul the referendum but after 2 days of deliberation the court ruled that the referendum was valid and that the government changes had not invalidated it.

After four days of rioting the country finally calmed down and the police and justice department began the process of processing all those detained. Anyone arrested for rioting but not committed any property damage or personal injuries and death, was granted immediate parole for period of five years. Anyone arrested for rioting who committed property damage but no personal injuries and death, was granted immediate parole for period of ten years. Anyone arrested for rioting and committed personal injuries and death, was incarcerated for 5-30 years depending on the injuries and if there were any deaths.

Over the next five years those opposed to the government found it more and more difficult to attent university or find employment and thousands would leave Brazil citing loss of freedom and political oppression.

The National Council – Military ​

During the 1960s Brazil’s major helicopter and plane manufacturer Helibras continued to expand both civilian planes and civilian/military helicopters it produced. During the 1960s Helibras increased the number of planes it manufactured to eight with the launch of the 20 passenger HEL-510 plane. In 1967 marked the year it opened its second plant in Recife as part of the government plan to help northeast Brazil develop. Its helicopter division branched into military helicopters with the launch of its first multipurpose helicopter in 1967, meanwhile the sale of its four civilian models surpassed production and customers had to wait six months for delivery. In 1968 Helibras benefited from Brazil - Portuguese military pack and received several Soviet military helicopter models captured during the Portuguese – Pan African War.

The two major Brazilian armaments manufacturers IMBEL and INA provided Brazil armed forces and police with all the guns and while “Companhia Brazileira de Cartuchos (CBC Group) continued manufacturing the munitions for the guns being manufactured by IMBEL and INA. In 1969 both IMBEL and INA started selling guns to the newly admitted Commonwealth countries as they rearmed both their reformed police and military. Meanwhile Brazil two largest private gun manufacturers Forjas Taurus and Amadeus Rossi. continued to manufacture guns and rifles for both domestic and export with plants in both Brazil and the Federation. All these companies also benefited from strong demand for Brazilian guns in Latin America.

The Brazilian Navy continued its modernizing program, the main Brazilian naval shipyard in Rio de Janeiro Arsenal de Marinha do Rio de Janeiro (AMRJ). During the 1960s AMRJ continued building Cruisers “Pará class” and Light Cruisers “Recife class” based on Brazilian French naval agreement. In 1969 Brazil partnered with the Portuguese in the development of the D Henriques CV class aircraft carriers and Gomes Class destroyers. While the order for the last Orca III submarine was cancelled and Brazil ordered three Orca IV class submarines.

Following the 1965 communist insurgency war the Brazilian army expanded their Jungle Warfare as well as Mountain Brigades. With continuous communist threat from its western neighbors (Columbia, Peru and Bolivia) whose terrain was either mountainous or jungle the military greatly expanded these two brigades and by 1969 their strength was almost a division. In 1968 the Law-and-Order Operations Brigade were also expanded.

The National Council – Domestic Development ​

The national Council, or more specifically Minister João Goulart made great strides in expanding both education and health government objectives. Following the implementation of the 1968 constitution Goulart resigned as President but stayed on as Minister of National development. The ministry was responsible for Agriculture, health, education and culture. Agriculture production increased 10% from 1965-1969 as mechanization, availability of fertilizers and pesticides (majority manufactured in Brazil) started providing the country with tangible benefits. The education initiative including the adult literacy program was able to reduce illiteracy amongst adults by 25%. The Number of students in secondary, college and university increased by over 35% during the 1960s.

The Minister of Justice expanded the fiscal and regulation investigation division of the Federal Police to combat fraud, corruption and violation of government laws. The penalties for bribing police were increased to maximum of 20 years in prison and death for police accepting bribes.

In 1967 government set Brazilian content regulations on both its radio, television and cinema industries, the value was set at 25% with continued increases till it reached 50% by 1970.

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[1] The Portuguese had maintained a dual embassy in Brazil with the Federation renting an office in a building in Brasilia while its large Embassy was built, at same time most of the Federation personnel and functions remained in Rio de Janeiro. When the Embassy was moved to Brasilia the Rio building became its 12th consulate in Brazil.​

[2] The Banking and Stock Exchange reforms caught majority of the major players by surprise for President Goulart and the Minister of Economy Miguel Calmon du Pin e Almeida Sobrinho had announced the legislation without any prior notification. The legislation over 500 pages was criticized not because of its content but because of the lack of input by many of the people affected by the legislation. Several Conservative newspapers called it the Federation Banking and Stock Exchange reforms due to many similarities in the regulations. For all the criticism the legislature was enacted with some minor changes in October 1963.​

[3] In 1960 Furtado left Brazil and spent two years in Federation where he was able to witness its government, business, and labor alliance in the development of the country but more importantly production of many commodities and basic goods to satisfy first domestic demand and later for export. He left the Federation contemplating how that could be implemented in Brazil not knowing that two months after arriving he would be tasked with the exact task.​

[4] One of the most contested parts of Plano Trienal was export limitations placed on many agricultural, construction and even some manufactured goods obligating the producers to prioritize domestic supply first. In 1963 an amendment was passed in congress which let producers export 1/3 of all increase in production till production equaled domestic production.​

[5] To accomplish the objectives of Plano Trienal a Economic National council comprising of government, business and labor representatives was setup to coordinate the national objectives to actions that private enterprise and individuals could utilize. Similar councils on the state level were also setup. Note: not all councils were successful in spurring development, but many projects were started including supporting domestic production of Phillips and Electrolux. In 1965 the German companies Robert Bosch GmbH (Stuttgart) and Siemens AG created a joint German Appliance company for the European market and selected Brazil as it first plant for the Commonwealth market. The Japanese car manufacturers also expanded their Brazilian plants (commonwealth requirements stated 80% of content had to be manufactured in the commonwealth countries to qualify for reduced tariffs. Many criticized foreign companies’ involvement in Plano Trienal but they were the first to “show the way” increasing production, increase employment and increase profits. Note: Many foreign companies sold their exports at “cost” to foreign subsidiaries who then sent profit from sales to parent company (as way around the restrictions in sending dividend out of Brazil).​

[6] In 1962 following the expulsion of the American Ambassador and what was perceived as anti-American laws in Brazil the US imposed sanctions on Brazilian goods as well as investment limitations. This unfortunately worked against the American interests as it doubled coffee prices in the US just as alternative sources became unreliable. During 1963 many American companies imported Brazilian coffee and repackaged it as Columbian in Columbian ports. When Columbian production collapsed due to civil war the Brazilian government used the opportunity to stop such clandestine exports hoping to put pressure on the US to eliminate the sanctions. The tactic was partially successful with sanctions being replaced with a variety of tariffs which opened US to Brazilian goods again.​

[7] The USA, Canada refused to sign the new ICA and join the revamped ICO. The coffee producers Columbia, Nicaragua, Peru and Ecuador also refused to join but due to communist insurgencies in these countries they accounted for less than 10% of world production.​

[8] Like Quadros, President Goulart ignored the communist insurrection situation in neighboring countries. He believed that by increasing the wellbeing and standard of living of Brazilians they ignore the communist message. Unfortunately, economic success and improved standard of living were not enough to those who were swayed by the message of communism utopia that they would establish were there be no exploitation and enough food and goods for all regardless of their economic situation and work.​

[9] During the late 1950s and 1st half the of the 1960s communist insurrections in Central America and many South American countries steadily worsened. Even as Nationalist Cuba pushed Communist Cuba north and took over most of the island the situation in the Americas grew worse. The two countries that suffered the greatest insurrections was Columbia and Peru where multiple communist rebel groups not only combated the government but fought each other. By 1964 communist rebels controlled over 75% of the country and the western government were kept in power due to American intervention and support.​

[10] The DESPS had jurisdiction over the capital (Rio till 1960, then both Brasilia and Rio since the transfer of capital in 1960). While DOPS had jurisdiction over rest of country.​

[11] In 1965 a top-secret report was presented to the government. It laid much of the blame on the leadership of the two organizations as well as outlining many structural errors, fraud, and corruption in how the two organizations were run and competed against each other. Following the release of the report both intelligence organizations were stripped of most of their leadership and merged into DOPS. The Departamento de Ordem Política e Social (DOPS) became solely responsible for internal vigilance while a new agency Serviço Nacional de Informações (SNI) National Information Service became responsible for external threats.​

[12] The report detailed how both organizations were rocked by inter departmental rivalry and had deliberately setup fake communist cells in rival agency’s jurisdiction resulting in the rival wasting resources observing fake cells while real cells were not found. That both organizations had discovered several communist cells but had kept it secret from government and police for political reasons. Distrust and anger with Goulart Presidency and their leadership feeling of betrayal due to failed attempted coup had resulted in leaders planning to use the communist attacks to attack the credibility of the government and lead to military and conservative seizure of the government. The leadership had kept the existence of cells from regional leaders or police, this had led to some field operatives becoming despondent and not performing their jobs. Both agencies misjudged the attacks by the communists by weeks to few months and were caught flatfooted. Following the attacks both agencies spent a great deal of effort and time covering up their mistakes going as far as ordering the death of several operatives, several survived the assassination attempt and provided evidence to police investigators. Over two dozen leaders were detained and 10 sentenced to prison terms of 8-30 years with 6 top officials sentenced to death for their part in the deception and betrayal of the country.​

[13] Following the end of his term as President he and his family decided that some time away from Brazil would be good idea and allow for country to heal and provide him opportunity to rest. For the first six months JK travelled Europe splitting most of his time between London and Paris where he maintained homes. On 12 June 1961 while he was travelling to meet some friends at a dinner party his car was attacked by what would later be known to be two Brazilian communists. Their real identities were never found but the organizer Devanir Jose de Carvalho was captured by French police while JK and his wife recovered. JK had been shot once in his right arm but his wife Dona Sarah Kubitschek languished in hospital for two months. His driver and bodyguard had not survived the attack. JK and his family stayed in Paris for remainder of 1961 but after receiving warning of potential new threats he decided to seek refuge in Portuguese Federation which he viewed as safer. He arrived in Lisbon om 19 December 1961 and after his wife was deemed to be strong enough to travel, he decided to move to Luanda where he would live till his return to Brazil. While in Luanda he was in constant demand and visited many officials and places. Luanda the largest and wealthiest city in the Federation boasted the headquarters of over half of Portuguese industrial might. It was there he met not only the growing Brazilian Diaspora but also the growing Portuguese company executives, government officials and intellectuals of African, Emigrant, Indian and Asian backgrounds something that impressed him very much. The Portuguese middle class and upper class were as likely to be non-European something that was unique to the country. The two years in Luanda changed JK, while an admirer of Federation his time in Federation provided him with a unique opportunity to understand the Federation Government, Industry and Labor collaborative model.​

[14] Many historians have commented that the sole reason for Portuguese PM to visit Brasilia was to bring JK back to Brazil and to show the leaders he had the Portuguese support.​

[15] In 1963 Furtado would survive the first of two assassination attempts. Two of the four men who attacked his car and security guards were killed. Furtado was shocked by the attack and more so when news that the two attackers were identified as communist sympathizers. He had since the 1950s admired the communist system for their accomplishment and disregarded the danger they posed to freedom of west. In 1964 the second attack took place as communist rebels entered Brazil from Peru and Bolivia. This time he was injured and hospitalized for several weeks, during his hospital stay news of not only the capture of some of his attackers but also capture of a communist cell in Brasilia that was under the direct instruction of the China tasked with assassination of Brazilian political and military leaders. Several “documents’ were discovered in the cell’s hideout and many communist collaborators within government were arrested. Faced with the evidence of the Communist attack against Brazil and its leaders including him shook Furtado and caused him to lose any admiration he had felt for them. On 15 August 1964 he wrote a letter that was published in several Brazilian newspapers denouncing communism as an ideology and one he apologized for once believing it had merit and not a danger to world. His renunciation was applauded in centrist and conservative circles while condemned by the far left.​

[16] When the idea of a national Council was brought up many including JK were leery of the idea feeling that it would contravene the constitution. Two days before the announcement of the council was made public the government petitioned the Supreme Federal Court for its opinion on the constitutional validity of the council. Two hours before the declaration the supreme court ruled 7 – 4 that the National Council was valid with the approval of Congress. Congress had approved the National Congress the day before in a heated and stormy debate with several left wing and rightwing parties objecting.​

[17] In addition to both communist parties (Brazilian communist and Communist party of Brazil), and the socialist parties (Brazilian Socialist Party, Socialist Revolutionary) the government also banned National Democratic Union (UDN) due to its antigovernmental political attacks.​

[18] The reservists were called for a term of 6 months but at double the standard soldiers pay.​

[19] Several Leftwing politicians and individuals questioned the increase in attacks with doubling and tripling of police and military units in Brazilian cities and countryside. Many pointed to many different types of explosives being used some of which were military grade. The biggest evidence they said was the attacks on left wing labor organizations and left-wing politicians since national council took control. Some even went as far as accusing secret government forces of using the communist attacks as cover to attack those who were critical of the government.​

[20] See 1960 -1969, World, Uruguay & Paraguay.​

[21] In 1966 Portuguese Engineering company Soares da Costa SA and Brazilian engineering company Camargo Corrêa started the feasibility and design project under the Paraguay and Brazilian governments’ direction.​

[22] See 1960 -1969, World, Uruguay & Paraguay.​

[23] Following the establish pf the People’s Democratic Bolivian Republic, President Juan José Torres González demanded that Brazil stop all aggression against communist “refugees” living in Bolivia. They were really not refugees but the remnants of the failed communist attack on Brazil and on occasion would attack patrolling Brazilian units along the border. This was followed by threats against all its southern neighbors. He demanded that Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Argentina had one year to return all lands stolen from Bolivia. When no country responded to Bolivia demands Bolivian troops invaded Paraguay on 1 January 1969. Chile. Brazil and Argentina used the premise of the 1968 Montevideo Mutual Defense Accord as justification to declare war on Bolivia and defeat the communist government in power.​

[24] See 1960-1969 World, Africa, South African Civil War & Portuguese Intervention in SA.​

[25] During the 1960s Brazil brought online 10,0000 MW of Hydro Electric power. In 1969 the country embarked on its largest Hydro projects Tucuruí on the Tocantins River and Itaipu on the Paraná along the Brazilian – Paraguay border with a combined 25,000 MW capacity. In 1968 Brazil signed agreement with Portuguese Federation for the building of 10 nuclear power stations.​

[26] The Rail Transportation plan was a multi facet project that involved the development of rail stock and rail locomotive manufacturing in Brazil. The two Portuguese rail stock and locomotive companies RSH&MCC and Henschel & Sohn agreed to setup plants in Brazilian Northeast to manufacture Brazilian diesel locomotives and rail stock. With the Brazilian subsidiary being listed on the Brazilian stock exchanges. To finance the modernization of the railways the government passed legislation to privatize 45% of the Rede Ferroviária Federal.​

[27] In 1968 due to oil embargo, oil prices tripled, and government launched two separate programs. In conjunction with farm and transportation companies to develop ethanol vehicles and at same time providing incentives to farmers to increase the production of other products such as corn and such as manioc to increase ethanol production.​

[28] VW had established itself in Brazil in the 1953 right after it had established itself in the Federation, but while the VW Brazil was a wholly owned subsidiary the Portuguese company was 50% partnership. In early 1960s the Portuguese subsidiary started exporting cars to Brazil and rest of Latin America to the objection of VW. when VW took its subsidiary to court the Portuguese courts ruled against VW and Portuguese built cars started competing with VW cars in Brazil by mid 1960s but under different models. Then when the Brazilian – Federation Auto pack was announced VW faced a new threat, the content requirements, till then VW Brazil still imported about40% of the parts from Germany. VW Brazil, like Renault and Fiat had to rethink their strategy for not only Brazil and the new emerging commonwealth along with moving greater percentage of car parts to Brazil. Some European automakers followed Volvo example and designated different subsidiaries responsible for specific models or type of vehicles. But VW Brazil like Renault decided to go head-to-head with their Federation subsidiary instead. Per the VW – Federation agreement its Portuguese subsidiary could not produce the same model made in Brazil for export as; therefore, in 1964 Portuguese subsidiary stopped manufacturing one of VW iconic models the “Beetle” and designed new models that could be sold not only in the Federation but also in Brazil and elsewhere. This upset many of the “Beetle” fans in the Federation and VW Brazil saw demand for its Beetle car called Fusca in Brazil increase and in 1966 it started selling the Fusca rebranded as Federation Carocha back into the Federation. In 1968 It opened a new plant dedicated to trucks and buses.​

[29] The week before the vote almost half of the congress members who were against the constitution were arrested and unable to vote due to a wide variety of charges including gambling, public intoxication, assault including domestic violence or hitting of child. Some were arrested and incarcerated due to more serious charges such as insurrection, solicitation, drug consumption or murder.​

Here is the revised and updated 2nd part of Brazil, I just wanted to thank Gukpard and Guilherme Loureiro who both provided me with a sounding board for my idea. I want to thank Gukpard for his many hours helping me make this section reasonable and plausible within the confines of the TL. The Brazil emerging from 1960s is not the same as IOTL. The military are not all powerful and there will continue to be several political parties in the congress to both make the government job more difficult but more importantly answerable to the people. The other major difference being the ever increasing communist threat from the west. As for domestic several major economic developments are at play that will greatly increase both the country economic clout as well as the peoples standard of living. Questions/ Comments?

Return on January 17 when we try and delve into the murky world of Argentina during the 1960s.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)​

Argentina​

From Peron to start of the Post Peron Era​

Argentina entered the 1960s with both confidence in itself and under a cloud of political uncertainty. The 1950s had been a transformative decade as Peronism had bent and molded to fit the precarious situation the country found itself in. During the previous decade, the country had taken huge steps in transforming itself from an agrarian economy to an industrial one able to produce many of the goods it required and provide its people with a high standard of living. In that process it had reformed many of its laws to allow foreign investment as the country sought sources of foreign currency it could use to modernize and industrialize. Resource development became a huge boon to the economy by providing much needed resources for its own development but also to export but many challenges remained as different segments of the economy faced problems. The leading political leader during the 1950s was none other than Juan Domingo Peron who had defined Peronism as way to modernize the country and transform it under the control of the Argentinians themselves. President Juan Domingo Peron was both popular figure but also a divisive who inspired adoration from his admirers but also hatred from his adversaries. The hatred for Peron culminated in the 1955 Plaza de Mayo attack that left 300 people dead 1,000 injured included in those injured was Peron himself. That could have been the end of Peron and Peronism but Peron unwilling to let his dream for Argentina die stunned both supporters and adversaries by assembling a team of top ministers to govern the country while he recovered. He appointed Rogelio Julio Frigerio as Finance & Economic Minister, the strong Peronist Domingo Mercante as Minister of Labor and General Eduardo Ernesto Lonardi Doucet as the Minister of Defense and Security to control the military and police.

In 1958 Peron and his party won the Presidential and Chamber of Deputies election but Peron health never fully recovered and both his physical and mental ability was limited. Peron continued both physical and speech therapy so that by 1960 he was able increase his public appearances and make short statements and answer questions. But everything was carefully choreographed, and Peron never regained control of the government which remained under the direction of the Triunvante.

President Juan Domingo Perón (1895 – 1964)

​

Rogelio Julio Frigerio​	Domingo Mercante​	General Eduardo Ernesto Lonardi Doucet​
Finance & Economic Minister​	Minister of Labor​	Minister of Defense and Security​

The Argentinian Triunvante (1958 -1962)​

From 1955 to 1962 the country continued to witness strong economic growth as foreign investment continued to flow into the country attracted by the strong economy. Argentinian production of domestic appliances, vehicles and other consumables finally reached a level equal to domestic demand. Under Minister Frigerio the country manufacturing, mining and agriculture contributed to success of the country, but the economic and monetary policies of the government benefited some sectors more than others. The economic success of the 1950s had left the country with a overvalued currency that by 1960 hindered exports especially resources and agriculture. The barter system was able to take some pressure off government but in 1961 the government announced the devaluation of the currency by 25% which angered many people living in cities and many businesses as cost of many goods and machinery that was imported increased. There were many demonstrations in major cities, but country stayed stable.

After about two weeks on unrest President Peron went on television and radio and spoke for over 40 minutes about the great challenges that country faced while at same time reminding people of the great progress the country had made in the last two decades and how its people had been blessed. The conversation took people back to the early years of Peron rule in which he would regularly talk to the people with his “pep talks”. The Peron chat had a calming effect over the country and while many were still upset about the changes the spark seemed to dissipate. Over the next year Peron would make these monthly television/ radio talks (usually on a Sunday night) and they seemed to give people hope of better times ahead.[1]

In 1961 the Triunvante that was the de facto government of Argentina suffered a major blow when General Eduardo Ernesto Lonardi Doucet the Minister of Defense and Security became sick. He was diagnosed with cancer and flew to Portuguese Federation to be treated at the Hospital da Luz in Lisbon the country’s top cancer hospital. But the cancer was to far gone and General Doucet returned to Argentina two months later and died on 5th of October 1961. Th death of General Doucet set off a power struggle within the Argentina military command to replace him in the Triunvante. The two leading candidates were General Juan José Valle and General Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Silveti. General Valle was favored by Peron faction while General Silveti was favored by the conservative and anti-Peron faction of the military. On October 10th there was an assassination attempt on General Valle, but he survived although he was hospitalized for three weeks. During his hospital stay based on the investigation into the assassination attempt a purge of the more conservative anti Peron military leaders occurred which included General Silveti who was implicated in the assassination attempt. He along with 20 other military leaders were tried and found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. On 2 November 1961 upon his discharge from the hospital General Juan José Valle was sworn in as Argentina’s Minister of Defense and Security.

General Juan José Valle General Pedro Silveti​

In 1962 Argentina once again prepared to hold elections for president and Chamber of Deputies. Rumors of Peron health had slowly leaked and both Peron and Justicialist Party decided that if Peron was to run once again for President, he would need to come clean about his health. Peron went on television/radio and announced that while his health had never fully recovered since the attack he had remained in charge and that his government had continued the great work they had started he would be running for the last time for President. He seemed to speak to the soul of the people and explained to the people that while it would be easier to just retire but as his loving wife had shown the most important duty was to serve the people and the next term was necessary as a way to guarantee the Peronist Vision for Argentina would continue and that he could groom a successor. Peron did not campaign but held weekly chat during the election.

​

Arturo Umberto Illia ​	Juan Domingo Perón ​	Oscar Eduardo Alende​
Radical Civic Union (UCRP)​	Justicialist Party​	Intransigent Radical Civic Union (UCRI)​

1962 Presidential Election Candidates​

The two other presidential candidates campaigned but it was as if they were campaigning against a ghost and on election date Peron won 72% of the vote while his Justicialist party worn 64% of the deputies cementing their control over congress and guaranteeing Peron his mandate.

On 10 March 1963 Peron had a small stroke and for first time in over a year he missed his monthly chat. In sharp contrast to previous attempts to hide his medical condition this time the government allowed his doctors to go on television and make statements about Peron health. A month later cameras were allowed for a few minutes in his room showing Peron discussing government business. Six month later news reports would show Peron attending cabinet meetings. But all these were only for show as Peron was more and more shun from daily government running.

During the remainder of 1963 and first half of 1964 Peron made brief appearances on television but he looked frail and the country waited anxiously as Peron health deteriorated in the front on the country. On 19 March 1964 Peron was admitted to the Hospital Británico and he died in his sleep on 25 March 1964. The country was in mourning for a month and his funeral was attended not only by millions of people but some of the worlds most important leaders such as President Goulart of Brazil, Dr. Antonio Rapazote Prime Minister of Portuguese Federation, John William McCormack speaker of the US House of Representatives led the American delegation and George Alfred George-Brown deputy Prime Minister of Britain amongst many dignitaries and heads of state. Absent were leaders from Soviet Block and other communist countries.

Perón's funeral cortège along the Avenida de Mayo​

On 15 April 1964 under the direction of the Triunvante the Argentinian Congress nominated Arturo Frondizi Ércoli of the Justicialist Party as President of Argentina. He was sworn in as President on 1 May 1964. His term as President was turbulent as he had a hard time working with the Triunvante who were in fact the leaders of the country. While his policies were for most part similar to those enacted by the Triunvante, President Frondizi had expected the Triunvante to be subordinate to President while the Triunvante wanted a President who was more ceremonial instead of actual leader. The power struggle became so heated that both the President and Triunvante issued opposing proclamations stripping the other of its power. While constitutionally President Frondizi was the ruler of the country the Triunvante controlled the courts, police and military and on 1 July 1965 the President was stripped of his powers and held under house arrest.

Arturo Frondizi Ércoli
President of Argentina (1964 -1966)
​

To prevent any future disruptions to their control of government a referendum was held on 10 October 1964 to strip the President of most of his powers and entrust them to the Triunvante and Argentina Congress. The Opposition boycotted the referendum, but it was approved by 52% of the voters and President Frondizi became the first President under the current Argentina constitution whose primary purpose was ceremonial.

In 1966 the country once again held elections in which the opposition parties were severely restricted and weakened by government tactics to prevent them from competing with the Justicialist Party and their allies. With the President having lost majority of its power there were not a great many candidates who wished to become president. In end the voters were provided with two main candidates Arturo Umberto Illia representing a united opposition and Héctor José Cámpora representing the Justicialist Party. The election was marred by voter irregularities, in the end the Justicialist Party won another majority and Héctor José Cámpora won 53% of the vote becoming Argentina’s new President.

​

Arturo Umberto Illia ​	Héctor José Cámpora ​
Radical Civic Union (UCRP)​	Justicialist Party​

Economic Development ​

The surprise devaluation of the Argentinian Peso gave domestic manufacturers and exporters alike a jolt as exports became cheaper and imports more expensive. Argentina growing manufacturing base including domestic appliances, clothing, vehicles and machinery also received boost with both American and European manufacturers investing in Argentina. Homegrown industry also grew with the Argentina government decision to transfer manufacturing of several of Argentina’s best domestic vehicles from National Directorate of Aeronautical Manufacturing and Research, abbreviated (DINFIA) to private enterprises. The state-owned complex in early 1960s was producing a variety of vehicles such as the Justicialista and the Graciela automobiles, Rastrojero small pickup truck that had been expanded into larger truck called the Gauchita and Camión Frontal along with prototype bus. It had also developed the Pampa tractor and by 1962 has 4 different model and series of configurations. Lastly was the Puma motorbike series. Private domestic companies which also included upto maximum of 30% foreign investment bought the models, designs and ownership from government. DINFIA continued designing and manufacturing domestic appliances, various boats and outboard motor Surubí. It also started producing generators, turbines and in 1965 started manufacturing mining equipment and vehicles. On the military side it continued manufacturing planes, weapons and military vehicles.

Argentina continued to expand both thermal power plant as well as Hydro Electric construction. During the 1960s the country also expanded the electrical grid bringing electricity to even the most remote parts of the country. In 1969 the National Atomic Energy Commission in conjunction Portuguese Federation power company Luso Power began construction of Argentina first nuclear power plant.

Argentina mining continued to expand and that spurred expansion of the country’s railways. Which during the 1960s were in a state or re-organization Ferrocarriles Argentinos (FA) the operator of all Argentina railways as it closed redundant lines and expanded the lines to the mining areas along the border with Chile in the Andes Mountains. In 1965 the government sold 50% of the national rolling stock manufacturer Fábrica Argentina de Locomotoras ("FAdeL") to Portuguese company Henschel & Sohn who promised to invest in Argentina and produce Portuguese diesel engines and other rail stock in Argentina. In Buenos Aires the metro both underground and above ground in the suburbs. The metro operator Subterráneos de Buenos Aires Sociedad del Estado (SBASE) continued its aggressive expansion during the 1960s. In 1967 Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil announced the signing of plan to build a railway link between three countries. In 1969 FA started building a railway bridge over the Uruguay River to eventually link Uruguay Railway being built from Montenvideo to Argentina border to the Argentina railway.

During the 1960s both the mining and agriculture industry continued to experience shortage of labor and both industries became dependent on migrant labor especially from Bolivia and Peru which suffered continued communist insurrections. Argentina had several refugee camps along its border Bolivia. Migrants also came from Paraguay and Uruguay.

During the 1960s the Argentinian economy continued to grow and with the growth increasing by 30% when Argentina joined Lusitanian Commonwealth as associate member the same year as Brazil. Argentina was able to maintain protection for many of its domestic industries as associate member while giving preference to commonwealth goods as opposed to non-commonwealth goods but more importantly it was able to gain preference access to Federation and Commonwealth markets for its agricultural products. In essence Argentina became the Federation and commonwealth primary source of grains and other agricultural products. While the Federation became Argentina primary source of manufactured goods. Another major factor became Federation barter system that provided each country with ability to purchase and sell goods at agreed exchange thus helping Argentina foreign currency reserves.

Foreign Relations and Exterior Military Entanglements​

During the 1960s Argentina external relations was dominated by two things American attitude towards Argentina and its government as the communist insurrections occurring to the north in Columbia, Peru and Bolivia. The changing of American administration from Republican to Democrat at the start of the 1960s did little to bring Argentina and USA closer together. With some Ambassadors being more unwelcome than others in 1960 Roy Richard Rubottom, Jr. was appointed ambassador to Argentina but so caused so much discord between the two countries that he was replaced in 1961 by Robert McClintoc. The American administration of President Kennedy and Johnston were antagonistic and maintained sanctions and restrictive trade on Argentina over its relations with other countries that the USA believed to be against American interests. Namely the growing military, diplomatic and economic relationship with the Federation. Several critics have cited that instead of facilitating trade between Argentina and USA and providing better support than the Federation (which they could) successive American administrations continued to believe in applying pressure alone to force Argentina to buckle but instead it pushed Argentina to further its relationship with the Federation. In the mid-1960s when JK assumed power Argentina and Brazil also started becoming closer feeding off each other anger at the American schemes in South America.

In 1966 Argentinian and Brazilian governments became alarmed at the increased US involvement in the affairs of Uruguay which lay between the two countries and was an excellent location to spy on both countries. The situation in Uruguay was very fluid and things changing very rapidly. As the leaders of Argentina and Brazil discussed intervention there were some in the military and government who thought it was too risky but in end the intervention was approved, and the joint Argentinian and Brazilian intervention went off without any major incidents. The installation of friendly government in Montevideo and the withdrawal of both Argentinian and Brazilian forces before the deadline announced at the onset of conflict proved to be in Argentina favor. Following the invention in Uruguay Brazil and Argentina expanded their military cooperation, defense and alliance treaty.

In 1968 Argentina was “dragged” into another military intervention this time in Paraguay. While Argentina waited for General Andrés Rodríguez to request assistance, Argentina was actually one of the primary supporters of General Andrés Rodríguez coup against General Stroessner and the Colorado Party. Argentina was the first country to recognize President Rodríguez seizure of government and when he requested help from its neighbors, Argentinian forces were already along the border waiting permission to cross and both Argentina and Brazilian forces moved into the country and defeated the Paraguay forces loyal to Stroessner. The installation of President Andrés Rodríguez in Paraguay left Argentina with two neighbors that were not aligned to Argentina Chile to the west and Bolivia to the north. Relations between Chile and Argentina were cordial while at times tense. In 1964 with the election of Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Montalva as President of Chile began to bring the two countries closer. President Montalva had very ambitious social programs to both modernize the country and raise the people standard of living. To accomplish this, he moved the country more aligned to both Argentina and Brazil but more importantly with the Portuguese Federation.[2]

Relations between Argentina and USA sank to their lowest level following the Paraguay intervention. 1968 was an election year in the US and both the American administration of President Humphrey and his Republican challenger Richard Nixon condemned both Argentina and Brazil and promised undisclosed American intervention and actions during the election. But events would soon play into the Argentina and Brazil favor. In September 1968, the government of Peru suffered its greatest defeat to the communist rebels with the fall of Lima. Meanwhile the Bolivia government collapsed, and Communist General Juan José Torres González assumed power in La Paz. The situation in South America many believe contributed to Nixon victory as the American people felt threatened by the deteriorating situation in Latin America. The attitude in Washington was one of desperation and the USA reached out to Argentina as well as Brazil and Chile to get their assistance in containing the growing communist threat. Coincidently Bolivia issued a declaration of war against all its non-communist neighbors demanding all seized territory from the previous century. On 15 December 1968 the three countries met in the Argentina city of Cordoba and planned defense of Paraguay and the invasion of Bolivia with the ultimate objective of defeating the communist forces threatening the continent.

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[1] The television/radio talks were billed as live chats between Peron and the people of Argentina but in reality, they were a huge undertaking. It would take almost a week for the speech writers and Peron to agree on the speech and then almost two weeks to taping small sections of the speech at a time (due to Peron health) and then assembling all the different segments into a single program.
[2] See 1960 – 1969, World, Chile.

Sorry for the delay several events conspired to delay my writing of this post. First as I have indicated I write several months in advance and had all of 60s and 70s completed but when I started posting the Portuguese-South America section did not seem right and been revising the section since the 1940s. We have till the 1950s seen a small deviation in the events and lives of South America with majority being concentrated in Brazil and Argentina. As we got to 1960s several major events were needing to be changed as the iTTL Argentina had deviated sufficiently to make the changes necessary.

So what have we changed? Basically everything.. to understand how we have to gotten to this situation we need to read Argentina 1950-1959 in which Peron was hurt in the attack but instead of losing power he become the figure head for Argentina Triunvante that combined military, economic and people power into s single government. What this meant both in the 1950s and 1960s was a Argentina that continued to grow economically, with mining, agriculture providing the exports and manufacturing providing increased manufactured goods for Argentina market. What we also had was a neighbor who was undergoing the same type of transformation. Around them we also have Communist threat that would change both the geo-political balance with communist threat real. Questions/ Comments?

Return on March 21st we discuss the Uruguay & Paraguay..

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)​

Chile​

Chilean and Portuguese relations had always be cordial and the two countries had slowly expanded their trading after WW2 as the Portuguese built up their manufacturing while purchasing Chilean agricultural goods especially fruits and vegetables grown during the Portuguese winter. In 1952 Chile joined majority of the South America in recognizing Portuguese Federation. Portuguese – Chilean trade continued to grow but Portuguese Chilean relations never reached the levels of its two neighbors to the east (Argentina and Brazil).

In 1958 Chile had won the right to host the 1962 World Cup and interest in Chile increased as did government and business interest in Chile. Then in 1960 Chile suffered two successive massive earthquakes and local tsunamis resulting in several thousand killed and thousands injured. The Portuguese Federation like many other countries rushed aid to Chile. The Portuguese in addition to immediate aid to Chile provided it with credit and generous discounts on equipment and vehicles to assist in the rebuilding as well as sending direct aid and personnel that stayed in Chile well past the World Cup. When the Portuguese Prime Minister Dr. Antonio Rapazote visited Chile during World Cup final, he met with Chilean President Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez who thanked Federation for its assistance. The meeting would serve to foster the growing Portuguese-Chilean relationship during the remainder of the decade.

The Americans also took a keen interest in Chile and President Kennedy presented Chile with large offer of American assistance, but the American aid came with conditions which included moving Chile closer to American with their Alliance for Progress. Chile being in such dire need, President Alessandri agreed to join the American led program. Which had the aim of increasing investment and American influence in Latin America while advocation increase in development.

In November 1963, the Chilean Congress passed Law that transformed the Copper Office into the Copper Corporation of Chile (Codelco) which would eventually lead to the nationalization of the nation’s copper mines. This was opposed by US government and was viewed by some as Chilean tilting to the left. There was intense debate with Congress about nationalizing the copper mines but to do so would require a constitutional change and a referendum was planned to occur at same time as the presidential and congress elections.

As per Chilean constitution President Alessandri was not permitted to serve a second consecutive term and in the 1964 Presidential Election three candidates stood: Julio Durán on the right, representing the Democratic Front of Chile, a center-right coalition gathering the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party and the United Conservative Party which had participated in Alessandri's cabinet; Eduardo Frei Montalva for the Christian Democrat Party, and finally Salvador Allende for the FRAP left-wing coalition, unifying the Socialist Party and the Communist Party.

​

Eduardo Frei Montalva​

Salvador Allende​

Julio Durán​

Chilean 1964 Presidential Candidates​

The September 1964 presidential election pitted Durán supported by American CIA running against Montalva who was supported by Portuguese Federation and other South American governments including Brazil. At the center of the divide was the Portuguese support for nationalization of Copper mines and the improvements in workers working conditions and citizens standard of living. Durán gave support to improving the benefit Chile received from mines while advocating less government intervention. Meanwhile Montalva fully supported nationalization of the mines and investing the profit from the mines into education, healthcare and infrastructure investment. He borrowed much of the left’s previous ideas. This had the effect of starving Allende of many of his ideas and robbing the left of some of its support. The CIA directly spent three million dollars to support the Julio Durán during the electoral campaign, mostly through radio and print advertising aimed at raising the "Red Scare" again.

The first round of the presidential election saw Eduardo Frei Montalva, getting 50.01%, Salvador Allende getting 40% and Julio Durán getting 9%. Frei was sworn in on 4 October 1964. Also approved in the election was the constitutional change to allow for the nationalization of the copper mines.

Frei's administration began many reforms in Chilean society. "Promoción Popular" (Social Promotion), "Reforma Agraria" (agrarian reform), "Reforma Educacional" (education reform), and "Juntas de Vecinos" (neighborhood associations) were some of his main projects. He also took measures to rationalize drug supply.

The Frei presidency did much to tackle poverty, as characterized by the growing share of wages as a proportion of GNP. By the end of the Frei presidency, the wage and salaried sector received close to 63% of GNP, compared with 42% at the end of the Alessandri presidency. This positive redistribution of wealth was encouraged by government policies, particularly in the rural sector, where wages rose by 52% in real terms. Between 1964-70, total enrollment in education increased by 59%, while around 350,000 houses were built, mostly for the poor.

Frei's administration also introduced a wealth tax and carried out a property tax reassessment in order to make the taxation system more progressive. Taxes as a percentage of GNP increased 12.8% in 1964 to 21.2% in 1970. The social reforms introduced by Frei's government led to a huge increase in public expenditure, which rose as a proportion of GNP from 35.7% in 1965 to 59.9% in 1970. Expenditures on education, agriculture, and housing rose went up considerably, with spending on housing increasing by 70% in real terms in 1965 alone.

During Frei's six years in office, an average of 62,000 housing units were constructed each year, and a total of 140,000 lots were assigned.[ Investments in primary care clinics and hospitals were also carried out, with 29 clinics and 19 hospitals built between 1965 and 1969.

In 1965, he started a presidential tour through France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Vatican and Portuguese Federation. During this time, he also visited countries in Latin America such as: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Venezuela; places where he delivered important speeches on international issues.

On his return, he initiated important plans involving housing, education, reforestation, land reform, health, and the nationalization of copper. The Comisión Nacional de Cultura (National Culture Commission), the Consejería Nacional de la Promoción Popular and the Juntas de Vecinos (“Neighborhood Committees”) were also created.

One area of reform given high priority by the Frei Administration was the fostering of networks of local, self-help organizations (especially among the “unorganized” residents of the shantytowns), which was placed under a national supervisory council. As a result of the government's actions, mothers' centers, sports associations, youth clubs, residents’ committees, and parents' groups proliferated, with an estimated 20,000 units of this type in existence by 1970, according to government figures. Half of these new units were mothers' centers, with an estimated membership of 45,000 women, and the government claimed to have distributed 70,000 sewing machines to these centers. According to Frei, these measures had given “a new form of life and hope” to hundreds of thousands of people.

Improvements were also made in areas such as housing, education and medical care. Between 1964-70, around 260,000 houses were constructed (around a third by the state housing corporation CORVI) and about 200,000 housing solutions were claimed (referring to the provision of sites for self-help housing projects). The number of hospitals (and beds) doubled under the PDC, and spending on education as a proportion of public expenditure rose from one-seventh to one-fifth. Around 3,000 new schools were built throughout the country, and by 1970 95% of children in the relevant age group were covered by primary education. Expenditure on scholarships and school loans was doubled, and school enrollment was raised from 1.8 million to 2.9 million.

Expenditure on education doubled, the number of years of basic education was increased from six to eight, and a two-shift school-day was introduced that doubled the capacity of the country’s system. Frei's initiatives in education led to increased rates of enrollment in both primary and secondary education, with primary school coverage reaching 90% in the majority of rural and urban areas by 1970, while secondary school coverage reached 49% in 1970, compared with 18% at the start of the Sixties.

A new law establishing work-accident and occupational disease insurance was signed into law in January 1968, providing for compulsory coverage of all salaried employees and wage earners, including apprentices and domestic servants. In March that year, a piece of legislation creating government-sponsored health insurance for public and private salaried employees and their dependents was signed into law.

Basic health services were expanded with the training of community health workers, the building of rural health clinics, and the shifting of financial and personnel resources from hospitals to community health centers. These efforts contributed to a steep decline in infant mortality in Chile during the Sixties and Seventies.

Much attention was also given to the improvement of social and economic conditions in the countryside. Both rural unionization and agrarian reform were accelerated, with the government starting to expropriate estates in a serious way. Family allowance for farmers was doubled, the agricultural minimum wage was raised to the same level as its urban equivalent, and an agrarian reform law signed by Frei in July 1967 made all farms of more than eighty “basic” hectares liable to expropriation. The Frei Administration had thus made a major start to land reform.

The agrarian reform carried out by the Frei Government organized the reformed sector according to a temporary system established in the law, whereby the expropriated estates became asentamientos. This was a legal form in which the farm operated as a joint enterprise between the state and the peasants who had lived in the former latifundia (extensive agricultural estates), with the state providing the credits, land, and technical assistance, and the peasants their labor. After an indeterminate period, the land would be made available for subdivision into small private plots, if the peasants wished. According to one study, the percentage of the population living below the poverty line steadily fell; from 39% in 1965 to 13% in 1970.

The nationalization of the copper mines provided to be the most contentious of Frei government especially with the United states. In 1965 legislation was passed by congress in which all coper mines in Chile were nationalized and setout “fair” compensation to the international corporations. The most contentious part dealt with review of copper prices and taxes paid to Chile in comparison to other jurisdictions. In the subsequent report it was found that the multinational companies had short changed Chile by an average of 12% and that the total “stolen” from Chile was greater than the value of the mines thus negating Chile from having to compensate the mining companies. To make matters worse Chile joined, Portuguese Federation, Katanga and Argentina in forming the Copper Consortium that raised copper prices by 25%. The four countries at the time accounted for over 50% of all copper production in world and without alternative sources the world was forced to pay the new copper prices. The American administration of President Johnson and subsequent President Hubert Horatio Humphrey were angry and threaten Chile with sanctions.

In 1968 the situation in Peru and Bolivia shocked Chile; the fall of Lima to communist rebels and the overthrow of Bolivia by communist brought possibility of war and communist insurrection to Chile. Thousands of Peruvians and Bolivians fled their country and Frei government was forced to setup three refugee camps in Northern Chile. Chilean military presence in Northern Chile was increased substantially. The biggest shock though came when Communist Government in Bolivia demanded that Chile return all “illegally occupied” Bolivian territory. Even going as far to threaten war against its neighbors if they did not return the stolen territory.

Territory that Bolivia demanded returned from its neighbors in 1968.​

Chile joined with Argentina and Brazil alongside both Paraguay and Uruguay in opposing the Bolivian government and when Frei signed the anti-communist alliance with Argentina and Brazil and committing to providing troops to not only defend against Bolivian aggression against Paraguy but also “liberation” of Bolivia. News of Chile attacking Bolivia resulted in the communists and other left-wing parties in Chile protesting and holding increasingly violent demonstrations. In 1969 the Chilean communist party leader Luis Alberto Corvalán Lepe along with several hundred communist party members were arrested. This led to several attacks by communist members against the government. At the Santiago May day protest 14 people were killed and 258 injured while over 1,000 were arrested including Frei’s Presidential opponent Salvador Guillermo Allende. As 1969 came to a close and border clashes between Chile and Bolivia intensified the situation in Santiago also heated up as Chilean congress debating outlawing the Communist party and other left wing ‘radical” parties supporting or participating in violent demonstrations and attacks against the government.

Sorry for the confusion, with those expecting Uruguay & Paraguay but Chile is up first. The Presidency of President Frei actually was instrumental in advancing the rights and standard of living of majority of Chileans and there was only slight improvements in the development of Chile and the progress it made under President Frei compared to iOTL. The major difference is that the nationalization of the copper mines happened under President Frei as opposed to under President Allende in the early 1970s before he was deposed. Here Chile being influenced with what had and was happening in Brazil and Argentina decides that it wanted a better deal from the international mining companies and when they refused the country decided to go the route of Nationalization. This nationalization and subsequent price increase is greatly opposed by western world and will of course spur greater prospecting and development of copper elsewhere but the immediate result was a 25% increase in price and corresponding increase in state revenue that was plowed back into development of the country. Even the conservatives were happy with the increased business development. Another major change that happened was the appearance of new brands of appliances, motorcycles, vehicles and construction machinery as Portuguese companies began displacing American domination.

All of these political changes could of resulted in similar events that deposed President Allende were it not the the communist threat in Peru and especially in Bolivia that both preoccupied the Chilean military and the beleaguered American government. With Chile aligning itself with both Argentina and Brazil to fight the communists and with Bolivia acting like the antagonist the Americans needing all the support and friends against the communist threat they decide a neutral/friendly Chile is better than another enemy and decide to forget the nationalization thing. FYI iOTL after President Allende was deposed the military government did not reverse the nationalization since it benefitted Chile greatly.

The last point is the political situation of the left in Chile with them opposing military alliance with rightwing Argentina and Brazil and the 'war' with communist Bolivia. But this is a ideological that inevitable weakens and results in communist / left loosing much support with Chileans. The fact that Bolivia is demanding Chile return territory back to Bolivia is opposed by majority of Chileans due to result of national loss of territory. With continued violence and majority of socialist and communist leaders arrested the 1970 election will definitely be different especially if the majority of left wing parties get outlawed. Questions/ Comments?

Return on April 4 as we finish the world section and we discuss the Uruguay & Paraguay.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969

World (cont.)​

Uruguay and Paraguay​

Uruguay​

Uruguay reached the peak of its economic prosperity thanks to the Second World War and the Korean War, when it reached the highest per capita income in Latin America. The country supplied beef, wool and leather to the Allied armies. In 1946 a Batlle loyalist, Tomás Berreta was elected to Presidency, and after his sudden death, Batlle's nephew Luis Batlle Berres became the President. In 1949, to cover the British debt for the beef deliveries during WWII, British owned railroads and water companies were nationalized. The 1951 constitutional referendum created the Constitution of 1952 which returned to the collective executive model and the National Council of Government was created.

The end of the large global military conflicts by mid-1950s caused troubles for the country. Because of a decrease in demand in the world market for agricultural products, Uruguay began having economic problems, which included inflation, mass unemployment, and a steep drop in the standard of living for the workers. This led to student militancy and labor unrest. The collective ruling council was unable to agree on harsh measures that were required to stabilize the economy. As the demand for Uruguay's export products plummeted, the collective leadership tried to avoid budget cuts by spending Uruguay's currency reserves and then began taking foreign loans. The Uruguayan peso was devalued, inflation reached 60% and the economy was in deep crisis.

The Blancos won the 1958 elections and became the ruling party in the Council. They struggled to improve the economy and advocated a return to strong Presidency.

In 1966 the leftwing Uruguay guerrilla movement Tupamaros assassinated two members of the National Council of Government. The National Council had lost the public support and a referendum was planned for 15 March 1966, meanwhile evidence of American involvement in the country worried not only Brazil but also Argentina. As the referendum grew closer so too did the number of attacks including a bombing at a political rally held by the Colorado party. People became afraid of going out in public and neither of the four options in the referendum received more than 50% of the vote as required by law. Fearing anarchy General Gregorio Conrado Álvarez Armelino who was in charge of the capital’s Republican Guard moved to establish order and seize power.

Diego Gestido one of the country’s leaders and considered by many a hero appealed for support from Uruguay neighbors. Meanwhile the Americans came out in support of the coup. Diego Gestido contacted both governments of Argentina and Brazil and in a hurried telephone conversation between governments of Argentina and Brazil they agreed they send in their forces and re-establish civilian control. On 19th of March both Brazilian and Argentina forces moved into Uruguay and quickly established control of the country. Majority of Uruguay forces did not oppose the Brazilian/Argentinian forces and the Republican Guard only put-up token opposition before surrendering while Commander Gregorio Conrado Álvarez Armelino took refuge in the American Embassy. The US condemned the “invasion”, and the UN with American pressure passed a motion condemning Brazil and Argentina “aggression”. Diego Gestido thanked Argentina and Brazil and reiterated President JK of Brazil speech that both Brazilian and Argentina troops would withdraw from Uruguay within six months after elections and civilian government was sworn in.

Soon after the establishment of civilian government and security established the constitution proposal was slightly revised and a new referendum was conducted, and this time was passed by 65%. Two months later, on 1 June 1966 Diego Gestido was elected President and the following month both Brazilian and Argentinian troops withdrew from Uruguay well ahead of the six-month deadline.

With the support of Argentina and Brazil the Uruguayan security forces conducted raids and captured most of the leadership of the Tupamaros insurgency. At same time the government of President Diego Gestido moved to align Uruguay’s economy with Argentina and Brazil. His government signed an agreement to link Uruguay rail system with both Argentina and Brazil including the building of a new road/rail bridge over the Uruguay River. In 1969 Uruguay joined its two larger neighbors as associate member of the Lusitania Commonwealth and opened the country to foreign investment.

Paraguay​

After the Paraguayan Civil war (1947) and overthrow of the Higinio Moríñigo regime, Juan Natalicio González assumed the Presidency, but he was soon overthrown and followed by Presidents who held power for only a few months each. Some stability was achieved after Federico Chávez was elected on 10 September 1949. Three weeks after taking office, Chávez imposed a state of siege, using his executive emergency powers under the Constitution of 1940 to attack the supporters of González and of ex-President Felipe Molas López.

The growing economic problems after two decades of extreme political and social unrest had undermined and shattered Paraguay's economy. The national and per capita income had fallen sharply. The Central Bank's practice of granting soft loans to the regime's cronies was spurring a rise in inflation and a growing black market. By 1953 political and military support for the 73-year-old Chávez had eroded.

Chavez's decision to run for re-election disappointed younger politicians, who wanted power and military officers who did not approve reduction of military's budget in favor of National police. In early 1954 the recently fired Director of Central Bank Epifanio Méndez Fleitas joined forces with General Alfredo Stroessner, who was the Commander-in-chief of the armed forces, in a plot to oust Chávez. Méndez Fleitas was unpopular with Colorado Party stalwarts and the army, who feared that he was trying to create a dictatorship like his hero, President of Argentina Juan Domingo Perón. On 4 May 1954 Stroessner ordered his troops into the streets and staged a coup. Fierce resistance by police left almost fifty dead.

As the military strongman behind the coup, Stroessner was able to place his supporters in positions of power in the provisional government. He then quickly made moves to secure power for himself. About two months later, a divided Colorado Party nominated Stroessner as their presidential candidate for Presidential elections. For many party members he was a temporary choice, as Morínigo had been for the Liberals in 1940. When Stroessner took office on 15 August 1954, few imagined that this circumspect, unassuming forty-one-year-old would be a master politician capable of outmaneuvering and outlasting most of them all or that they were witnessing the start of the sixth of Paraguay's extended dictatorships.

President Stroessner used political repression, threats, and death squads in maintaining power and remained dictator of Paraguay. He had virtually unlimited power by giving a free hand to the military and to Minister of Interior Edgar Ynsfrán, who began to harass, terrorize, and occasionally murder family members of the regime's opponents. Stroessner's rule took a hardline stance from the beginning. Soon after taking office, he declared a state of siege, which gave him the power to suspend constitutional freedoms. Under the state-of-siege provisions, the government was empowered to arrest and detain anyone indefinitely without trial, as well as forbid public meetings and demonstrations. It was renewed every 90 days until he was overthrown, except for a brief period in 1959. Although it technically only applied to Asunción anyone charged with security offenses could be brought to the capital and charged under the state-of-siege provisions—even if the offense took place outside the capital. Thus, for all intents and purposes, Stroessner ruled under what amounted to martial law for nearly all of his tenure.

The retirement of González and the death of Molas López removed two of his most formidable opponents. Méndez Fleitas prepared to stage a coup in late December 1955. As a result, Stroessner purged the military of Méndez Fleitas' supporters and sent him into exile in 1956.

Stroessner was at the time barely in control of the Colorado Party, which was split in competing factions by rival politicians, while the army was also not a dependable supporter of his rule. The economy was in bad shape and deteriorating further, with inflation growing. His economic austerity measures proved unpopular with the nation's military officers, who had long grown used to getting soft loans from the Central Bank; with fiscally dodgy businessmen, who disliked the severe tightening of credit; and with increasingly poor workers, who organized 1958 Paraguayan general strike demanding increased pay.

The 1958 elections gave Stroessner the second Presidential term. The vote was fixed to favor the regime and opposition blossomed into a guerrilla insurgency soon afterwards. Sponsored by exiled Liberals and febreristas, small bands of armed men began to slip across the border from Bolivia and from its two other neighbors Argentina and Brazil. Venezuela sent large amounts of aid to these groups starting in 1958. The following year, the new Cuban government under Fidel Castro funneled Soviet assistance to the United National Front.

The guerrillas received little support from Paraguay's conservative peasantry. The Colorado Party's peasant pynandí irregulars ("barefoot ones" in Guaraní) had a well-deserved reputation for ferocity in combat, torture and executing their prisoners. Growing numbers of people were interned in jungle concentration camps. Army troops and police smashed striking labor unions by taking over their organizations and arresting their leaders.

Stroessner decided to accept the growing calls for reform from the army and the Colorado Party. In April 1959 the state of siege was lifted, opposition exiles allowed to return, press censorship ended, political prisoners freed, and a new Constitution promised to replace the authoritarian 1940 Constitution. After two months of this democratic "spring" the country was on the verge of chaos. In late May, nearly 100 people were injured when a student riot erupted in downtown Asunción over a local bus fare increase. The disturbance inspired the legislature to call for Ynsfrán's resignation. Stroessner responded swiftly by re-imposing the state of siege and dissolving the legislature. The 1960 parliamentary elections were boycotted by all opposition parties.

An upsurge in guerrilla activity and antigovernmental violence followed, but Stroessner and his colleagues stood firm. Several factors strengthened Stroessner's hand. First, United States military aid was helping enhance the army's skills in counterinsurgency warfare. Second, the many purges of the Colorado Party had removed all opposition factions. In addition, the new economic policy had boosted exports and investment and reduced inflation.

Another major factor in Stroessner's favor was a change in attitude among his domestic opposition. Demoralized by years of fruitless struggle, psychological exhaustion and exile, the major opposition groups began to sue for peace. A Liberal Party faction, the Renovation Movement, returned to Paraguay to become the "official" opposition as the Radical Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Radical - PLR).

In the elections of 1963, Stroessner allotted the new party twenty of Congress's sixty seats. Four years later, PLR members also returned to Paraguay and began participating in the electoral process. By this time, the Febreristas, a sad remnant of the once powerful, but never coherent revolutionary coalition, posed no real threat to Stroessner and were legalized in 1964 as Revolutionary Febrerista Party. The new Christian Democratic Party (Partido Demócrata Cristiano - PDC) also renounced insurgency violence as a means of gaining power. This enabled Stroessner to crush the still aggressive Paraguayan Communist Party (Partido Communista Paraguayo - PCP) by mercilessly persecuting its members, families and their spouses and to isolate the exiled Colorado Epifanistas (followers of Epifanio Méndez Fleitas) and Democráticos, who had reorganized themselves as the Popular Colorado Movement (Movimiento Popular Colorado - Mopoco). The American government helped Paraguay fight the communists as part of the Cold War.

Under "liberalization", Ynsfrán, the master of the machinery of terror, began to outlive his usefulness to Stroessner. Ynsfrán opposed political liberalization and was unhappy with Stroessner's increasingly clear intention to stay as President for life. A May 1966 police corruption scandal gave Stroessner a convenient way to dismiss Ynsfrán in November. In August 1967, after the Constitutional Assembly elections a new Constitution created the two-house Paraguayan legislature and formally allowed Stroessner to serve for two more five-year presidential terms.

In 1966 the US became increasingly reliant on Stroessner and Paraguay to keep tabs on what it deemed troublesome South American regimes of Brazil and Argentina following the overthrow of US friendly government in Uruguay. This had a negative impact on trade with both Brazil and Argentina, but that same year Brazil and Paraguay entered into negotiations to develop the Itaipu hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. Both political and military leaders in Paraguay grew excited about the potential of this project to transform Paraguay economy and to fix souring relations between Paraguay and its neighbors. In 1967 under severe American pressure President Alfredo Stroessner broke off negotiations with Brazil using the excuse of Brazil and Argentina invasion of Uruguay the previous year. News of the Paraguay decision put the two countries in direct confrontation with Brazilian government accusing President Alfredo Stroessner of reneging on his agreement due to American pressure. In Asunción there was huge opposition to the decision and many within the Colorado Party and military opposing President Alfredo Stroessner decision.

The leading figure in the opposition to President Stroessner was his friend and colleague General Andrés Rodríguez. Whom on 23 December 1967 overthrew President Alfredo Stroessner. Forces loyal to General Rodríguez were able to seize the capital, Asunción, and surrounding region but units loyal to Stroessner and the Colorado Party continued to control majority of the country and began moving against General Rodríguez. President Rodríguez requested help from its neighbors (Argentina and Brazilian) and both those countries’ forces moved into the Uruguay and defeated the Paraguayan forces loyal to Stroessner. The US, Stroessner’s main backer condemned the military intervention but President Rodríguez re-iterated his legitimacy as President of Paraguay and the right to request assistance from the Brazil and Argentina to quell insurrection. Six months after moving into Paraguay both Argentina and Brazilian forces withdrew. On 15 June 1968 Brazil and Paraguay signed the Itaipu dam treaty allowing for the start construction of the dam the following year.[1]

In 1968 Bolivia government fell to Communist and President Rodríguez ordered about half of country’s military to the border region which at first seemed provocative until Paraguay received a ultimatum from Bolivia to return all illegally occupied Bolivian territory otherwise face war. Both Argentina and Brazil along with Chile pledged to defend Paraguay and in 1969 the first units from Argentina and Brazil moved into Paraguay to defend it from Bolivian aggression.

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[1] The Itaipu dam was to be located on the border between the two countries, 15 km (9.3 mi) north of the Friendship Bridge. The project ranged from Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazil, and Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, in the south to Guaíra and Salto del Guairá in the north. The plan called for an installed generation capacity of the plant to be 14 GW, with 20 generating units each providing 700 MW and divided equally between each country. Since Brazil’s electricity needs were greater than Paraguay, the treaty allowed Paraguay to sell the excess electricity to Brazil.

We conclude the world section with two smaller but still important Portuguese aligned countries in South America. With the inclusion of Paraguay and Uruguay the Americans were left with only the northern part of the continent aligned and supportive of American position (Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru). The southern part (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay) were partially aligned with the Portuguese but more so choosing an independent path. Bolivia had fallen to the communists and both Peru and Columbia were also in jeopardy of falling. This left the Americans requiring allies in its fight against communists with little to no choice but to request assistance of the southern American countries in trying to contain communist threat.

Notes: Uruguay - iOTL Commander Gregorio Conrado Álvarez Armelino overthrew the civilian government and Uruguay was under military control for greater part of 1960s and 1970s. There was no Brazilian or Argentina intervention and no move to integrate Uruguay economy with its two larger neighbors. Paraguay - President Stroessner continued to be Paraguay president and the ITaipu Dam was only built in the middle 1970-1980s. Here it is started about 5 years ahead of schedule and Paraguay economy receives the economic benefit much sooner. On the downside it is involved in war with Bolivia which never happen. Questions/ Comments?

Return on April 18 as we return to the government section.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969​

Politics​

The Elevation of the Monarchists

The Bragança Coat of Arms ​

In 1955 the new Portuguese Assembly approved the repeal of the Monarchist Banishment. Following the vote, the casket containing the body of the last Portuguese king, Dom Manuel II, returned to the Portuguese Federation for burial in 1956. Accompanying the Casket was the presumed claimant to the defunct Portuguese throne, Dom Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza. Dom Duarte Nuno and his family settled in Portuguese Federation and for the next decade toured the Federation and visited every province elevating the status of the Portuguese Monarchists and providing a modern image to the Portuguese Monarchy. In the 1962 elections the Monarchists became the 2nd largest political party due in part to the visibility Dom Duarte Nuno provided it.

On 16 October 1964 while visiting the city of São Salvador do Congo in the province of Carmona an assassination attempt was made on Dom Duarte Nuno’s life. The assassin was captured by security forces and he was identified as Antoine Gizenga from the Democratic Republic of Kongo, a supporter of President Lumamba and a communist. Dom Duarte Nuno made a complete recovery but the attempt on his life increased his profile and the profile of the Monarchists considerably and they made great gains in the regional elections of 1964.

In 1965 President Semedo health deteriorated and was hospitalized on 2 May 1965 and he slipped into a coma on 7th of June. The triumvirate and cabinet grappled with either nominating someone as President or waiting for the regular National elections which were only due to be held on 3 November 1966. On 1 July 1965, the Monarchist Party sponsored a non-binding motion in the Portuguese Assembly to elevate Dom Duarte Nuno as king of the Portuguese Federation. In a surprise move the National Union supported the Monarchist motion and the matter was referred to the Portuguese Executive government who referred the motion to the Portuguese Constitutional Court. On 5 September 1965, the constitutional court ruled that the Portuguese Federation constitution could be modified by a vote by Portuguese Executive and joint session of the Portuguese Assembly and Corporative Chamber. On 6 October 1965, the Executive branch of the government unanimously approved the holding of a referendum on the return of the Portuguese Monarchy to the Portuguese Federation. On 17 October 1965, the joint session voted 379 for 156 against and 15 abstinences on holding the referendum.

On 3 November 1965 while the country continued to face repeated external pressures it held a referendum on the return of the Portuguese Monarchy. During the leadup to the election several African leaders including descendant of the last King of Congo were elevated to Portuguese nobility by Fundación da Casa de Bragança. The organization owned and managed all the private assets of the House of Braganza and they along with the nobles and government of the country nominated some of the most prominent Portuguese citizens including Africans, Indians, Asians as representatives of the new Portuguese nobility which would be strictly ceremonial and hold no political power. The referendum was not only a referendum on Monarchy but also framed by the Portuguese government as a rejection of Communism and those opposed to the Portuguese Federation. The Referendum had a turnout of 61% and the return of Monarchy was approved by 59% of the voters.

On 1 January 1966 Dom Duarte Nuno was crowned King Duarte II of the Portuguese Federation.[1]

Official Portrait of King Duarte II​

Elections​

On 9 November 1960, the regional elections took place with 16 parties registered and allowed to participate in the election. The parties that participated in the election were the National Union, Agrarian, Lusitania National, Social Democrat, Portuguese Progressive, African Party, National Action, Iberian Union, Berber Action, Guinea Solidarity, Ovimbo Workers, Hindu National, Cabinda National, Swahili Progressive, Sundanese Radical and Catholic Renewal. The National Union Party was the only one that provided a full slate of candidates in all the constituencies. The National Union party won 40% of the provincial chambers and 30% of all local chambers.[2]

On 4 November 1962, the national elections took place with seven parties registered and allowed to participate in the election. The parties that participated in the election were the National Union, Monarchist, Agrarian, Lusitania National, Social Democrat, Portuguese Progressive and African.[3] This was the last elections that the National Union Party was the only one that provided a full slate of candidates in all the constituencies. The Monarchists, Social Democrat and Progressive were able to run candidates in 75 - 95% of all provinces. Included in the national elections was the Presidential election in which President João Semedo riding sentiment from the attempted coup ran unopposed for re-election and was elected with 89% of the vote.

Results

Party​	Votes​	%​	Seats​
National Union		48​	164​
Monarchist		18​	65​
Agrarian		8​	28​
Lusitania National		6​	26​
Portuguese Progressive		3​	9​
Social Democrat		12​	47​
African		4​	11​
Invalid/Blank votes		1​	--​
Total	24,101,801​	100​	350[4]​
Registered Voters/ Turn out	28,901,000​	83​

On 8 November 1964, the regional elections took place with 12 parties registered and allowed to participate in the election. The parties that participated in the election were the National Union, Agrarian, Lusitania National, Social Democrat, Portuguese Progressive, African, Iberian Union, Berber Action, Guinea Solidarity, Ovimbo Workers, Hindu National, and Catholic Renewal. The National Union Party was the only one that provided a full slate of candidates in all the constituencies. The National Union party won 60% of the provincial chambers and 40% of all local chambers.[5]

On 6 November 1966, the national elections took place with seven parties registered and allowed to participate in the election. The parties that participated in the election were the National Union, Agrarian, Monarchist, Lusitania National, Social Democrat, Portuguese Progressive and African. Three of the Opposition parties (Lusitania National, Portuguese Progressive and Social Democrat) joined together and formed the Democratic Alliance ticket running on a single platform on continued Portuguese Federation, strong military but increased democratic rights. Some observers expected the Nationalist Party to invalidate the Alliance and skew the election, but the National Union Party formed its own alliance with the Monarchist Party and the Agrarian Party. The National Union party, Monarchist Party and the Democratic Alliance provided a full slate of candidates in all the constituencies. The election was the most contested since multi party elections had been allowed and campaign was marred by several anarchist and rebel attacks, but security forces were able to either prevent the attacks or neutralize the perpetrators before anyone was seriously injured. The National Union and the Monarchist Party received support for the government’s continued strong military and diplomatic stand against the backdrop of the Malaysian and Borneo Insurrection, South African Civil War and the stand-off against both the Pan-African Alliance and Arab League Alliance.

Results

Party[6]​	Votes​	%​	Seats​
National Union		32​	115​
*Monarchist		15​	54​
*Agrarian		5​	18​
Democratic Alliance Lusitania National Portuguese Progressive Social Democrat		40​	143​
African Party		6​	20​
Invalid/Blank votes		3​	--​
Total	26,481,882​	100​	350[7]​
Registered Voters/ Turn out	31,155,156​	85.0​

On 6 November 1968, the regional elections took place with 12 parties registered and allowed to participate in the election. The parties that participated in the election were the National Union, Agrarian, Lusitania National, Social Democrat, Portuguese Progressive, African, Iberian Union, Berber Action, Guinea Solidarity, Ovimbo Workers, Hindu National, and Catholic Renewal. The National Union Party was the only one that provided a full slate of candidates in all the constituencies. The National Union Party riding a wave of nationalism after winning the African War won 75% of the provincial chambers and 52% of all local chambers.

In 1969 the first major review of the constituencies was announced, the National Assembly was increased by 35 members with provinces witnessing the largest population growth in the Iberian Peninsula, Portuguese West Africa and Portuguese East Africa being allocated 28 of the new members.

Lusitania Commonwealth​

In 1961 the Portuguese Federation, the Republic of Galicia, Guinea Boke, Republic of Bali and Republic of Lombok formed the Lusitania Commonwealth. The commonwealth established economic, military and political support between the five countries as well as providing free movement of people and goods between member states. As part of the agreement Portuguese industries agreed to establish factories and create jobs in these countries while the Portuguese government agreed to provide economic and military support to bring those countries standard of living to Portuguese levels. The Portuguese escudo became the official currency of both Republic of Bali and Republic of Lombok. While Guinea Boke and Galicia maintained their own currencies but when the Republic of Katanga joined the Commonwealth in 1965, Guinea Boke and Republic of Katanga both adopted the Portuguese escudo as their official currency also.

In 1965 the Republic of Katanga became the 6th member and Brazil became an associated member of the commonwealth allowing it to attend meetings and establish single trade policy with all six countries.[8] Following Brazil's lead Argentina also joined as an Associated Member that year.

In 1968 the Lusitania Commonwealth expanded again as the newly formed Portuguese allied African countries: Kingdom of Fez, Kingdom Marrakesh, Republic of Casamance, Kingdom of Kongo, Republic of Rovuma and Sultanate of Zanzibar became members bringing the number of full members to 12. In 1969 the countries of Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana and Rhodesia also joined increasing the Commonwealth to a 17-member economic and military organization, the number increased to 18 when the 3rd Asian country, Malacca Federation joined the Commonwealth. That year Senegal – Mali Federation, Guinea, Togo, Gabon, Nationalist China, and Kingdom of Baroda also became associated members. In 1969 Uruguay became the 3rd Associate Member from South America and the Commonwealth size, economic clout and strength became more attractive to many companies around the world with 18 full time members and 9 associate members.

Government Cabinet​

At the start of the 1960s the government renewal program started in the last years of the 1950s entered the second phase as many of the ministers from the 1940s and 1950s retired and new faces were promoted to many of the ministries. Africans, Emigrants, and Indians joined the traditional Portuguese Europeans and moved into prominent ministries. When the 1969 Portuguese cabinet picture was published, the Minister of Foreign Affairs used the picture of the diverse Portuguese government and one of the USA government of President Nixon with only white men to highlight which country’s government better represented its people and which country offered real ability to be promoted and rise to the top for all races and colors and sexes.

Name​	Department​
King Duarte II[9] (1965 –	Monarch
João Semedo (1945 – 1965)	President
Dr. Antonio Rapazote (1945 -	Prime Minister (Triumvirate)
João Simões (1936 – 1969) Joao Hugo Eduardo de Sequeira[10] (1969 -	Defense Minister (Triumvirate)
Pedro Magalhães Mai (1922 – 1967) Marcelo Caetano (1967 -	Minister of Finance (Triumvirate)
Rafael da Silva Neves Duque (1936 – 1964) Aristides Maria Pereira[11] (1964 -	Minister of Agriculture
Luis Barbosa (1936 – 1966) Eduardo de Arantes e Oliveira[12] (1966 -	Minister of Transportation and Communication
Amilcar Silva (1936 – 1962) João Carlos Roma Machado Cardoso Salgado[13] (1962 -	Minister of Economy & Industry
José Caeiro da Mata (1940 – 1962) Paulo Arsénio Veríssimo da Cunha (1962 -	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Cecília Supico Pinto (1952 –	Minister of Education
Marcelo Caetano (1950 – 1967) Guilherme Kuerten[14] (1967 -	Minister of Justice
Francisco de Paula Leite Pinto (1950 -	Minister of Youth & Sport
Dr. Froilano de Mello (1950 – 1960) Dr Pundolica D Gaitonde[15] (1960 -	Minister of Health
João de Avelar Maia de Loureiro (1950 –	Minister of Urbanization and Public Health
Augusto Cancela de Abreu (1940 – 1962) César Henrique Moreira Baptista (1962 -	Minister of Interior
César Henrique Moreira Baptista (1956 – 1962) António Gabriel de Quadros Ferro[16] (1962 -	Minister of Information (Culture)

​

Census​

In 1960 Portuguese census provides following information:

Territory[17]​	(0000)​	% increase from 1950​	% European​	% African​	% Indian​	% Asian​	% other[18]​
Iberia	13,190​	22​	72​	12​	2​	2​	12​
Azores	140​	-28​	92​	1​	<1​	1​	5​
Madeira	150​	-25​	91​	2​	<1​	1​	5​
Morocco & North Africa	2,100​	75​	24​	11​	2​	6​	62​
Cape Verde	75​	-25​	3​	78​	<1​	<1​	18​
Guinea	500​	12​	22​	57​	1​	1​	19​
Equatorial Africa	399​	19​	10​	76​	1​	<1​	12​
West Africa	12,393​	80​	11​	63​	2​	3​	21​
East Africa	14,136​	80​	4​	58​	6​	3​	19​
India	750​	-18​	9​	4​	77​	1​	9​
East Indies	2,116​	-74​	4​	4​	1​	83​	8​
Macao	236​	-62​	10​	<1​	<1​	83​	6​
Total	46,185​	39​

Urbanization​

In 1960 the number of cities that had population greater than 200,000 reached 30 but more importantly was the growth of African cities like Luanda which had surpassed Lisbon as the largest city in the country.

Ranking​	City​	Population 1960 (0000)​
1​	Luanda​	1,298​
2​	Lisbon​	1,230​
3​	Lourenco Marques​	791​
4​	Porto​	597​
5​	Beira​	508​
6​	Benguela​	504​
7​	Cidade Salazar​	406​
8​	Amadora​	396​
9​	Tetouan​	395​
10​	Silva Porto​	389​
11​	Matola​	376​
12​	Nova Lisboa​	359​
13​	Lobito​	309​
14​	Larche​	309​
15​	Braga​	307​
16​	Coimbra​	306​
17​	Villa Alhucemas​	306​
18​	Nampula​	305​
19​	Vila Pery​	299​
20​	Nacala-Porto​	281​
21​	Macau​	236​
22​	Leiria​	231​
23​	Quelimane​	234​
24​	Bissau​	221​
25​	Aveiro​	219​
26​	Sintra - Queluz​	214​
27​	Setubal​	209​
28​	Panjim​	201​
29​	Nador​	200​
30​	Castelo Branco​	200​

---

[1] In 1942, the Duarte Nuno married Princess Maria Francisca of Orléans-Braganza, daughter of Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará. Their marriage reconciled two branches of the House of Braganza, in two different ways, reuniting the Portuguese and Brazilian Brigantine houses and specifically reuniting the Miguelist and Liberal Braganzas, which had been estranged since 1828, when the War of Two Brothers was waged between King-Emperor Pedro IV & I, founder of the Liberal Braganzas, and King Miguel I, founder of the Miguelist Braganzas.
[2] National Union Party controlled half of provincial and local chambers with the appointment of half the councilors while it was able to form alliances with Monarchists and other regional parties in half of the remaining provincial and local chambers.
[3] The Communists Party and the Christian Democrats continued to be barred as well as twelve small regional parties representing small ethnic groups were also barred from participating due to their inability to meet party registration regulations.
[4] 129 women were elected.
[5] National Union Party continued to control all provincial and local chambers with the appointment of half the councilors.
[6] The National Union, Monarchist and Agrarian formed a loose Alliance but continued to run independent candidates unlike the Lusitania National Party, Portuguese Progressive Party and Social Democrat who ran a single list in all regions. In 1967 the Monarchist Party started suffering an identity crisis as its main objective (the restoration of the Monarchy) had been achieved. In a party vote at its annual convention 69% voted in favor of joining the National Union, On 22 November 1967 it merged with the National Union although some members joined Lusitania National Party, Portuguese Progressive Party and Social Democrat Party.
[7] 155 women were elected.
[8] Associated Members of the Commonwealth only participated in economic and trade sessions. They enjoyed reduced trade restrictions and lower to no tariffs on trade with Commonwealth full members. In addition, Commonwealth Associated members were encouraged to sign similar agreements between themselves. The free movement of people, and military cooperation was not included as part of Associate members agreements.
[9] King Duarte II was born in 1907 in Austria. He was great grandson of Miguel I of Portugal. In 1920 he was recognized as Duke of Braganza and heir to the defunct Portuguese throne. In 1922 the Pact of Paris reconciled both branches of the Portuguese royal families. In 1942 he married Princess Maria Francisca of Orleans-Braganza great-granddaughter of Pedro II.
[10] Joao Hugo Eduardo de Sequeira was born in 1915 in Burma then part of British India to Portuguese Indian parents, in 1922 he and his parents returned to Goa. He attended University of Lisbon where he graduated with a degree in Medicine in 1940. In 1945 he received a degree in Law from the University of Coimbra. In 1950 he started working for the Ministry of Health but in 1955 he transferred to the Ministry of Defense where he managed a variety of different portfolios. In 1963 he became the Deputy Defense Minister. As the Defense Minister’s health deuterated at the same time as the African Wars it was Dr Sequeira who managed the majority of the important events during the war. In 1968 with João Simões’ retirement Dr Sequeira became the country’s Minister of Defense.
[11] Aristides Maria Pereira was born in 1923 in the province of Cape Verde. In 1945 he graduated from the University of Lisbon with a degree of Engineering and worked for several major corporations. In 1958 he started working for Portuguese agriculture giant Sumolis as Vice President. In 1964 he was recruited by Portuguese government as Minister of Agriculture.
[12] Eduardo de Arantes e Oliveira was born in 1907, he entered Military College at age of 18 and he went on to receive a degree as Military Engineer. graduated from University of Lisbon with degree in Engineering and received a degree in Civil Engineering in 1942. He then headed Lisbon’s Public Works department till 1950. He then headed the Public Works department of province of Luanda. In 1960 he was appointed as Deputy Minister of the Department of Transportation and Communication. In 1966 he was appointed as Minister of Transportation and Communication.
[13] João Carlos Roma Machado Cardoso Salgado was born in 1916 and graduated from University of Coimbra with degree in economics in 1941. He worked for Bank of Portugal for next 10 years when he moved to University of Lisbon as dean of department of Economics and working part time for the Department Economy & Industry. In 1958 he became Deputy Minister and appointed as Minister in 1962 after Minister Silva retired.
[14] Guilherme Kuerten was born in Dresden Germany in 1935. In 1946 he immigrated to Portugal with his family. A naturalized Portuguese citizen he graduated from University of Luanda in 1957 with a degree in Law. He then received a Doctorate in Law from University of Coimbra in 1961. He taught Law at the University of Lisbon till 1965 when the Minister of Justice recruited him as Deputy Minister. In 1967 he was the first naturalized Portuguese to be appointed to Cabinet.
[15] Dr Pundolica D Gaitonde was born in 1913 in Goa. In 1930 he received a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Lisbon. He graduated with a degree in medicine in 1936 and he went to work at the Maria Pia Hospital in Luanda. In 1940 he became the chief surgeon at the Hospital and in 1946 he became the hospital administrator. In 1952 he was appointed Minister of health for the province of Luanda. In 1956 he was appointed as national Deputy Minister of Health. In 1960 he was appointed as Minister of Health with the retirement of Dr Mello.
[16] António Gabriel de Quadros Ferro was born in 1923. He graduated from University of Lisbon with a degree in Historical Philosophy in 1948. He worked as professor and published several books and became extensively imbedded with Portuguese culture and was an arts critic and a philosopher. In 1962 with the Portuguese government wishing to modernize the country’s culture and provide a modern image nominated Ferro as Minister of Culture and Sports in 1962.
[17] The only remaining Portuguese possession not shown is Ajuda (fort in Benin) which had less than 25 inhabitants.
[18] Other includes Mulato or Mixed Race the largest growing demographics in the Portuguese Federation and Berber which was considered a separate group.

So few house keeping items first,
Post 481 was moved from Politics to world section to better reflect its implication to the whole country and world importance.

This post is the entire Political section which I thought be nice to post in its entirety. As for each section a few comments, ITOL Salazar also played with the idea of re-establishing the monarchy but unsure he could trust Duarte he decided to forego and instead change constitution to have the congress elect the president. Here the monarchist become of the United party allies and the ceremonial position of President was not wanted by any of the Triunvante so it became surplus and the elevation of the King seemed to solve several major concerns. The elections are becoming of concern to the party as people start voting for opposition parties and the United Party by end of the decade is going to be faced with new challenges and how it will react in the next decade will determine direction of the country. Remember the election process is rigged in the United favor but still they are being forced to share power in many local and provincial councils. Cabinet - this is a very telling as minorities have started making inroads in the top cabinet posts. Two Indians, an African and woman in major political positions in government. This of course would not even compare to the diversity in the junior ministries or assistant ministries. Telling at the level in which the government went to try incorporate the non Europeans into the country and just as important the party. Census is from 1960 and by 1970 will have changed greatly but several major trends are being shown already. Lastly is the level of urbanization the figure only includes the actual population within city limits and not the metropolitan populations that in almost every case surpassed the central city listed. Questions/ Comments?

Return in 2 weeks on May 2 when we post Portuguese Armed Forces section.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969​

Portuguese Armed Forces​

During the 1960s the Portuguese army was re-organized and grew to deal with several major foreign threats and situations foremost amongst them was the emergence of the Pan-African Alliance and the Arab League Alliance. The Portuguese armed forces were also involved in the Malaysian Communist Insurrection in South East Asia. In addition to these major incidents and military operations the Portuguese armed forces continued its NATO obligations and through the Brazil - Portuguese Federation Alliance was involved in supporting Brazilian forces fight against communist insurrections within Brazil.

Armed Forces Organization​

In 1962 the Portuguese army witnessed growth with the addition of 3 new infantry divisions, then in 1965 2 new mechanized and 1 armored divisions were created. This was followed by the doubling of the Portuguese reservist divisions to 20 in 1965 and increased to 30 in 1968. The Portuguese army continued to be organized into 4 armies and comprised the following units:

• Iberian Army: [1]
• 36 border battalions (size 800 - 1,000) with emphasis on defense (10 in the Iberian Peninsula, 2 in Azores, 2 in Madeira, 16 in Portuguese Morocco, 3 in Ifni, 3 in Portuguese Sahara).
• 3 infantry divisions (Minho, Ceuta, Melilla).
• 3 mechanized divisions (Ribatejo, Larache, Bens).
• 1 armored division (Alentejo).
• African Army:[2]
• 31 border battalions (size 800 - 1,000) with emphasis on defense (2 in Cape Verde, 5 in Guinea, 4 in Equatorial Africa, 10 in West Africa and 10 in East Africa).
• 5 infantry divisions (Congo, Huambo, Lourenco Marques, Beira, Lunda).
• 3 mechanized divisions (Benguela, Quelimane, Niassa).
• 2 armored division (Carmona, Limpopo).
• 3 regiments (Bissau, Gabu, and Muni).
• Indian Army:
• 7 border battalions (4 in Goa, 2 in Daman and 1 in Diu)
• 1 Infantry Division (Panjim)
• Asia Army:[3]
• 15 border battalions (4 in Timor, 3 in Flores, 3 in Sumbawa, 3 in Sumba and 2 in Macau),
• 2 Infantry Division (Timor, Flores)
• 4 regiments (Riau, Wetar, Flores and Sumbawa)

In 1960s, the reservist divisions became an integral part of the Portuguese armed forces as they provided the Portuguese with the flexibility to deploy troops where required. Their training was also enhanced with integrated additional military exercises started in 1964. That year the number of reservist units was also increased and by 1966 had reached 20 divisions and by 1968 at the height of the Portuguese armed forces expansion had grown to 30 divisions.[4] The biggest factor with the reserve divisions was the ability of the Portuguese to properly equip them with weapons, vehicles and supplies. In 1966 when the extra divisions were activated due to the Pan-African and Arab League threats many divisions were equipped with older equipment from WWII and early 1950s. Panzer IV and M4 tanks, older trucks and other vehicles stored in Portuguese military storage yards were hurriedly recommissioned and used by reservist divisions as they rushed to the border regions in response to the invasion by African and Arab armies. In 1968 with a new wave of reserve and regular divisions expansion announced the Portuguese army developed a plan to upgrade the reserve divisions to similar weapons and vehicles as regular troops by end of the 1970s.

During the 1960s the Portuguese Navy continued its modernization program with new ships being delivered throughout the decade. In 1962 after three years of sea trials and upgrades both the “Diogo Gomes” and “Bartolomeu Dias” Audacious-class carriers were commissioned. Included with the commissioning of the new aircraft carriers were the commissioning of County class destroyers which were delivered from British and Portuguese naval yards from 1960 to 1966. When both the new aircraft carriers were delivered the navy was divided into 2 fleets: Atlantic and Indic Navy. The navy comprised of the following ships:

• 28 Destroyers (4 Fletcher class, 4 Battle Class, 20 County class).
• 2 Audacious-class Aircraft carriers (“Diogo Gomes” and “Bartolomeu Dias”).[5]
• 1 Helicopter carrier “Vasco DaGama” (Implacable class carrier).[6]
• 14 Light cruisers (2 Minotaur Class, 12 Goa class).
• 26 frigates (2 Goncalo Velho class, 8 Pedro Nunes class, 16 Gazela Class).
• 12 submarines (7 Orca III class, 5 Orca IV class).
• 6 Torpedo Boats.
• 12 gunships.
• 8 river gunboats.
• 30 patrol boats.
• 7 mine warfare vessels.
• Naval Support Ships (6 survey vessels, 10 support vessels, 8 troop transport ships and 5 training ships).

The ships were divided into the 2 fleets as follows:

• Atlantic Navy (1 CV “Diogo Gomes”, 1 HC “Vasco DaGama” 18 Destroyers, 16 Frigates, 7 light cruisers, 6 Submarines, 4 Torpedo Boats, 8 Gunships, 5 river gunboats, 15 patrol boats, 3 mine warfare ships, and support ships).
• Indic Navy (1 CV “Bartolomeu Dias”, 10 Destroyers, 10 Frigates, 5 light cruisers, 6 Submarines, 4 Torpedo Boats, 4 Gunships, 3 river gunboats, 15 patrol boats, 4 mine warfare ships, and support ships).

During the 1960s the Portuguese air force came into its own, new airbases were built and infrastructure and organization was upgraded. The air force took on the army structure and was organized into 4 air force commands: Iberian, West Africa, East Indic and Asian. Each command was comprised of the following squadrons: [7] [8]

• Iberian:
• 16 airbases with 6 on the Iberian Peninsula, 2 in Azores, 1 in Madeira, 4 in Portuguese Morocco, 1 in Ifni, and 2 in Portuguese Sahara.
• West African:
• 12 airbases with 2 in Cape Verde, 2 in Guinea, 2 in Equatorial Africa, 6 in West Africa.
• East Indic:
• 10 airbases with 7 in East Africa, 2 Goa and 1 in Daman.
• Asian:
• 4 airbases with 2 in Timor, 1 Sumbawa and 1 in Macau)

Portuguese Armed Forces changes during 60s​

Demographics​

The integration of colonial troops and Metropolitan forces since the early 1940s had left the Portuguese armed forces as a functioning fully integrated military forces with non-Europeans continuing making major inroads in all aspects and hierarchy of the Portuguese armed forces. This included Air force and Navy pilots, officers and military hierarchy. During the African conflicts, several divisional generals were non-white and in 1969 the Minister of Defense Erasmo Jesus de Sequeira, born in Panjim Goa exemplified the diverse Portuguese military and government structure. By 1969 the Portuguese armed forces (army, navy and Air force) demographic study identified those of African descent accounting for 37% of all non-commissioned personnel followed by European 19% with Indian 12%, Asian 11% and Mixed 21%. For its officers, Europeans made up the largest segment with 43%, followed by Indians, Mixed and Africans at 19%, 17% and 12% respectively and Asians 9%.

Recruitment​

In 1962 the Portuguese Armed forces trades, and profession programs were expanded. The armed forces in partnership with many large Portuguese manufactures and universities / technical colleges started offering trades and professional training starting at age of 18. Military personnel received salary and training in variety of trades and professions for period of 4 years with an obligation of completing 2 years of additional military service for every year of trades and professional training after attaining their profession. At same time, the number of fulltime military positions was also increased to provide the military with additional professional soldiers. In 1964 the salaries for professional soldiers, and officers as well as soldiers participating in the professional and trades program was increased and became comparable to private sector. In addition, those that were married continued to receive government housing and family subsidy.

In 1960s with the integration of Portuguese Reservist divisions into regular armed forces, the permanent staff component of the reservist divisions was expanded. In 1966 reservists began training alongside regular forces and participating in joint military exercises. In 1968 the first two women’s reservist divisions were formed. Women over the age of 21 could join and received 3-month basic training then served 1 month per year. In 1969 the first women units were deployed in support situations, but women units were housed separately from men and due to conservative male attitude and would take long time to be accepted as part of regular forces.

Military Forces Upgrades and Realignment ​

All three Portuguese military branches (Army, Navy and Air Force) continued operating independently but cooperation and joint operations were enforced. Joint Military exercises were conducted with all three branches participating. The Grand Marshal continued to coordinate the three branches with headquarters in Belem and regional offices in Benguela, Pemba and Panjim.

Armed Forces Technology​

The Portuguese – Israeli secret joint nuclear program code named Operation Covenant continued in the 1960s. The Israeli nuclear facility Dimona in the Negev desert came online in 1961 while the Portuguese secret facility in Menongue in the province of Lunda Sul (Portuguese West Africa) came online two months after the Israeli one. By 1964 both the Portuguese and Israelis had developed the technology to make nuclear bombs. While the world was suspicions of Israeli nuclear activities and monitored both the uranium it bought from US and the spent nuclear material from its nuclear facility it was unaware of the Portuguese involvement in the project continued to be a secret including the mining of uranium in the Federation. The delivery of a squadron of CACC 302B.1 in 1966 provided Israel with the aircraft capable to attacking any Arab nation in the Middle East.

In 1963 the Portuguese Army setup Department 1917 to research and develop chemical weapons. Two research facilities deep in Portuguese East and Portuguese West African provinces were established. During the remainder of the decade the Portuguese were able to obtain and conducted research on some of the most lethal biological agents available.

National Arms Industrial Development​

During the 1960s foreign military procurement became more difficult. The Portuguese military requirements for advanced military technology met with greater resistance including from its traditional military ally Britain, in response the Portuguese military enhanced its R&D budget in conjunctions with Portuguese private companies. Following the African wars against both the Pan-African Alliance and Arab League Alliance the Portuguese captured some of the most advanced Soviet military hardware. Portuguese armed forces and Portuguese military industrial corporations studied and learned much from the Soviet’s hardware.[9]

During the 60s both FBP and FMBP grew and continued to develop both inhouse weapons and adapt weapons made by other countries to fit Portuguese military and security needs. Both companies continued to be major exporters of pistols, rifles machine guns, mortars as well as ammunition throughout South America and Asia. During the 1960s sales to European countries decreased but orders to Latin America and Asia grew as these regions were rocked by internal strife and communist rebels. The two most popular rifles were the LV-50 and LV-25.

In 1960s the companies’ extensive R&D divisions were operating at full capacity as the country’s diverse military needs and adversaries required numerous different weapons. In 1962 FMBP developed a smaller howitzer for hilly and mountainous terrain, based on the L5 with L10 ordnance. The collaboration Between FMBP and Israel continued in development and upgrade of the Israeli TCM-20 towable aircraft gun, TCM-30 mobile aircraft gun and the LAR-80 Rocket artillery.

During the 1960s FBP and FMBP developed a variety of weapons using either western or Soviet weapons technology. They included the GLF-3 Rocket propelled grenade based on the RPG-2 and RPG-7, the M1950 Machine gun with 7.62×51mm cartridge based on the Browning M1919A4, the CSC-84 recoilless rifle based on the M2CG (Carl Gustaf recoilless Rifle), the VLM-50 machine gun with 7.62×51mm cartridge based on M60, the VLM-60 with 20 mm rounds based on the M61 Vulcan Six-Barrel Gatlin Gun and FMLG-50 automatic Grenade launcher with 40mm based on the MK 19.

During the 1960s the Portuguese Navy and the two-main naval drydocks “Arsenal do Alfeite” dry docks in the Tagus Estuary and the “Viana do Castelo” dry docks north of Porto became involved in development of four major projects: the development of the Orca IV class hunter-killer submarine, Type 82 destroyer (being built in conjunction British Navy), Santarem class frigates and Alexo class light cruisers.[10] In 1966 the British Conservative government of Alec Douglas-Home was defeated by the Labor party led by Harold Wilson who opposed the close British – Portuguese military cooperation and the continued sale of military equipment to the Portuguese Federation. On 2 August 1969, the Labor government announced notice to terminate all joint military developments and ban the sale of military hardware to the Federation. In response to the British actions the Portuguese Military performed their own Naval review. From the 1969 Portuguese Naval review the “Arsenal do Alfeite” drydock became responsible for the building of the D Henriques CV class aircraft carriers (based on CVA-01specs) and Gomes Class destroyers (based on Type 82 destroyer). The “Viana do Castelo” was re-configured to produce the Santarem class frigates, Alexo class light cruisers along with Orca IV class hunter-killer submarines.

The 1960s also saw major changes in Portuguese aviation as the three major aerospace companies: CACC, Bristol-Lusitania, and AVIPOR came into their own and Portuguese aircraft and rockets came to dominate Portuguese military deployment while at same time receiving interest from outside the country.

The CACC jet fighter 200 and jet bombers 300B series received several upgrades increasing the speed, upgrading radar and electronics plus providing capability to carry rockets and missiles. The last version of the 200 series, the 200.6 had the capability of firing 4 AVIPOR SWM-4 missiles. In 1962 CACC 201 jet fighter flew its first successful test flight and certification was received in 1967. While the first planes were only delivered in late 1968 and 1969 too late for use in the African Wars its arrival provided the PAF with increased range and airpower. With a top range of Mach 2 (2,299 km/h) the single pilot plane was armed with 2x30mm guns and capable of carrying rockets, missiles, and bombs. The CACC 300B bomber series also saw two major upgrades including upgraded Mota-Engi engines allowing the bombers to set new Portuguese altitude record of 20,000 meters, increased range, and speed. In 1961 the first 301B bombers were tested and the first 301B.4 bombers were delivered in 1964. While the 301B.4 offered additional range and payload capacity over the 300B bombers only 12 were delivered. In 1965 the new much larger and powerful strategic bomber the 302B was commissioned and started being delivered to PAF. The 302B.1 Bomber had a cruising speed of Mach .90 and ability to carry 1 × free-fall nuclear bomb or 20 × 450 kg conventional bombs.

During the 1960s due to shake up of the British Aerospace Industry and forced mergers Bristol Lusitania became more independent from its British parent company. In 1964 the British parent operations were merged into British Aircraft Corporation by the British government. As part of the forced merger of Bristol Aerospace company into British Aircraft Corporation, Bristol Aerospace sold and transferred its helicopter division to Bristol-Lusitania. In 1966 The remaining divisions of Bristol Aerospace company in Britain was bought out by Rolls-Royce thus Bristol name disappeared in Britain. The remainder of Bristol’s subsidiaries were included in the purchase with the exception of Bristol-Lusitania which continued as independent company with now majority Portuguese ownership.

In 1961 Bristol-Lusitania helicopter division acquired several helicopter patents from its British parent company and received the contract to maintain all the army and navy helicopters. In 1966 Bristol Lusitania started developing their own versions of the Westland helicopters being used by Portuguese army and navy at same time they received several captured Soviet helicopters and utilized technology of the Soviet Mil Mi helicopters into its new models. In 1969 the Portuguese versions started being manufactured as British cancelled its military procurement and development agreements with Portuguese.

In 1968 Bristol-Lusitania receives the TU-126 (damaged) which was studied in detail for modern airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) plane to replace the Avro Shackleton the Portuguese were using. The British had developed the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod but refused to sell them to the Portuguese. In 1969 in conjunction with Israel and Brazil, Bristol-Lusitania began development of the R-50 (AEW&C) plane based on the Bristol-Lusitania 55 jet. While Bristol-Lusitania reviewed the Antonov transport planes, it was determined that Bristol-Lusitania 205 and prototype 215 transport planes were superior to the Soviet models.

In 1969 CACC, Mota-Engi, and Bristol-Lusitania began working on the next generation of Fighter jets and bombers capable of operating on the new aircraft carriers being built and for use by the PAF. At same time, it received majority of the Su-7B, Su-15, MiG-21 and Yak-28 fighter planes, and TU-16 Bombers captured in the African wars.

In 1960 at the height of Portuguese-British military cooperation the Portuguese became involved with the British to develop a supersonic reconnaissance aircraft. The two main British companies involved in the development was Bristol and Avro. The project like a lot of other projects at that time suffered from both changing government priorities and limited resources. This was the reason that Portuguese were allowed to become involved in the project. The British had decided they wanted a Mach 3 plane capable of both reconnaissance and nuclear weapon delivery and the Avro 730 was modified to handle specification only to be cancelled as the Portuguese were brought in. The Portuguese were at the time interested in a reconnaissance aircraft and with their participation and sharing of the cost a revised 730A reconnaissance aircraft project was revived only few months after being cancelled. In 1962 the first prototype was built, and after 2 crashes and many delays the plane finally approved and certified in last year of Alec Douglas-Home government. The Labor government Harold Wilson looked the project and one of its first acts cancelled the project with only 3 planes built and operating in Britain, but the Portuguese who as part of the agreement and subsequent British merger of 1963 had negotiated that Bristol-Lusitania would be the country’s manufacturer continued manufacturing the plane and by the African wars had built three. The Avro 730 specifications were Maximum speed: 1,990 mph (3,200 km/h, 1,730 kn) Maximum speed: Mach 3. Cruise speed: 1,250 mph (2,010 km/h, 1,090 kn) / M2.5, Range: 5,754 mi (9,260 km, 5,000 nmi) and Service ceiling: 66,400 ft (20,200 m).

In 1960s OGMA updated the basic and intermediary training planes being used by both Airforce and Navy for pilot training. OGMA trainer aircraft Basic – O100, Intermediary Airforce - O200, Intermediary Navy – O300 and Advance supersonic jet Crossover, joined the Multi Engine - O400 plane in providing the air force and navy pilot training program with a complete modern array of training jets. These jets were not just manufactured for the Federation but also for South America, Indian Subcontinent and East Asian countries customers. In addition, several airlines purchased training planes from OGMA to meet their growing internal demand for pilots. Meanwhile the OGMA maintenance division continued as the air force and navy plane maintenance company. In addition, it also handled the aircraft maintenance for several South American, African and Asian countries.

AVIPOR original purpose was to manage both the Falcon rocket project and develop air to air missiles, but as the space race between USA and Soviets intensified it was also tasked with developing rocket technology capable of launching satellites. In 1964 as part of the rocket technology interest the Portuguese government also expressed need to develop the country’s own ICBM. To accommodate these needs the Malame development and manufacturing grew and the base and attached town grew immensely during the 60s with the town’s population reaching 20,000 by end of decade. In 1965 Israeli firm Elbit Systems a division of Elron Electronic Industries took a 30% stake in AVIPOR becoming involved in the development of the SWM-4 Air-to-Air missile. Similar to the British “Red Top” missile but with improved guidance and electronics. In 1969 the SWM-4A was launched which had all-aspect capability. In 1968 AVIPOR received majority of the captured soviet SA-5, S-125 and S-200 surface to air missiles for analysis and incorporation into future Portuguese Air-to-Air missiles. In 1964 the Falcon III was developed with a range of 600km, accuracy of 150m and payload of 789kg. In 1966 – 1967 AVIPOR plants worked 24-7 to fulfill both Federation and Israel orders for Falcon I, II and III rockets.[11]

In 1963 AVIPOR began working on larger rockets code named “Navegador” to launch satellites.[12] The Portuguese were able to recruit several British scientists and engineers who had worked on the cancelled British Black Knight program but in 1964 the British government authorized the Black Arrow rocket program and most of the senior Black Knight personnel stayed behind in Britain while only a quarter of those contracted to move to the Federation actually moved. From 1964 to 1968 AVIPOR made good progress in the Navegador Rocket program. In 1966 the Malame region defenses were doubled with anti-aircraft missiles and two air force bases. In 1967 just before the Portuguese - African War two infantry divisions and armored divisions were stationed north of Malame. No test launches were conducted during 1967 due to tensions in region and subsequently war breaking out. In November 1967 following the end of the war test launches were restarted and in November 1968 the first satellite Ofeq 1 (Israeli) was successfully launched. In January 1969, the first Portuguese satellite FPSat1 was launched. In May and November 1969, the launch of 2nd and 3rd Portuguese satellites failed.[13] In 1969 AVIPOR started development on AM-1 ICBM.

Diagram showing 3 stages of Navegador Rocket.​

BRAVIA developed the “Adargueiro” medium tank in the early 1960s while at same time continuing to manufacture the heavier Rino tanks, and Besoiro halftrack trucks for both the Portuguese army and also for export with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Hyderabad, Mysore and Baroda amongst BRAVIA major customers. The Rino III was introduced in 1961 and Rino IV the most advanced Portuguese tank and comparable in terms of armor, power and guns to Chieftain British tank was introduced in 1965. During the African wars, the Rino III and Rino IV tanks were the mainstay of the Portuguese army and outperformed the South African Centurion and Soviet T-62 tanks while better crew training and larger numbers of Portuguese tanks provided the Portuguese with an advantage against the T-64 tanks. In 1969 the Israeli army became the first country to order the new Adargueiro III and Rino IV tanks. BRAVIA was one of the major recipients of the Soviet hardware captured in African War. T-62, T-64 tanks, BTR-60 along with other vehicles were turned over to BRAVIA for analysis and eventual incorporation into Portuguese weapons. The Adargueiro tank provided the Portuguese with a more maneuverable and stronger armored vehicle for its mechanized divisions and by middle of the 1960s was outselling the larger and more powerful Rino tanks due to versatility and cheaper price.

UMM continued to be the military’s principal vehicle manufacturer; manufacturing trucks, variety of all-terrain vehicles and the Chimite armored car which together with BRAVIA’s Besoiro halftrack truck were the bestselling Portuguese military vehicle export.

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[1] The Ribatejo Mechanized Division was stationed in Germany as part of NATO commitment. The Melilla and Bens divisions were formed in 1965.
[2] The Lunda division was formed in 1962, the Niassa and Limpopo divisions were formed in 1965.
[3] The Flores division was formed in 1962 and was stationed in Malaysian Peninsula for most of 1960s fighting communist rebels.
[4] In 1966 the reservist divisions were located as follows: 3 in Iberian Peninsula, 3 in Morocco, 5 in West Africa, 5 in East Africa, 1 in India, 1 in East Indies plus in 2 in rest of Africa (regiments in Sahara, Cape Verde, Guinea and Equator). In the 1968 reservist divisions were located as follows: 3 in Iberian Peninsula, 4 in Morocco, 9 in West Africa, 8 in East Africa, 1 in India, 2 in East Indies plus 3 in rest of Africa (regiments in Sahara, Cape Verde, Guinea and Equator).
[5] The Portuguese Navy’s principal planes operating from the two aircraft carriers were the Supermarine Scimitar and Dehaviland Sea Vixen and Fairey Gannet AS.1 /4 and AEW.3 for anti-submarine, early warning and control.
[6] In 1964 following the commissioning of the two new aircraft carriers the CV “Vasco DaGama” was upgraded / retrofitted as a Helicopter Carrier, included in the retrofit was new engine, new electronics, upgraded anti-submarine and anti-aircraft defenses, and radar plus re-arrangement of flight deck. The retrofits were completed in 1966 and the carrier launched for sea trials. It was hurriedly commissioned in spring of 1967 at the height of the African conflict. The “Vasco Da Gama” was equipped with 3 different British helicopters: Westland Wessex, Westland Wasp and Westland WS-61 Sea King that were purchased from British as part of the “Vasco DaGama” upgrade.
[7] Portuguese air command squadrons including strike, bombing, anti-submarine, early warning and control and transport squadrons. The Portuguese Air Force (PAF) principal strike aircraft was the CACC 200.3, 200.5, 200.6 & 201.2 fighters. While CACC 300B.2, 300B.4 and 301B.4 bombers made up the PAF bombing squadrons. The Portuguese air force operated Avro Shackleton for Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and maritime patrol aircraft (MPA). For reconnaissance it operated Avro 730 and lastly the transport squadrons operated Bristol Aerospace Series 205, 205T transport planes.
[8] In 1965 the PAF started receiving the first CACC 302B.1 Long range bombers and two squadrons were formed one in Beja and one in Silva Porto. The significance of the arrival of these larger and more powerful bombers became self-evident with the bombing of Bir Moghrein in Mauritania in 1967.
[9] See 1960 – 1969, World, Africa, Portuguese Nuclear Deterrence and Collapse of Pan African / Arab League fronts.
[10] In 1964 the Portuguese and British navies began planning for the next class of aircraft carriers, and escort destroyers. The Type 82 destroyer was to be a joint project between the two countries. The new CVA-01 aircraft carrier was designed to replace the Audacious and Implacable class carriers and to be mostly built in Britain. Each country would build their own Type 82 destroyers while Britain would build the first 3 carriers while Portuguese would build the 4th carrier. The CVA-01 fleet carrier had a displacement of 54 tons, speed of 30 knots and capability of carrying 50 aircraft. The Type 82 Destroyer had a displacement of 7,100 tons, crew 397, range – 10,600km, speed – 29 knots, 4.5 inches (114 mm) Vickers Mk.8 gun, GWS 30 Sea Dart SAM Launcher (38 rounds + 10 additional warheads), Ikara A/S Launcher (at least 24 rounds), Mark 10 Limbo A/S Mortar.
The Santarem class frigates had displacement of 4.200 tons, crew – 320, range – 8.300km, speed – 30 knots and was armed with 2x2 4.5inch Mark N6, 4x2 40mm / L70 Bofors and 1x Squid A/S mortar. It was capable of carrying 1 × Wessex HAS Mk 3 helicopter.
[11] Both Portuguese Federation and Israel fired over 500 Falcon rockets against their adversaries. During the Israeli 6 Day War the Falcons were fired against Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian airbases destroying hundreds of aircraft and making the airfields unusable for the duration of the war. During the Portuguese African Wars, the Portuguese fired hundreds Falcon rockets against air, naval and land bases crippling the adversaries command structure and ability to launch air strikes against the Portuguese forces.
[12] In 1962 when President Semedo visited Washington an agreement was signed for NASA to launch of 10 satellites (weather, communication, and scientific research) for the Federation but in 1963 amongst worsening diplomatic relationship the US cancelled the agreement and Portuguese Federation decided to develop its own rocket program.
[13] The Navegador Rocket specifications: Height 14 meters., 3 stages, payload to 250km 155 kg, payload to 500 km 121 kg. The May 1969 launch failure was determined to be due to failure of 2nd stage to pressurize. The November launch failure was due to FPSat3 failure to maintain orbit and fell back to earth 1 hour after launch.

So first to those who read my previous post I ask you to forget it since it dealt with 1970s and not 1960s. I have now posted the 1960s Portuguese Military post.

So few items to mention and that was the Portuguese collaboration with several countries. The most complex and important of course was the British-Portuguese military collaboration which benefitted both countries immensely. British military procurement and development was far greater than iOTL because of continued and growing Portuguese involvement in contributing to the development of equipment and just as important the Portuguese purchase of said technology and equipment. But as will be detailed in the Foreign Relations section the continued collaboration was opposed by many in Britain. With Britain cutting off the Portuguese ties in late 1960s when Labor Party came to power. Something that would affect both countries. The second country that Federation developed a strong military collaboration was Israel. This collaboration would serve both countries by providing them with ability to develop nuclear capabilities but also give Israel a new defense partner who viewed its neighbors with anguish and concern. The Israeli defense industry is bigger and more advanced due to its collaboration with the Federation, a collaboration that will only strengthen with withdrawal of the British. Lastly is the Federation collaboration with Brazil that will also grow as time progresses.

Portuguese military industry is also a major factor in the Federation ability to defend itself. It has grown along way since its small beginnings in the 1930s. The industry received a huge boost during WW2 and while it had a certain German influence over the 1950s and 1960s took on its own unique characteristics with British influences. Note iOTL the 1960s was when Portugal mired in the Colonial wars developed many of its own military industries such as Bravia. Many of the companies mentioned in the post are actual companies that were founded in Portugal during the 1960s. Questions/ Comments?

Return in 2 weeks on May 16 when we start posting Portuguese economic section.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969​

Economy (Part 1)​

National Economic Priorities​

The Portuguese Federation had made great strides in its transportation and communication priorities during the 1950s. Thousands of kilometers of rail had been laid throughout the Federation along with building of thousands of kilometers of road and highways, providing the country with an unprecedented transportation network when in comparison to the previous decades. Just as the country had built its rail and road infrastructure, societal and economic circumstances changed, and the country continued to witness inefficient transportation system with part of the infrastructure overwhelmed while other parts were underused. Compounding the issue was the emergence of the automobile as the preferred means of transport by the growing middle class. A review of the transportation system revealed that much of the infrastructure had been built for needs of the 1940s and did not adequately reflect the current needs of the country never mind the needs for the next decade or two. In 1961 the Transportation Review was started to determine how best to meet the country’s growing complex transportation needs. Meanwhile the same situation existed in the country’s communication system, during the preceding two decades the country had invested large amounts in telephone, radio, television and print media but those medias still struggled to meet the country’s need. The country struggled to manage the ever-increasing needs for communication both internal and external as well as increase bandwidth and spectrum of its radio, television system as the needs and desires of the people evolved. Complicating the problems was the vast distances between the provinces on three different continents.

The Transportation Review conducted between 1962 and 1964 outlined the following major government priorities:

• Doubling of existing urban metro systems in all major cities along with tripling the linked above ground rail in outskirts to ease congestion and smog.
• Continued expansion of the bus services in both urban and rural areas to ease congestion in busy towns and cities. Develop different bus models to meet the diverse transportation needs in cities, towns, and rural areas.
• Expansion of the National Road System connecting major economic and urban centers together by building additional “auto-estradas” highways to ease movement of people and goods in high traffic areas. Continue assisting provinces in developing provincial road system connected to national system as well as provide for local transportation needs.
• Expansion of highspeed train service between major urban centers as feasibility studies warranted it. Provide financial and regulatory assistance to rail companies in modernizing and increase speed of rail service.
• Modernization of Portuguese ports to speed transportation of goods and merchandize between various ports and export markets.
• Expansion of air transportation infrastructure and technology to speed the movement of people and goods between various provinces.

In terms of communication the government priorities were:

• Build regional FM broadcasting networks to accommodate the growing need for diverse radio stations especially in the large urban areas where radio station crowding, and quality was becoming an issue.
• Expansion of both public and private television and allow for the entry of private broadcasters,
• Assist in the expansion of the telephone infrastructure to help alleviate poor sound quality and number of dropped calls,
• Provide incentives for Portuguese companies to develop communication infrastructure and technology to address the limitations on importing technology in the country.

Transportation​

During the 1960s urban transportation became the country’s primary transportation priority. The underground metros of Luanda, Lisbon and Porto continued to be expanded with new lines being added. By 1969 Luanda’s metro had doubled in size compared to 1960 and in 1964 a new metro was also started in Lourenco Marques. The underground metros were linked to above ground urban rail service and cities like Beira, Coimbra, Benguela and Amadora receiving hybrid systems, with parts of the metro underground in central part of city then continuing above ground in less dense parts. The urban or metro rail service linked many cities to sprawling metropolis towns and cities growing on the outskirts of the major Portuguese cities. The two most dense urban rail networks were the Luanda Metropolis and Lisbon Metropolis network that served population of three times the size of the two largest cities.

Bus ridership in the 1960s began changing as the existing bus network failed to meet the citizens needs and availability and cost of cars made car ownership possible to millions of new people. In 1964 the Transport Review emphasized different strategies for the urban and rural areas. Rail/Bus terminals were expanded or built to link bus service with rail/metro service. In areas without rail service or away from rail service central bus terminals were built to link multiple regional routes to central location allowing for faster and more efficient bus transportation. In rural areas where people’s income was lower and there were less cars, bus transportation was expanded. The production of busses for the Portuguese market also changed as several types of busses were manufactured: minibuses were manufactured for low ridership routes while larger including double decker buses were manufactured to handle high density routes. In larger cities, electric buses were used on dedicated electric routes to reduce smog and oil consumption.

The construction and expansion of Auto-Estradas as well as free connector roads continued. The most extensive being along the coastal West Africa and coastal East Africa corridors. Auto-Estradas along the highest density coastal provinces was prioritized. The major bridges on the Iberian Peninsula, West Africa and East Africa were completed and inaugurated with great fanfare.

In 1962 the Portuguese rail stock and locative companies RSH&MCC and Henschel & Sohn unveiled the new dual track locomotive and rail stock capable to switching from Portuguese gauge and standard European gauge, 1,664 - 1,435 mm. In 1964, they unveiled the triple gauge trains with capability to move from Spanish to Portuguese and to Standard European 1,672 – 1,664 – 1,435 mm. The rail gauge being used in both Portuguese India and the remaining Indian subcontinent was “Indian Gauge 1,676 mm”, the relatively small size of the Portuguese Indian provinces and their distance from one another crossing multiple countries had stopped any rail transportation initiatives to connect them together during the 1950s. Transportation between the provinces was done mostly by ship. In 1960 the Portuguese provinces of Daman and Diu was finally connected to the rail system of Baroda. Thus, for first time allowing goods and people to travel from Goa to Daman and Diu.[1] The 1962 the Portuguese - Indian Economic Union (IEU) agreement allowed for the entry of the Portuguese rail companies into the IEU rail infrastructure market. Portuguese rail companies expanded into Indian subcontinent building locomotives and rail stock in both Portuguese India and IEU countries.[2] In 1965 the Goa – Bombay – Daman – Ahmedabad – Diu railway was started to connect all three Portuguese provinces and the countries of Democratic Union of India and Kingdom of Baroda with a modern and fast train service capable of handling both passenger and transport trains. In South America both Portuguese rail stock companies took a direct investment in the continents rail infrastructure. RSH&MCC concentrated on Brazil while Henschel & Sohn became entrenched in Argentina.

Railway gauge conversion in Portuguese East and West African provinces was completed by 1962 but the expansion of train service was only completed at the end of the 60s. The first major Portuguese transportation project outside the Federation was the Trans Africa Portuguese Railway connecting Serpa Pinto to Quelimane through the Central African Federation. It started in 1960 and for the first four years substantial progress was made in the construction project crossing the Portuguese Central African Federation border from both east and west by end of the year. In 1964 Central African Federation collapsed and Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia emerged as independent countries. The Trans Africa Portuguese Railway crossed the country of Zambia and the Portuguese was determined to assist the country in its development, so the Portuguese Federation increased payments to Zambia as well as increased the number of Zambians working on the railway projects. Substantial progress was made from both east and west with the eastern trunk reaching approximately 20 km east of the capital Lusaka by 1965. That year relations between Zambia and the Federation deteriorated with Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda demanding that the Portuguese both double the worker’s wages and the fee paid to Zambia. Negotiations were set to take place in the Zambian capital Lasaka, on 5 March 1965 but on 1st of March the Zambians cancelled the talks and closed its borders with the Federation and all work on the railway stopped. In 1968 after the African War, the Portuguese returned to Zambia and began repairing the extensive damage suffered by the Trans Africa Portuguese Railway between 1965 – 1967. In 1968 with the establishment of several friendly and allied African countries around the Portuguese Federation an integrated transportation plan was instituted to not only complete the Trans Africa Portuguese Railway but to also connect the African countries of Malawi, Zambia, Rhodesia, Namibia, Botswana, Katanga, and Ruvuma to Portuguese Federation as well as to each other and to deep seaports.

Southern Africa 1969 showing existing and planned railways.
Portuguese Federation (Dark Green), Portuguese Aligned countries (Light Green)​

In Central Africa, the Portuguese Federation worked with the Kingdom of Kongo and Republic of Katanga as well as the friendly country of Gabon to develop an extensive rail network rivaling anything the colonial powers had accomplished prior to Gabon’s independence. Katanga’s railways which were already in midst of being modernized and expanded since 1965 would be linked to Kongo and Gabon railways giving it another route for exporting and importing products outside the congested Portuguese railways and ports. When the neutral country of Cameroon heard of huge Portuguese plans it was intrigued and an agreement between Cameroon, Gabon and the Federation was signed in 1969 to not only link Cameroon to the new African railway network but also to assist Cameroon in modernizing and expanding its own internal rail network.

Central Africa 1969 showing existing and planned railways.
Existing railways shown in solid Red and planned railway with dotted Red.​

In Northwest Africa, the Portuguese faced greater challenges both politically and territorially. Due to the relatively small size of the Portuguese territory in the region it made it economically harder for the Portuguese to advance with a proper transportation plan. The agreements in both Southern Africa and Central Africa created lots of enthusiasm especially amongst the politically friendly countries of Senegal-Mali Federation, Guinea and Togo. In 1969 at the Dakar Summit an agreement was signed between Portuguese Federation, France, Senegal – Mali Federation, Guinea Boke, Guinea, Togo, Upper Volta, Gambia and Casamance to build the regions first interconnected rail network. The French realization at the huge business potential in the continent convinced them to participate as a full partner and as part of the agreement for their support French companies would be allowed to also participate in the Southern and Central African railway projects. So, at a time that British were distancing themselves from the Portuguese Federation the French were cautiously starting to cooperate with the Portuguese Federation.

The West African Rail Transport initiative would link the railways of Portuguese Federation directly with Senegal – Mali Federation passing through Casamance and Gambia. The railway network of Senegal – Mali Federation was to double in size and receive major modernization including new locomotives and rail stock. An agreement with Guinea allowed for the linking of the Senegal – Mali Federation with the Guinea system that too was to be expanded and modernized. The country of Togo was also slated to receive major boost in its rail network expanding northward and linking the separate former Benin railways to the Togo as well modernization of the railways and rail stock all dating from before WWII. The final deal was the three-way agreement between Togo, land locked Upper Volta and Senegal – Mali Federation to build a railway from Segou in Senegal – Mali Federation through the capital of Upper Volta, Ouagadougou, and to Lomé in Togo. Thus, providing both the Senegal – Mali Federation and Upper Volta with access to new ports for their exports. The capital of Casamance, Zinguichor, was linked to Portuguese Guinea, while to the south Guinea Boke railways already linked to Portuguese Guinea were also going to be linked to Guinea railways. While different gauges were planned for various national railways the Portuguese multiple gauge locomotives and rail stock provided relative easy transition from one network to another. The Portuguese Sahara railway planned from Sidi Ifni to the border of Senegal – Mali Federation coupled with all the other major railway upgrades and expansions would allow rail transport from Porto Novo to Sidi Ifni.

West Africa 1969 showing existing and planned railways.
Existing railways shown in solid Red and planned railway with dotted Red.​

The last area of rail expansion for the Portuguese was in North Africa as the kingdoms of Fez and Marrakesh faced major rail transport challenges. The Islamic State of Morocco did not recognize either country as well as Portuguese Federation territory in North Africa, and refused all interactions with the three countries. The Kingdom of Marrakesh had no railways while Kingdom of Fez railways were only partially working with parts of its network either damaged or passing through Morocco and not accessible. In the North, plans were to link the Portuguese Moroccan provinces with Kingdom of Fez while its own network was expanded. In south, the Kingdom of Marrakech was to receive its own rail network including access to own seaport at Agadir and link to Sidi Ifni.

North Africa 1969 showing existing and planned railways.
Existing railways shown in solid Red and planned railway with dotted Red.​

The massive railway projects planned by Portuguese Federation exited many who saw the economic potential of these railways on the continent but also showed the influence and power the Portuguese Federation had in the continent. While some governments and many intellectuals disapproved and spoke against such projects because they cemented the Portuguese influence and power over these countries’ investors lined up to invest in Portuguese stock markets as well as providing a ready market for the railway bonds.

During the 1960s as the availability increased and cost of air transport decreased the number of passengers travelling both internally and externally by passenger ship during the 1960s also decreased, as such no ocean liners were built during the 1960s, but three large 280 meters ocean liners ordered in the 1950s entered service travelling both internally and visiting foreign ports (Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Bombay and Surat being the main external ports). The largest influence in Portuguese shipping was the adoption of containerization at Portuguese ports instead of the manual shipping bulk cargo which greatly reduced transportation time and reduced costs. Special container ships were ordered, or existing ships converted so that by 1969 almost 90% of all cargo being shipped from Portuguese ports was being done using containers. The two largest shipyards in Setubal and Beira each capable of building half a dozen of these ships were occupied building ships for not only the Federation but from Commonwealth countries also.

In 1962 the Bristol-Lusitania Aerospace Type 200 jet lines received certification after three years of testing and updates. The BL-200 had a configuration of 120 - 165 Passengers, used four Mota-Engil ME3D engines and had a cruise speed of 607 mph, Span 132 feet, length 138 feet and maximum range (with max payload) of 6,799km making it slightly ahead of anything the British were manufacturing and almost on par with the American planes. Production started in 1963 with orders from Portuguese, Brazilian, Indian and several European airlines. This was a huge accomplishment since it allowed Portuguese airlines to fly non-stop between many Portuguese cities for first time. The inaugural direct flights between Lisbon and Luanda on 4 October 1964 was televised by Portuguese television and radio as two planes one flying from Lisbon and one from Luanda flew nonstop to other city, taking eight hours and 49 minutes.

Meanwhile in Britain the continued nationalization and forced mergers during the 1960s resulted in Bristol Aerospace selling Bristol-Lusitania Aerospace the series 155 and 306 planes which were continued to be built in Portuguese Federation for both for internal market (short runway and smaller airports) as well as for export with South America and Asia being the primary markets.[3] In 1967 the company introduced the BL-210 which was an upgraded BL-200 for short and medium distances but with 2 engines instead of 4 and better fuel efficiency. The launch was overshadowed by the African War, but it soon became Bristol-Lusitania Aerospace most popular plane. In 1969 the company finally unveiled the BL-300 with almost twice the range and seating capacity as the BL-205.[4]

BL-200 plane sold to Varig (Brazil) 1966​

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[1] Rail Transport from Goa to Daman was possible but goods and passengers were subject to custom and border inspection in both Democratic Union of India and Kingdom of Baroda. In 1960 the Portuguese Free trade agreement between Portuguese Federation and Kingdom of Baroda allowed for the visa free movement of people and goods between Portuguese provinces of Diu and Daman and Kingdom of Baroda. In 1962 the Portuguese-Indian Economic Union (IEU) agreement allowed for the visa free movement of goods and people between Portuguese India and the IEU countries.
[2] The Indian Civil War and disintegration of British India into several Indian states had result in most of Indian Subcontinent locomotive and rail stock manufacturers to be located in the Republic of India. In the late 1950s and early 1960s great emphasis was made by IEU countries to develop their own train stock and locomotive manufacturers. The Portuguese – IEU agreement allowed for the entry of the Portuguese companies. RSH&MCC built manufacturing plants in Daman and Kingdom of Baroda while Henschel & Sohn built plants in both Mysore and Hyderabad.
[3] By 1965 Bristol – Lusitania had taken over all of Bristol Aerospace British assets in the Federation and for many markets. The remaining Bristol Aerospace worldwide assets were transferred to the Canadian subsidiary with the forced amalgamation and nationalization in 1964. The amalgamation and nationalization were not only opposed by owners of the company but also the workers who following the end of the company in 1964 nearly 60% of the British workforce would eventually either moved to the Portuguese Federation or Canada.
[4] Striking similarities between the BL-205 and Boeing 737 as well as the BL-300 to the Boeing 747 made many people in the industry believe that Portuguese were practicing industrial espionage and that someone or some people at Boeing were providing Bristol – Lusitania with detailed information. While many Boeing employees came under scrutiny and some lost their jobs no evidence was ever found of any Boeing employee selling company secrets.

This section tries to give the viewer a look into the challenges that Federation faced, the progress of the 1950s and good will it had generated provided the Portuguese with good foundation but internal government reports highlighted that people had been sold an idea and if the government was not able to deliver on that promise the people would become disillusioned and all the existing problems and both internal and external problems would eventually lead to existence problems. Therefore for the Federation transportation and communication became center stone to the country's ability to consider itself one of the worlds top economies.

The Transportation strategy outlined here provides only a simple overview. I do want to highlight a few items, vehicle production which had started as way for the country to produce at best 25% of vehicles sold in the country in the post wars years has now become a major industry which by 1969 was producing 2x the number of vehicles sold in the Federation with the remainder being exported. Portuguese subsidiaries operated much more independent of the parent company and as such they worked together to gain efficiencies with parts manufacturers producing same parts for multiple vehicle brands. The fuel efficiency drive of the late 1960s was a clear example of Portuguese initiative that resulted in Portuguese vehicles being ahead of European parents. Rail transportation something that iOTL African continent suffers from lack of is center to the Portuguese transportation strategy and just as important the two small train manufacturers setup in late 1930s and war years to provide the Portuguese with ability to chart its own rail transportation strategy have grown into important international companies producing trains and rail stock for not only Federation but also expanding into South America and with the Commonwealth push set to double in size during the 1970s. What this all means for the continent? We will have to see. Lastly both maritime trade and air transport have played important part in the Federation development. Both of which as just as important or even more important in maintaining the country unified and bringing the various regions closer. Questions/ Comments?

Return in 2 weeks on June 6 when we continue posting Portuguese economic section.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969​

Economy (Part 2)​

Communication​

By 1964 the Portuguese Federation and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) agreement paved the way for all telephone calls to Portuguese Federation to be preceded with country prefix of 42, thus recognizing all provinces in the Federation as a single country. The continued economic growth continued to put strain of Portuguese communication system. Telephone and even mail service suffered as the number of phones per 1,000 people reached western nations average of 22. In 1961 Portuguese citizens were able to make telephone calls without the use of operator in most provinces and by 1969 all phones within the country had been connected to the Subscriber Trunk Dialing (STD). While much fanfare was made at the huge strides made within the country much of the Portuguese telephone network was based on 1950s technology and the system suffered from high number of dropped calls and low telephone quality especially in high traffic areas. In 1962 in what became one of the last technological Portuguese-British collaborations the Portuguese telephone company EFACEC partnered with consortium of British electronic firms known as the Joint Electronic Research Committee to develop a replacement to the ageing Strowger systems used in both Portuguese Federation and Britain. The TXE (telephone exchange electronic) was developed and the first TXE2 went into operation in 1965 in both Britain and Federation. In 1969 when the agreement was terminated both the British and Portuguese had developed the TXE4 and the first units were being built in both countries.[1]

During the 1960s with the AM spectrum full the Portuguese government launched the FM spectrum throughout the federation. During the 1960s the proliferation of FM stations in many of cities and even rural counties (concelhos) led to a boon in programming, communication and cultural development. This also led to an increase in demand for radios including smaller portable radios especially amongst the younger generation. Radio costs came down considerably with the breakup of the monopoly and elimination of radio tax in 1962. Government control instead centered on eliminating or interfering with unauthorized radio transmission both internally and externally. This caused both proliferation of radio manufacturers to enter the Portuguese market both domestic and foreign but just as important was the entry into the Portuguese market of Alkaline batteries with their longer shelf life and higher density allowing for longer playing time. Several Portuguese companies were authorized by the government to manufacture Alkaline batteries for the Portuguese market.[2]

The production of paper and paper products continued to increase during the 1950s and 1960s. New modern plants allowed for cost of newsprint and paper products to continually decrease. This translated into reduced costs for newspapers as well as books. During the 1960s both newspapers and book sales continued to increase as both the volume of books published within the country by existing and new authors published books for the newly literate population.

In 1966 the Post Office Telegraphs and Telephones (CTT) Company which had monopoly in mail service, telegraph and telephone service in the Portuguese Federation was split into two companies. Portuguese Mail Service (CFP) and Portuguese Telegraphs and Telephones (TTFP) became separate companies with each responsible for their respective communication jurisdiction. CFP which was witnessing a cycle of increased demand for postal services as both business and citizens increased the volume of mail delivered by 357% from 1950 level. The number of letter carriers, vehicles and distribution centers increased accordingly to handle the extra volume of mail and parcels. Meanwhile TTFP continued to expand its telephone and communication infrastructure to meet the growing need for communication. In 1965 wait time to install new telephone was running between 6 – 9 months, by 1969 the wait had dropped to 3 - 6 months while at same time the number of phones increased by 20% and telephone traffic by 31%. In 1967 the communication between the Portuguese Federation and outside world was transferred to Portuguese Global Communication Services (CGFP) from TTFP thus allowing TTFP to focus strictly on internal communications.

In 1962 marked the year that television programming was available in all provinces with RTP being the primary entertainment channel. RTPe and RTP2 began transmitting in 1964 with RTPe being an educational channel providing educational programing from preschoolers to adults while RTP2 showed cultural and arts programming. In 1965 the Portuguese Television Act was amended allowing for regional and private television stations. One of the first private television stations was Globo which launched in 1966. By 1969 the Portuguese government had granted license to four additional national television stations including the country’s first station devoted to Black Africans, the Catholic Church also partnered with several investors to start their own station while Lusitania and SIC were the last two to start broadcasting in 1969. In 1968 the Portuguese government began granting regional television licenses on the UHF frequency. Major cities were allowed to have one regional station for every 500,000 citizens with only four cities licensed to show more than one station (Luanda, Lisbon, Lourenco Marques and Porto).

Portuguese television manufacturers were FAPAE and EFACEC which controlled over 50% of the market while several British companies such as EKCO, Rank Bush Murphy and Thorn Electronics which at one time had controlled a huge portion of the Portuguese market struggled to compete especially with the entry of both Grundig and Philips in the Portuguese market. The three British parent companies witnessing their own financial struggles in Britain were unable to invest in their operations and were losing market share to new foreign competitors also. In 1965 the three companies EKCO, Rank Bush Murphy and Thorn Electronics merged their Portuguese subsidiaries into a new company called PortElectronics and listed the company on the Portuguese Stock Exchange. Over the next three years PortElectronics rebranded itself and launched their own television brand “TelPort” becoming one of the country three major consumer electronic companies. By 1969 the three Portuguese companies FAPAE, EFACEC and PortElectronics began producing color television on the Portuguese own format named “sequencial com memória Portuguesa” or SECAMP as it became known.[3]

Industrialization​

The Portuguese Industrialization was in high drive during the first half of the 1960s, continued industrial expansion by Portuguese companies fueled strong economic growth. In addition, French, German and other world companies joined the large contingent of British companies in continuing to invest in Portuguese Federation as the growing Portuguese middle class made it one of the larger economies in the world. In 1966 as risk of war on the African continent increased foreign investment in the Portuguese Federation almost stopped with only companies with projects in crucial stages continuing to invest in the Federation. In 1968 with the war over and the Portuguese both economically and military stronger foreign investors flocked to the country. The creation of the Lusitania Commonwealth with an additional 25 million consumers made the Portuguese Federation an even more attractive place to invest.[4] In 1969 the close economic relationship between Great Britain and the Portuguese Federation came apart as the British government of Harold Wilson imposed strict limits on sale of British goods and technology to the Federation. While the action was very popular with the leftwing supporters of the Labor party it was strongly opposed by the British companies many of whom had only been able to continue to operate due to Portuguese market. In years and months leading up to the break many of these companies either sold their operations to Portuguese investors who then moved production to the Federation or sold the rights to their products to Portuguese companies. While others were forced to either merge with other British companies or close. Following the move of industrial production out of Britain tens of thousands of workers and their families also migrated to the Federation or in some cases to the Lusitania Commonwealth, with Rhodesia, Botswana and Namibia being the primary initial destinations.

In 1965 the Portuguese Federation stopped all exports of bauxite and iron ore as Portuguese aluminum and steel refineries increased their output and became major exporters. In 1968 Portuguese steel output reached 45 million tons equal to Germany, while aluminum output crucial to industrial products as well as the new aircraft manufacture reached 2 Mt or 15% of the world output. In 1965 with the large copper, magnesium and other crucial minerals in Katanga falling under Portuguese influence copper refineries in Benguela were expanded but just as important was the construction of Katanga’s own refinery creating employment and wealth in that country and providing evidence of prosperity to not only the Portuguese Federation but also those aligned with it. This was followed by both Argentina and Chile joining the Federation and Katanga in establishing a minimum price for copper and to increase processing of the ore in their respective countries.

Rubber production in the country increased with the addition of plantations in Equatorial Portugal in the late 1950s but in the late 1960s the kingdom Congo and Republic of Katanga became important sources of rubber and rubber plantations were started in many locales in those countries. Rubber extraction had a very storied history in Africa and the Federation and Commonwealth countries wanted to avoid the similar circumstances therefore many of the plantations were owned and managed as cooperatives. The largest tire manufacturer in the country was Fapobol Tire Company (FPF) with factories in Bissau and Bata, it produced tyres for a variety of industries. In 1964 FPF and Michelin went to court regarding FPF manufacturing radial tires at its new Bata Factory. Micheline which had patented radial tires for cars and trucks demanded that FPF stop manufacturing radial tires, but FPF defense was that Micheline patent was invalid due to fact radial tires had been invented in 1915 by a different person. With the possibility of Portuguese court ruling Micheline patent was invalid Micheline agreed to let PFP license its technology and radial tires gained much publicity in the country benefiting both FPF and Micheline who sold their own brand of tires in the country. In Cabinda, the Companhia de Boracha de Angola produced a variety of rubber products for industry and industrial tyres.[5] The industry major competitors were Michelin from France who in 1968 started building a factory in Galicia to supply tires for the Portuguese market and commonwealth and Levorin from Brazil.

The country’s emphasis on developing its own domestic industry reached its consumer goods as British, Swedish and German companies setup plants in the Federation to manufacture televisions, radios, appliances, and other consumer goods forcing many Portuguese companies to compete and become efficient otherwise close. Furniture, clothing and shoes industries continued to receive support from government and by 1969 Portuguese furniture, clothing and shoes were being sold throughout Europe and South America with Portuguese clothing and shoe industries only behind the Italians in terms of size and prestige. The electrification of the country continued and even the most remote villages were connected to the energy network allowing all people to purchase electric appliances.

In 1960s the expanding Portuguese vehicle market faced new challenges, sales of vehicles grew by over 8% a year, the number of models grew with introduction of new domestic and foreign models, and the number of manufacturers increased with entry of new domestic and international companies. The demand for vehicles increased not only domestically but more importantly from the Commonwealth and exports to Latin America also continuing to grow. The growth of vehicles sales outside the Federation caused problems for several of the country’s subsidiaries of foreign car companies such as Fiat, Ford and Volvo, while LUFR who had license to manufacture and sell the three French vehicles faced stiff resistance to selling its Portuguese manufactured cars in the Commonwealth.

Volvo Federation’s operations were the first to be revamped, its manufacturing plants in the country became part of global manufacturing strategy. By 1965 its truck plant production in the Federation had surpassed Sweden’s production and Portuguese built trucks were being sold throughout the Federation, Commonwealth and Latin America. In 1966 as part of the Portuguese plant’s expansion a right-hand assembly was started to expand sales in right hand countries while at same time lower tariff on Volvo cars allowed for increased production in Sweden of cars to the Federation and Commonwealth countries.

Fiat, Ford and Daimler faced increased resistance from their parent company regarding export of Portuguese manufactured vehicles outside the Federation especially into the Brazil and South America. Portuguese manufactured cars had several advantages over European or American built cars though; they were cheaper and, in many cases, had lower import tariff due to barter trade increasing between the Federation and South American countries. The Portuguese government took the Portuguese manufacturers position because it wanted to increased manufacturing in the country and exports. Sales of vehicles into the commonwealth also became a major sticking point when it doubled in size and the number of associate members also increased making it a much larger market. In 1968 just as the Commonwealth doubled in size the Portuguese government passed a law stating that it was illegal to limit a Portuguese subsidiary to only within the Federation and that the subsidiary had the right to sell to any country which the Federation traded with. This put the Portuguese law in direct contraction with many companies’ market and manufacturing strategy. The confusion and apprehension were slightly improved by amendment to the law stating that each company was free to establish its own manufacturing and distribution strategy as long as it did not violate the spirit of the Portuguese law. Companies were left to their own to determine what the law meant with the Portuguese government pointing to Volvo example as model it hoped to achieve. In the cases of Fiat, Ford and Daimler their Portuguese subsidiaries did increase production as sales of Portuguese built cars to the commonwealth became an important factor of each subsidiaries market.

The most difficult case though was LUFR manufacturing and sales of Renault, Citroen and Peugeot vehicles. While the three French companies were willing to allow it to sell their vehicles in full member Commonwealth countries it was not allowed to sell the cars in associate member countries and banned from exporting outside the commonwealth. Using the Auto Europe model from the 50s LUFR wanted to strike a similar agreement as existed with Auto-Portugal which had resulted in Auto-Portugal model lineup being completely different than VW its parent company and being exported to Commonwealth and Latin America. The French companies were adamant and refused to budge. With negotiations at an impasse the French companies gave notice to terminate the agreement. LUFR sued the three companies for breach of contract. In 1967 LUFR introduced its first four cars for Portuguese and commonwealth markets. In 1969 it increased its product line to eight which had been the same number of vehicles it had been manufacturing for Renault, Citroen and Peugeot in the Portuguese market. All the vehicles were based on previous models it had built. In the meantime, Renault, Citroen and Peugeot brands disappeared from the Portuguese and Commonwealth market while the court battle continued.

The truck market both commercial and personal continued to grow both with Volvo, UMM and Daimler truck division dominating the market. Meanwhile UMM all-terrain vehicles and trucks which had become nicknamed the Portuguese Landover was able to expand and by 1969 had doubled its sales with exports accounting for over half their sales.

Simoldes and other vehicle component manufactures continued to grow at an even greater pace than the Portuguese auto companies as more and more components for Portuguese built companies were sourced from Portuguese companies. While majority continued to only be suppliers to Portuguese manufactures such as Bosch Electric and Ehrich Struts, Simões Automotive followed Simoldes example and expanded their sales outside the Federation and into the very fast-growing aftermarket car component segment of the economy.

Portuguese Edfor continued its expansion in the Sports and high-end car sales. In 1960 Edfor racing car won the Portuguese Grand Prix and went on to place 3rd overall greatly increasing the company’s exposure. For the rest of the decade Edfor race cars continued to be one of the world’s fastest cars on the Grand Prix racing circuit. Meanwhile Austin Martin Portugal own product line grew and by 1963 began differentiating itself from the British parent own cars with the debut of the AMP-4 and AMP4-LX. This aggravated the parents company own financial problems though when the AMP cars began competing with the DB brand manufactured in Britain. Meanwhile Daimler Portugal renegotiated its manufacturing arrangement with the Federation increasing its production Portuguese truck and automobile division for both domestic and export while concentrating the higher end model’s production in Germany. Meanwhile in the Federation racing became a very popular sport and several racing car manufacturers such as the MML, by Mário Moreira Leite, the DM (by Dionísio Mateu and Elísio de Melo), the Alba, the Olda, the FAP, the Etnerap and AURORA-PORSCHE.

New Portuguese automobile companies also appeared such as ENTREPOSTO COMERCIAL SA which started manufacturing trailers of various sizes and purposes as well as camping trailers. In 1965 it joined forces with Portuguese component manufacturer TECNISADO SA and started a new company in Galicia assembling cars more specifically EC Taxis (low-cost taxi) made of components manufactured by various Portuguese and foreign vehicle and components manufacturers. In 1963 SOMAVE SOCIEDADE DE MONTAGEM DE VEÍCULOS SA (SOMAVE) was founded to assemble Fiat, German MAGIRUS-DEUTZ and MAN commercial trucks in Guinea Boke. It imported the engines from the Italian or German companies and assembled the trucks for sale in the Federation and commonwealth using Portuguese components.

Beira Motors Motorcycle and Moped division Gazela expanded sales in Europe and South America while Casal, FLAMEL and SIS continued to expand domestically and commonwealth. As the standard of living increased the sales of motorcycles also increased and Portuguese companies expanded their lineup of motorcycles while moped sales decreased. SIS and Casal also became major sponsors of motorcycle racing, manufacturing several powerful racing motorcycles both for national and international races.

Oil / Gas and Minerals​

In 1969 Portuguese oil production reached 1.4 million bpd with almost half the output coming from offshore. The first platforms erected off Algarve and Angolan coast operated in waters less than 30 meters deep. In 1960s several developments in the USA Gulf Coast were carefully studied by Whitershall and SONAP who using various methods were able to bring those technologies to the Portuguese Federation. In the ports of Portimão, Algarve and Ambriz, Luanda oil platform assembly yards were constructed to assemble Jackups, semisubs, drillships, and barges. In 1962 onshore oil production in Algarve declined for first time but luckily offshore production more than made up for decrease in onshore production. The industrial development in the country continued to consume a greater percentage of the oil produced which limited the amount of oil and gas available to be exported. In 1966 the government announced the phasing out of all oil thermal electric plants in favor of natural gas. During the next decade, natural gas production rose substantially as it was recovered from the refining process and new natural gas well drilled. At same time, Portuguese government and Portuguese auto industry worked together to increase vehicle fuel efficiency by 50% within 10 years. In 1969 as the world began suffering major oil shock due to OPEC Arab oil embargo of western countries and the world began looking for better fuel-efficient cars, sales of Portuguese vehicles in South America, Africa and Asia jumped 30% as the Portuguese higher fuel-efficient vehicles became sought after.

After several major upgrades the Portuguese oil refineries (Sines, Luanda, Matosinhos, Quelimane and Daman) had a combined capacity of 1.8 million bpd (Sines 625,000, Luanda 489,000, Matosinhos 251,000, Quelimane 115,000 and Daman 400,000). The Daman refinery also processed oil from the Dayak Federation which was being produced by Portuguese oil companies. The Iberian pipeline which was completed in 1965 had a capacity of 250,000 bpd and transported oil from Federation to Orleans France. The French had also built two separate pipelines, the southern one to Marseille on the Mediterranean coast before continuing to Italy ending in Milan. The northern line went north to Luxemburg then on to Germany. In 1969 the Algiers accord was signed by France, Algeria, Tunisia, Kingdom of Fez, Portuguese Federation, Spain, Italy and Catalan Republic. The accord allowed the construction of two oil and gas pipelines from French Algeria to Europe. One through Algeria, Kingdom of Fez, Portuguese Morocco, under the Mediterranean then through Spain and Catalan before reaching France. The second pipeline would travel through Tunisia then under the Mediterranean and through Italy then towards Austria and Germany. In southern Africa, the construction of the Trans African Pipeline was suspended along with construction of the Portuguese Trans African railway in 1965. It was only in 1968 that construction started up again and was expected to be finished by 1970 and operational by end of 1971.

By 1965 the Portuguese Hydro Electric generating capacity on the Iberian Peninsula had surpassed 7,500 MWs while Portuguese West Africa capacity had reached 6,500 MW while East Africa capacity was 3,500 MW. This only accounted for 25% of the energy needs with coal accounting for 55% of the country’s energy needs and remainder by oil/gas. In 1968 following the declaration that the Portuguese not only had developed nuclear bomb but also had nuclear reactors the decision was made to construct a series of Nuclear power plants throughout the country to meet the growing energy needs. The Portuguese announced a very ambitious plan to build 10 plants with the ability to generate 30,000 MW.

The mining industry grew by 15% in the first half of the 1960s while transportation issues continuing to be the single biggest limiting factor in the development of the industry. During the second half of the decade as major investment was made to address the rail, road and port issues production increased over 25%. In 1961 the creation of the Lusitania Commonwealth allowed for the integration of their economies with the Portuguese Federation. Over the decade as more countries joined the commonwealth the Portuguese came to control the greater percentage of the production of copper, iron ore, coal and other resources much to the chagrin and anger of many western leaders.[6]

The growth of mining industry especially with the addition of the Commonwealth countries made the Federation an even more important market. In 1966 Volvo heavy industry division announced the construction of a new factory to manufacture mining and heavy construction machinery and vehicles in the Federation. The entry of Volvo shook up the Portuguese Industry which had till then been dominated by Atlas-Sand and British companies Aveling-Barford, JCB, and Terex Pegson. Complicating the situation for the three British companies was the anti-Portuguese Labor government of Britain who were advocating banning most trade and investment in the Federation. Following the war in 1967 the three companies decided to merge their Portuguese operations into a single company called British Portuguese Mining Corporation (BPM). They each took a 20% stake in the company and listed the remaining stock on Portuguese Stock Exchange. Several new factories were planned in the Federation and Commonwealth and all existing British patents were licensed to the new company for use exclusively in the Federation and Commonwealth. By the end of the decade the Portuguese and Commonwealth mining and heavy construction market was controlled by BPM, Atlas-Sand and Volvo Heavy Equipment but more importantly these three companies were based in the Federation and able to react locally to the needs of the country.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing​

By the 1960s Portuguese agriculture productivity and yields had reached European levels not only in the Iberian Peninsula but also in Africa, Indian Subcontinent and East Indies. Portuguese agricultural industry had finally reached a level of maturity and critical mass to satisfy the Portuguese needs, this included manufacture of modern vehicles and agricultural machinery by a combination of Portuguese, transplanted British and German companies. The number of workers employed in agriculture continued to decrease as rate of mechanization increased and modern agriculture practices adopted, during the 1960s direct employment in agriculture decreased by 29% by 1969. At same time the level of employment in supporting agricultural and food processing industries increased by 60%. Portuguese manufacture of herbicides and pesticides continued with Portuguese companies being able to obtain licenses for several new herbicides and fertilizers, the use of herbicides and fertilizers doubled in 1960s compared to 1950 and doubled again by 1969. The massive catchup witnessed by Portuguese agriculture starting in 1930s with plant breeding, seed desinfection, introduction of herbicides and INIA plant breeding program had increased Portuguese yields by 1969 to western Europe average and agricultural yields in Portuguese provinces in Africa, Indian Subcontinent and East Indies far surpassing the yields in neighboring countries and very close to western Europe yields. Mining of phosphate and potash fertilizer within Portuguese Federation continued to meet domestic demand as well as allow the country to export especially to South America. The growth of the Commonwealth brought to the agriculture industry new opportunities and challenges.

The largest change in Portuguese agriculture during the 1960s was the forced liquidation of farms by absentee landowner. In many parts of the Federation such as Alentejo in the Iberian Peninsula and Silva Porto in West Africa large percentage of farms were owned by landowners who paid little attention to the farm other than to derive as large of a profit as possible. These landowners for most part rented their farms to individuals who in turn managed the farms as cheaply as possible in order to make a profit after paying the rent to the owner. Mechanization, modernization and other government encouraged practices were the lowest in those regions as neither the owner nor manager had little to no incentive to invest in the property. In 1961 after repeatedly trying to encourage them to adopt modern agriculture practices the department of Agriculture issued new laws mandating many of the previous guidance and backing them up with stiff penalties including prison terms for those who repeatedly flaunted the law. Suddenly hundreds of managers and owners were faced with fines and orders to modernize. Most simply sold their property although many resented the government interference. The creation of cooperatives was supported by the National Cooperative Association on some of properties while the majority were sold to growing number of agricultural corporations or private individuals. By 1969 these farms had improved sufficiently that their yields were comparable to other farms in the same regions.

Portuguese fishing fleet continued to modernize but while Galicia large fishing fleet was able to sell its fish duty free within the Federation, they along with all other foreign fishing ships were barred from Portuguese waters. In 1965 several provinces such as Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde established excusive fishing zones around their province reserving the fisheries off the coast to local fishermen (50 nautical miles).

Argentina and Brazil continued to be Portuguese Federation major agricultural suppliers with wheat, cereals, and beef the main agricultural products from these countries. In the 1960s Chile also became a major supplier of fruit to the Federation during the southern hemisphere’s summer.

As the 1960s came to a close t he largest limiting factor in agricultural production was the lack of water and susceptibility to drought in many provinces. Large water reservoirs and water diversion projects were studied and slowly advanced where feasible. Water conservation projects were started in cities and towns to limit the amount of water used for industrial or human consumption. In 1964 the Portuguese and Israelis started the Negev / Portuguese Sahara Desalination projects. Where scientist and engineers from both countries tried to make fresh water from sea water at a reasonable cost allowing the water to be used for human consumption as well as agricultural use. Meanwhile the Portuguese farmers were the first adoptees of the Israeli drip irrigation technology which greatly reduced water use.

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[1] iOTL the TXE4 only started being used in 1973. Here additional resources and funding advanced the project by several years. The TXE4 had the capacity for up to 40,000 subscribers with over 5,000 erlangs of both way traffic and was normally staffed by several Technical Officers.
[2] The Alkaline battery was developed by an employee of Union Carbide Chemical company in 1957 and patented in 1960. While superior to the of the zinc-carbon battery it was not aggressively promoted by the company. Attempts by Portuguese chemical companies to get the licenses failed with Union Carbide requesting varying high royalty fees. In 1964 the Ministry of Economy became involved and “forced” Union Carbide to cut the royalty in half, but royalty payments would be made by Communications Association instead of battery manufactures. During the negotiations, the Portuguese showed a domestic Alkaline battery which it threatened to release not only in the Federation but worldwide. The Portuguese claimed theirs had been developed in 1956 before the American version when in actuality it had only been developed by CIN engineers in 1961 based on the Union Carbide patent. Part of the agreement was that the battery would only be distributed in the Federation and Commonwealth and that the government would make sure the battery did not compete with Union Carbide own battery worldwide.
[3] In the early 1960s as B&W television programming was growing in the country the Portuguese Communication Association was trying to decide which color picture technology the country was going to adopt, the French SECAM or the European PAL system. As part of the consideration was the growing belief in the Federation that it wanted a say in developing the technology while some suggested it was an attempt by the government to control the content. Either way the Portuguese licensed the SECAM technology in 1965 and proceeded to adapt it to Portuguese market. SECAM IV or SECAMP was developed in 1968 and introduced in 1969. Like the original television the debut of color television in the Federation was only viewable by a small number of viewers.
[4] The Commonwealth population numbers did not include the associate members which was over 100 million.
[5] Companhia de Boracha de Angola was owned by British Dunlop Rubber. It was originally founded to distribute Dunlop products to the fast-growing Portuguese Africa. In 1969 Companhia de Boracha de Angola received license and technology transfers to manufacture Dunlop products for the Portuguese and commonwealth markets.
[6] This was in contrast to the world’s largest mining companies who many felt the Portuguese influence resulted in huge reduction in graft as the DGS and their local equivalent went after any person suspected of extortion or accepting bribes.

So the 1960s continued the progress the country had achieved in communications which with transportation were the governments priorities. Portuguese television programming and availability private television stations decades earlier than iTOL an even sooner than some European countries. This was another government ploy or strategy to give Portuguese the feel that the country was equal to any of the great powers especially in the aftermath of the African Wars. Industrialization was another great feet as Portuguese government policy to not export unprocessed natural resources led it to greatly increase its steel industry and ore processing industries which allowed the vehicle industry to greatly expand and surpass Portuguese demand resulting in the Federation becoming a vehicle exporter. Note the race car brands are all historical brands that were started in Portugal iOTL. Questions/ Comments?

Return in 2 weeks on June 20 when we post the last Portuguese economic section.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969​

Economy (Part 3)​

Finance and Commerce​

During the first half of 1960s inflation stayed between 5 – 8%. In 1965 wage pressures and depreciating of Portuguese escudo (caused by concerted effort of US federal reserve and other countries dumping Portuguese escudo) caused inflation to increase to 12%. During 1966 - 1968 inflation decreased again as escudo stabilized and wage pressure temporally eased as country became pre-occupied and involved in the African Wars. In 1969 the country faced two new monetary pressures. The country was flush with foreign currency as foreign investors flocked to Portuguese stocks and bonds as well as invested in actual property or setup business in the country then by the sudden increase in price of oil from 3.50 USD to 6.60 USD a barrel because of the OPEC Arab oil embargo against some western countries that supported Israel and Portuguese Federation.

Real wages in the Federation continued to rise with Portuguese corporations being forced to invest in their operations, train their workers in order to modernize and become more efficient or cease to exist. Portuguese companies struggled with some reactionary business owners attempting to resist and lobbying their trade associations, and government to “deal with the excessive worker demands”. Most of these firms did not last the decade as they were either bought out or closed. Demand for labor through the decade continued strong and unskilled labor continued to migrate from rural areas to the cities.

In 1965 the Portuguese government introduced Value Added Tax (IVA) on all goods and services although the amount varied. Ranging from 5 – 15% the IVA was applied to restaurant meals, all services and all goods. Based on the French model the introduction of IVA was offset by reduction in payroll taxes and increased in government support for poorer people. Groceries (food), children clothing and shoes as well as school supplies were excluded. By 1969 almost 40% of government revenue came from IVA.

From 1960 to 1969 the Portuguese Federation continued to suffer trade surplus and from 1966 onward a growing positive balance of payments as exports continued to grow and Portuguese trade protection made foreign goods more expensive and lowered the demand for them. Included in the development of decrease in imports was the growing quality of Portuguese goods as well as negative attitude towards purchasing goods from certain countries. Following the attempted coup of 1962 with USA’s CIA involvement, imports from US collapsed as Portuguese consumers organized a boycott of US goods. Following the election in 1966 of the British Labor party in Britain imports from Britain began decreasing as the more forward-thinking firms found other sources for their goods or in conjunction with the British firms began setting up Portuguese manufacturing plants, the trickle in 1966 became a flood in 1969 as firm’s dependent on Portuguese market moved to the Federation or sold their businesses to companies in the Portuguese Federation.

Portuguese government debt continued to grow during the decade as government borrowing for infrastructure spending continued high and by end of 1969 government debt was at 45% of GDP. In 1967 Marcello Caetano became the new Minister of Finance and he wanted to slow the rate of borrowing as well as institute a clear schedule of repayment for older debt. The government policy was to repay of government debt was between 20-25 years after debt was incurred. This plan was compounded by the government still owing a large amount of debt incurred in the 1930s and 1940s. A plan was put into place to repay all debt incurred prior to 1950 by 1975 and by 1985 to not owe any debt incurred prior to 1965.

During the 1960s the fixed exchange rate that had governed the world’s major currencies came under severe pressure. The 1960s Portuguese escudo exchange rate of 15$05 escudos per US dollar which had slowly over the last 20 years been appreciating making Portuguese export more expensive. It like the German Mark and Japanese Yen was viewed as undervalued due to strong economy, and trade surplus of the three countries. Attempts by the Americans to get the three countries to raise the value of their currency during the first part of the 1960s failed and all three countries resisting both US and OECD. While Germans and Japanese enjoying friendly relations with US government the Portuguese did not enjoy that privilege, so the US decided to single out the Portuguese and force it to appreciate it currency. Following the attempted coup relations between Portuguese and Americans were at its lowest point. The Portuguese continued to resist American pressure to appreciate the escudo then in 1965 there was a lot of movement of Portuguese Escudo held outside the country from March to May then on 25th of May a concerted effort organized by the US using several large international European and Asian banks first bought all the escudos available driving up the market price. The Portuguese Central Bank responded by releasing or making more escudos available attempting to stabilize the escudo, then on 1st of June they sold all the escudos driving the price down hoping to force the Portuguese government to spend all its foreign reserves to buy the escudo back but instead the government simply let the escudo drop causing major concern by other central banks as the escudo had dropped to 49$35 to US dollar in a span of two days. The IMF, British, French, German and other European central banks stepped in to buy the escudo as the sharp rise made exports to the Federation more expensive. Pressure on the US Central reserve and telephone calls from governments of Europe’s largest economies to the US government finally reigned in the escudo’s slide and it stabilized at 24$30. On 15th of June, the Portuguese finally reacted and converted all their USD reserves of 10 billion dollars on the open market to gold causing major problem for the US as their currency came under pressure itself. The Portuguese action was followed by other foreign banks and currency speculators. The actions had other major impacts to other currencies. The British and French currencies depreciated (both of whom were running deficits) although the British depreciation of 20% was the most drastic while both German Mark and Japanese Yen did appreciate by about 5-%10. All this shook-up confidence in the Bretton Woods system and in 1968 the American government announced the suspension of being able to convert USD to gold.

While all this turmoil was happening, there were several simultaneous inquiries both in the US and in Europe to investigate the ongoing crisis. Under questioning both bank employees and banking records failed to provide any evidence of collusion or government involvement and bank records were either incomplete or missing.[1] In 1966 at the IMF meeting in Bombay to set out regulations and agreements on the exchange rate between countries and establish ranges in which a currency could move before all major central banks would act in concerted effort to maintain a currency within the agreed range the various governments failed to agree and while the 1966 IMF memorandum talked about supporting currencies from market manipulation the lack of support by USA signaled the beginning of the end of the Bretton Woods system. From 1966 to 1969 the Portuguese escudo slowly rose in value and by end of decade had risen back to 15$01 to USD.

On 16 January 1966 VP Hubert Horatio Humphrey was sworn in as President of USA following President Johnson heart attack and hospitalization on 2 January 1966. On 15th of January, President Johnson was diagnosed with heart disease and resigned due to his inability to perform his Presidential functions. President Humphrey changed US government attitude towards Portuguese Federation from hostile to one of neutral.

In 1967 the London Gold Pool collapsed when France announced it was withdrawing from the pool.[2] The Portuguese who had not been invited or expressed any interest in participating in the pool when it was formed even though their gold reserves were greater than many of the European countries who participated. Throughout the 1960s the Portuguese gold reserves increased by 26%. Portuguese gold reserves had risen to be the 3rd largest in Europe right below Britain and France. The collapse of the London Gold reserve and depreciation of the Sterling led to the US suspending the ability of people from converting the USD to gold and the sharp rise in the value of gold. The Swiss responded by established the Swiss Gold Pool to facilitate the trading of about half of the gold trading in the world. Only the US and Portuguese Federation decided to establish their own gold trading system.

The monetary fluctuations in both the Portuguese escudo and other foreign currencies along with the banking industry ability to manipulate the currencies of the world made the Portuguese government more determined to increase the use of barter instead of currency as a percentage of total Portuguese trade. The Portuguese government identified South America as the ideal place to accomplish this. During the 1960s the Portuguese provided favorable terms to many countries namely (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela and Central American countries) in which Portuguese manufactured goods and resources were bartered for goods and resources from the targeted countries. By 1969 over 70% of all trade between the affected countries and the Federation was being done through bartering. So successful was the Portuguese initiative that a bartering network was formed so that South American countries could easily barter between themselves. In 1969 barter trade was extended to include trade between the Lusitania Commonwealth and the South American nations.

In 1964 the Portuguese Securities Trading Act was amended to allow for creation of regional small cap stock markets while the three main Portuguese stock exchanges (Lisbon, Porto and Luanda) were united into a single united stock exchange with multiple physical markets called “Bolsa Portuguesa” (Portuguese Stock Exchange (PSE)). In 1966 both Lourenco Marques and Panjim were added as new trading floors to the PSE. As part of the updated Portuguese Securities Trading Act eight regional small cap stock exchanges were created throughout the country allowing for capitalization of many smaller companies that did not meet the minimum requirements of the PSE. Regional stock exchanges were created in Braga, Tetouan, Bissau, Benguela, Beira, Daman, Dili and Macau. These smaller exchanges as in the case of Braga, Bissau and Daman was also used by companies from neighboring countries to raise capital in the Portuguese market. As of 31 December 1969, the PSE had 2,501 companies listed on them and a market capitalization of 396 thousand million escudos.[3]

In 1968 the Lusitania Credit Agency Ltd corporation was formed to provide unbiassed credit rating to Portuguese and Lusitania Commonwealth corporations. In 1967 the Casa do Povo pension fund management was reorganized. Since the Casa do Povo pension reforms in the 1950s the pension fund had slowly been growing. At first the pension surplus sat in the accounts earning very little interest, in 1960 part of the funds were invested in higher interest rate investment accounts, then in 1963 the types of investments that fund could invest was expanded with the inclusion of government and good rated companies’ bonds and into mortgage-backed securities. In 1967 the Pension Fund management was amended to allow for investment in stock market and directly in the economy by the Pension fund buying outright or controlling shares in some of the country’s companies.

Portuguese retail continued to mature with national brands expanding through the country at times displacing regional or local firms. Firms like Grandes Armazens do Chiado, Armazéns Grandella, Marks & Spencer, and Marques Soares expanded their operations from Iberian Peninsula opening stores in most large to medium cities. From Brazil, the owner of Lojas Americanas opened the first Portuguese store called Lojas Portuguesas in Luanda in 1962 and by 1969 the company had expanded to almost every major city in the country. They were followed by other Brazilian companies such as Lojas Renner and Mesbla which also expanded into the Portuguese market. With the advent of the automobile and the growth of new suburbs the changes in grocery business also happened, in Luanda the large Portuguese conglomerate Jerónimo Martins took a page from the Americans and opened the countries first supermarkets called “Pingo Doce” which were 10 times larger than any grocery stores at that time in 1963. People flocked to the new supermarkets leading to opening of additional stores both in Luanda and eventually throughout the rest of country. Others took notice of Pingo Doce’s success and in 1965-1966 Sonae opened its first “Modelo Supermecado” in Luanda and Lisbon.

Urbanization and Construction​

While Portuguese cities grew outward the skyline was devoid any building over 20 stories during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1960 the Portuguese business character changed and began asserting itself and also wanting to show off its strength and power. In Lisbon, the financial capital of the country the country largest banks competed for prestige and office towers of 30 to 50 floors began being built in the capital with BPI tower (36 floors) being the first to be opened in 1964. The Caixa Geral de Depositos’ 45 stories tower opened in 1966 but the tallest tower was the Banco Espirito Santo tower at 69 stories opened in 1968. Meanwhile in Lunda the commercial and industrial capital of the country the SONAP tower at 100 stories rivalled all skyscrapers in the country when it opened to huge fanfare by King Duarte II on 30 June 1969.

Construction continued to employ millions of Portuguese as industrial, commercial, and residential construction continued strong with average growth of 4% a year. During the 1960s housing starts continued strong averaging over 200,000 a year.[4] While construction continued strong housing prices continued to rise faster than wages and by 1969 average housing prices had doubled from 1960 prices. This caused major problem as many people became priced out of the housing market and those living in large metropolitan areas resigned themselves to renting. The high demand for rental properties also made finding apartments difficult. Cities responded by imposing rental controls in an attempt to stopping landlords from increasing rents exuberantly. Demand for affordable housing continued and the government was forced to increase funding for the Affordable Housing projects and by 1969 42,000 subsidized housing units were being built a year.

GDP​

In 1960 Portuguese Federation GDP reached 255,392 over the next 10 years Portuguese economy grew as follows:

Year​	GDP(millions)​	% change from previous year​
1960​	255,392​	7.51​
1961​	278,913​	9.21​
1962​	309,984​	11.14​
1963​	338,751​	9.28​
1964​	371,000​	9.52​
1965​	411,105​	10.81​
1966​	456,491​	11.04​
1967​	477,033​	4.5​
1968​	507,563​	6.4​
1969​	572,683​	12.82​

In 1960 the Portuguese Federation compared against the leading world economies and other select countries as follows.[5]

• Country​	Population (Millions)​	% Growth from 1950	GDP (millions)​	% increase from 1950​	GDP Per capita​
  Portuguese Federation​	46,185​	39%​	255,392​	162%​	5,529​
  UK​	52,372​	4.5%​	525,949​	35%​	10,042​
  France​	46,584​	11%​	344,609​	56%​	7,397​
  USA​	180,671​	18%​	2,046,727​	40%​	8,058​
  Spain[6]​	20,156​	-28%​	65,999​	7.5%​	3,274​
  Netherlands​	11,486​	13%​	95,180​	57%​	8,286​
  Italy​	50,198​	6.5%​	296,981​	80%​	5,916​
  Brazil​	70,495​	31%​	177,285​	79%​	2,514​
  South Africa​	16,942​	24%​	50,102​	45%​	2,957​
  Argentina​	20,102​	19%​	156,242​	69%​	7,724​

  
  
  

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  [1] In 1965-66 many senior executives of the European and Asian banks involved in the Escudo attack died in car accidents, or from heart attacks. On the surface, the deaths by themselves did not raise any alarms but when journalists for the French and British newspapers published the full lists of the 50 bank executives who had died in a short period of time against the list banks who participated in the Escudo crises it became apparent that participating in future actions against the Portuguese Federation could result in death. The Portuguese government denied any involvement or knowledge of such deaths.
  [2] The London gold pool had been established on 1 November 1961 by a group of eight central banks; the United States and seven European countries that agreed to cooperate in maintaining the Bretton Woods System of fixed-rate convertible currencies and defending a gold price of US$35 per troy ounce by interventions in the London gold market.
  [3] Portuguese escudo to US dollar was 15$01 escudos and 396 thousand million escudos is 26 billion US dollars. For comparison purposes the London stock exchange had 3,360 companies listed on the exchange and market capitalization of 56 billion US dollars. Note Portuguese language did not use billion but wrote it a thousand million.
  [4] This included multi-family homes and single-family homes.
  [5] The data for the three colonial powers (UK, France and Netherlands) only reflected their European territory.
  [6] Spain data reflected the loss on heavy industrialized areas of Basque and Catalonia as well as Galicia.
  
  This concludes the economic section of the 1960s. Of special note is the collapse of the gold standard in the late 1960s as opposed to the early 1970s. While the Federation was a minnow compared to the USA, the manner in which its currency had been attacked and subsequent repercussions led to the early collapse of the gold standard and the fixed exchange rate as new American administration lacked the leadership and willingness to support it. In part because the Americans expenses in maintaining over 1 million troops fighting the communists in Americas and South East Asia that it felt maintaining the system to expensive. Questions/ Comments?
  
  Return in 2 weeks on July 4 when we post the Health & Education.
  
  
  

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969​

Health and Education​

Health​

In 1960 Dr. Froilano de Mello, the first Portuguese Indian in Portuguese government retired from public life due to health concerns, his assistant Dr Pundolica D Gaitonde another Portuguese Indian was appointed to succeed him as Minister of Health.

The “Casa do Povo” national health plan continued to provide basic medical, dental, prescription services for free or greatly reduced rates. Cost continued to be based on people’s salary and rates were set at 12% of salary. By 1960s with mandatory coverage the “Casa do Povo” health plan began suffering great delays and strained under the lack of resources. Not that the government was not providing hundreds of millions of escudos to subsidizing the plan but simply the demand was greater than the government centers could accommodate. Throughout the 60s over 100 hospitals (national, regional and provincial) were either built or under construction. The huge population growth plus inadequate infrastructure meant that the government was forced to build the health system infrastructure from scratch in many cases. Private clinics and hospitals continued to operate and even expand alongside the public system.

The largest deterrent to providing timely health care was in fact not infrastructure but personnel; the lack of doctors, specialist, technicians, and nurses put severe strains on the system. The universities and colleges were running at full capacity but the number of doctors per 1000 was only .6 in 1950s. By 1969 it had increased to 1.1 as a result of immigration of qualified professionals and the growing capacity of the country’s universities and colleges to train medical professionals. While this was comparable with UK, France and US it was a great accomplishment when in comparison to Africa, South American and Asian countries which had a value of less than half that.

Infant mortality continued to decrease while life expectancy continued to reach new levels and Portuguese statistics were comparable with other major western countries. A huge milestone with millions of people living in Africa and Asia as Portuguese standards took into account the millions of people who till recently had lived in poverty, living in huts or in disease infested parts of the country. Sanitation, clean water, immunization, programs to combat some of the country’s most challenging diseases such as dracunculiasis, yellow fever, malaria and tsetse flies were all major health initiatives underway in the country. Some like dracunculiasis had been eradicated while other such as yellow fever and malaria the government provided large amount of money to universities, scientists, the Royal Scientific Society and to pharmaceutical companies in an attempt to develop way to lessen the impact of these diseases and eventually find cures.

In 1961 the national mandatory immunization program provided free vaccines for all children and new immigrants for the following diseases: Smallpox, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis and Polio. In 1966 a measles vaccine was developed and manufactured in the country. The measles vaccine was based on the vaccine that had been developed by Dr. Enders, while an American he was passionate in saving lives and the Portuguese became one of the first countries to start manufacturing his measles vaccine. The first Portuguese developed vaccine was the rubella vaccine developed in Luanda by Dr. Gustaf Heidrick working at the University of Luanda in partnership with Hospital of Santo Antonio in southern Luanda. Developed in 1966 it went into production in 1967 and in 1969 became administered together with measles and mumps vaccine in the world first MMR vaccine. It was subsequently licensed to major pharmaceutical companies in Europe and as the growing Portuguese Pharmaceutical industry expanded the vaccine and other medicines for export especially South America, Africa and Asia.

In 1960 the British Conglomerate Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) pharmaceutical division setup a manufacturing plant in the specialty Bio Development Zone near Bissau, this was followed Glaxo Laboratories which had bought out Allen & Hansburys they were also joined by fellow British pharmaceutical company Boroughs Wellcome & Company. Also present in Bissau Pharma zone was Israeli pharma company of Teva as well as BIAL and Bayer Portugal. The growth of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical industry continued to grow with employment in the industry surpassing 25,000 by 1969. The Portuguese government continued to support both Portuguese and foreign pharmaceutical companies to not only setup manufacturing plants in the country but to also setup R&D plants too. In 1968 the British Glaxo Laboratories and Boroughs Wellcome merged their Portuguese subsidiaries and listed the corporation on the PSE.

During the 1960s Portuguese pharmaceutical companies BIAL, Bayer Portugal, Hovione, and Laboratórios Basi continued their expansion and also began expanding internationally with South America and Indian subcontinent being the primary markets. At the time, the Brazilian market was dominated by American and European pharmaceutical companies with only Laboratório Teuto Brasileiro as the single major Brazilian Pharmaceutical company in the country. During the 1960s the Portuguese pharmaceutical companies were able to establish a strong presence in Brazil and in South America. While in the Indian subcontinent Havione the largest vaccine manufacturer in the Portuguese Federation teamed up with Biological E limited to manufacture vaccines for the IEU market. The Indian pharmaceutical company Cipla Limited entered the Portuguese market with the construction of two pharmaceutical plans in Sanguem, Goa Baixa. This led that provincial government to designate Sanguem as specialty Bio Development Zone similar to Bissau in 1969 in hope of attracting additional pharmaceutical companies to the area for both the Portuguese and IEU market. One of the first companies to establish itself in Sanguem was Bio Product Laboratory from UK which moved its small blood plasma plant located on the outskirts of Lisbon to a new facility five times the size of its Lisbon plant. While Braun Melsungen from Germany entered the Portuguese and IEU market for first time.

The construction of low-income housing continued not only in the major centers but more importantly in many smaller towns and during 1960s Portuguese Federation was building 40,000+ homes a year under the Affordable Housing Act. During the 1960s the Portuguese made real headway in dismantling many of the shanty towns that had sprung up in many of the urban centers with the number of people living in shanty towns reduced by 60%.

Education​

During the 1960s Cecília Supico Pinto continued as the Minister of Education. During the 1960s the Portugalization of the people continued with strict limitation on the use of local dialects, languages as well as foreign languages. This included the expansion of adult literacy and language classes for all adults, as of 1960 30% of all Europeans were illiterate while that number was over 60% for Africans and Asians. By 1969 illiteracy had been reduced to under 10% of Europeans, 35% for Africans and 25% for Asians. While the numbers were staggering, more than 80% of all illiterates were over the age of 65. In terms of Portuguese language education by 1960 100% of all school age children were registered in public or private schools learning Portuguese as the primary language. In 1965 the Portuguese government began authorizing the first bilingual schools with German, Spanish and English the most popular languages.

During the 1960s the teacher aid program was slowly winded down as the primary and secondary teacher university programs provided a steady stream of teachers to meet the expanding education system. In 1966 the education program was updated to make school attendance mandatory till age of 16. The elementary program was expanded to grade 9 and then students could choose to either attend vocational schools or university prep school for students who met the minimum grades. Using the German Apprentice Program as model the department of education working in conjunction with industry expanded vocational schools to meet the need for trades.

The University program started in the 50s to provide an “A” class university in each province continued as the number of universities reached 35 by 1969. While the University program was impressive considering that the country only had three universities 30 years before, the most significant was the 100 plus colleges operating in the country by 1969.[1]

As the decade progressed university education became the norm in the country as government support allowed thousands of middle class and even poor students to attend university. The resentment witnessed in the 1950s dissipated somewhat but still lingered in the universities. Fear or DGS/SIS intervention kept most of the racism and discrimination at bay and the groups most targeted (women, Indians, Asians, and Africans) only witnessed covert racism and discrimination. The situation also changed as the number of teaching positions continued to increase with the opening of new colleges and universities so the number of older professors with the harshest attitudes slowly became more insignificant.[2]

The Portuguese Youth (PY) organization continued to be an integral part of the country’s education and government’s nationalist information tools. Portuguese youth organizations provided sports, arts, cultural and recreation activities as well as sponsoring civil duty and obligation sessions for all youth from preschooler to teenager. Included in the PY information for teenagers was information about career and both moral and civil duty guidance to both males and females.[3]

Sciences​

During the 1960s Portuguese scientists began catching up to their peers around the world, as science, engineering and other technical and scientific fields became respected and highly appreciated fields within the country. More importantly jobs for these professions were readily available in a variety of industries in the Federation, at the universities and academic intuitions such as the Lisbon Academy of Sciences which had grown to have chapters throughout the country although it still retained its historical name.

In the 1960s medical advancements in Portuguese pharmaceutical corporations and Universities brought prestige to the entire sector, important research continued to be conducted on a variety of tropical and other human/animal diseases. Meanwhile theoretical sciences grabbed the headlines with the announcement that the Portuguese had developed nuclear weapons but more importantly built nuclear power plants. At the end of the decade the Portuguese scientist were working on developing hydrogen bombs, shrinking the nuclear warhead to fit in an ICBM and also developing nuclear engines for submarines and aircraft carriers. Portuguese scientists and engineers had also developed Portugal’s own rocket program and while it witnesses a few setbacks by the end of the decade production and progress was set to make 1970s a decade to remember.

The 1960s was also the decade that computer science grew into a full-fledged industry and university departments in the country expanded or were started. The purchase of Elliot and Ferranti Mercury computers in the 1950s had sparked real interest in computer science in the country not only by universities but also by government and military. In 1962 the Ferranti Mercury’s successor the Atlas Computer was developed and commissioned. In 1964 the only Atlas Computer sold outside the UK was sold to the University of Lisbon which also shared its computing power with several large corporations and government agencies.

At the same time that Ferranti was building the Atlas for the Lisbon University its management decided it no longer wanted to be involved in the computer industry and was longing to sell. In 1964 Ferranti entered into negotiations with International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) to sell its computer division. ICT was hesitant to purchase Ferranti computer division so Ferranti provided them with information on the Ferranti-Packard 6000 but ICT still did not want to pay the asking price. During the negotiations, Ferranti was approached by Portuguese investors offering to buy the computer division for twice the money they were asking for. This put both Ferranti and ICT in a predicament, Ferranti wanted to sell the division for the best price possible while ICT was interested in the Ferranti-Packard 6000 specs. In 1965 a compromise was reached in which Ferranti sold its British computing division along with the technology for the atlas successor and the Ferranti-Packard 6000 to the Portuguese investors while ICT purchased Ferranti’s Canadian subsidiary Ferranti-Packard and the specs to the Ferranti-Packard 6000. With two companies now having the same technology the tricky part was sales territory, The Ferranti Computer Company as it became known would continue to design and manufacture computers in the UK, but its sales territory was limited to Portuguese Federation and South America while ICT would have the right to sell the Ferranti-Packard 6000 and its successors within Britain, British Commonwealth and Europe. Many industry watchers made fun of the deal which provided ICT with free technology and made millions for Ferranti.

The Portuguese investors backed by the Portuguese government and military were not worried and from 1965 to 1968 several hundred Portuguese engineers went to work at the Ferranti Computing plant in Britain. In 1966 the FC-7000 was released which was based on the Ferranti-Packard 6000 computer and over the next 3 years over two dozen were manufactured for the Portuguese Federation, Brazil and Argentina. In 1968 Ferranti Computer Company began building a new plant and R&D center in the city of Carmona, in the Portuguese Federation, this coincided with the announcement of the FC-9000 a 24-bit processing computer. The construction and move to the Portuguese Federation was accelerated in 1969 with the British government’s anti-Portuguese Federation trade and technology legislation. That year Ferranti closed its plant in the UK and over 1,500 workers were laid off in Britain. Over the remainder of the year all remaining Portuguese engineers and 800 of the British workers moved to the Portuguese Federation to work at the new plant. Many of the remaining workers either retired or went to work for other British companies such as ICT which had a slightly more advanced computer called the 1900 series.

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[1] Portuguese Colleges or “B” class Universities provided advanced studies in trades and also 1 and 2-year courses in a variety of fields. While they were similar in some ways to polytechnical institutions in Germany and France but had been modified to meet Portuguese needs. Some of the colleges also functioned as University prep colleges for adults who needed to upgrade their studies in order to attend university. iOTL over 20 colleges were opened after the overthrow of Estado Novo in Portugal.
[2] During the 1960s University attendance by non-Europeans males and females continued to account for over 66% of all students in Portuguese universities. Costs to attend university in Portuguese Federation was based on the family income thus allowing low-income students the same access as high-income students.
[3] In 1960s several child abuse allegations against PY staff and volunteers were made. In the first years, they were for the most part dismissed or swept away. But in 1968 several important sports and entertainment personalities took up several cases of sexual and physical abuse by youth and adults. As the newspapers and televisions reported on them hundreds of other kids and adults wrote to these organizations telling their stories of similar abuse. The Portuguese Public was outraged, and the government launched a Royal Commission in 1969 with the powers to call witnessed and question subjects and lay charges in the abuses both for those perpetrating the crimes but also covering them up.

This section always is interesting to write as we try envision what realistic things would happen taking into consideration what the economic, size and priorities the country would have in these regards. Nothing is ever done without regards to progress in the past and the events transpiring at the time. In Health the governments efforts to transform Portuguese health care into a leading world system continues as it wages a tireless campaign against disease and improving access to healthcare. We can state that Portuguese healthcare in Africa and rest of non-European provinces would be the envy of other countries in those continents while in Europe Portuguese medical standard had reached other leading European countries. While public hospitals which were funded by the Casa do Povo health program catered to the Portuguese the private hospitals catered to all and at times close to 40% of patients came from outside the Federation and Commonwealth. iOTL the Casa do Povo was a program started by Estado Novo to provide for those less fortune, elderly and healthcare. iTTL it started much earlier and provided greater protection, support and medical services. As part of the Health section is the continuing growth and maturity of Pharmaceutical Industry both domestic and international in the country. Now on to education the country still struggled to educate all those who wanted to receive a post secondary education as the kids who had be sent to school graduated and looked at options and opportunities. Hence the development of the college system decades ahead of iotl but vital to the development of the country. Lastly we discuss science which in the 1960s saw an explosion in its importance and popularity. We also see the last technology transfer from Britain to the Federation with the country gaining its first computer company Questions/ Comments?

Return in 2 weeks on July 25 when we post the ever fun security section.

 

[Lusitania]

1960 – 1969​

Security​

The 1960s was a decade of struggle for the Portuguese security forces as they faced both external and internal challenges. External forces marshalled against the Federation while economic progress, cultural awakening led many within the country to believe it would be a matter of time that political liberation would also start. While forces marshalled outside the country in armed camps and governments hostile to the Federation supported and attempted to arm growing groups opposed to government within the country the GNR, PSP and DGS were besieged by growing discontent within the country as regular citizens joined in the clamor for change.

In 1960 the DGS became very preoccupied with the growing number of armed groups being provided sanctuary in Zaire, Republic of Congo and Tanzania. Infiltration of these groups was difficult but by 1962 the Portuguese had a good understanding of who these groups were and their composition.[1] In 1963 the number of opposition groups grew within these “liberation groups” operating in communist Guinea, and Senegal as well.[2] Several incursions by these groups into the Portuguese Federation was limited to border areas with border posts being the primary target. The Portuguese military either reinforced vital border areas or evacuated venerable border communities. During 1964 – 1965 at the UN the Portuguese Federation continually complained of foreign government supported armed groups along its borders attacking it. The African countries countered that the armed groups within their borders were Africans from the Portuguese occupied regions wishing to expel the Portuguese from their country. In May 1965 a motion in the UN was approved to send a delegation to the border area to verify Portuguese claims. While the UN team and reporters were in the Portuguese Federation during the months of July – September the Portuguese launched Operation Ouvindo, over the three months the army supported by air force launched repeated border reprisal including commando raids on the insurgency camps. Hundreds of insurgents were killed, and 1,105 insurgents were “arrested”. The UN staff and reporters were taken to these camps to see for themselves the “foreign” insurgents and to verify that these border African countries were in fact supporting armed groups attacking the Federation. The countries of Zaire, Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Senegal condemned the Portuguese attacks as well as the UN who objected to the Portuguese attacks, but the Portuguese were able to achieve its objective as the public in Europe and America were able to see for themselves that the Federation was being attacked by foreign troops and not Portuguese Africans wishing to achieve independence. The OAU and Soviets sponsored a bill condemning the Portuguese attacks, but it was defeated by combination of European, North American, South American and some Asian countries. The African, Arab and Communist countries were the only ones who supported the motion. Unfortunately, the attacks hardened the African countries attitude towards the Portuguese and many that had been neutral aligned themselves with the Soviets who they saw as the only superpower willing to stand up to the Portuguese.

In 1967 at the height of the Portuguese intervention in South Africa the Portuguese government ordered the evacuation of all settlements within 20 kilometers of the border in the African subcontinent. During the African wars Portuguese security forces carried out thousands of sweeps in the country detaining citizens and residents who either were linked with foreign governments or sympathized with them. In addition, DGS agents accompanied Portuguese armed forces into the neighboring countries providing personnel for interrogation and detaining people Portuguese security personnel considered hostile to the Portuguese Federation. Interrogated were also conducted on many members of the Soviet and Eastern European communist advisors to the invading countries captured during the war.

The 1962 attempted coup by General Humberto and his supporters was seen as a major failing on part of the DGS and rest of the Portuguese security apparatus but the fact that the DGS, GNR and PSP headquarters in Lisbon were never taken even though they suffered heavy attacks from revolting troops and that no senior security officials were dismissed as a result of the attempted coup led some to believe the DGS had either orchestrated the event or been complicit. The DGS and other security organizations were subsequently cleared on any wrongdoing while some local commanders did receive transfers or retired. The DGS, GNR and PSP along with military gained a boost in popularity as result of their resolve and actions against the rebels.

In the 1960s the Portuguese opened additional re-education camps as the number of arrests increased. By 1964 over 250,000 individuals were either imprisoned or under surveillance for antigovernmental actions by 1969 that number had risen to 450,000. This did not include the thousands of prisoners held by Portuguese aligned governments surrounding the Federation. In 1967 the outlawed socialist party leader Mario Soares was arrested for holding antigovernmental demonstrations during the African Wars. After a six-month stint in prison, he left the Portuguese Federation and moved to Paris. In Paris, he continued talking against the government and on 3 October 1968 while having a coffee at a Parisian coffee shop he was fatally shot by a Portuguese expatriate named Joaquim Silva. Joaquim Silva was arrested at the coffee shop without resistance. During questioning he denied any connection with the DGS or Portuguese government and stated he was acting alone. He stated that his motivation was revenge for Mario Soares betrayal of the Portuguese Federation. Two weeks after his arrest he collapsed in jail and was transferred to military hospital where it was discovered he had terminal cancer and had less than two months to live. Also missing was Mr. Silva’s wife and family who had disappeared on the day of the assassination. It was later discovered she and her children had sought protection at the Portuguese Embassy after she heard what her husband had done. She was interviewed by French authorities but provided no additional information. Two months after the assassination following her husband’s death, Mrs. Silva and her four kids were escorted out of France to the Portuguese Federation by Embassy officials. She and her children settled in an undisclosed location in the Federation. Another major politician who died in the 1960s was the Portuguese Communist Party leader Álvaro Cunhal who had escaped from Portuguese maximum-security prison in Peniche in 1960. In the escape over 18 communist and other prisoners escaped from the prison, 15 were eventually captured including some of the most important communists in the Federation such as Jaime Serra. Álvaro Cunhal and two others including the guard José Alves who was the inside man in the prison were able to flee the country going first to Moscow then to Paris. On 15 January 1968 José Alves travelled from Romania, where he had been living, to Paris and met with Cunhal on the premise of requesting additional compensation for helping him escape. When Cunhal refused his request, Alves attacked Cunhal and before his guards could help Alves slit the throat of Álvaro Cunhal. Alves was killed in the attack, which was one several major loses both at home and overseas that year that the Portuguese Communists suffered.[3]

Police mug shots of Mario Soares and Álvaro Cunhal​

In 1960 the DGS, GNR and PSP became involved in Guinea Boke assisting the country in establishing adequate security to keep the country safe. In 1964, they began providing Katanga with similar support. When several new Portuguese aligned countries were established following the African Wars the DGS, GNR and PSP also moved into those countries to assist with their security. In the countries of Namibia, Zambia. Malawi, Botswana and Rhodesia the Portuguese security forces’ role was to train and provide support. While in the new countries such as Casamance, Kongo and Rovuma the Portuguese security like in both Guinea Boke and Katanga were involved in setting up those countries’ security forces from scratch.

In the 1960s the DGS experienced organizational problems as its role within the country and the aligned countries took away focus from its external espionage efforts as the need to help Portuguese industry and government with intel on industrial, military and political matters expanded. In 1965 the DGS split into two separate organizations (internal and external). In 1968 the internal DGS was renamed “Serviço de Informações de Segurança” or (SIS) while DGS continued its role gathering information from external sources and preventing attacks from abroad.

SIS badge ​

During the South African Civil War and the African Wars, DGS agents provided intelligence and directed special forces and marine units to locations of special targets and persons. The DGS recruited foreign agents in the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia to provide Portuguese Federation with information. While the DGS continued to provide political and military information in the 1960s part of its focus turned to industrial and commercial information as USA and other western countries continued to limit the technology transfers and interaction of their corporations in the Federation. Many times, multinational corporations were approached by people acting on the behalf of Portuguese companies to license the sale of their product within the Federation, when these companies refused, information would be provided showing the data or blueprints to the corporation’s product or in some case compromising personal data. Discreet arrangements were then arranged to license the product to Portuguese companies thus protecting the foreign companies from unfair competition in other parts of the world and opening the door to future endeavors.

Internally the DGS/SIS continued keep a very close watch on communists and other agitators including independence supporters. The communists continued to be main agitators with several major groups in Africa and Iberian Peninsula fighting both politically and supporting armed struggle. While some communist militants continued to adhere to the message many civilians and residents seeing improvements to their economic and personal lives turned their back to their message. Portuguese cinema and television continued its regular showing of life in other parts of the world; one such area was life in Soviet Union and communist countries, using scenario recreation based on first person interviews from former residents the Portuguese continued to show a very negative image of life under communism. Another series called “A Vida Desejada”, A life desired, showed real life experiences of life not only in US but also in Europe, Brazil and other parts of the world showing how the people’s lives were harsher or just the same as those in the Federation. Featured in this series was the lives of Portuguese immigrants or their descendants.

Racism became a major issue that the DGS/SIS combatted regularly while government policy and other programs were instituted by other departments to combat it the DGS/SIS worked to eliminate those it felt were the most dangerous while others were dealt with by GNR and PSP. The DGS/SIS also kept vigilance over the military and government departments making sure they stayed loyal to the government.

Migration​

The immigration and internal migration policies of the 1940s and 1950s that had worked so well for the Portuguese Federation were continued. Internal migration was encouraged by subsidized transportation between provinces while immigration into the Federation was prioritized by regions. Those immigrants willing to settle in areas prioritized by government received priority clearance. This way the Portuguese government continued to target specific provinces that it wished to increase specific trades and cultures while at same time working with industry to direct industrial development to less economically developed regions. Immigration to the Portuguese Federation from Europe, Americas and Asia was set at 250,000 a year with Europe accounting for 2/3 of the migrants.[4] As political stability and economic growth fueled Portuguese Federation growth immigrants from Latin America, Indian Subcontinent and East Asia became more pronounced. Added to the immigrants that the Federation received on yearly basis external conflicts in Africa resulted in the Portuguese Federation accepting over 500,000 refugees during the 1960s. In 1961 the with the establishment of Lusitania Commonwealth movement of individuals within the member states was liberated but internal surveillance and living and working permits were still required.

Internal Migration​

In 1960 of the 2,792,000 “Brancos Portugueses” Caucasians living in Portuguese provinces outside Iberian Peninsula and adjacent islands 1,349,000 lived in West Africa, 611,000 in East Africa, 501,000 lived in North Africa, 112,000 in Guinea, 69,000 in Portuguese India, 85,000 in Portuguese East Indies with remaining 65,000 spread out over the various other provinces. By 1969 the number of Caucasians living outside Iberian Peninsula and adjacent islands reached 4,104,000 with West Africa continuing to be the destination of choice with 2,118,000 Europeans while East Africa had the second largest number at 826,000, while Portuguese Morocco European population jumped to 699,000. Caucasians continued to move to all provinces and in 1969 136,000 lived in Guinea, 80,000 in Portuguese India, 156,000 in Portuguese East Indies with remaining 89,000 spread out over the various other provinces.

In 1960 the number of Africans living in Iberian Peninsula and adjacent islands reached 1,582,000, Portuguese Morocco also became a popular destination with a population of 239,500. In addition, Africans also continued to move into Portuguese India and East Indies and by 1960 they numbered over 211,000. In 1969 the number of Africans in Iberian Peninsula and adjacent islands had reached 2,032,000. Portuguese Morocco though showed the highest increase with the African population growing to 409,000 while African living in Portuguese India and East Indies by 1969 numbered over 299,000.

The 1960s saw a more relaxed internal migration of Indians, Chinese and East Indians from not only the Portuguese provinces in Portuguese India, Portuguese East Indies and Macau but also internally to other provinces with East African provinces seeing the largest re-emigration. In 1960 over 1,369,000 Indians lived outside Portuguese India provinces, while Sundanese (people from Timor, Flores and Sumbawa islands) living outside the Portuguese East Indies had grown to 699,000 of which 60% lived in Portuguese African provinces. As for the Macanese and Chinese 645,00 lived outside of province of Macau. By 1969 the number of Portuguese Indians living outside Indian Subcontinent reached 1,653,000, while Sundanese living outside the Portuguese East Indies had grown to 902,000 and 899,000 Macanese and Chinese lived outside of province of Macau.

Portuguese Immigration​

From 1961 to 1969 the growing discrepancy between Portuguese Federation and Spain continued to draw Spanish immigrants especially from the more rural and underdeveloped regions of the country. The Portuguese Federation continued to limit the number of Spanish who could settle in the Iberian Peninsula at 10,000 max per year, while the remaining immigrants allowed to settle to other provinces. Immigration figures from Spain showed 30,000+ Spanish immigrated to Federation on average per year during the 1960s. Meanwhile the open border with the Republic of Galicia had resulted in half of Galicia’s population living at least part of the year in the Federation.

In 1960s the Portuguese Federation continued to be a destination to thousands of Europeans fleeing communism, with Poles, Hungarians, continuing to be the largest groups. In middle of decade a growing number of Yugoslavians and Romanians began arriving in the Federation. Portuguese Federation refugee processing workers working at the major refugee centers in Germany, Czech, Austria, Italy and Greece processed approximately 25,000 refugee applications a year.

From 1960 to 1969 Europe was in the midst of strong economic boom with countries such as Germany showing the strongest growth, while strong personal connections continued to be primary motive to migrate to the Federation. Immigration from Germany slowed to a trickle and for the decade approx. 10,000 migrated to the Federation a year which vast majority migrating due to family connection in the Federation. In place of the Germans emigration of other Europeans from less developed countries such as Greece, and southern Italy increased and 40,000 immigrated a year. Emigration from British Isles continued at about 25,000 a year with Irish being the largest group, but in 1965 due to economic and political situation in Britain the number of British migrating to the Federation rose. By 1969 the number of British citizens moving to Portuguese Federation started surpassing the Irish.[5]

During the 1960s Portuguese Federation rising standard of living continued to attract not only Brazilian but other Latin emigrants. The Brazilian emigrants were soon followed by emigrants from Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, but as communist insurgency wreaked havoc in Peru, Columbia and other Latin American countries a new source of immigrants appeared at Portuguese embassies and even at airports. The number of Brazilians emigrating continued at about 12,000 a year while other Latin Americans accounted for 25,000 a year. In 1969 the number of Brazilians living in Federations surpassed 250,000 which was a mere pittance compared to the millions of Portuguese emigrants in Brazil and their dependents. During the 1960s with the Portuguese standard of living almost double Brazil’s standard of living and many Portuguese and their descendants who had sought their fortunes in Brazil at end of the 19th century and early 20th century began considering returning to “Portugal” as Brazilians still referred to the Portuguese Federation. With the Portuguese 1940 nationality law granting Portuguese nationality to Portuguese descendent to third degree (great grandparent) the number of Brazilians of Portuguese descent applying for Portuguese citizenship at Portuguese Embassy and consulates in Brazil reached 50,000 a year by 1969.

During the 1960s the Portuguese Federation had to deal with several major economic, political and conflicts on the African continent that impacted immigration from border African states. This included the Portuguese Moroccan border skirmishes, the Senegalese-Portuguese border skirmishes due in part to the Casamance conflict. The Portuguese also had very strained relationship with Republic of Benin regarding Portuguese enclave of Ajuda. As the countries surrounding the Portuguese provinces in West and East Africa gained their independence movement of people grew increasingly more difficult. In 1964 Portuguese borders with both Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania were closed, and all people caught crossing the border were detained. The border between white minority countries (South Africa, Rhodesia and South West African) and the Portuguese Federation remained closed. The African War changed the relationship between many African countries and the Federation not always in a good way.

In the early 60s (1962-1964) Morocco attempted to destabilize the Portuguese provinces bordering Morocco by organizing tens of thousands of civilians to cross the border into Portuguese territory. The Portuguese responded by arresting the illegal aliens and repatriating them by force into the demilitarized zones. Clashes along the Portuguese-Moroccan border throughout the early 1960s resulted in Portuguese enhancing its border patrols and reinforcing its border fencing. In 1964 armed clashes in the demilitarized zones between residents of the zones and Moroccans attempting to cross into Portuguese territory led to UN resolution against Morocco and Portuguese Federation when several peacekeepers were killed in clashes between residents and those attempting to enter the Federation. In 1966 the situation in the demilitarized zones became too chaotic that the UN was forced to withdraw. Portuguese Federation allowed for the immigration of 89,970 residents from the demilitarized zones to the Federation when the UN withdrew and closed the border. Illegal immigrant camps were established within the Federation for any Moroccan who illegally crossed into Federation. By 1967 when war broke out between Portuguese Federation and Morocco there were over 100,000 Moroccans in the UN monitored camps. After the war and the establishment of the Portuguese allied countries Kingdom of Fez and Kingdom of Marrakesh along Portuguese Morocco provinces the camps were emptied, and the illegal aliens transferred to the new countries or if they wished to Islamic State of Morocco. Many illegals refused to move peacefully and had to be moved by force. After the establishment of the two border states the Portuguese Federation allowed for the 50,000 a year immigration from the two countries into the Federation.

To the south during the first half 1960s Portuguese Guinea provinces received a steady stream of refugees from Senegal as the people of Casamance region fled Senegal’s oppression of the Jola people in the Casamance region. Between 1960 – 1966 almost half the Jola people from Casamance region lived in Portuguese Guinea provinces. After the 1967 African War and the establishment of the Republic of Casamance, the majority of the Jola refugees returned to their homes. The Special status of both Casamance and Guinea Boke with Portuguese Federation allowed for easy movement of citizens between the three countries.

From 1960 to 1967 the Republic of Benin attempted to expel the Portuguese from the enclave of Ajuda and only the threat of Portuguese military intervention prevented Benin from overrunning Ajuda, as such non-essential personnel and civilians were evacuated in months leading up to the African Wars. After the war, the expanded province of Ajuda resulted in greater vigilance of both illegal immigrants crossing from Togo and Nigeria. While a small number of legal immigrants were allowed from Togo the border with Nigeria was closed and no movement of people allowed.

In West Africa, the Portuguese faced several major border and immigrant issues. In 1964 Republic of Congo’s leader Alphonse Massamba-Debat copied the Morocco border tactic and tried to overrun the Portuguese province of Cabinda with Congolese. Portuguese responded by reinforcing the border and arresting all Congolese who crossed the border. Clashes including armed fighting along the border resulted in hundreds of casualties and thousands of Congolese being injured. Meanwhile border tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Federation as well as support for communist rebels within the border of Democratic Republic of Congo resulted in the border between the two countries remaining closed. In 1964 the Katanga conflict saw the establishment of Republic of Katanga in Southern Democratic Republic of Congo. Portuguese economic and military support to Katanga in its war of independence with the Democratic Republic of Congo led to strong economic and military cooperation and relaxed immigration between the two countries. Thousands of Portuguese citizens moved to Katanga and Katanganese as well as Europeans (mostly Belgians) were allowed to move freely within the Federation. The African War saw the occupation of southern Republic of Congo and western part of Democratic Republic of Congo. Following the war, the northern part of the Republic of Congo descended into anarchy and Gabon moved to occupy it and eventually annexed it after the establishment of the Kingdom of Kongo in Portuguese occupied Congo. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the cease fire did not lead to a peace treaty and Portuguese occupation of western Congo continued. In 1968 to safeguard the Federation from continued attacks the Portuguese joined the Portuguese occupied parts of Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo into a single state. The Kingdom of Kongo provided Portuguese with stability along its northern border. The Portuguese provided Kingdom of Kongo with same privileges as the Republic of Katanga.

The dissolution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (all British colonies between Portuguese West Africa and Portuguese East Africa in 1960 and the establishment of independent African states of Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia resulted in increased tension in the region. The trade, transportation and migration agreements between the Portuguese and Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland collapsed even though their continuation had been guaranteed at time the African countries gained their independence. As Zambia and Malawi became communist aligned countries and joined the Pan-African Alliance all Portuguese citizens returned to the Portuguese Federation and as anti-foreigner movement spread to Zambia and Malawi thousands of British and East Indians followed the Portuguese. In Rhodesia, the white minority government aligned itself with South Africa and became hostile to the Portuguese Federation which like South Africa saw the Federation as a bigger threat than black African nations. In 1966 the South African civil War resulted in the largest humanitarian crises the Federation ever faced. Hundreds of thousands of South Africans (whitse, Blacks and East Indians) fled the 3-way fighting between Communists/Nationalist/Commonwealth forces. Refugee camps were erected in the provinces of Moçãmedes, Lubango, Lunda Sul, Lourenco Marques, Limpopo and Mandigos. By the time the war ended in 1967 over 1 million refugees were being cared for by the Portuguese with little to no international aid. Following the end of the South African Civil War and the African War the Portuguese moved to establish friendly aligned governments in Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana and Rhodesia then moved the majority of the refugees who refused to return to the Socialist South African Federation to the Portuguese aligned countries.

The border between Tanzania and Portuguese provinces of Niassa and Cabo Delgado was one of the most tense and periodic border clashes occurred from 1961 – 1967. Movement of people between the two countries was severely restricted. As the border war intensified and the buildup of troops in Tanzania regions of Mtwara and Ruvuma civilian attacks intensified by Tanzanian and other Pan African troops. The local people attempted to address the abuses diplomatically requesting Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere assistance. In 1965 the government responded by detaining thousands of people in the two regions and a brief revolt ensued. Thousands of refugees fled through the heavily armed border into Portuguese Federations escaping Tanzania government retaliation. The Portuguese responded by increasing military resources in the two Portuguese provinces. The African War saw thousands of new refugees fleeing the fighting in Tanzania. Following the war fear of further fighting in Tanzania resulted in thousands of refugees fleeing Mtwara and Ruvuma towards the relative safety of the Portuguese Federation. In 1968 the establishment of Portuguese aligned Republic of Ruvuma allowed the movement of majority of these refugees back to their homes, while the remainder were allowed to migrate to other Portuguese provinces following the closures of the refugee camps.

In the Indian Subcontinent, the Portuguese faced a much different situation than it had witnessed during the preceding two decades, relative peace in the subcontinent and strong economic growth in southern part of the subcontinent resulted in peaceful coexistence of the major economies of the region. In 1962 the Portuguese - Indian Economic Union (IEU) agreement allowed for visa free travel between IEU and Portuguese Federation and Federation agreed to allow 35,000 - 50,000 a year temporary and permanent residency IEU citizens to work and live in the Portuguese Federation.[6]

Meanwhile in Southeast Asia the Portuguese East Indies provinces continued to be both a target of anti-Portuguese attacks as well as beacon for many wishing a better life. Both nationalist and communist forces from neighboring East Indies Islands hid as immigrants attempted to infiltrate the 10 Portuguese provinces and two Portuguese aligned countries (Republic of Bali and Republic of Lombok). Meanwhile immigrants from Republic of East Indonesia and Republic of South Moluccas continued to attempt to migrate both legally and illegally to the Portuguese provinces. This created problems for Portuguese security agencies and border officials to determine who were a risk to the country and who was a genuine immigrant. The Portuguese government limited the number of immigrants from East Asian countries at 20,000 a year causing many more to attempt to sneak into the country. Forced repatriation for those caught illegally entering the country was strictly enforced.

The province of Macau enjoyed strong economic growth due to in part to the growth of gambling and tourism. Strict border controls were in place but visa free travel from Nationalist China and Hong Kong both by air and by sea was allowed. Migration to Macau from Communist China declined as Communist China increased the number of border guards and naval patrols. Even so over 10,000 Chinese arrived on Portuguese soil each year. Those that were Catholic and or spoke Portuguese were allowed to apply for permanent residency and migrate to other provinces. Nationalist China continued to be the preferred destination for the majority of the refugees.

Portuguese Emigration​

Portugal had always been a country of emigrants, during the 16th - 18th century more Portuguese had migrated to Brazil than British had migrated to the 13 colonies. Prior the Estado Novo economic miracle about 20,000 Portuguese were emigrating each year mostly to Brazil. The economic revolution had absorbed those emigrants and for the last 30 years less than 2,000 emigrants continued to leave the country.

In 1950s America removed many of the emigration restrictions from Southern Europe but by then the major source of Portuguese emigrants to America, the Azores, had been siphoned to Portuguese Africa and other green pastures within the Federation. Same was true for Madeirans who had emigrated to South Africa and South America in the past were drawn to new opportunities elsewhere within the Federation. Even with the strong economic activities and opportunities within the Federation Portuguese citizens continued to seek opportunities outside the Federation. During the 1960s approximately 10,000 Portuguese applied to leave the country each year with 2,000 continuing to go to Brazil each year, with USA, Canada, Venezuela and Australia being the other preferred destinations. In 1963 a row between the Portuguese Federation and Canada / Australia erupted when statistics showed that 70% of Caucasians who applied to the two countries were accepted while less than 10% of Africans, Colored and Asian Portuguese applicants were accepted. In 1964 the row expanded to include the Americans as their immigration records also showed an even greater bias towards European immigrants. Attempts by the Portuguese government and the three governments to discreetly fix the issue failed and the Portuguese government went public in both the Portuguese Federation as well in the three countries. While the Portuguese were able to change the situation in the Canadian case the Australians and Americans refused to acknowledge the issue. During the African War emigration slowed considerably only recovering slightly in 1968. In 1969 controversy once again visited Portuguese immigrants in USA, Canada and Australia when news of Portuguese spies and covert operatives were imbedded in the Portuguese communities and actively supporting the Federation. When news of political assassinations of leading Portuguese opposition politicians living in Paris by Portuguese expatriates broke, attitudes in Canada, Australia and USA towards the Portuguese communities turned negative. While the backlash against the Portuguese emigrant communities was nowhere as severe as in South Africa these communities struggled with racism and suspicion directed towards them. The biggest impact was the reduced number of Portuguese emigrants that both applied to immigrate to the three countries but more importantly the sharp reduction in Portuguese emigrants that were accepted.

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[1] Portuguese Intelligence identified that less than 25% of armed rebels fighting the Portuguese were from Portuguese Federation with majority coming from similar tribes of the host countries.
[2] Guinea Boke and Guinea became the subject of an intensive guerrilla war by Guineans financed and supported by Communist Guinea. Whom also became source of instability in neighboring Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Mali and Liberia. In 1965 in what became known as the PDR Guinea border Crises, Communist Guinea was besieged by troops of all its neighbors. Troops from Mali, and Ivory Coast were the first to strike inside PDR Guinea and within two months PDR Guinea was being attacked by all of its neighbors. After six months of continually losing ground to advancing neighbors forces the PDR Guinea requested intervention by the UN. PDR Guinea agreed to dismantle all communist camps and stop instigating any military action against all Organization of African Unity countries, thus leaving Guinea Boke and Portuguese Federation out of the agreement.
[3] iOTL José Alves committed suicide in Romania due to what he felt the betrayal of the communist to make sure he and his family would be well off. iTTL on the same day Alves travelled to Paris his wife and children flew to London and following the death of Cunhal they continued on their journey to the Portuguese Federation where government officials met them. They were settled in the Federation, but location is currently classified.
[4] The government goal of 160,000+ immigrants from Europe proved unrealistic as economic development in Europe slowed immigration to just under 70,000 a year with majority of whom were not from traditional northern European sources.
[5] In 1960 the Portuguese Federation instituted the British Isles Residency Act, allowing Irish and British citizens with no criminal record to automatically receive Federation residency upon arrival at Portuguese port or airport. In 1969 numerous British companies either closed, merged, sold their operations to Portuguese firms or moved to the Federation. This was followed by a percentage of their workers and their families moving also.
[6] The Indian Economic Union (IEU) was formed in 1961 between the Kingdom of Baroda, Kingdom of Hyderabad, Kingdom of Mysore, Democratic Union of India and Tamil Nadu to facilitate commerce and trade as well as ease the movement of people between the five countries. In 1962 both France and Portuguese Federation signed separate agreements with the IEU. Immigration to the Portuguese Federation was restricted in the Portuguese Indian provinces but open in European, African and East Asia provinces.

So we deal with two parts here the immigration/emigration of people in and out of country as well as the internal movement but also the security apparatus. So in regards to immigration into the country the traditional sources such as Germany that had served the Portuguese wonderfully in the 1940s and 1950s dried up as German economic recovery and progress meant it became a net importer of people. Therefore the Portuguese turned to the southern European and Eastern Europe (communist) as principle sources. The South American/Latin America component became a more important source of immigrants while Africans, Indians and Asians were allowed within the quota allowed for each group. emigration out of country was open and no one unless working in critical industry was allowed to leave. Principle motivation was liberty where as economic and military avoidance like witnessed in iOTL was largely absent.

This leads us to the security apparatus as the country security system was split and DGS became strictly external such as the CIA while the internal component became SIS or the Portuguese version of the FBI. Questions/ Comments?

Return in 2 weeks on Aug 8 when we post the culture and sports.