Rebirth of an Empire "O Renascimento de um Império" v2.0

[Lusitania]

Rebirth of the Empire (Part 1 of 2) (cont)
Pombaline Cabinet (1762 - 1777) (Cont)

Ministry of Science & Education ( 2 of 3)

University Modernization, Standardization & Multiplication​

“I do not seek to gut our prestigious establishments, your Excellency. The replacement of crosses on the wall with maps of the known world hardly constitutes heresy, as far as the Lord believes, much less the destruction of priceless legacies of wisdom and grace. What I seek is transformation, multiplication and improvement; and aren’t these the traits Man has sought to perfect in the name of God since He created us?”
-Duke of Lafões to Bishop Saldanha, on the subject of the Minister’s expansion and reform programs.​

The expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal in 1759 had left Portugal without a secondary school system since the Jesuits had run all of Portugal’s secondary schools since the 16th century. While the University of Coimbra was fairly secular, every other major college had also been greatly influenced by them and was also greatly affected by their expulsion, with the Jesuit University of Évora having even been fully closed.

The educational reforms needed in Portugal and initiated by Pombal were carried forward with great enthusiasm and dedication by the Duke of Lafões, who firmly believed the first step to regenerate education, was to modernize and increase the number of major education spots in Portugal.

However, there was also the ever-frustrating need to minimize work and expenditure. The budget the Prime Minister dispended for the Duke was significantly decreased by the radical changes the Count of Lippe was simultaneously making in the Portuguese Army, as well as the significant program launches made by the new Navy Minister Martinho Castro. There was thus the need to optimize his intended reform program so it wouldn’t rip a hole in the Portuguese treasury.

The question of how he could put in motion his rather radical changes to the Portuguese educational structure with as little money as possible was put, but even more so the doubt of whether he should really cut corners with such an important matter. Not willing to compromise any further with the other members of the Cabinet, the Duke decided then to work with what was already in place and the friendships he had already secured.

By March 1763, his University Reform program was organized and presented to the cabinet, which approved his list of measures following a discussion over the budget. It was his intention to create a new model of University for the country, one not too distant from the Coimbra Model but still with enough enlightened punch to pack a serious change.

The main points consisted of the following:

• Secularization of mainstream Universities: All main universities would have scientific pursuit as their main priority, rather than spiritual or even philosophical ones. This also confirmed the main scientific courses, such as mathematics and physics, as the ones prioritized in programs and budgets.
• Fringing of Catholic Universities: State support would not be given to theological courses and ecclesiastic careers would cease to be encouraged by schools.
• Removal of restrictions to University posts: University jobs, from teaching to bureaucracy to administration, would no longer uphold religious or nationality requirements. Qualifications would instead be the main requirement.
• Standardization of departments and architecture: University design would follow a more uniform skeleton model, improving assembling, maintenance and bureaucracy speed and costs.
• Connection with ‘Letter Road’ Post Offices: Publications, reports, communications, orders and requests by Universities would be made through official state channels, also allowing convergence of related institutions.

The new university model code was meant to establish idealized college priorities and policies, thus bringing their functioning to an extent to a more common and enlightened standard.

The first two main points were especially controversial, even accentuated by the age of Jesuit persecution the country was living in. Religious influence in high education was now officially under attack and many feared the promotion of a fully atheist set of policies for the entire state. The Duke’s efforts to ostracize the clergy completely would have perhaps gone even further, had Bishop Saldanha, Pombal’s informant, not intervened with the cabinet with the request of not outlawing religious schools as alternatives.

The third point, on the other hand, had in mind the objective of filling the intended new colleges. Initially most of these colleges’ professors were foreign, mostly English and German, because not enough qualified professors were available in Portugal. Predicting this, the Duke worked intensely to ensure no obstacles were raised to their employment.

Unfortunately, as said before, the Duke’s ministry had a lack of budget for building entire new universities straight out of nowhere, so fundraisers were made amongst the court to gather the necessary support for building the new establishments. Using his skills with and position in the court, the Duke was able to secure the help of a number of wealthy estate owners and noblemen, often on the condition of immediately admitting their family members as students or teachers.

As a result, by 1765, the Duke had been successful in funding the construction of said new Universities, but was conditioned by the funders on several aspects of their construction, from location to department inclusion. This was the birth of the ‘Colégios dos Nobres’.

Named ‘Noble Colleges’ after both the circumstances of their funding and the intended alumni, a total of three of these new secondary schools were built in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra to combat the lack of adequate mid-level learning centers in Portugal[1]. The objective of these colleges was to instill in the descendants of the aristocrats a modern education and was made prerequisite to enter university.

At first there was very little interest in these colleges from the noble families so the government opened them to the middle class and the new capitalist class. Plutocrat competition in land owning and business management as a result of this led to a surge of sons of barons and counts suddenly enrolling, though. By 1769 when all three colleges were fully staffed and had a full student body of which half of the students were of noble families.

Even so, while this produced many qualified plutocrat and aristocrat classes, it couldn’t solve the problem of widespread lack of education. It also failed to take full advantage of the lingering religious figures of teaching, which were still viewed as the traditional educators of the countryside. Employing them, however, went against the one of the primary overall objectives of the cabinet, which was to take Portuguese education off the clergy’s hands.

Thus, in 1768, still facing huge work skill and literacy problems while being pressured to lay off religious institutions by morality protesters, the Minister of Science and Education was forced to work around this conundrum and compromise, passing a new law that would fill the remaining gaps. The level of education a student was to receive was based on the social class the student was born to. The people who were to be farmers or laborers were to receive their education from the parish priests. Those who were to fill higher functions were divided into two groups: those who needed to learn to read write and do arithmetic and those who were to go on to university.

While this renegaded modern ideals regarding education by making use of feudal-like separations, this still allowed adopting large masses of population as basic students without radical institutional transformations, which was far better than not having enough teachers for them in the first place. Therefore, it was vital to start the birth of primary and secondary education system. This system would continue until the reign of Joseph II when the primary school system expanded to all children.[2]

The Duke of Lafões recruited Father Manuel do Cenáculo Vilas Boas who coordinated with the Religious Orders in Portugal and the help of the Portuguese Religious Council to help staff the primary schools and in turn the new Portuguese Catholic Church and its Religious Orders supplied over two thirds of the staff for these new schools.

Father Manuel do Cenáculo Vilas Boas
1724-1814
Confessor of King Joseph II 1769 – 1778
Secretary of Elementary Education 1769 -1778
Bishop of Beja 1778 – 1795
Archbishop of Évora 1795 -1812​

The secondary schools were much harder to staff and again the Duke of Lafões had to bring teachers from England and Europe to staff these schools. It was not until 1782 that all the secondary schools were staffed. Over the next twenty years the secondary schools were subsequently opened in every Portuguese provincial capital including its overseas provinces.

In 1765 as part of the education law reforms the Duke of Lafões dismissed the entire teaching staff of the University of Coimbra. The lack of qualified professors in Portugal forced Duke of Lafões to again fill all teaching positions with professors from foreign countries[3] and it was only in 1777 that the university re-opened and it was not until 1782 when all the professors were hired. In addition two new faculties were added: Advanced Mathematics and Philosophy. The Philosophy faculty included science courses as well as courses in Natural sciences, Physics and Chemistry.

The faculty of Medicine was also drastically changed, practical education was imposed and for the 1st time students were exposed to patients in the local hospitals. This was the start of the Hospital University dependency that still exists today.

The faculty of law was also changed to include the study of the evolution of the judicial institutions from their origin to the historical evolution. This was the groundwork for the study of the rights in Portugal in the next century. The rights attributed to all Portuguese including non-whites in Portugal in the 1800s would not of been possible were it not for it.

The most radical of the Education reforms in the University was the introduction of structured course outline and structured teaching methods. Course manuals were introduced and students were forced to study from books. These reforms transformed the education in Portugal from the dark ages to same level as those found in other more enlightened European countries. While this was not accomplished overnight, by 1800 Portugal education system was equal to the most enlightened European countries and more advanced than many.

The Jesuit University of Coimbra _________________________The Pombaline University of Coimbra​

Language, Business, Politics, History & Literacy

“The Kingdom of Portugal champions the cause of ignorance and dirty-mouth-ness. Our people are rude, crude, illiterate or rough and could not be prouder of it. Let us give them other reasons to be proud. Let us give them the gift of knowledge, of true citizens of this great continent, and enlighten their minds with a new mentality. They will reward you all for it, by giving their strength back to this land.”
-The Duke of Lafões, to the Pombaline cabinet, on the importance of molding the minds of the people.

The Expulsion of Jesuits & Enlightenment to the People​

At the start of the Duke’s ministry, the country faced widespread education problems that went far beyond mere illiteracy; there were significant social, cultural and traditional dissonances from region to region as a result of the Portuguese having different levels of common knowledge over their lives and their kingdom, of living lives overly dedicated to raw agriculture and fishing and still being under the influence of feudal age traditions and customs. The separations of sheer ability and awareness of national, commercial and worldly matters let to a large-scale detachment and lack of involvement from the people’s part in the affairs of their region, much less their state.

Local developments were not understood or properly interpreted. As demonstrated by the gradual perspective changes amongst the Portuguese between 1750 and 1762, most did not yet even fully understand why the economy was faring better, why the percentage of foreign-own businesses were decreasing and what was even going on at the capital with the Távora Affair and the Jesuit persecutions. Moreover, there were very strong language and cultural barriers in place, sometimes not just between the people and foreigners, but also between Portuguese of different regions and classes.

The Duke of Lafões argued, much to the disagreement of not only Pombal but also of Count William of Lippe, that there were important benefits to reap from giving the people an intelligently thought education on mid-level matters of state interests. Traditionally, it was in the interest of generals, kings and even the merchants that the people remained ignorant, for it meant less arguing when ordering them, drafting them or selling them something. Having been raised to such a powerful aristocratic position, it surprised the rest of the cabinet that the Duke would defend the overruling of such an idea.

The Duke’s adamancy on the matter would be explained by the fine print details of his plan. Having studied humane matters and knowledge itself while at Coimbra, the Duke possessed an understanding of the issue of the citizen’s valor that few of his inner circle did and argued that it was possible to use education as a tool to shape not only the worthiness of a man, but also his desires and mindset. A true philosopher at heart, the Duke argued that the same events and influences that drove their Prime Minister to hate the Jesuits and the country’s sorry state could be used to instill the mentality of an energetic contributor to the youths of the kingdom.

This meant that the Duke planned to do far more than educate the masses; he also intended to brainwash them. With the Jesuit Order gone, it was possible to now replace them and their so-nefarious miasma of religious and moral mania with new ideas and objectives, particularly ones favorable to the government.

The new course reforms were simple to plan and organize so, by the end of 1766, most of the new universities and schools built and staffed by the Duke in the previous years enforced the new curriculum:

• Secondary & University Language Degrees: As of September 1766, English, French and German degrees became options in obligatory language classes. The objective was to drastically increase the number of citizens who could speak at least one foreign tongue. Universities already taught many languages, but the program’s intention was to spread the teaching to lower level school establishments in major commercial spots, particularly Lisbon and Oporto. The available languages were picked over their global mercantile and industrial importance but, strangely, Spanish was not included outside minor studies on its Galician and Leonese variants.
• Business & Market Course Expansion: Studies on market dynamics, usury, supply & demand, mercantilism, free trade, colonial economy and commercial history received new funding and infrastructure. The objective was to promote the growing of an educated and skilled capitalist class that could act in an optimized manner in the Portuguese imperial market.
• Political Science & Philosophy Funding: Colleges now provided classes of political history and finesse so as to spread a better understanding of modern country inner workings. Along with a stronger emphasis on updated philosophy consensuses, this would lead to atmospheres of revitalized political discussion amongst the educated masses.
• Primary School History Class: Uniformed history class programs were introduced with the aim of preserving, promoting and evolving a widespread national identity. Studies were simplified according to year. The impact of this new course was heavily marked by the recent Spanish invasion of 1762 and the ongoing conflicts in the La Plata border.
• Illiteracy Combat Program (PCA): Primary Schools received special funding to promote the learning of reading and writing in a widespread manner, prioritizing it over work skills and elementary mathematics. The PCA (por. Programa de Combate ao Analfabetismo) was formed as an institution with the objective of overseeing this effort, making use of the new Pombaline Censuses to keep a grasp on the progress of its objective.

Unfortunately, most of the subjects at hand, with the exclusion of history and literacy, were aimed at upper class members and wealthy families. They were only introduced in Secondary Schools and Colleges with the intent of securing a higher education for the noble and merchant classes. Lower classes had neither the money nor the inclination to send to and maintain their children in these classes.

Moreover, the investment on political science was regarded as a dangerous move by the Count of Oeiras, who feared greater opposition from the masses to the cabinet’s agenda should they be provided with a higher insight on what he had planned for them. By the time the feared awareness was in place, however, both Pombal and the cabinet were at the peak of their consolidation.

Even so, the benefits of these programs were felt by the end of the decade. By 1770, the new generations of land heirs and business owners benefited from a much better preparation to the worlds of business, art, industry and war.

This also did not mean that the sons of farmers, butchers and gardeners were left unattended. The PCA would take many years to pick up momentum due to the sheer lack of adequate staff and money, but even in its infancy it played an important role in bringing books and low level education to small villages of the interior where there was none.

The biggest surprise of all, according to the information gathered by the Pombaline censuses of the mid and late 1760s, were the effects the new history class programs had in public perception of both foreigners and nationality. The program played itself out right after the Fantastic War and all through the Luso-Hispanic Undeclared War over the South American borders. This meant that a history of independence and imperial conquest was taught to the people at the same time they were under attack by their ancient invaders. The censuses claimed that public opinion of Spain and Spanish representatives underwent a steady decline over the course of the decade, which also lead to small trickles of volunteering during Luso-Hispanic conflicts of the following years (the count of Lippe’s army reforms would render this volunteering nigh insignificant in comparison to the professional forces).

Moreover, the education levels amongst the merchants and nobles in Portugal by the end of the decade received a new level of recognition and prestige as British merchants found it harder and harder to compete with native entrepreneurs in the Douro and Tagus markets. A new pursuit of self-improvement in their businesses, possessions and reputations was sparked by the revitalized generations of princes who actively worked to enhance their statuses and strengths (at least in comparison to the relatively comatose energy the country previously felt).

Lastly, the promotion of second tongues amongst the citizens, particularly of the northwestern European brands, would have an extremely important role in transforming the very attitude of the people. While hostility towards their closest neighbors was on the rise, the spreading of English, French and German to higher sects of population resulted in the birth of a new openness and acceptance of enlightened western ideals. Interaction with the British and French present in Portugal would be revitalized and, by 1770, approximately one in every ten people in continental Portugal spoke a second tongue to a degree.

This percentage did not reflect the true distribution of said skill; second tongues were mostly present in Lisbon, Coimbra, Oporto and Faro, where not only knowing a foreign language was most useful but also where education was much stronger. Still, it ceased to be uncommon to run into priests and bishops in Guarda and Braganza who could speak French.

In this day and age, this all proved itself significantly unusual, especially in a country previously afflicted by educational deficiencies. Duke John of Lafões therefore proved himself one of the biggest lynchpins of cultural change in Portugal of his age, having been singlehandedly responsible for metaphorically bringing the people into the light of more advanced Europeans.

_________________________________________________________________________________
[1] The educational reforms in Portugal was looked with great interest throughout Europe, the Portuguese government was able to bring skilled teachers from all over Europe including several from the Italian Peninsula such as João António Dalla Bella from Padua and Miguel Franzini from Venice.

[2] In 1771 Viceroy Marquis of Lavradio announced the construction of the first ‘Colégios dos Nobres’ in Rio.

[3] The introduction of state funded primary education was a slow process. In the early 1780s the first schools were built and at first attendance was voluntary. In 1810 several governors or local officials began making attendance of grades 1-4 obligatory. In 1825 Portuguese government made attendance of grades 1-6 obligatory nationwide, including colonies.

Note:
These chapters dealing with educational reforms had profound effect on the country and eventually the Empire. iOTL Pombal did institute many of these reforms more specifically the changes to University of Coimbra and Noble Colleges but being only one person and being responsible for so many different portfolios and not being as educated and enlightened at Duke John they were not as profound and complete as indicated in these chapters.. Comments / questions???.

Please return Thursday March 30 as we finish the Ministry of Education with the discussions on Publications and the Royal Academy of Sciences.

 

[Johannes Parisiensis]

Given the education system has been split in a secondary system for the upper classes and a primary system for the peasantry and the petty burghers:

1. Is there a way to transfer students between the systems?
2. Will the training of the priests be modificated, so that they are able to teach their pupils?

 

[Sceonn]

Beautiful! The Peninsular War will see a totally different Portugal facing Spain. Speaking of which, how will Spain be affected by these changes taking place in Portugal in the coming decades?

 

[Unknown]

Yeah, this gets better and better...

 

[Lusitania]

Given the education system has been split in a secondary system for the upper classes and a primary system for the peasantry and the petty burghers:

1. Is there a way to transfer students between the systems?
2. Will the training of the priests be modificated, so that they are able to teach their pupils?

There were several considerations when children went to school: 1) the social economic position of the family 2) the ability of the family to pay for education and expenses 3) the availability of schools.

While some bright students of the primary school system did continue onto secondary school and even university they for the most part were students who were sponsored by nobleman or rich people usually merchants. For the most part the children who attended primary school went to work in a trade, or family business. Unless they were sponsored economic circumstances would also dictate that as these boys grew into young adults their families would need their labor or salary.

As for the education of religious brothers and sisters who continued teaching the primary school system Duke John and Father Vila Boas provided detailed instructions and for the first time curriculum that they needed to teach. Spot checks and testing would over time catch those who resisted the new teaching methods. It was not a perfect system but it was a great improvement on the previous education system.

 

[Lusitania]

Beautiful! The Peninsular War will see a totally different Portugal facing Spain. Speaking of which, how will Spain be affected by these changes taking place in Portugal in the coming decades?

The Peninsula War will at times follow the same patterns but in many other ways be completely different. There were two major wars fought by Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula during the first 25 years of the 19th century. The one fought against the Spanish / French coalition known iOTL as the "War of the Oranges" fought in 1801 and what become known as the Peninsula War fought against the French from 1807 -1814 who were also fighting against Spanish guerillas. Neither of them will be the same. Sorry I cannot provide more details but know that they defined Portuguese Society and Empire in the early part of the 19th century.

Yeah, this gets better and better...

It does and lots more to come, the hardest part is waiting of course.

 

[Unknown]

Waiting for more, of course...

 

[Lusitania]

Rebirth of the Empire (Part 1 of 2) (cont)
Pombaline Cabinet (1762 - 1777) (Cont)

Ministry of Science & Education ( 3 of 3)

Publications & Legal Deposits

“Ugh! What’s the point of all these new Universities you’re building if they just stick their findings in the libraries for no one to read?!”
-Finance Minister Jacome Ratton, to the Duke of Lafões, upon finding out there wasn’t a single decent book in the cabinet’s meeting rooms.​

Printing presses had been present in Portugal ever since as early as the 1480s. The city of Faro was the first in the nation to receive the industry of paper duplication when the Jewish Samuel Gacon, fleeing from Spanish Inquisition, published the Hebrew Pentateuch to the Portuguese. From then on up unto the 1620s, the machinery spread upwards in the country until it reached the city of Oporto and proceeding to be worked on by those dedicated to multiply the number of books in the Kingdom.

As demonstrated by the scientific tragedy of Father Bartholomew’s ‘Birdie’, Portugal had a history of poor regard for proper scientific exploration, process and teaching. Moreover, even if the Inquisition did not condemn Father Bartholomew, this did not change the fact that the Portuguese Inquisitorial laws were responsible for the banning and burning of books and publications for nearly three centuries, ever since King Alphonse V banned the works of John Wycliffe.

The Duke of Lafões believed that there was room for extraordinarily important reforms on the country’s ability and methods to spread and share the work of researches and universities so as to make more efficient use of the work done in the new universities. It became his vision that, by the end of his term, university works were not only interchangeable, but also available to the public for consultation.

Finally, there was a need for a modern take on document validation. Banks of pre-approved pieces of knowledge were vital to act as effective bibliographies, after all.

The Legal Deposit of France was instituted way back in 1537 with the intent of making available the access to university doctorates and documents. This has spread to rest of Europe over the centuries, but Portugal still lacked it in the midst of the 1760s. To the Duke of Lafões, this was unacceptable.

In 1765, the Legal Deposits of Coimbra and Lisbon were formed. Mechanisms for biblical maintenance, safeguarding and control were put in place and the collection of research documents, usually featuring a minimum of more or less five copies (depending on publishing deals), was made available to students, teachers, scientists and researchers. This included the huge libraries of religious and historical text compiled over the centuries.

Coupled with the spreading of research material availability was the renovation of numerous printing offices. This would lead then to a paper demand spike that was aptly taken advantage of by the Finance Minister to jumpstart the paper mill industry in Portugal.

The installation of legal deposits to more universities would allow students to easily access qualified documents and, as a result, breed more doctorates and research papers that were then verified, approved and have a copy stored in the legal deposit. This often implied a number of legal agreements with the researchers, but Portuguese copyright law wasn’t complex enough at the time that this would prove itself a significant factor.

Royal Academy of Sciences​

​

The Duke of Lafões’ most iconic contribution, though far from being the greatest, was the founding of Lisbon’s Royal Academy of Sciences in 1768.[1] The Minister of Education and Sciences, despite being a philosopher student, remained a staunch thorn on Pombal’s side during most of his time in the cabinet as he opposed the PM’s desire to focus the country’s energy on the pursuit of Humanities, rather than pure science.

Around the same time, though many innovative reforms were being made in many areas, agricultural work’s progress was relatively sluggish. Most of the improvements being made were on productivity and quality through the methods employed by the Commercial Companies which, not only limited their practices to coldly calculated profitable crops, but also lacked the tools to pursue methods to improve the food itself, rather than the way the farm areas were calculated or how the tools were distributed.

Coupled with the need to bolster findings in chemistry and metallurgy (not at all reduced by the arm industry that would rise in the country during the latter half of the 18th Century), the Duke judged the country to be unprepared for proper walks on the road towards mastering physics, chemistry and genetics. He made it his objective to found a new society of people dedicated to further the scientific and literary cause so his work as Minister would not be in vain.

Joining forces with Joseph Correia da Serra, a diplomat and abbey he met in Naples who would become an important diplomatic figure in the Portuguese Barbary Wars, the Duke gathered resources from all areas, from Botanics to Paleontology, and conjoined them into the institution he would become the most associated to.

Correia da Serra cofounded the Royal Academy of Sciences​

Patronized by King Joseph I the Reformer, hence the ‘Royal’ in its name, the Academy was founded in the capital with the objective of gathering the finest gentleman minds of the country and provided them with the funds and research they need for important scientific breakthroughs. The Duke of Lafões himself became the first president and would go on to head some of its first major projects. His great deal of influence in the court allowed him to quickly attract candidates and bring prestige to the new institution.

Although the Academy was funded with agriculture and genetics in mind, it would become dominated by war matters in frightening speed; a vast amount of studies on gunpowder, shot physics, metal overheating and copper corrosion were demanded by state, generals, admirals and logisticians, steering the purpose of the foundation to darker dimensions. This would lead to (relatively) rapid advances in war technology between the 1770s and 1810s that would surge as important factors to the outcome of the Indian, Far East and Napoleonic Wars Portugal faced.

[1] iOTL the Duke of Lafões was instrumental in creating the Lisbon Royal academy of Sciences in 1779 after he returned to Lisbon.


Note:
These chapters dealing with educational reforms had profound effect on the country and eventually the Empire. iOTL Pombal did institute many of these reforms more specifically the changes to University of Coimbra and Noble Colleges but being only one person and being responsible for so many different portfolios and not being as educated and enlightened at Duke John they were not as profound and complete as indicated in these chapters.. Comments / questions???.

Please return Sunday April 2 as we publish the first chapters for Minister of Finance and Commerce.

 

[Johannes Parisiensis]

Given Portugal's position in the world, a focus on geology (in order to study the soil of its territorial possesions) and medicine will come handy in the future.

 

[Lusitania]

Given Portugal's position in the world, a focus on geology (in order to study the soil of its territorial possesions) and medicine will come handy in the future.

Yes, the Legacy of the Royal Academy of Sciences will be instrumental from an agricultural, and also use of land such as mining and forestry. The Lisbon Academy of Science and other Portuguese Academy of Science played instrumental role in the exploration of the Empire and world plus learning as much about those regions. iOTL they say that less than 50% of the Biodiversity of the Amazon has been documented. A country with more resources could greatly advance that.

The Academy will grow and will be tasked with other important work also. So while that was its primary focus at time of founding it will grow and greatly advance Portuguese science and knowledge.

 

[Sceonn]

So the agricultural revolution hasn't hit the country yet, then when it does the Empire's population will explode and won't be slowing down anytime soon since the Industrial Revolution is just around the corner.

 

[Lusitania]

So the agricultural revolution hasn't hit the country yet, then when it does the Empire's population will explode and won't be slowing down anytime soon since the Industrial Revolution is just around the corner.

I can't say that. Portugal needs both revolutions as both its agriculture and industry is so antiquated that it is still stuck in medieval in some ways. Unfortunately Portugal can't wait for agricultural revolution before industrial revolution can occur so both must occur at same time.

On Sunday we start posting Ministry of economy and finance which will deal changes to industry as part of changes to trade and economy. We will need to wait a little longer to post the Agriculture revolution though

 

[Lusitania]

Rebirth of the Empire (Part 1 of 2) (cont)
Pombaline Cabinet (1762 - 1777) (Cont)

Ministry of Finance & Commerce (1 of 5)

“Let he who’s given this role work the land where all shall be allowed the search of wealth, industry and enterprise. Our spirits shall be emboldened by his merchant adventures and our strength shall be raised by his mechanizing efforts. We must not let the path of progress and technology be hindered by timidity, for we are the people of Discovery.”
-King Joseph I, proclaiming the new reformed Ministry of Finance & Commerce​

On the economic front, two transplanted Portuguese, Jacques Ratton and Guillermo Stephens, became the two leading business supporters and industrialists in the country. Both Ratton, a Frenchmen by birth, and Stephens, an Englishman by birth, started in the middle of the 1760s, the early period of the Pombaline Revolution in Portugal, their rise in the Portuguese economic and trade transformation. Ratton and Stephens became the leading investors and industrialists in the country and eventually ended up having a finger in almost every part of the Portuguese economy and empire, though far more intensely in the Iberian region. They played a major role in the establishment of factories throughout the land as well as financing many private commercial enterprises.

Many historians attribute to these two the birth of the Portuguese capitalist class, which had until then been mostly nonexistent. Investments in Portugal until that point had been made primarily by the English, who had no strong interest in industrializing what was one of their primary raw material markets and manufactured good clients. Every other enterprise was dominated by native aristocracy ruling over underdeveloped farming communities.[1]

The military industrialist from England, however, paled in comparison to his French counterpart, whose significance and role in the country at this time would rival that of Pombal himself.

The French Industrialist

Jacques Ratton
Born 7th July 1736
Died 3rd July 1820
Franco-Portuguese Businessman, Economist, Knight of the Order of Christ and Statesman​

Born in Paris to a member of the Conseil du Roi, and Jeanne Orsel, Jacques immigrated as a youth to the Portuguese city of Oporto, where he would join his brother-in-law’s locally established business. This was a typical pattern of the French mercantile community, who educated their offspring in France up to the age of fourteen before bringing them to foreign markets to master the family’s trade. Ratton was no exception and reached the Douro River Mouth just in time for Prime Minister’s Melo appointment, in 1750.

There he made his fortune and expressed his witty and cultured nature in eloquently ridiculing the Portuguese merchant class. In his Memoirs, asides from detailing his losses in the Lisbon Earthquake of over 300,000 cruzados, he wrote of encountering a backward society of corrupt plutocrats who failed to resort to even the most rudimentary bookkeeping forms.

In 1758, Jacques married Ana Isabel Clamous, daughter of the French Consul of Oporto, and despite his unsavory attitude towards the Portuguese pseudo-merchants, he would further cement his position in the country in 1762, during the Fantastic War, where he naturalized himself Portuguese as soon as his home country France expressed hostilities to Lisbon. This allowed him to build a reputation of trustworthiness and character amongst the Lusitanian just in time for the transition between a country crippled by an earthquake to the rising example of economic healthiness that Pombaline Portugal was.

Most importantly, Jacques was an inventive and shrewd person who could see the potential for industrial growth in the country he nested himself in. During the first phase of Pombal’s reign, he starred in the creation of several new factories, mainly dye works and textile mills that allowed the country to first start competing with British goods. The future Marquis of Pombal quickly took notice and interest in the French-born capitalist, who was making strides in introducing new production in the Kingdom while cruising through the Commercial Companies’ stiff regulations. Prime Minister Melo first began exchanging correspondence with the young investor in 1758, when the Colonial Profit Doctrine first started being designed, and often sought advice from him in financial and industrial matters.

Finally, in February 1762, the Count of Oeiras formally invited him to become the new Finance Minister. Seeing it as an opportunity to cement his position in the country and the prestige of his businesses, Jacques agreed and was officially announced a member of the Pombaline Cabinet at the end of the month.

Aged 26 at the time of his appointment, the French businessman was, by far, the youngest member of the cabinet and a stark contrast to the remaining statesmen. Ambassador Castro and Duke John, for example, were almost three decades older, natives to Portugal and men of noble upbringing. The investor didn’t take long to impress the entire cabinet, though, as he quickly became responsible for some of the most marking changes in the country of the century.

Ratton and Stephen's investments were thus promoted, but also strictly overseen by Pombal in their early period so as to ensure they went to Portuguese businesses, rather than English ones. It was Pombal's intention to kick start a new capitalist mentality and confidence in Portuguese business owners with this initial control so that in long term capitalism would become a self-promoted part of Portuguese society, rather than relying on ministers and Kings like it had so far.

Over time, so great was this duo's success that their support and contacts provided much of the impetus to most of the economic investments over the next quarter century. In 1771 Jerome Ratton became the Secretary of Commerce and personally owned over 100 factories throughout the empire by the turn of the century while Guillermo Stephens became the leading figure of the military industry in Portugal.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] In the middle of the 18th century only approximately 15% of the land in the Iberian Peninsula was cultivated.



Note:
The Ministry of Finance and Commerce deals with several important topics that were fundamental to the modernization of the Portuguese state and Empire, to that effect it will be posted in five separate posts. This first one dealt with the creation of the department which was much more that just a Treasurer but more in the style of developer and industrialist all in one. We will give a more detailed introduction of the other half of the department Stephen in next chapter. In this age there was no separation of government and private enterprise, while Pombal did keep a close eye on the investments of the two it was more in verifying that those investment were in the best interest of the country not that they were profiting from the very laws and reforms being instituted by the government. iOTL Both of these industrialists became very rich and powerful in Portugal and their commercial enterprises very successful. Comments / questions???.

Please return Thursday April 6 as we publish the next chapter for Minister of Finance and Commerce "
Metropolitan & Brazilian Industrialization"
.

 

[Guilherme Loureiro]

[1] In the middle of the 18th century only approximately 15% of the land in the Iberian Peninsula was cultivated.

Actually, that's not that bad for a country(same level as the current USA, IIRC; Brazil's percentage of cultivated land is currently around 8%), although it's below the average for European countries. Of course, the cultivated land in the Iberian Peninsula would be able to sustain way less people than nowadays.

 

[Lusitania]

Actually, that's not that bad for a country(same level as the current USA, IIRC; Brazil's percentage of cultivated land is currently around 8%), although it's below the average for European countries. Of course, the cultivated land in the Iberian Peninsula would be able to sustain way less people than nowadays.

It was way below European standards, we have to understand both Brazil and USA have huge parts of country that are desolate and empty. This was only first bit of info and would change due to a variety of reasons many of which we will deal with in next few posts plus extensive in the Minustry of Heath & Agriculutre.

 

[Unknown]

Good update; looking forward to more, of course...

 

[The Merovingian]

Great TL, will be watching out for more, glory to Brazanga!!

 

[Lusitania]

Rebirth of the Empire (Part 1 of 2) (cont)
Pombaline Cabinet (1762 - 1777) (Cont)

Ministry of Finance & Commerce (2 of 5)

Metropolitan & Brazilian Industrialization​

And the first, and not even greatest, contribution he made was the pivotal role Ratton played in the industrial revolution in Portugal.

At the beginning of 1763, the Portuguese economy was in a state of recovery; the financial reforms of the earlier decade had allowed a much greater control over inflationary waste and the state coffers were growing more steadily than ever. This meant that the government was in a good place to foment new businesses and manufactories without compromising budget stability. Unfortunately, the Portuguese industrial technology was significantly weak; the country was almost entirely dependent on British patents, which in turn meant the Portuguese goods didn’t have a lot going for them in terms of distinction.

The lack of industrial establishment in Portugal, especially in Lisbon and Oporto, would, however, perhaps be the biggest contribution to the rapid and radical nature that the country’s mechanization undertook. The fact that there was still so much to catch up while British factories were already firmly established and designed in their own settings meant that newly built Portuguese industries could build themselves from a more modern scratch than French and British ones. This contributed a great deal to the Portuguese industrial infrastructure making use of British and French understandings of how to properly conceive the fundaments of a powerful industrial network, something the British and French themselves did not have the luxury of.[1]

The reduced uprooting requirements and more intelligent preparation and planning, as a result, allowed for Portuguese industrialization to take place in a much more incendiary rate than it would have had it begun thirty or forty years before. This advantage was only possible to be cashed in, however, because the state had enough funds for rather radical urban reconstruction and because Pombal had purposely reserved areas in Lisbon for industries during the capital’s reconstruction.

Even so, in addition to several other industrial reforms detailed in topics below, Jacques Ratton began a series of terrain industrialization projects just as the reconstruction of Lisbon concluded itself. Entire areas by the Tagus were reserved by the Finance Ministry for the creation of new plants and factories while a call for investment was made. Similar land demarcations were made in other major cities in the kingdom, mainly Oporto and Coimbra.

The objective was to kick-start a major industrialization project that would revolutionize Portuguese production and, by the end of the year, the results were in. Starting in April 1763, the government oversaw the creation of national and private industries throughout the country. The type of industries being formed was influenced by a number of factors:

• Reconstruction of the Army and Navy: At the time, Army Minister William of Lippe and Navy Minister Castro were conducting equally massive projects in their respective areas, in their case rebuilding Portuguese army structure and naval architecture virtually from scratch. This lead to an emphasis on wood & metal treatment industries for ships, weapons and gunpowder.
• Competition with British Cloth: In order to take Lusitanian markets back into Portuguese hands, removing the lynchpin of British presence in Oporto was vital, so the highly advanced textile and cloth industries were prioritized. This was bolstered further by the Lippean-Castro Reforms, which had a high demand for new military uniforms.
• The Abolishment of Slavery: Prime Minister Melo’s critical decision to outlaw the slave trade in all non-Brazilian territories changed many consumption and production patterns.
• Defining Portuguese Exportation: In order to bring distinction to the Portuguese manufactories in Europe, the state decided to invest in promoting a characteristic series of ‘Portuguese Products’, namely paper, cork and glass.
• Promotion of Colonial-Continental Production: The maximization of Brazilian, Goan and Macanese profits required the creation of industries geared towards their individual production potential, namely sugar, spices and porcelain that they could send to Europe.

These five factors completely determined the course the industrialization in Portugal took in the late 18th Century and many of the industrial advances and constructions were influenced by the studies and discoveries made by the Royal Academy of Sciences.

An excellent example was the gunpowder industry, which exploded in Brazil rather than Continental Portugal. Joseph Alpoim, a Luso-Brazilian military, engineer and architect who was also a disciple of Professor Fortes, the writer of ‘The Portuguese Engineer’, continued the work of his master by writing in the 1740s several studies on the proper manufactory of quality gunpowder as well as on Brazil’s ability to manufacture it. His books were copied and transported to Continental Portugal as a result of Duke John’s legal deposit reforms and were used as a basis for choosing the location of the new gunpowder plants.

Through the research of Alpoim, the Portuguese South American territories were deemed to have large reserves of charcoal material, sulphur and saltpeter (and even the occasional guano cave) vital for the production of high-quality explosion dust. Between 1763 and 1770, a number of gunpowder factories were built along the Brazilian coast by the Portuguese, which would spend the decade supplying Brazilian forces and exporting barrels of the best gunpowder the empire could offer to Lisbon (all just in time for the Luso-Hispanic Undeclared War).

Left: Vargas Gunpowder Factory Stamp
Right: Mockup of Rio de Janeiro’s Gunpowder Factory​

Brazilian gunpowder factories played an important role in modernizing Portuguese equipment. Throughout the 1770s, advances in gunpowder production and gun barrel design by the Royal Academy of Sciences in Lisbon would allow for critical musket transformations that would turn the Lusitanian line infantry into a feared front of infantry rank destroyers. The Portuguese Heavy Musket, the short-lived weapon that dominated Portuguese tactics between 1790 and 1820, was a result of the work conducted by these factories to maximize gunpowder efficiency without overpowering the gun itself.

Back in Portugal, sugar refineries were built in Lisbon and Funchal for the treatment of sugar from the Madeira Island. Following this, a huge effort was made to spread the textile industries through Portugal. Textiles were a massively important industrial product for Portugal not so much because of national demand, but due to a need to reroute investment to what was a branch of enormous technological potential as well as an urgent drive the state had to supplant the overwhelming British presence in Oporto. Therefore, whole missions for technological patents were sent out to both the Royal Academy of Sciences, the Universities and even the infamous tentacular PRP Program, which at the time was building up a foreign network of contacts.

In the year 1767, for example, in exchange for assisting James Hargreaves of Stan Hill escape from an angry mob to Nottingham, the Portuguese embassy in London received the design specs for the multi-spool spinning wheels called “spinning jenny”. In 1769, James Hargreaves was invited to Portugal and became a principal shareholder in a new company called “Companhia de Algodão” (Company of Cotton) situated in Guimarães. The company was created to control the entrance of overseas cotton in the metropolitan market (mainly from Brazil, Goa and later on the US), manufacture and operate the “spinning jenny” as well as other textile machinery innovations, and finally educate workers in its use. To provide Portugal with the raw materials, the production of cotton in Brazil was increased and new plantations were started in Mozambique north of the Zambezi River and in Southern Angola. Additional machines were made for the wool and linen factories in Castelo Branco and Oporto respectively.

Sides: 18th Century Textile Industry in Rio de Janeiro and Oporto
Center: Textile Industry Distribution in 18th century Continental Portugal​

By 1790, the Oporto region produced 60% of the textiles made in the entire Portuguese Empire, taking raw material mostly from Brazil and Goa, but also later on African territories and the US[2]. By the same year, Portuguese native competitive capacity had grown enough in Oporto to amount to 66% of said production, with the remaining staying in British hands in large part due to free trade agreements made with London (British merchants were protected by Portuguese Law and treaties from having their assets forcefully taken over).

Following the powerful investment in textiles was the investment in national specialty; namely the construction of a series of products the country could become known for. Noble College studies on the countries’ resources, traditions and establishments suggested that clay, cork and glass had enormous development potential in the Portuguese market and Finance Minister Ratton was adamant in investing in the formation of a new national brand.

This aspect of his plan relied mostly on aristocratic funds. Ratton, despite being a plutocrat, was rather popular in court due to his French roots and so he was able to acquaint himself with dukes and marquises from several regions. Development agreements with these contacts allowed him to form an elaborate plan of regional production that envisioned the multiplication of medium sized industries in the interior regions that focused on the production of glass and clay.

In 1768, the Glass & Porcelain industry ‘Vista Alegre’ brand was formed after a number of small establishments fused to form a higher company in Lisbon. Known for their ties with Portuguese history and their ‘blue canton’ products based on Cantonese porcelain, the brand quickly established itself as the main name of Portuguese glass production, controlling as much as 40% of that particular national market by 1770[3].

Vista Alegre’s Historical HQ​

The big names of Portuguese glass industry were vital to establishing the more famous aspects of national production as well as making strides in industrial chemistry. Many engineers at work in the companies’ factories later contributed with documents pertaining glass, porcelain and even steel production, though their most important strides were in improving factories’ chemical efficiency in the 1800s. Moreover, the glass industry in Portugal was one of the first to spread to the colonies in the empire, as it quickly found profitable to secure contracts in Goa and Macau for both extra production and sales.

The second biggest industrial sector resulted from this focus on national production was the paper industry. During the new Finance Minister’s term, a number of paper-by-paper production factories were constructed with the objective of supplying Portuguese colleges, bureaucracies and newspapers with quality paper. However, the need for certain types of wood increased exponentially in the 1760s and 1770s when Navy Minister Castro began designing with his engineers the new naval architecture doctrine which defended the building of large frigates for the Merchant and Royal Navies.

As part of his reform detailed below of chartering Portuguese resources and plantation areas, Minister Ratton made an historical introduction to Portugal; the Eucalyptus.[4] Known for its adequacy for paper manufactory and tendency to mysteriously burst into flames during the summer, the tree was also picked to be planted due to its notoriously fast growing rate. Though the oak plantations later on also introduced would prove far more apt as hardwood for shipbuilding, the eucalyptus became such an important source of material for the new paper mills that the northern region villages entered in landscape cycles as whole sections of trees were cut down and regrown virtually every year.

Unlike the textile sector, which made use of mainly rehashed British patents, the paper industry in Portugal was built around Dutch machinery designs, which were judged at the time to be more apt for maximized efficiency.

Various machinery room reconstructions in the Portuguese Paper Museum​

Finally, the cork industry received increased subsidies as part of the program to cultivate new forests in Portugal for naval supplies. Cork oak, of course, was not fit for shipbuilding, but the properties of the material when produced with quality was vital to supplement an already established industry in Portugal; the vineyards. Of all the new national staples, oak cork reached its establishment goals the fastest due to its roller in stopper industry. Contracts with the new glass industries allowed it to replace old bottle manufactories and supply the Douro region with everything it needed to commercialize its wine.

The stardom of these three branches of production as typical Portuguese products did more than take advantage of social, cultural and geographical circumstances to thrive; the rapid industrialization resulted from this allowed other businesses to flourish, namely silk, furniture and construction materials.

In 1765, the Metropolitan Mining & Quarry Company established by Pombal a decade earlier was renovated by Minister Ratton to include its production overlordship the manufactory of construction materials. The experience of Lisbon’s reconstruction allowed rapid advancements in Portuguese construction expertise, such as the preconstruction of buildings that allowed for better urban planning and anti-seismic techniques, and Ratton, who planned the radical industrialization of Portugal, predicted that a strong construction industry was fundamental for quality factories.

Unlike with its other fields, however, the Metropolitan Company’s powers over construction were limited and they acted more as material quality-cost supervision than the methodology police role they played in mines and quarries. To compensate this fraud opening, laws were passed by Ratton in the cabinet to prohibit certain known methods of construction corruption. An excellent example was the criminalization of inadequate frame uses in earthquake areas such as the Tagus Valley.

Following the mechanization of the country’s production, focus was placed by Ratton in military and naval industry. Between 1763 and 1770, Minister William and Minister Castro undertook radical reconstruction programs in their respective areas which overtime lead to intense competition between the two over the available budget and resources. Moreover, Ratton was preoccupied with the state of the country’s naval communication, as the empire was growing increasingly dependent on Luso-Brazilian interaction the more the metropolis was industrialized and the more colonial reforms were passed by Minister Castro.

Using the improvements in the economy brought by both the industrial booms and victories in South America over the Spanish, the state was able to afford a new investment in the shipyard industry. Under the supervision of the Navy Ministry, the construction of new drydocks and naval complexes was initiated with the intention of revolutionizing the country’s shipbuilding capacity, quality and affordability. The long-term objective was to increase Portuguese naval power to the point of freeing up resources for army improvements, but the biggest strides in this area would actually be made by William and Castro in the form of cooperation and mixing reforms such as the Mariner Act.

Lastly, planning was made to prepare a shift of production in Portugal’s African colonies with the intent of replacing slavery as the most profitable practice in Guinea, Angola and Mozambique. Between 1760 and 1770, Prime Minister Pombal had initiated a phased plan of slavery disbandment throughout the empire, but social circumstances in Brazil prevented a full abolishment from being concluded. This resulted in slavery being abolished in African territories, but it being conducted anyway through smuggling to the Brazilian market.

Instead of wasting resources combating a smuggling that kept Brazilian plantation owners happy, Ratton and Castro instead decided to create conditions for Guinea and Angola to willingly put aside the slave business as part of the second phase of the Colonial Profit Doctrine. New investigations were made on colonial territory to ascertain the best way to change Portuguese African main productivities, but the small size of most of these territories would delay this effort until several important military expansions were made in Guinea and Angola later on.[5]

The growth of these and other national industries continued throughout Pombal’s term and beyond, in great part thanks to Stephen and Ratton's work. The Portuguese government recruited businessmen and technicians from Europe’s production centers and provided them with exclusive rights for their products in Portugal so as to ensure the establishment of the new industries went smoothly.

As a result of all these efforts, Jacques Ratton became known as an historical industrialist in Portugal. The responsibility for the modernization of Portuguese industrial capacity became attributed to him as an established legacy. His importance and relevance in elevating the Portuguese economic prestige as well as the impact he had in Lisbon’s industrial area expansion was so great that a number of commerce schools as well as the district of ‘Rato’, appropriately placed by the Marquis of Pombal’s square, were named after him.

Even so, Ratton’s ambitious projects had large prices to pay and the state, despite its revitalized finances, could only afford to pay so much of the tab. Past a certain point, Ratton’s industrialization process started depending a great deal on private investments. While Portuguese reputation was slowly growing beyond borders, it was also stained by a steep mark of Pombaline neo-mercantilism. English businessmen were growing increasingly distrustful of the Portuguese market, from where they sensed greater and greater deals of hostility to foreign bosses and owners. An important ally to counteract this tendency was Guilherme Stephens.

Guilherme Stephens
Born 16th May 1731
Died 11th May 1803
English-Born Industrialist & Investor​

Having come to Portugal at the height of Pombal’s early rule, William Stephens naturalized himself Portuguese and proceeded to gain Pombal’s favor through his strong enterprise activity. In the 1760s, he allied himself with the new Finance Minister Jacques Ratton and fulfilled his part in promoting private investment in the new Portuguese industries. Partly through his own investments and partly through his contacts in England, Guilherme Stephens worked diligently to paint a new picture of the Portuguese market to English businessmen, so new money could flow into the coffers. The new shipyard expansions and many of the major businesses that were born in his era in the country would not have been possible without his efforts.

He became one of Portugal’s leading industrialists with factories throughout Portugal as well as investments in agriculture and forestry. He was a leading member of both Chambers of Commerce and a leading investor in many overseas investments. The glass factory in 'Marina Grande' which in time became Portugal’s largest and one of the biggest glass and Crystal companies in the world was established by him. Along with Finance Minister Ratton, these two individuals would become the principal economic proponents and advocates of the new economic and industrial systems in Portugal.

By 1770 the fruits of the industrialization process in Portugal were bearing for all to see. Productivity in many vital areas had increased so much that Portugal was able to fully supply major sectors of army and construction needs without resorting to British aid.

Moreover, the revenue the state generated through the “Commercial Companies” became enormous. The "Alto Douro's Winery Company" was able to increase the revenue Portugal received from wine in the Douro Region by tenfold when cork and glass production was directed straight to it by the new manufactories. By adopting new, more enlightened practices regarding both labor and fruit care, the Company was able to increase national production while at the same time imposing high quality standards.[6] Many other Companies throughout the Colonial Empire followed equivalent paths in their respective areas, often leading to similar production and quality boosts as well as supply rewiring.

The gigantic leap in manufacturing in Portugal and subsequently in the overseas provinces provided the goods and products for its needs as well as for exportation, something that would result in major tide turns in the 1763 Undeclared War along the La Plata border. The increase trade provided the government with additional revenue and reduced Portugal’s dependencies on foreign goods. By 1776 Portugal had greatly reduced the manufactured and consumer goods it imported to the point that its exports were two times greater than its imports. The nature of the products imported had also changed; in 1755 Portugal was exporting raw materials and importing manufactured goods, but by 1775 the bulk of the imports were raw materials for its factories and most of its exports were manufactured goods.

The revenue from Portugal’s overseas provinces took longer to change, but also eventually increased; first in India then subsequently in East Asia and finally in both Africa and Macao region, as trade and economic activity increased in these provinces as they grew in size and were better developed and managed. However, this was mostly as a result of the new metropolitan capacity to take in colonial goods and make money with them. Wars in India would delay development in Goa while underdevelopment in Timor and Macau made industrialization impossible during the first years.

Finally, the economic interaction increase between Portugal and its overseas provinces between 1755 and 1795 was remarkable. By 1778 over 1000 factories were operating in Portugal. This number did not include the local traditional craft shops that also co-existed with the new factories. The Portuguese government had been able to liberate Portugal economically from the various English factors that had dominated and at the same time repressed Portugal’s development. The government’s revenue and spending had also been restored allowing the government to rebuild Portugal, invest in the infrastructure and defenses.

__________________________________________________________________________________
[1] iOTL it is ironic that German Industrialization took the same approach during the 19th century. Industrialization mushroomed throughout the entire country allowing it to equal and then surpass British Industrial capacity. In our TL it is the Portuguese who first utilize the “lessons learned” from the British and begin building their own industrial base.

[2] iOTL Oporto region is the largest producer of textiles in Portugal.

[3] iOTL without the grand industrial push during Pombal’s government it would take till 1824 for the Vista Alegre porcelain company to be founded.

[4] iOTL the Eucalyptus tree was only introduced in Portugal in the later part of the 19th century, Here demand brings it to Portugal 100 years earlier.

[5] In Guinea the Portuguese expansion wars along the Casamence and Cacheu Rivers and the Angolan coastal expansion wars more than doubled the territory under Portuguese control in these colonies.

[6] This statistic occurred iOTL as well.


Note:
As noted before the Ministry of Finance and Commerce deals with several important topics that were fundamental to the modernization of the Portuguese state and Empire, to that effect we are posting in five separate posts. This second one delas with the first substancial industrialization in not only the country but Empire. As per iOTL the authorization to allow the industrialization of Brazil was a huge departure in the European colonial model, one which Pombal like Ratton and cabinet in the TL realized was necessary. iOTL It was a shame that when Maria I ascended to the throne she ordered man of them shuttered. Comments / questions???.

Please return Sunday April 9 as we publish the next two chapters for Minister of Finance and Commerce "Labor Shortage & Internal Human Traffic" and "The King's Roads' Project Part 2 of 3"

 

[Sceonn]

Magnificent! It's so well thought out, so well presented that I don't even know what to comment on. Any question I might have had have been nicely addressed in the chapter and the flow is smooth and easy to digest.

Really, great work guys.

 

[Lusitania]

Magnificent! It's so well thought out, so well presented that I don't even know what to comment on. Any question I might have had have been nicely addressed in the chapter and the flow is smooth and easy to digest.

Really, great work guys.

I must acknowledge Thrudgelmir2333 for his writing skills who worked really hard to take lots of ideas we had and taking it to new level linking several sections together.