Soldiers of the Portuguese Empire. Part of 3. Army in the colonies and in the metropolis

1
By the beginning of the twentieth century, Portugal retained vast colonial possessions in the Old World. She owned Angola and Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, Goa, Daman and Diu, Macao (Macau), East Timor. All of these colonies needed the presence in their territory of large contingents of colonial troops, capable of suppressing the uprising of local residents in case of anything or repelling attempts at aggression from neighboring countries - colonies of European powers. The armed forces stationed in the overseas colonies had a number of differences from the army of the metropolis. First, they were called the colonial army - Exército Colonial. Secondly, they submitted to the Ministry of Overseas Territories, which was responsible for all aspects of the life of the colonies. At the turn of the century, Portugal was most active in Africa, seeking to conquer the interior of Angola and Mozambique.

As early as the 19th century, after the independence of Brazil was declared, Portugal was left without the largest overseas army. However, by 1869, four overseas command commanders had been organized — the army of West Africa, the garrison of Mozambique, the Indian army and the garrison of Macao (shown here as soldiers of the military garrison in Macau) and Timor. The West African Army included the 5 battalions of light riflemen "Kazadoresh" - here their presence was simply invaluable; artillery battery, two linear battalions and 28 mobile companies. Virtually all of these units were stationed in Angola, with the exception of two Kazadoresh battalions - in Cape Verde and in Sao Tome and Principe. Three Kazadoresh battalions and one veteran company were deployed in Mozambique. The Indian army included an engineering corps, an artillery regiment, a line infantry battalion and three Kazadoresh battalions, two veteran companies, and a municipal guard of New Goa. All of these forces, with the exception of one Kazadoresh battalion in Daman, were stationed in Goa.



In addition, the Indian Army included Goa’s own Military Mathematics School, which trained officers for an engineering corps, an artillery regiment, and infantry units. A single infantry battalion was stationed in Macau and one infantry company was stationed in Timor. Thus, in many Portuguese colonies, military units were very few, but they managed to maintain control of the metropolis over these territories even by the forces of one company on Timor or three battalions on huge Mozambique. The role played by the advantage of the Portuguese army in armament, which remained in the XIX - early XX centuries, despite the general economic weakening of the Portuguese state. In 1876, the Overseas Infantry Regiment was created, headquartered in Lisbon, but ready to act in overseas possessions. Two battalions of the regiment were deployed in India and Macau on a permanent basis. However, in 1892, the regiment was disbanded.

Soldiers of the Portuguese Empire. Part of 3. Army in the colonies and in the metropolis
- Portuguese soldiers in Angola

The final design of the Portuguese colonial empire to the beginning of the twentieth century. reflected on the reform of the colonial troops. Overseas provincial and autonomous district headquarters were established in 1901. The police corps and customs, the disciplinary corps, military courts, the system of material, technical and medical support of the troops were organized. The reserve was served by retired military and units of the second line. Governor-Generals of the provinces of Angola, Mozambique and India and the governors of Cape Verde, Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe and Macao, the governor of the autonomous region of Timor received the status of commanders for the armed forces in the relevant areas with the rank of divisional generals. The governors of subordinate districts simultaneously commanded garrisons in their districts with the rank of brigadier generals. The first line of defense included three mixed batteries of mountain and garrison artillery in Angola, Mozambique and India, one company of garrison artillery of the European composition in Macau, one native artillery company in Cape Verde, six mixed mountain-artillery and infantry companies - 1 in Guinea , 2 in Angola, 1 in Mozambique and 2 in Timor, two mixed companies of garrison artillery and infantry in Sao Tome and Principe and Mozambique, three dragon’s squadrons - two in Mozambique and one in Angola, four separate dragoon platoons - two in Guinea, one in and India and one in Timor, six European infantry companies - one in Cape Verde, one in Angola, two in Mozambique, one in Macau and one in India. In addition, the colonial army included 32 indigenous infantry companies - 16 in Angola, 10 in Mozambique and 6 in India, six police corps in Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, Angola, Mozambique, Macao, India, two disciplinary battalions in Angola and Mozambique, five European music platoons - 3 in Angola and 2 in Mozambique, four native music platoons - in Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, India and Macau.

- honor guard of the Portuguese army

For a long time, Portugal participated mainly in the colonial wars. After the Napoleonic Wars the biggest event in the military stories Portugal became the First World War. It was preceded by large-scale domestic political events in the country. 1 February 1908 was killed by King Carlos I and his eldest son, Duke Luis Filipe. Manuel II became the new king, completely uninterested in politics and unable to retain power. In 1910, as a result of the coup d'état, Portugal was proclaimed a republic. One of the first ideas of the Republicans in the field of defense management was the transfer of the Portuguese army to the militia principle, modeled on the Swiss army. By this, the Republicans wanted to reduce military spending and protect the republic from the possibility of a military coup. In January, 1911 began a major military reform. First, the number of divisions and regiments was increased, the divisions of Kazadoresh were disbanded, separate machine-gun divisions were created. The army of the metropolis was divided into engineering, artillery, cavalry, infantry troops, military medical, military veterinary and military administrative services, the military secretariat. The army consisted of line troops, reserve troops and territorial troops. The line troops included 8 divisions (each in the 4 infantry regiments, 1 machine-gun battery group, 1 artillery regiment and 1 cavalry regiment) and 1 cavalry brigade (3 regiment). In addition, 8 subdivision of sappers, 8 pontoon-bridge and 8 searchlight subunits, 10 field telegraph units, 1 wireless telegraph company, 1 aeronautical company, 1 railway group of mouths and 1 fortress and 2 aeronautical company, 1 railway group of mouths and 2 fortress phone numbers of X-TV units belonged to the linear units, 3 aeronautical company, 3 railway group of companies and 3. The artillery consisted of the 8 mountain artillery regiment, 3 equestrian artillery battery group, 8 howitzer battery groups, 8 individual mountain artillery batteries. Also XNUMX infantry regiment and XNUMX separate machine gun companies were highlighted. The military medical service included the XNUMX military medical company, the administrative service the XNUMX group of companies (XNUMX transport and XNUMX logistics companies).

The beginning of the First World War prevented the further implementation of military reforms. The armed conflict between Portugal and Germany started long before the official declaration of the war that followed in 1916. Already in 1914, the Portuguese troops participated in the fighting in Africa. It was the African front that became Portugal a place of large-scale confrontation with the German colonial forces, especially since the Portuguese colonies bordered the German colonies - Angola with German South-West Africa (Namibia), and Mozambique - with German East Africa (Tanganyika). Given the need to more actively protect the Portuguese possessions in Africa from the German threat, the colonial army was reinforced by expeditionary forces arriving from the metropolis. Expeditionary troops included infantry battalions, cavalry squadrons and artillery batteries seconded from the regiments stationed in the metropolis. Each regiment usually sent its third battalion to Africa. Thus, in Angola, the 15-thousandth grouping of troops was deployed, in Mozambique - the 17-thousandth grouping of troops.

- military men of the Portuguese army of times of the First World War

Portuguese troops in 1916, after the official declaration of war on Germany, entered the fighting on the Western Front. About 60 thousand Portuguese soldiers and officers were involved here. They formed two large formations - the Separate Heavy Artillery Corps and the Portuguese Expeditionary Force. The artillery corps included artillery units from the coastal and garrison units of the Portuguese artillery, operating under the general command of the French army. The Portuguese Expeditionary Force operated as part of the 1st British Army and included 2 divisions of 6 rifle brigades. The Portuguese Expeditionary Force was deployed to France in early 1917. More details about the events of that time are described in a separate article by Alexander Samsonov on Portugal’s participation in the First World War and posted on the Military Review website. We only note here that the Portuguese troops on the fronts of the First World War faced numerous difficulties, among which it should be noted: 1) large-scale human losses, 2) the practical lack of replenishment due to limited mobilization resources, 3) the absence of disease prevention, which led to non-combat losses due to the inability of the thermophilic Portuguese to the more severe climatic conditions in which they had to operate. At the Battle of Lys, the Portuguese corps suffered a crushing defeat. The 2nd division was completely destroyed, 327 officers and 7098 soldiers of the CEP (Portuguese Expeditionary Force) were killed, which amounted to about 35% of the total power of the Portuguese corps. After that, most of the Portuguese troops were withdrawn to the reserve. Nevertheless, the participation of Portugal in the First World War significantly affected the general psychological climate in the country. For a long time, Portuguese soldiers fought only with African and Asian natives, or with small detachments of colonial troops in Africa. In World War I, they took part in hostilities in Europe. Portugal has its own veterans and war heroes, for example, the same private Anibal Millais, who covered the retreat of his comrades and destroyed a large number of Germans from a machine gun. During the First World War, the first appeared in the Portuguese armed forces. aviation subdivision.

- Anibal Milyash with colleagues

The participation of Portugal in the First World War led to an increase in the political influence of the military against the background of a further worsening of the financial and economic crisis. Civilian governments have demonstrated a complete inability to effectively govern the country. 1910 to 1926 24 uprising, 158 general strikes, 17 attempted coup d'état. Representatives of the military elite, it was clear that in such circumstances, the Portuguese state can not fully exist. 28 May 1926 in the country began a large-scale military performance. He was led by the hero of the First World War, General Manuel de Oliveira Gomish da Costa (1863-1929). The son of a lieutenant from a peasant family, Manuel Gomish da Costa, made an impressive military career. At the age of 10, he was sent to military college for training, and after graduation in 1880, Gomish da Costa voluntarily entered the soldier in the 4 artillery company, after which he was enrolled in the infantry courses of the Military School and graduated from them in 1884. the rank of sergeant 1 class. Graduate courses enrolled in the 2-th battalion of royal shooters. In the same 1884, he received the title of alferes (ensign) - the very first officer rank in the Portuguese army. Gomish da Costa served in the infantry, then in 1887-1893 years. - In the financial guard, where he received the lieutenant rank in 1889 year.

- General Gomish da Costa

In pursuit of promotion, Lieutenant Gomish da Costa transferred to India, where he served as adjutant to the Governor-General. In 1893, he received the rank of captain, participated in operations against Indian rebels, and in 1895, he became deputy chief of staff for the High Command of operations against rebels in the Portuguese colonies in India. He then served in Mozambique, where he became chief of staff of the colonial forces in Mozambique in 1896, then as commander of the troops and military police of the province of Gaza in Mozambique. After a short return to Portugal, he was again sent to Mozambique, and then to Angola, where he served as military commander of Huambo. In 1909, Major Gomish da Costa became Chief of the Cabinet of the Governor-General of Mozambique, then Chief of Staff of the troops in Angola, Chief of the Military Police on Sao Tome and Principe. In 1912, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, in 1914, he was a colonel. After returning to Portugal, he became the commander of the 1 Infantry Regiment, then the 16 Infantry Regiment, and in 1917 he became the commander of the 1 Brigade of the Portuguese Expeditionary Force. Gomish da Costa participated in the most important corps battles, and in the Battle of Lys he commanded the Portuguese troops. 8 May 1918, he received the rank of general after years of service. After the end of World War I, General Gomish da Costa commanded the 4 Infantry Division. At this time, he actively criticized the Republican government, for which he even spent 20 days in prison, and then was sent by a military inspector to Macao and India - republican authorities feared an influential general capable of leading a military coup.

- General Carmona

After returning to Portugal, he was specially appointed to positions not related to the command of formations - for example, the chairman of the Commission for the Consideration of Applications by Captains of the Colonial Forces claiming to be a Major. 28 May 1926 in the city of Braga in the north of Portugal, General Manuel Gomish da Costa announced the start of the "National Revolution". On June 3 he was appointed Minister of War and Minister of the Colonies, and on June 5 entered Lisbon. 17 June 1926. He became president of Portugal, while maintaining the post of Minister of War of the country. However, the rule of da Costa was short-lived - 9 July 1926 was the Portuguese military announced the removal of Manuel Gomes da Costa from power. General Antonio Oscar di Fragozu Carmona became president of the country, bringing the famous Portuguese dictator Salazar to power. For the country, a new era began in its political history, and it inevitably entailed large-scale changes in the military sphere.

To be continued ...
Our news channels

Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest news and the most important events of the day.

1 comment
Information
Dear reader, to leave comments on the publication, you must sign in.
  1. +4
    April 3 2017 07: 54
    Much of Manuel Gomish’s program was used by Salazar in the future ... Thank you Ilya, we look forward to continuing ...

"Right Sector" (banned in Russia), "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) (banned in Russia), ISIS (banned in Russia), "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham" formerly "Jabhat al-Nusra" (banned in Russia) , Taliban (banned in Russia), Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), Anti-Corruption Foundation (banned in Russia), Navalny Headquarters (banned in Russia), Facebook (banned in Russia), Instagram (banned in Russia), Meta (banned in Russia), Misanthropic Division (banned in Russia), Azov (banned in Russia), Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia), Aum Shinrikyo (banned in Russia), AUE (banned in Russia), UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia), Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (banned in Russia), Legion “Freedom of Russia” (armed formation, recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation and banned)

“Non-profit organizations, unregistered public associations or individuals performing the functions of a foreign agent,” as well as media outlets performing the functions of a foreign agent: “Medusa”; "Voice of America"; "Realities"; "Present time"; "Radio Freedom"; Ponomarev; Savitskaya; Markelov; Kamalyagin; Apakhonchich; Makarevich; Dud; Gordon; Zhdanov; Medvedev; Fedorov; "Owl"; "Alliance of Doctors"; "RKK" "Levada Center"; "Memorial"; "Voice"; "Person and law"; "Rain"; "Mediazone"; "Deutsche Welle"; QMS "Caucasian Knot"; "Insider"; "New Newspaper"