The History of the Commonwealth [WIP]

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History is an essential asset for any nation in the world, whether it is bad or not. There are people who prefer to be ignorant if they do not read the story and are convinced of the opposite of what the story says.

Now, if a person learns history, then he will understand it, but if he continues to say things that do not correspond, then no one knows what is going on with that person. But history remains important, as it makes the history of the nation known, as is the case. Especially the alternative history, since not all aspects of our world correspond with this divergent history.

The history of the Lusophone Imperial Federation is one that shows how an empire has become the largest state in the world, a nation of nations. Although the nation was created in 1921, history will be told from the middle of the 17th century, in 1640 to the present.

The authors of this history were former Prime Minister Nelson Mandela, in which, after leaving office in 2005, he decided to tell the story of the Federation before and after its creation and although he died in 2013, the history he wrote remains alive; and Alberto Pimentel, a former professor in the University of Coimbra, taking a year out, and he started helping Mandela in 2011 and took over after his death, and today, their history book is here.

There are several moments that Portugal had when it got back it's independence from Spain in 1640 and the fight to keep that way until the beginning of the 18th Century, as well international politics that will influence Portugal to change their ways and become a Great Power once more.

But the event that defined Portugal was the War of the Spanish Sucession, which lasted between 1701 and 1714, that is, 13 years in total. It was thanks to the 1711 mess that made Portugal to march it's troops to Madrid and then taking parts of today's Cisplatina from Spain. Three years later, the war, in which the Habsburg remain in power in Spain and it was this war that will define Europe for the next decades.

And now, 100 years after the creation of the LIF, it had a small problem with a person that wanted to make himself the Emperor of the Federation, in what was know as the Five Days' Crisis. And here in the history will have a lot of detail since it is going to be telling a huge time period, between 1640 until now.

So, I hope you like it.

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From the times of the Roman Empire, the territory of what today is the Kingdom of Portugal was, and still is, a difficult territory to conquer, due to the geography of the land and because of the people.

One of those brave men to defend this land was Viriato. A tribal man of what today we know as the Province of Lusitania, he fought to keep the romans out, and he was successful in doing that, until he was betrayed by three of his men that went to make peace with the romans, killing Viriato and the region been annex into what would be the Roman Empire.

The second time that happen was between 1383-1385. Portugal entered a succession crisis when King Ferdinand died without a male heir. This created a crisis, since no one knew who the next king of Portugal would be, and two candidates fought for it: in one side, we have King Juan I of Castille, in which he was trying to get the crown to himself, as he was married to the daughter of the late king, and if that would happen, half of the Peninsula would be under the Castilian Dominance; and in the other side, we had the Master of Aviz, which was the illegitimate brother of the late king, was acclaim as the King of Portugal in the Cortes of Coimbra, but this led to the king of Castille to invade Portugal to end this once and for all.

But, on August 14th, 1385, his huge army was defeated by a small Luso-English army on the Battle of Aljubarrota. The Franco-Castilian army lost a huge number of soldiers that in Castille was declare a Year of National Mourning, and Portugal, once again, manage to be independence, and on the guidance of the now King John I of Portugal, the kingdom expanded it’s borders beyond the seas, know as the Portuguese Discoveries and Portugal expanded its borders from Brazil to Japan, but this would not last long.

In 1578, King Sebastian was lost in battle in Morocco. And here was a second crisis coming, though not immediately. His uncle, who had been regent back in the days that Sebastian was only a child, became King Henrique I, the Cardinal-King since he was also the Cardinal of Portugal. And because of this, he could not get married and two years later, in 1580, he died, also with no heir, and the 1580 Succession Crisis happen. In the end, Portugal submitted to the Spanish king, Philip II, which became Philip I of Portugal. He did not unite the two crowns, because he loved Portugal and his grandfather was the king of Portugal, King Manuel I, but his son and grandchild were in that process. And that is where we will start the history.

The Day of Independence

By 1630, the situation with the Iberian Union becoming dire. Portugal, under the reign of Spain, was brought into many wars that became a burden on the people, manly because the taxes were raised and the Dutch Republic, now independent from Spain, was attacking all the colonies in Brazil, Africa, and Asia. Something had to be done. And then, Spain entered in the Thirty Years War, and this was the last drop of water to the Portuguese People.
A group of conspirators, known as the Forty Conspirators, planned the plot to depose King Philip III of Portugal, IV of Spain, but the three men know for this plot are: Antão Vaz de Almada, Miguel de Almeida and João Pinto Ribeiro; and so, their plan went to action.

Knowing the fact that Spain was also in turmoil, Cardinal Richelieu wanted to end the turmoil in France as well and trying to end the strain of the army, decided to help the Portuguese conspirators. And when the news reach Portugal that Catalonia went into a state of revolution, that was the time to act.

On December 1st, 1640, they put their plot into action, by killing the Secretary of State, Miguel de Vasconcelos, well, more like defenestraing, presumably still alive, from one of the windows of the Ribeira Palace (intact before the Earthquake of 1755), and imprisoned the King's cousin, Margaret of Savoy, who had been governing Portugal in his name as the Vicereine of Portugal. On the next day, a new king for Portugal was declared, King John IV, bringing the end of the Habsburgs Power in Portugal and the beginning of the rule by the House of Braganza (1640 – 1932).

But Spain did not like this one bit. From 1641 to 1668, the period during which the two nations were at war, Spain sought to isolate Portugal militarily and diplomatically, and Portugal tried to find the resources to maintain its independence through political alliances and maintenance of its colonial income

Portugal wants its independence

By declaring a new king, Portugal was cutting ties with Spain once more, but this led to a state of war with Spain, so, in another words, Portugal entered in the Thirty Years War as a peripheral player.

But Portugal did struggle. Not from battles though, but because Spain and the Dutch tried to cut the nation to the international politics, but Portugal manage to secure an alliance with France and got help from her old allied, England.
This war, know as the Portuguese Restoration War (1640 – 1668), can be divided into three phases:
• First Phase, an early stage (1640 – 1646) when a few major engagements demonstrated that the Portuguese could not be easily returned to submission to the Spanish Habsburgs;
• Second Phase, a long period (1646 – 1660) of military standoffs, characterized by small-scale raiding, while Spain concentrated on its military commitments elsewhere in Europe;
• Third Phase, a final period (1660 – 1668) during which the Spanish king, Philip IV, unsuccessfully sought a decisive victory that would bring an end to hostilities.

In the first phase, Spain tried to make this war a quick war, but there were several delays by the Count of Monterrey, a commander with more interest in the comforts of life at camp than the battlefield, and this led into a stalemate in 1641. But this was not a good thing for Spain, since it would have to get more troops to defeat Portugal, as well money, since Silver was not worth in the 17th Century. The only battle of this phase was the Battle of Montijo, on May 26th, 1644, which was indecisive, but both claimed victory over it.

The second phase was one of a stand-of between Portugal and Spain, since neither could not attack, especially Spain, which was still involved in other wars around Europe, and Portugal was defending its territory at all costs from a possible Spanish Invasion. But in 1648, the Treaty of Westphalia was signed and with this treaty and the end of hostilities in Catalonia in 1652, Spain was again ready to direct its efforts against Portugal, but it faced a lack of men, resources, and, especially, good military commanders. The only battle of this phase was the Battle of the Lines of Elvas, on January 14th, 1659, which was a decisive Portuguese victory, which were led by António Meneses, one of the conspirators.

For the third and last phase, Spain invaded Portugal in 1662, under the leadership of John of Austria the Younger, Philip IV's illegitimate son, and they managed to capture Évora. But after that, it was defeat after defeat for Spain. First on the Battle of Ameixial, on June 8th, 1663; then on the Battle of Castelo Rodrigo, on July 7th, 1664; and then finally on the Battle of Montes Claros, on June 17th, 1665. With this last battle, and with the signing of a Franco-Portuguese treaty in 1667 (the future Treaty of Lisbon), the Spanish Habsburgs finally agreed to recognize the House of Braganza as Portugal's new ruling dynasty on February 13th, 1668. Portugal only lost Ceuta to Spain, but they would get it back in the future.

But, for now, Portugal, after a 60-year union with Spain, was finally an independent Kingdom once more.

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II - Gold Rush in Brazil and the Wind of Change

Dark Times Indeed

Though Portugal become independent in 1640, dark times were coming to the kingdom. To fight the Spanish, they had to raise taxes on its citizens, which it was one of the motives for Popular Riots around the country during the Spanish government. Plus, the Dutch were attacking our holdings in Asia, Brazil, and Africa, which debilitated our trade with the colonies and with the East Indies.

This war was known as the Dutch–Portuguese War (1602 – 1663), which was also one of the motives for the war of the Restoration of Independence. Portugal managed to win in Brazil, Angola, East Africa, Goa, Hormuz, and Macau, but lost in West Africa, Malabar, Malacca, Ceylon, Formosa, and Indonesia to the Dutch Republic. They only attacked Portugal because it was under Spain’s rule, and the enemies of Spain became Portuguese as well.

Portugal had a hard time to recover from the war and from the 60-year union which cripple the Portuguese Empire. But the empire managed to keep intact and held its influence in some parts of the world. But still, it was a hard time, because Portugal was bankrupt, and attempts to modernize failed before getting into the light.

Another change was in politics. Since the medieval times, the kings of Portugal always summon the Cortes, where it functionated as a kind of parliament where it would approve anything for the King. Well, that change after Peter II assume the Portuguese Throne. Though he was regent for his brother, Afonso VI, he only became king in 1683 when his brother died. He was the last monarch to summon the Cortes, and this was for confirm as Infante John (future John V) as his heir, in 1687 – 1698, but after that, Peter II function as the first Absolute Monarch of Portugal, the first of two.

But after losing most possessions in the East Indies, Portugal turned to Brazil, and started to expand it, especially the agricultural plantations. This led to the colony expanding beyond the Treaty of Tordesillas borderline, which made Spain ask Portugal on what was doing, but Spain did not do nothing, since it wasn’t able to make Portugal retreat of the new territories, so, Spain kept quiet. This was a quite a success, but something unexpected happen in Brazil in 1697.

Brazil has Gold for All

With the expansion of Brazil’s borders, people started to migrate into the interior, but not as much as one would expect, since most of Brazilian lands are composed by mountains and by forest, dense forest, and, of course, by the Amazon River. But a precious metal was found in the territory that today is called Minas Gerais: Gold. The region started getting more and more population that were looking to get rich by getting the gold.

Portugal, when it got the news that gold was found in Brazil, started to celebrate, since a problem for the bankruptcy was found. Portugal managed to get rich with this. Plus, Portugal, in 1703, signed the Methuen Treaty. England was inside of the War of the Spanish Succession, and it needed a trade market, and it found it in Neutral Portugal. England imported Portuguese wine to respond to the higher taxes of the French wines and England would export to Portugal their textiles, though with a tax, to make competition with Portuguese textiles.

With gold coming from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean to the coffers of the state, something had to be done with it. But, before a decision was to be done, King Peter II died in 1706 and his son took over in the same year, which was named King John V. And so, the decision was taken in 1707. There were two options: waste the money in luxury, since it was an Absolute Monarchy, or building a new fleet and investing on the Portuguese industry, with the rise of the Industrialism. John V decided not to see as a kind of Louis XIV of France and decided to follow the example of Great Britain. A new fleet was built, and it was sent to the East, to try and recapture old colonies that were lost in the 17th Century; and another was built to help in the trade with Brazil and West Africa, as well, to protect the colonies in the Atlantic.

Furthermore, the industry was reinforced, and technologies were imported from the British to help. In a matter of 20 years, the Portuguese Industry was booming and making money, since Portuguese goods were wanted in all Europe, for their quality. This was even reinforced when a certain man came to power in 1750. Later , we will discuss this man and his role in Portugal.

With some gold that was left, the king decided to build a new palace because of a promise he made. This palace was the Mafra Palace which, for the time, was the biggest palace in Portugal, and its library still is one of the most beautiful of Europe. Another thing that was built was the Johannine Library (Biblioteca Joanina) in the University of Coimbra. The king allowed the University to build a new library, and as a gesture, the University, which is the oldest of Portugal, named the library in his honour.

A Wind of Change hits Portugal

Though Portugal only entered in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1710 to protect Brazil, Portugal was in a good position to defend the nation, since when the gold was spent on a fleet, was also spent in modernizing the army and reorganize it. This was the spark of a new Portugal, one that can retake its place as a Great Power alongside with new ones.

Portugal also made some industry in Brazil, to make progress in the colony. This was new to Europe, since none of the other major Colonial Empires made such investment in a colony before, and here we can see the proximation of the Metropole with a Colony, which will evolve into a good relation and been reliant on one and another. Sugar and Coffee business was going up by the day, and many new infrastructures was built in the capital of the colony, Rio de Janeiro.

The situation in the East changed after the war, since Portugal engaged the Dutch in retaking old colonies, which included the Spice Islands, Malacca, Ceylon, and Cape Town, and getting back Indian cities that were occupy when Portugal was inside of the Iberian Union. With this success, Portugal then signed the Treaty of Paris of 1734, in which the Dutch Republic recognizes Portugal as the controller of those territories and Portugal, in return, help the Dutch re-emerging its economy, which was going down. It was the end of a rivalry and the beginning of a new partnership.

But a wind of change was coming to Portugal, since John V wanted to modernize the politics as well, to end the experiment of Absolutism that his father made it back in 1698. Though that is for a future chapter.

For now, and thanks to the help of Brazilian Gold, Portugal returned to prominence in the early 18th Century, and manage to kick start its industry from a backwards to a progress one, making it one of the most productive nations in Europe, only behind Great Britain. But if there is a war that change the face of Portugal and the face of the World it was the War of the Spanish Succession.

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The Beginning of Hostilities

At the beginning of January of 1700, Spain was still run by the Habsburg, in this case, by Charles II of Spain, which did not have any heirs, due to inbred by the Spanish Habsburgs, which explains their long chins, but Charles II was also sick, and he needed to nominate an heir.
He nominated the grandson of Louis XIV of France, Philip of Anjou. But there was a catch: it was speculated that a Habsburg would take power once Charles II died, in this case, Archduke Charles, son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. If anything would happen, Spain and France could unite under a single nation, and that would not be good for the powers of Europe. So, England and the Habsburg Monarchy formed an alliance in case Philip of Anjou becomes king of Spain.

But the most fears happen on November 1st, 1700. Charles II, been ill since September, died five days before making his 39th birthday. And on the 16th, Louis XIV proclaim is grandson as Philip V of Spain in the Palace of Versailles. This made a series of dominos to fall and so, in July of 1701, most of Europe was in a state of war, known as the War of the Spanish Succession.

At this point, Portugal saw the escalation on the European continent and, for the next 10 years, the kingdom would stay out of the war. Portugal was not able to come into the war, since with the end of the Restoration War and the war with the Dutch it was proved that the military needed to be reform and reorganized. But Peter II did not want to do anything, not even to use the gold for the good of the nation, instead he used in parties in the Royal Palace. That was until 1706.

As I said before, Peter II died on December 9th, 1706, and his son took power as John V. He had other ideas than of his father, and he wanted to put into action, and he saw that this new war would be to determine who will dominate the European continent. Though he did not wanted to have a stronger France with the help of Spain, so he wanted to use this war to weaken both at the same time and he went to work on his new plan to stop the hegemony of France over continental Europe.

New Portuguese Royal Army and the entry of Portugal in the War

John V decided to use the gold that came from Brazil to make a new and improved fleet of ships, for trade and for military use. Know this, he did not only improve the navy, but also the army, which was in dire state.
The Army of Portugal manage to win the War of Restoration thanks to good commanders, but still, an improvement to the army was needed, since if Portugal entered in the war, it would lose part of the army and plead for peace. John V did not want that to happen, so he set a commission to see what was in need to improve in the army. The commission, known as “A Comissão de Melhoria do Exército Real Português” (The Royal Portuguese Army Improvement Commission in English), determined that the army needed new commanders, based on their merits, not on their nobility. Furthermore, it was needed an improvement in the tactics for the defence of the Kingdom in Europe and in Brazil and a new rifle would need to be built, since the foreign ones could not be exported.

John V took this seriously and he made everything turn, like a clock turns. He fired generals and commanders that did not pass a test in Military Tactics and promoted others that passed the test with flying colours; he commissioned a new tailor for equipping the soldiers in a light grey uniform, later to be blue; a new type of rifle was created, the Musquete 1710, a new type of rifle of Portuguese origin, which, and with the help of Britain, was developed in Chaves, and this new rifle was news in Europe, since this rifle could shoot at a longer range and be loaded quickly, and it was shorter than other versions, so most of the soldiers did not needed to crouch and it was first tested on January 8th, 1709 with the King watching (Note: two versions of the rifle were made, a standard one and a short one) and new tactics were made, as well new regiments were created in Portugal and in the overseas territories. At this point, Portugal started to incorporate natives into his army.

With this new reform, John V started to put his action into plan, make Bourbon Spain or France attack Portugal first. First, John V put a lot of soldiers in the Portuguese Border with Spain in 1709, but in 1710, half of them were removed, but they were near the border, but hided. France decided to fall for this, but instead of using the army, they decided to raid the coast of Brazil in 1711, but the fleet was destroyed by the Grand Admiral Ricardo de Albuquerque, 1st Marquis of Luanda.

When John V got this news in March 1711, he convocated a Cortes that same month, to vote either should Portugal go to war or stay out, but since everyone was angry towards the bourbons on attacking Brazil, everyone voted in favour with war against the bourbons. John V send diplomats to the HRE and Great Britain to join the Grand Alliance, and on July 7th, 1711, Portugal joined the war in keeping the Habsburgs in power in Spain. France, at this point, did not known of the strategy of John V and them, alongside Spain, invaded Portugal through Chaves.

It was on July 20th, 1711, the Battle of Chaves took place with a Luso-British army taking a defence post against the Franco-Spanish army, and what we saw was the strategy of John V resulting in a Portuguese Decisive Victory. Though Chaves is in a valley, that doesn’t need that the enemy army will attack in the hills, because they did follow the Portuguese soldiers in the old roman road, while the British prepared for an eventual seize of the Castle. But with this, Spanish Commander Alberto de la Palma and French General Jean Flantier did not expect to be ambush and circle around the city. Alberto de la Palma did not survive this while Flantier manage to flee the field of battle and prepare a defence of Madrid. It is estimated that the enemy army lost around 40,356 soldiers and had 1,899 captives, while the Luso-British forces lost 500 men in the defence of the city. Portugal could now invade Spain.

Portuguese boots in Madrid

After the defeat in Chaves, Spain decided to make a defensive position, since was becoming like the Portuguese Restoration War back in the 17th Century. Portugal took advantage of this, since now Spain and France would decide to defend the territory instead of retaking it.
John V decided to leave new tactics to new generals, and one of them stood higher than others, and we can consider this man as the earlier Napoleon Bonaparte, General Alberto Ferreira Mesquita, 1st Duke of Chaves. Natural of the city of Chaves, he lived to be a general, and he fought against the Spanish in the 17th Century. Now on his 40’s, he still had a brilliant mind. And this was proved in 1712.

He presented John V with a plan: make raids against small towns and then push into the fort or Military HQ of that city. A “divide and conquer” plan, since Spanish soldiers would be deployed to protect the town and then the Portuguese could take the Military HQ of each city with less bloodshed, which was something that Mesquita wanted to do. John V approved this plan, and it was first used in the Raid of Salamanca on October 7th, 1712. The HQ fell in a matter of hours of the raid, and Portugal claim victory over the city. John V was impressed with this and promoted Mesquita from Captain to General and gave him an army.

Over the next months, from October 1712 to April 1713, most Spanish cities in Galiza and León were capture using this tactic. Mesquita did not foresaw what would happen next. Spain and France decided to retake the cities, starting with Salamanca on April 8th, 1713. This was a lost for Portugal, the first in this war. But while this was happening in Europe, in America, Portugal attacked the Spanish Colony of Rio de la Plata, which was supporting the bourbons. Using a tactic by General Mota, Portugal occupies the Banda Oriental (today’s Cisplatina) using the combine effort of the navy and the army. This tactic was used to attack and occupy costal cities, by making the navy first seize them by sea and then the army attacking with cannons. This was first used in the Seize of Chuy on January 19th, 1713. In over two months, Portuguese troops were marching over Montevideo and then the colony asked for peace and surrender pieces of the territory to Portugal. They would return to take them back, but that is for a future chapter.

Though raids would still occur until the end of the war in 1714, the war in the Americas was over, and part of the fleet sailed for Portugal with more man to reinforce that front. They arrived in November 1713 in Lisbon, and they were sent to the North, to be under control of General Mesquita. He decided to use a new tactic: attack as quick as possible and advance non-stop. This worked, but a high loss of lives for both parties, which Mesquita regrated for the rest of his days.
France and Spain had to retreat from each city that they reconquer back in the beginning of the year, and by 1714, Portugal had advance into the middle of the Peninsula. Finally, the prize that everyone wanted: Madrid. The Battle for Madrid happen on June 10th, 1714, between General Mesquita and General Flantier. This was the last stand of the French Army, since losing Madrid it would be the end of the war. The battle was fierce, but by the next day, Portugal would stand victorious over the French forces. Flantier would manage to flee the battle again, which would be consider as a coward back in France. John V’s Armies then enter on the Spanish capital on June 11th, 1714 and proclaim Archduke Charles of the HRE as King Charles III of Spain. Victory was almost achieved, but, unfortunately, it wasn’t on June 11th, it would take fourth months.

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End of the War

Tough Portugal had occupied Madrid on June 11th, France did not concede surrender and decided to mount an offensive between Aragon and Navarre, so that it could make a steady come back after the awful defeat in Madrid. Flantier was again in charge of this offensive to return to Madrid, but it would not be easy. He had learned the lesson in Chaves and now in Madrid, but something would never change, and it was his strategy.

Alberto Mesquita decided to take the bait and travel up north to confront the French in one last attempt to destroy the bourbons. But Mesquita had a plan, a plan that would prove to put the ball in French Court. He would travel with his large force up the zone of Zaragoza, where he would make is Military HQ. Then, he would command a small force to confront, or in this case, to lure them into a trap. This work, and the French moved into the flat land between Zaragoza and the Pyrenees, where Mesquita had set the trap, by using cannons once they saw the French forces appear. Mesquita had to make this happen, or he would be defeated and maybe killed in action. But, with his new strategy, Mesquita was sure to win. After all the French forces were in the flat land, cannons appear on their rear, making them incircle and with no change of escaping alive. Mesquita gave the order to open fire, and on October 23rd, 1714, the guns started singing near Zaragoza. Many Frenchmen managed to get out of there alive, including the coward Flantier, which after his return to France was fired and was sent to North America. Most of the French forces were killed with the salvos and others were capture. Mesquita did not lost any men that day.

This was a humiliating defeat for France, and two weeks later, on November 6th, 1714, Mesquita had cross the Pyrenees into France, now making its way to Toulouse. In the North, Austrian forces, with the help of the Netherlands and the Spanish troops managed to enter French soil as well, and the HRE forces, though less prepared, managed to make that too, somehow. The British managed to capture Bordeaux by sea, making this the end of France in the war. But France would make a final stand to the Grand Alliance, and that was in the south, when Mesquita was already going to Toulouse. This final stand was near Lourdes, which was 153 Km from Toulouse. France sent a large army, so it could get to defeat Mesquita to try and turn the war for their side again. Mesquita knew that this wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, so he came prepare for what would be the Battle of Lourdes on November 5th, 1714.

Mesquita decided to put his artillery on the hills near Lourdes, to protect the city from damage and hid his soldiers on the forest between Lourdes and Toulouse, to cut the French on their way. This did work. When the French were marching to Lourdes, their lines were cut by Portuguese troops and were massacred, and they forced retreat to Toulouse. The Portuguese Army follow them and manage to stop them before getting to Toulouse. This was a dead end for France, who ask for peace on November 9th, 1714. Louis XIV started the war to make them win a new allied kingdom, when it lost most of the battles in land and sea and managed to lose Toulouse, Lourdes, and Bordeaux. When these news reach Lisbon, John V told the population that the war was won, and everyone started a big feast with firework on the night of November 19th, 1714.

Treaty of Lisboa (1715)

After the end of the war on November 9th, 1714, delegates from the Grand Alliance countries and France went to Lisbon, to discuss the end of the war and to sign a treaty make it over. It had been 13 years since the beginning of the war and now every side talks like civilize men, and they all gather on the Ribeira Palace, the royal house of the King of Portugal, near the Tegus River. But the negotiations took longer that it was though, since many people wanted more of what they won

It took two months of negotiations and various talks with the kings of Spain and Portugal since they were the most affected by the war. Spanish and Portuguese monarchs talk about what to be done in Europe, since the war in the Americas was already done for it. They talk for weeks, and then they reach an agreement, and with the rest finishing the negotiations, a treaty was created on January 10th, 1715, in which is known as “Tratado de Lisboa” (Treaty of Lisbon).
The treaty had these points:
• 1º - Spain would return Ceuta to Portugal and give Melilla to Portugal; Florida, Minorca and Gibraltar were given to Great Britain;
• 2º - Spain would keep its territories in the Italian peninsula and on the Low Countries;
• 3º - France would pay Portugal, Spain and Britain for the war they started as well for the men lost;
• 4º - Portugal and Britain would keep Toulouse, Lourdes and Bordeaux until March 14th, 1715;
• 5º - Colonial treaties should be consider as bilateral treaties and to not be part of this treaty;
• 6º - Philip V would be arrested and spend 6 years in a Spanish prison in the New World;
• 7º - France would surrender half of her fleet to Portugal.
The signatories of this treaty were: Portugal, Spain, Austria, HRE, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and France on January 11th, 1715.

This was it. Portugal got land back on North Africa, getting back Ceuta and even getting Melilla, a city they did not conquer, but still, it was a winning. France, however, came out of the war with a humiliating defeat, and with three of her cities been occupy for two months, which no one likes it. So, France decided to continue expanding in the New World to start preparation for a future war, which would happen.

For now, Portugal and Spain started to reconstruction their lost infrastructure. Spain suffer more damage than Portugal, so the Portuguese decided to help, until the 1720’s, when a war started again with the Dutch. But Spain had recovered most of its infrastructure, so, it did not need more help, for now. But a sentiment that Portugal should be part of Spain again started to reappear on Madrid.

2nd Dutch-Portuguese War (1723 – 1734)

Even before the end of the war of Spain, Portugal had plans to recover some of her old colonies lost in the 17th Century to the Dutch Republic. The Dutch had recovered New Amsterdam from the British in 1716 and got Halifax as well. Portugal wanted to recover territory so they could return to prominence if the Brazilian Gold finished and getting colonies back could be a solution. The situation with the Dutch deteriorated after the end of the war in 1715, since the Republic did not get territory from Spain, in this case, the Low Countries, and they blame Portugal.

Portugal decided to upgrade the ports of Goa, Timor, and Macau in case of Dutch trying to capture these lands. And they sent the fleet to Asia in case something happened. And then, something really happened. The Dutch sent an ultimatum to Portugal to give the port of Macau to them or it would be war. Portugal decided to go with war, so with the response to the ultimatum, it sent a declaration of war, starting the 2nd Dutch-Portuguese War (1723 – 1734).

With the newest navy in the Indian Ocean, Portugal had the advantage, and they started by reconquer Ceylon. This conquest went from May 1723 to July 1723. Since they were well prepared, Portugal had to bombard the island, to destroy their defence. While that, Portugal started to reconquer lands in Indonesia, like the Spice Islands and Malacca as well. Plus, Portugal also conquered Singapore in the mist of this. But it wasn’t just in Asia that the war happened. Back in the Atlantic, Portugal and the Dutch fought on the seas, since the Netherlands was trying to invade Brazil, this time, by going through Rio de Janeiro.

Before the start of the war, in 1720, Great Britain sold Nassau and Jamaica to the Netherlands, which also made a target for Portugal, since it would help with the sugar plantations. So, Portugal decided to go after these colonies, and it started with Barbados in 1725; Jamaica between 1725 and 1726; Nassau in 1727; Halifax in 1728 and then, New Amsterdam between 1729 and 1731. Portugal was on the rise again. Plus, back in India, they started creating more Feitorias and recover most of the lost cities during the Iberian Union, plus, a plan was circulated in Lisbon to conquer a part of India, but that is for later.

The fact is that the Netherlands was losing territory and had decided to gamble their navy to fight the now powerful Portuguese Navy. And so, in 1722, a delegation arrived in Lisbon to negotiate a peace to end the war. The negotiations lasted two years, and on that, Portugal did start to be losing territory, starting with Nagasaki in Japan and the Island of Formosa to the Netherlands, but after two years, in 1724, a treaty was created, the Treaty of Coimbra (Tratado de Coimbra in Portuguese), in which the Netherlands gave up the territories in India, Indonesia and in the Americas conquered by Portugal, and, in return, Portugal helped them in their economic problems, resulted of the war. This was the start of a great relationship between the two nations.

But Portugal did start, during the war, a process that would change the political mind of the Portuguese Monarchy. A process that Great Britain had been living since the times of John Lackland: a constitution.

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V - Portuguese First Constitution and the End of Absolutism

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