Portugal The Scramble for Africa eBook Paul Southern
Download As PDF : Portugal The Scramble for Africa eBook Paul Southern 
The story opens with 'Blazer' Colquhoun landing at the Cape of Good Hope in 1889, en route to a meeting with Cecil Rhodes. It is to take 'Blazer' and the swashbuckling Pioneers across Lobengula's Matabeleland to bloody confrontation with England's oldest ally at Massi-Kessi in the depths of Manicaland. One man's derring-do thwarts Portugal's long-cherished plans to establish a vast empire spanning the African continent, and its repercussions are to herald the downfall of the Portuguese monarchy.
The author vividly narrates the explorations, successes and failures of the Portuguese through the adventures of larger than life soldiers, speculators and freebooters, and traces the dogged resistance and fate of the African kingdoms of Gazaland in Mozambique and Bie in Angola.
In the first decade of the 20th century a Portuguese officer and a battle-hardened, former Senegalese colonial soldier, lead indigenous troops through hitherto impenetrable swamps and hostile jungles to establish control throughout turbulent Portuguese Guinea.
The author describes how German military intervention in Angola prior to the First World War, leads to a crushing Portuguese defeat, emboldening the clans of Kwanyamaland, provoking South African military involvement, while painting in graphic detail, the Portuguese army's epic battle for the mastery of southern Angola, and of the Kwanyamaland chief's final surrender to British forces in 1917.
The author concludes this colourful, absorbing and wide-ranging narrative, with a detailed account of the trials and tribulations of an ill-prepared Portuguese expeditionary force, as it attempts, with British aid, to stem the relentless advance of German forces into Mozambique in the final stages of the First World War.
Portugal The Scramble for Africa eBook Paul Southern
I have always been drawn to the history of Portugal in Africa and was quick to buy and download this Kindle book. The author's purpose is to present a potted history of Portugal's response to the Scramble for Africa that took place in the period 1880 to circa 1910. Although Portugal pioneered African exploration and had established trading settlements on the coast since the 1400's, the late 19th Century found her distinctly on the back-foot in the face of aggressive territorial expansion on the part of Britain, Germany and France. The principle of "use it or lose it" came in with a bang and Portugal faced the very real possibility that she would be pushed out [or at best marginalised] by her more powerful and energetic colonial competitors.A humiliating climb down forced on her by Britain served as the catalyst for organising military expeditions into the hinterlands of Guinea [West Africa], Mocambique and Angola in order to sign treaties with local chieftains, plant the flag and generally lay formal claim to vast areas of territory that were at risk of being pre-emptively occupied by rivals such as Germany and Britain. These expeditions were invariably conducted on shoe-string budgets on account of Portugal's dire financial and political condition and it is something of a marvel that she could achieve so much with so little in a relatively short space of time. The Portuguese were always pragmatic colonists and were well aware that occupying "miles and miles of bloody Africa" was pointless unless there was a very real prospect of making them pay. In this instance, simple national pride was the spur and the subsequent territorial gains were really only subject to significant economic development in the two decades following WW2.
This book chronicles a series of keynote military expeditions that served to lock in Portugal's claims to land in Guinea, Angola and Mocambique. The level of detail provided on each is very evidently based on what the author was able to discover in his research into the archives. Consequently some episodes are simply sketched out [most notably the Mocambique side of the story] whilst those featuring Angola and Guinea are fully detailed. This creates an unavoidably patchy narrative: rich in some parts, thin in others. Another obvious limitation is the lack of an integrating chapter on Portugal's overall colonial occupation policy and execution priorities in the period in question. Military expeditions are an expression of political will, what exactly was Lisbon hoping to achieve? What were its long term aims? These important questions are hinted at, but not convincingly presented. Instead, each expedition is presented "as is, where is" as a complete cameo unto itself. No bad thing, but perhaps a missed opportunity.
This was a vast canvas to paint in a single book and I found myself wanting to know more than was provided: the scale of the job was possibly too ambitious for one book. Nevertheless the author is to be warmly commended for tackling a fascinating, now-forgotten chapter of African history in a way that brings the on-the-ground personalities and tactics to life. Good work!
Product details
|
Tags : Portugal: The Scramble for Africa - Kindle edition by Paul Southern. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Portugal: The Scramble for Africa.,ebook,Paul Southern,Portugal: The Scramble for Africa,Paul Southern,HISTORY Africa Central,HISTORY Africa General
People also read other books :
- A Walk On Mars Robert People 9781466458314 Books
- Daring Rescue at Sonora Pass Adventures on the American Frontier Book 1 edition by Stephen Bly Children eBooks
- Joy Juice; Delightful Flavors of JOY in the Lord edition by Joyce Ashley Religion Spirituality eBooks
- Bart and Girlie eBook Linda Brilhart
- Spectacular Love How to Make Good Love Last edition by Spectacular Smith Health Fitness Dieting eBooks
Portugal The Scramble for Africa eBook Paul Southern Reviews
I have always been drawn to the history of Portugal in Africa and was quick to buy and download this book. The author's purpose is to present a potted history of Portugal's response to the Scramble for Africa that took place in the period 1880 to circa 1910. Although Portugal pioneered African exploration and had established trading settlements on the coast since the 1400's, the late 19th Century found her distinctly on the back-foot in the face of aggressive territorial expansion on the part of Britain, Germany and France. The principle of "use it or lose it" came in with a bang and Portugal faced the very real possibility that she would be pushed out [or at best marginalised] by her more powerful and energetic colonial competitors.
A humiliating climb down forced on her by Britain served as the catalyst for organising military expeditions into the hinterlands of Guinea [West Africa], Mocambique and Angola in order to sign treaties with local chieftains, plant the flag and generally lay formal claim to vast areas of territory that were at risk of being pre-emptively occupied by rivals such as Germany and Britain. These expeditions were invariably conducted on shoe-string budgets on account of Portugal's dire financial and political condition and it is something of a marvel that she could achieve so much with so little in a relatively short space of time. The Portuguese were always pragmatic colonists and were well aware that occupying "miles and miles of bloody Africa" was pointless unless there was a very real prospect of making them pay. In this instance, simple national pride was the spur and the subsequent territorial gains were really only subject to significant economic development in the two decades following WW2.
This book chronicles a series of keynote military expeditions that served to lock in Portugal's claims to land in Guinea, Angola and Mocambique. The level of detail provided on each is very evidently based on what the author was able to discover in his research into the archives. Consequently some episodes are simply sketched out [most notably the Mocambique side of the story] whilst those featuring Angola and Guinea are fully detailed. This creates an unavoidably patchy narrative rich in some parts, thin in others. Another obvious limitation is the lack of an integrating chapter on Portugal's overall colonial occupation policy and execution priorities in the period in question. Military expeditions are an expression of political will, what exactly was Lisbon hoping to achieve? What were its long term aims? These important questions are hinted at, but not convincingly presented. Instead, each expedition is presented "as is, where is" as a complete cameo unto itself. No bad thing, but perhaps a missed opportunity.
This was a vast canvas to paint in a single book and I found myself wanting to know more than was provided the scale of the job was possibly too ambitious for one book. Nevertheless the author is to be warmly commended for tackling a fascinating, now-forgotten chapter of African history in a way that brings the on-the-ground personalities and tactics to life. Good work!
0 Response to "∎ [PDF] Portugal The Scramble for Africa eBook Paul Southern"
Post a Comment