Portugal decides to send troops to Europe

On 7 August 1916 the parliament in Lisbon, according to Portuguese chronologies of the war, approved Portugal’s participation in the war in Europe in line with a formal invitation from the British government. A British chronology of the war records the decision a day later, under 8 August. The decision itself had long been settled, and preparations had been in full swing since the spring. The vote nevertheless closed an important chapter. Since the outbreak of the war the republicans governing Portugal had sought to have their soldiers fight alongside the British not only in Africa but also in France, and London had long cooled their enthusiasm.

An invitation from London

Formally Portugal had been at war since 9 March 1916, when Germany declared war on it. The “Sacred Union” government of António José de Almeida decided that the war now had to be put to use. The key role was played by the finance minister, Afonso Costa. In June, together with the foreign minister Augusto Soares, he went to the Allied economic conference in Paris and then to London. According to historians, the two ministers secured money for the war effort there and a place on the Western Front, in return for leasing to the British firm Furness Withy most of the German ships seized in February. At Costa’s request the British government issued an invitation to take part in Allied operations. According to some Portuguese chronologies it was delivered on 15 June, according to other studies on 15 July. It was to this invitation that parliament now responded.

The British made no secret of their scepticism. The British command valued experienced soldiers more than numerous but poorly trained units, and according to the Portuguese historian Luís Alves de Fraga it would have preferred to see the Portuguese doing labour work behind the lines. The French, bleeding at Verdun, saw it differently: for them every soldier counted. For the government in Lisbon, the corps in France was above all to be a political force: proof that Portugal was a full ally and had earned a place at the peace table, where it intended to defend its colonies.

The miracle of Tancos

The preparations were directed by the war minister, General José Norton de Matos. From the spring, at the training ground at Tancos, on the Tagus north-east of Lisbon, units drawn from the regular army were assembled into the so-called Instruction Division, which was trained according to the experience of the Western Front. Portuguese arsenals held several types of rifle of Austrian and German manufacture, and the army lacked almost everything. Even so, on 22 July the division appeared in large manoeuvres and a parade before the Portuguese authorities and Allied officers. The guests were pleased, and the pro-war press hailed it as the “miracle of Tancos” (milagre de Tancos): Portugal was suddenly supposed to possess a modern army, capable of taking the field against the Germans. Historians note that the results of the training were not quite so impressive. Portuguese chronologies state that on the same day the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (Corpo Expedicionário Português, CEP), about 30,000 strong, was organised at Tancos. Later an Independent Heavy Artillery Corps was also formed, which fought with the French army.

A divided country

Sending troops to France did not enjoy general support at home. It was opposed by monarchists, Catholics, many officers and some of the workers, who were already feeling high prices and food shortages. Supporters of the war repeated that the country’s honour, the alliance with England and the colonies were at stake. Opponents replied that Portugal could not afford a war in Europe and that its soldiers had enough to do defending Angola and Mozambique, where there had been clashes with the Germans since 1914. These divisions were soon to erupt: on 13 December 1916 the naval officer Machado Santos led an unsuccessful revolt at Tomar against the government and the dispatch of soldiers to France.

Departure was still a long way off. At the end of August a British military mission under General Nathaniel Barnardiston was to arrive in Lisbon to assess the Portuguese preparations, and a convention on supply, armament and command was negotiated for months more. The first CEP brigade sailed from the Tagus only on 30 January 1917 and landed at Brest on 2 February. By the autumn of 1917 more than 55,000 Portuguese had been shipped to France, where they took over a 12-kilometre sector of the front in Flanders, between Armentières and Béthune. On 9 April 1918 they were hit by the German assault that opened the Battle of the Lys.