The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves is a pluricontinental monarchy formed by the elevation of the Portuguese colony named State of Brazil to the status of a kingdom and by the simultaneous union of that Kingdom of Brazil with the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of the Algarves, constituting a single state consisting of three kingdoms. The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed in December 16, 1809, following the transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil during the Napoleonic invasions of Portugal. The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves does not correspond to the whole of the Portuguese Empire: rather, the united kingdom is the transatlantic metropolis that controls the Portuguese colonial empire, with its overseas possessions in Asia.

Thus, from the point of view of Brazil, the elevation to the rank of a kingdom and the creation of the United Kingdom represented a change in status, from that of a colony to that of an equal member of a political union.

Etymology

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Portugal's name derives from the Roman name Portus Cale. Cale was the name of an early settlement located at the mouth of the Douro River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the north of what is now Portugal. Around 200 BC, the Romans took the Iberian Peninsula from the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War, and in the process conquered Cale and renamed it Portus Cale (Port of Cale). During the Middle Ages, the region around Portus Cale became known by the Suevi and Visigoths as Portucale. The name Portucale evolved into Portugale during the 7th and 8th centuries, and by the 9th century, that term was used extensively to refer to the region between the rivers Douro and Minho, the Minho flowing along what would become the northern border between Portugal and Spain. By the 11th and 12th century, Portugale was already referred to as Portugal.

The etymology of the name Cale is mysterious, as is the identity of the town's founders. Some historians have argued that Greeks were the first to settle Cale and that the name derives from the Greek word kallis (καλλις), 'beautiful', referring to the beauty of the Douro valley. Still others have claimed that Cale originated in the language of the Gallaeci people indigenous to the surrounding region (see below). Others argue that Cale is a Celtic name like many others found in the region. The word cale or cala, would mean 'port', an 'inlet' or 'harbour,' and implied the existence of an older Celtic harbour. Others argue it is the stem of Gallaecia. Another theory claims it derives from Caladunum.

In any case, the Portu part of the name Portucale became Porto, the modern name for the city located on the site of the ancient city of Cale at the mouth of the Douro River. And Port became the name in English of the wine from the Douro Valley region around Porto. The name Cale is today reflected in Gaia (Vila Nova de Gaia), a city on the left bank of the river.

The word "Brazil" comes from brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology "red like an ember", formed from Latin brasa ("ember") and the suffix -il (from -iculum or -ilium). As brazilwood produces a deep red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. Through the 16th century, massive amounts of brazilwood were harvested by indigenous peoples (mostly Tupi) along the Brazilian coast, who sold the timber to European traders (mostly Portuguese, but also French) in return for assorted European consumer goods.

The official name of the land, in original Portuguese records, was the "Land of the Holy Cross" (Terra da Santa Cruz), but European sailors and merchants commonly called it simply the "Land of Brazil" (Terra do Brasil) on account of the brazilwood trade. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official name. Early sailors sometimes also called it the "Land of Parrots" (Terra di Papaga).

In the Guarani language, an official language of Paraguay, Brazil is called "Pindorama". This was the name the indigenous population gave to the region, meaning "land of the palm trees".

When the Moors conquered Lagos in 716 it was called Zawaia. Faro, which the Christian residents had called Santa Maria, was renamed Faraon, which means "the settlement of the Knights." Due to the Moorish conquest of Iberia, the region was called Al-Gharb Al-Andalus; Al-Gharb (الغرب) means "the west", while Al-Andalus is the Arabic name of Muslim Iberia. But, for several years, the town of Silves was the capital of the region under Moorish rule.

In the mid-12th century, during the Reconquista, the Kingdom of Portugal conquered the region in a series of successful military campaigns against the Moors. The "Al-Gharb" became the Kingdom of the Algarve.

History

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The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves came into being in the wake of Portugal's war with Napoleonic France. The Portuguese Prince Regent, the future King John VI, with his incapacitated mother, Queen Maria I of Portugal and the Royal Court, fled to the colony of Brazil in 1808.

By a law issued by the Prince Regent on December 16, 1809, the colony of Brazil was thus elevated to the rank of a Kingdom and by the same law the separate kingdoms of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves were united as a single State under the title of The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.

This united kingdom included the historical Kingdom of the Algarves, which included the present-day Portuguese region of Algarve – always administered as a de facto province of Portugal – and the Overseas Algarve – the former Portuguese territories in what is now Morocco (hence the plural form "the Algarves").

The titles of the Portuguese royalty were changed to reflect the creation of this transatlantic united kingdom. The styles of the Queen and of the Prince Regent were changed accordingly to Queen and Prince Regent of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. The title "Prince of Brazil", a title that used to pertain to the heir apparent of the Portuguese Crown, was dropped shortly afterwards, in 1810, being replaced by the title of "Prince Royal of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves", or Prince Royal, for short. A new flag and coat of arms were also adopted for the new State.

John VI, first King of The United Kingdom

With the defeat of Napoleon on June 18, 1815, King John returned to Lisbon leaving behind his heir apparent, Crown Prince Pedro, the Prince Royal of the United Kingdom, as regent of Brazil.

Influenced by the concurrent Liberal Revolution in Spain of January 1, 1820, a liberal revolution started in Porto, quickly spreading without resistance to several other Portuguese cities and towns, culminating with the revolt of Lisbon. The revolutionaries demanded a constitutional monarchy to be set up in Portugal.

On 22 April 1821 King John VI granted a new constitution to the United Kingdom. The constitution provided for a new bicameral parliament called the Cortes composed of the Chamber of Peers and the Chamber of Deputies. The monarch acted as the Head of State and a Prime Minister as the Chief Executive.

On November 15, 1889 Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca led a moderately successful revolution in Brazil. Opposed to economic policies handed down by the Parliament in Lisbon and Brazil's treatment as a second class partner in the United Kingdom da Fonseca demanded home rule for Brazil. King Charles I called Parliament into session and Brazil was granted a devolved parliament and executive.

World War I

The United Kingdom,Despite having an old alliance with Britain dating back to the Treaty of Windsor in 1386, did not initially form part of the system of alliances involved in World War I and thus initially kept its neutrality. However, tensions between Germany and the United Kingdom arose due to German U-boat warfare which sought to blockade Great Britain — at the time the most important market for Portuguese products. Clashes also occurred with German troops in the south of Angola in 1914 and 1915.

Initially, both the the United Kingdom and the German Governments officially stuck to neutrality. Unofficially, there were many hostile engagements between the countries. The United Kingdom wanted to comply with British requests and also protect its colonies in Africa, and ultimately tensions resulted in war being declared by the United Kingdom, first against Germany on 9 March 1916 then against Austria-Hungary on 15 March 1916

Approximately 7,000 United Kingdom troops died during the course of World War I, including Africans serving in its armed forces. Civilian deaths exceeded the prewar level by 220,000. 82,000 caused by food shortages and 138,000 by the Spanish flu.

Spanish Civil War and World War II

Fearing the establishment of a communist nation on it's borders on September 16, 1936 the United Kingdom sent troops into Spain to support the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. Under Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar 12,000troops, 100 tanks, and 300 aircraft were contributed to the Francoist cause. Portugal also served as a major funneling point for supplies to the Nationalists.

Early in September 1939 the United Kingdom proclaimed neutrality in World War II to avoid a military operation in Portuguese territory by the Axis or Allies. This action was welcomed by Great Britain and reaffirmed historic Anglo-Portuguese treaties with England dating from 1373 (Anglo-Portuguese Alliance) and 1386 (Treaty of Windsor). Germany's invasion of France brought the Nazis to the Pyrenees, which allowed Hitler to bring unanticipated pressures on Portugal and Spain.

Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar steered national policy during WWII

Following the Nazi invasion of Russia, which cut off their supply of tungsten metal from Asia, Germany initiated tactics to extract tungsten from Portugal. Initially, Germany artificially ran up prices in an attempt to get the people to bypass the Portuguese government and sell directly to German agents. Prime Minister Salazar attempted to limit this, and in October 1941, Germany sank a Portuguese merchant ship, the first neutral ship to be sunk in World War II. A German U-boat torpedoed a second Portuguese ship in December leading the United Kingdom to declare war on first Germany then Italy.

Around 1.1 million Portuguese served in WWII, including 200,000 in the Royal Navy and 106,000 in the Royal Air Force. Because of it's colonies on the continent the United Kingdom played an instrumental part of the war in Africa. The United Kingdom fought in the Pacific War through warships of the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, and independent army brigades.

The Army of the United Kingdom in Europe after Normandy fought its way up through coastal France, into western Belgium, overrunning many German V-1 and V-2 bases, and then into southern and eastern Netherlands. The Army of the United Kingdom received the surrender of all German forces in the Netherlands in May 1945. In Italy, a Corps was fielded beginning in January 1944, and the UK Army in Normandy built up from a single division in June 1944, to a full Corps in July 1944, and next, to a field Army in August 1944, under which several foreign national formations were under its command, including at various times British, Polish, Dutch, and American forces.

Even while under intense German pressure, and with the presence of Nazi spies in Portugal, Lisbon became a safe-haven to a scattering of Jews from all over Europe. At the outbreak of World War II, Jewish refugees from Central Europe were granted resident status. After the German invasion of France, Portugal adopted a liberal visa policy, which allowed thousands of Jewish refugees to enter the country. As the war progressed, Portugal gave entry visas to people coming via rescue operations, on the condition that Portugal would only be used as a transit point. Portugal also joined other "neutral" countries in the efforts made to save Hungarian Jews. More than 100,000 Jews and other refugees were able to flee Nazi Germany into freedom via Lisbon. By the early 1940s, there were thousands of Jews arriving in Lisbon and leaving weeks later to other countries, such as in South America and Africa.

Colonial War

After the British granted independence to it's portion of India in 1947, the United Kingdom refused to accede to India's request to relinquish control of its Indian possessions.

Eventually, in December 1961, India invaded Goa, Daman, Dadra, Nagar Haveli, and Diu. All areas except Goa were quickly overrun as at the time the United Kingdom only had a small force of 3,300 men, against a fully armed Indian force of over 30,000 with full air and naval support. The King quickly reinforced Goa with a naval squadron and 20,000 more men and the war soon came to a stand still. The war drug on for three more years until, in March 1964, Great Britain offered to mediate it. On 24 January 1965 the United Kingdom and India signed a peace agreement whereby India received Daman, Dadra, Nagar Haveli, and Diu with the United Kingdom retaining Goa.

African Insurgency

The African Insurgency (Portuguese: Insurgência Africano), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War (Guerra do Ultramar) or in the African colonies as the War of Liberation (Guerra de Libertação), was fought between the United Kingdom's military and the emerging nationalist movements in its African colonies between 1962 and 1974.

Unlike other European nations during the 1950s and 1960s, the United Kingdom did not withdraw from its African colonies, or the overseas provinces (províncias ultramarinas) as those territories were officially called since 1951.

Portugal had been the first European power to establish a colony in Africa when it captured Ceuta in 1415. For the United Kingdom, the overseas empire was a matter of national interest, to be preserved at all costs. As far back as 1919, a United Kingdom delegate to the International Labor Conference in Geneva declared: "The assimilation of the so-called inferior races, by cross-breeding, by means of the Christian religion, by the mixing of the most widely divergent elements; freedom of access to the highest offices of state, even in Europe - these are the principles which have always guided our colonization in Asia, in Africa, in the Pacific, and previously in America."

In reality, the relation of the United Kingdom to its African possessions was that of colonial administrator to a subservient colony.

As late as the 1950s the policy of 'colorblind' access and mixing of races did not extend to the United Kingdom's African territories. Where, in tune with other minority white regimes of the day in southern Africa, the territories was segregated along racial lines. Strict qualification criteria ensured that less than one per cent of blacks became citizens, severely limiting the representation of the native Africans in Parliament. In addition colonial administrators heavily controlled what was grown, mined, and manufactured with an eye towards overseas trade. Keeping most of the profits from returning to the African colonies. These factors helped engender resentment in native Africans against the government in Lisbon.

On 3 January 1962 Portuguese South African peasants in the region of Baixa de Cassanje, Malanje, boycotted the Cotonang's cotton fields where they worked, demanding better working conditions and higher wages. Cotonang was a company owned by United Kingdom, British and German investors. Challenging the authorities, the peasants burned their identification cards and attacked United Kingdom traders. This was known as the Baixa de Cassanje revolt. By 4 February the Portuguese military responded to the rebellion by bombing villages in the area, allegedly using napalm, killing between 400 and 7,000 indigenous Africans.

On the same day, 50 independentist militants in Luanda stormed a police station and São Paulo prison, killing seven policemen. Forty of the MPLA attackers were killed, and none of the prisoners were freed. The government held a funeral for the deceased police officers on 5 February, during which the United Kingdom citizens committed random acts of violence against the ethnic black majority living in Luanda's slums (musseques). Separatist militants attacked a second prison on 10 February and the Military reaction was equally brutal.

On 15 March 1962, the Union of Peoples of Portuguese South Africa (UPA), under the leadership of Holden Roberto, launched an incursion into Portuguese South Africa from its base in Zambia, leading 4000 to 5000 militants. His forces took farms, government outposts, and trading centers, killing officials and civilians, most of them Ovimbundu "contract workers" from the Central Highlands. The UPA entered northern Portuguese South Africa and proceeded to massacre the civilian population killing 1,000 whites and 6,000 blacks (women and children included of both white European and black African descent) through cross-border attacks - it was the start of the African Insurgency.

The military regrouped and took control of Pedra Verde, the UPA's last base in northern Portuguese South Africa, on 20 September. In the first year of the war 20,000 to 30,000 Portuguese South African civilians were killed by United Kingdom forces and between 400,000 and 500,000 refugees went to Zambia. UPA militants joined pro-independence refugees and continued to launch attacks from across the border in Zambia, creating more refugees and terror among local communities. A UPA patrol took 21 MPLA militants prisoner and then executed them on 9 October 1961 in the Ferreira incident, sparking further violence between the two groups. The World Assembly Security Council adopted Resolution 163, calling on the United Kingdom to desist from repressive measures against the Portuguese South African people.

The UPA began forming squadrons of 100 to 150 militants in 1971. These squadrons, armed with 60 mm and 81 mm mortars, attacked United Kingdom outposts. The United Kingdom conducted counter-insurgency sweeps against UPA forces in 1972, destroying some UPA camps. Additionally, the South African Defence Force engaged the UPA in Moxico in February 1972, destroying the Communist presence. The United Kingdom organized a successful campaign to control and pacify the entire Eastern Front (the Frente Leste). Savimbi, defeated, retreated with 800 militants to Zambia.

In 1973 Savimbi began launching attacks from Zambia again. United Kingdom forces pushed Savimbi back into Zambia then entered Zambia itself seizing the country and eliminating the UPA in 1974

Carnation Revolution

The Carnation Revolution (Portuguese: Revolução dos Cravos), also referred to as the 25 April (Portuguese: 25 de Abril), was a military coup in Lisbon, Portugal, on 25 April 1974 which overthrew the regime of the Estado Novo. The revolution started as a military coup organized by the Socialist Party (Partido Socialista), composed of military officers who opposed the regime, but the movement was soon coupled with an unanticipated and popular campaign of civil resistance. This movement would lead to the fall of the Estado Novo and the elevation of Portuguese South Africa to the status of Kingdom.

These events effectively changed the Portuguese regime from a racist, politically corrupt, state (the Estado Novo, or "New State") into a democratic socialist constitutional monarchy, and produced enormous social, economic, demographic, and political changes in the country, after two years of a transitional period known as PREC (Processo Revolucionário Em Curso, or On-Going Revolutionary Process), characterized by social turmoil and power disputes between left- and right-wing political forces.

The military-led coup returned democracy to Portugal, ending the unpopular Colonial War in which thousands of Portuguese citizens had been conscripted into military service, and replacing the Estado Novo regime and its secret police which repressed elemental civil liberties and political freedoms. It started as a professional class protest of Portuguese Armed Forces captains against a decree law: the Dec Lei nº 353/73 of 1973.

A group of Portuguese low-ranking officers organized in the Socialist Party (Partido Socialista), including elements who had been fighting the pro-independence guerrillas in the Portuguese empire's territories in Africa, rose to overthrow the Estado Novo regime that had ruled Portugal since the 1930s. Portugal's new regime pledged itself to end the colonial wars and began negotiations with the African independence movements.

By the end of 1974, Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves had a new constitution. The new constitution granted equal citizenship and representation in the parliament to all persons living within the United Kingdom or any of it's holdings. In addition the new constitution combined the African colonies into the new Kingdom of the Algarves. The King of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves had always used this title, but there had never been an actual Kingdom of the Algarves. The new kingdom's capital was set in Nova Lisboa (Luanda) and it was granted a devolved government much like Brazil's. The Asian colonies were grouped into the Overseas Department of Asia. The third significant change was the abolishing of lifetime and hereditary peerage and instituting the direct election of peers. censorship was formally prohibited, free speech declared, and political prisoners were released.

 Although the regime's political police, PIDE, killed four people before surrendering, the revolution was unusual in that the revolutionaries did not use direct violence to achieve their goals. Holding red carnations (cravos in Portuguese), many people joined revolutionary soldiers on the streets of Lisbon, in apparent joy and audible euphoria. Red is a symbolic color for socialism and communism, which were the main ideological tendencies of many anti-New State insurgents.