Overview
Portugal is a Western European minor. Its mainland is bordered by Spain. Portugal has several colonies scattered around the world including Macau in China, Portuguese Timor in Indonesia, Goa in India, Sao Tome, Cape Verde and Portuguese Guinea in Africa. Angola and Mozambique are its African Colonies that may be releasable as a puppet.
Historical background
People have inhabited this area since the 6th century BC and maybe even more…
Obviously, like everywhere in Europe it seems, the Romans occupied the area first, but some time after their demise in the 5th century, the moors invaded, they came galavanting in the year 771 and took almost the all peninsula, pockets of Christians in the north remainded and push back the moors over the next few hundred years.
One leader pushed a litle harder than most and got the moors back south and east and claimed himself the first King of Portugal he was D.Afonso Henriques.
At the same time the spanish to the east were also pushing to the south and some disputes started to pop-up, subsequent Afonso´s followed and kept the march south going south and in 1249, Afonso III captured Faro, today´s capital city of Algarve.
Portugal still had the problem of keeping spain out of their new border, so portugal made an aliance with England and Spain backed out.
The new allies signed the treaty of Windsor, which is still in effect today and utilized as recently as the
second world war.
The Portuguese were now free to explore the waters, and explore they did, setting up colonies of trade all over the world.
The discovery of Brazil in the 1500 would prove to be the most vital, with trading post in India, China, South America and Africa, Portugal was an imposing Empire.
However things hit the fan in 1578 when King Sebastian was killed in a batle without an heir to his throne, the great Empire was all of a suden in a crisis and spain´s King Philip II claimed the throne
referencing some obscure family lineage, King Philip II Invaded portugak in 1580.
There were some good and bad things about this merger, bad being that their share enemies including England and that the dutch started to seize more and more of brazil, but good being that with spain´s help they manage to defeat the dutch and also the life under the first two spanish Kings
Portugal was still under their own law, government,currency and still retained some status.
But, when Philip IV came along however things got a bit nasty, he figured he´d make portugal a province of spain and removed Portuguese nobles from positions of power,
In a twist of fate, spain was pretty much broke by this time from the Thirty Years War,
and sensing good thiming, the nobleman nominated John, the duke of braganza, to lead the resistance wich came to be known as the Portuguese Restoration War.
Because Spain helped Portugal retain Brazil, Portugal was able to draw upon its wealth to help fund the war which would last 28 years.
In 1668 Spain officially recognized Portugal as independent.
20 years later GOLD is discovered in Brazil, and BOOM! Portugal is rich beyond belief,
and good thing too as the morning of november 1st,1775, a devastating earthquake struck, the quake, the tsunami and the fires that resolted pretty much annihilated the country and everthing in it, art, castles and treasures a heavy loss of life.
The king at the time was joseph I and he apoitend, Marquis of Pombal is was is swift reactian, is economic reform policies and financial restructuring that allowed Portugal to rebuild quickly.
The years after the rebuild period Portugal also saw an invasian by Napoleon, he actually took lisbon for a couple of days but portugal called their English buddies for help.
Brazil independence followed in 1822.
Some political jostling and rumblings in the African colonies bring about Britain´s Ultimatum, demanding the retreat of portuguese troops from an area known as the pink map so that Britain could connect Cairo to Cape town by rail.
The fallout and the protests from this political stiff arm basically collapsed the portuguese monarchy.
This bring us to WW1 in with Portugal join the allies in 1916, but post war termoi and unrest lead to an coup in May of 1926 which gave power to the military and eventually saw the rise of Antonio Salazar, and he took Portugal into a tough period of dictatorship, oppression and media censorship
He also led the country thrugh the second world war in which Portugal was technically neutral but did suply the troops under british flag and conducted trade with both sides.
In the late 1960´s Salazar was forced to retire to a bathtub brain hemorrhage and turned the reains over to a slightly less radical successor.
In 1974 the peaceful carnation revolutian removed the radicals from power without a single gunshoot.
Portugal before world war 2
With a regicide in 1908 and a republican coup in 1910, the history of Portugal in the 20th century has been anything but stable. Portugal entered the first World War after interning naval vessels of the Central Powers and fought alongside the Entente on the Western Front and in Africa in its colonial holdings. Portugal’s losses during the war were far more than her gains, however, political and economic instability continued into the 1920s.
In 1926, a military coup led to the rise of an authoritarian Presidential Dictatorship headed by José Mendes Cabeçadas and then Óscar Carmona, the latter appointing António de Oliveira Salazar as finance minister. The Presidential Dictatorship evolved and ended with the 1933 declaration of the Estado Novo, or “New State” regime. This new regime, with its basis in Catholic traditionalism and authoritarianism, had instead its power delegated in its new Prime Minister, António de Oliveira Salazar.
Salazar, an economist, constructed the new regime from scratch and largely rebuilt Portugal’s economy and Portugal’s political system. A Catholic traditionalist, Salazar developed the regime as one with a focus on conservative, nationalistic, authoritarian, and Catholic principles, as well as a staunch anti-communist stance.
In 1936, Portugal enters its third year as the Estado Novo regime, with massive colonial holdings in the form of Angola and Mozambique, and far-away territories such as Macau, Goa, and Timor-Leste under its grasp, the Portuguese Empire remains sizable.
Technology
- Army technology
- Infantry Eq. I
- Support Equipment
- Engineer Company I
- Towed Artillery
Naval technology - Destroyer I
- Submarine II
- Transport Ship
Air technology - Interwar Fighter
- Close Air Support I
- Interwar Bomber
Electronics & Industry - none
Politics
Portugal, in 1936 is a NeutralityNon-Aligned nation with elections every 4 years with the next one in March 1937.
Diplomacy
Portugal may release Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau as independent nations or puppets. It may also give the state of Macau to China or Communist China, and Goa to British Raj.
The United Kingdom may ask Portugal to join its alliance via the invoke the alliance of 1373 decision, and Italy is able to influence Portugal via the Befriend Portugal focus.
Economy
1,5 %Recruitable population
35% Consumer Goods factories
–30% Factory construction speed
+30% Factory (type) conversion cost
-40% Fuel Gain per Oil
-25% Fuel Capacity
50% Resources to market
+5% Research speed
+10% Factory/Dockyard output
+10% Construction speed
Industry and resources
2
Tungsten
302
Aluminium
0
Chromium
0
Oil
0
Steel
0
Civilian factory
10
Military factory
2
Naval dockyard
2
Portugal has 1 civilian factory in Porto, Guarda and Mozambique
Lisbon has 4 civilian factories and Beja has 3. Its military factories are in Lisbon and its dockyards are at Porto.
Guarda has 3 building slots and Porto, Beja, Azores, Madeira and Angola has 1 each.
Military
Infantry-15
Cavalry-3
Destroyer-6
Submarine-3
Close air support-12
Tactical bomber-12
Their Infantry has 6 units, support artillery and engineer companies. Their colonial garrison divisions have 2 infantry units. Their cavalry has 4 units.
Strategies and guides
To start off, the player must annex or puppet Spain. The best time for the player to attack Spain is directly after the Spanish Civil War. While recovering from said Civil War, Spain is repairing their industry and has a low division count (After the event that gets rid of the ~50 Civil War divisions). Timing is crucial to the player, as Spain begins to pump out division quickly after the Civil War. If the player ends up missing the window of opportunity between the Civil War and Spain’s recovery in division count, then the player will be incapable of expansion over land. The War should be easy, as Spain may not even have enough divisions to cover the Portugal/Spain border. The ideal time to begin Justifying a War goal is when the Civil War appears to be wrapping up.
Ideologically, the most optimal route would be to go Fascist. If the player fights the Nationalists whilst the player are in the Axis, they have no faction to join, they get no aid (Volunteers/Land-Lease), and the player can get German help. If the player fights the Republicans, they can potentially join the Comintern, dragging the player into a war with the Soviet Union. Assuming they have done “The Great Purge”, Germany can defeat the Soviets, but the player has to manually Justify a War Goal on Poland so Germany has a land border with the Soviets. The war with the Soviets will be a long and costly slog that may last at least 3 years. Becoming Communist is an objectively bad idea. Firstly, later in the game, the player will end up at war with the Axis after Germany declares war on the Soviet Union. This will most likely lead to Germany seizing the entire Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain), and its industry with it. Secondly, war with any other country will lead to an early World War between the Comintern and (For example) The Allies. This war would cripple the Soviet Union, and, without the Soviets, the entire Comintern will fall.
The player can intervene in the Spanish Civil war, but one must be careful. If the player faces the Nationalists, they may join the Axis, prompting Italy to possibly join the war. This is less probable, however, as in a recent patch the National Spirit “Recovering From Civil War” prevents them from joining a faction. As stated earlier, and combined with this information, the best faction to win is the Nationalists. Do not, for any reason, aid the Republicans. As stated before, and early Axis-Comintern war would be a disaster.
The rest of this guide assumes you are Fascist and you have full control of Spain.
Once Historical WW2 breaks out in Poland, Portugal can be a valuable asset to the Axis, as it leaves France’s Southern flank open for attack. Once France has Capitulated, the player should mostly just aid in Germany’s war operations (Operation Sealion, Operation Barbarossa, Controlling Africa, etc.)
Bonus! If the player has a sizable enough navy, you can re-colonize South America, Asia, and more. This can be achieved by Naval Invading from your colony in Guinea Bissau, taking Brazil, and then moving on through South America. DISCLAIMER: This will put you at war with the USA, as they have guranteed the independence of all of North and South America (Bar Canada).