Portugal during World War I

The Kingdom of Portugal had been allied with England since 1373, and thus the Republic of Portugal was an ally of the United Kingdom. However, Portugal remained neutral from the start of World War I in 1914 until early 1916. However, in that year and a half there were many hostile engagements between Germany and Portugal. Portugal wanted to meet British requests for aid and protect its colonies in Africa, causing clashes with German troops in the south of Portuguese Angola, which bordered German South West Africa, in 1914 and 1915 (see German campaign in Angola).

Tensions between Germany and Portugal also arose as a result of German U-boat warfare, which sought to blockade the United Kingdom, at the time the most important market for Portuguese products. Ultimately this led to the confiscation of German ships interned in Portuguese ports in 1916, to which Germany reacted by declaring war on 9 March 1916, quickly followed by Portugal's reciprocal declaration. In total, from 1916 to 1918, about 91 Portuguese ships were sunk and 5 damaged by German U-boats, causing at least 170 casualties.^[1]

About 12,000 Portuguese troops died during World War I, including Africans who served in its armed forces on the colonial front.^[2]^[3] Civilian deaths by some estimates exceeded 220,000: 82,000 caused by food shortages and 138,000 by the Spanish flu.^[4]

^ "Ships hit during WWI".
^ The War Office (1922). Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920. Reprinted by Naval & Military Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-1-84734-681-0
^ US War Dept 1924 data listed in the Encyclopædia Britannica
^ Hersch, L., La mortalité causée par la guerre mondiale, Metron- The International Review of Statistics, 1927, Vol 7.Pages 61-64

[1] "Ships hit during WWI".

[2] The War Office (1922). Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920. Reprinted by Naval & Military Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-1-84734-681-0

[3] US War Dept 1924 data listed in the Encyclopædia Britannica

[4] Hersch, L., La mortalité causée par la guerre mondiale, Metron- The International Review of Statistics, 1927, Vol 7.Pages 61-64

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