8 ms·

Kind of crazy just how late it was decolonized: 1975. You don't really think of 20th century Portugal as having remnants of empire.

tellarin 9y ago
"Decolonized" reads way too light. It was a 13 or 14 years long war (depending on how you count) before independence and that has left huge scars in the country. Not to mention that the war mostly ended because the Portuguese government fell in 1974. Also, Macau was only returned to China in 1999.
- Jacqued 9y ago
  Not to forget Goa, which was actually invaded by India in 1961, with the Portuguese fighting back, although there were 10 times more Indian troops.
  - zemvpferreira 9y ago
    If by fighting back you mean laying down arms as quickly as humanly possible.
    - nl 9y ago
      The engagement lasted two days resulting in twenty-two Indians and thirty Portuguese killed in the fighting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa
matthewrudy 9y ago
Macau was handed over from Portugal to China in 1999. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau#Transfer_of_sovereignty_and_SAR_status https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau#Transfer_of_sovereignty_...
icebraining 9y ago
Yeah, that's what the fascist dictatorship at the time got by being aligned with the "right" (ie. winning) side, first by not allying itself with the Axis powers in WW2 and then allowing the US to use Azores as a military base during the Cold War.
emptyfile 9y ago
It definitely is crazy and something most people don't know about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Colonial_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Colonial_War
eighthnate 9y ago
> Kind of crazy just how late it was decolonized: 1975. Actually it was fully decolonized in 2002. Independence didn't lead to real independence. Europeans, americans, russians, etc fought over "independent" angola for 37 years after 1975. The last foreign troops "officially" left in 1989. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angolan_Civil_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angolan_Civil_War > You don't really think of 20th century Portugal as having remnants of empire. Portugal officially returned macau to china in 1999. Now that is shocking. A small nation of 10 million keeping territory from a nation of 1.4 billion until 1999. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Macaus-Return-to-China-353703 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Macaus-Return-to-China-3537... Also portugal kept gao from india into the 60s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa It's pretty amazing how such a small colonial power stayed under the radar for so long. Most european empires still have overseas colonies. The french still have colonies all over the world. The british just renamed their the "commonwealth". And former european colonial powers still exercise power over much of africa, middle east, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mali_conflict#Battle_of_Konna_and_French_intervention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mali_conflict#Battle_... It's now under the banner of "democracy and freedom and etc" rather than to bring "civilization". European colonization just got rebranded. That's all.
- danmaz74 9y ago
  > The french still have colonies all over the world They're not colonies if their inhabitants are full French citizens (which they are AFAIK). Are the Hawaii a US colony?
  - coredog64 9y ago
    Not only that, but Schengen rules are in place. They do use a different currency, but it is pegged to the Euro.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
  - 9y ago
pjc50 9y ago
If you ask which other first world countries have "remnants of empire" still, you may get some surprising answers.
sageikosa 9y ago
The "Scramble for Africa" was a particularly late colonization push (late 19th century). Colonization in Africa started after de-colonization was complete in the Americas.
- taejo 9y ago
  > de-colonization was complete in the Americas. Except for Canada and many islands which are still colonies today.

tellarin 9y ago

"Decolonized" reads way too light. It was a 13 or 14 years long war (depending on how you count) before independence and that has left huge scars in the country. Not to mention that the war mostly ended because the Portuguese government fell in 1974. Also, Macau was only returned to China in 1999.

Jacqued 9y ago
Not to forget Goa, which was actually invaded by India in 1961, with the Portuguese fighting back, although there were 10 times more Indian troops.
- zemvpferreira 9y ago
  If by fighting back you mean laying down arms as quickly as humanly possible.
  - nl 9y ago
    The engagement lasted two days resulting in twenty-two Indians and thirty Portuguese killed in the fighting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa

matthewrudy 9y ago

Macau was handed over from Portugal to China in 1999. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau#Transfer_of_sovereignty_and_SAR_status https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau#Transfer_of_sovereignty_...

icebraining 9y ago

Yeah, that's what the fascist dictatorship at the time got by being aligned with the "right" (ie. winning) side, first by not allying itself with the Axis powers in WW2 and then allowing the US to use Azores as a military base during the Cold War.

emptyfile 9y ago

It definitely is crazy and something most people don't know about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Colonial_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Colonial_War

eighthnate 9y ago

> Kind of crazy just how late it was decolonized: 1975. Actually it was fully decolonized in 2002. Independence didn't lead to real independence. Europeans, americans, russians, etc fought over "independent" angola for 37 years after 1975. The last foreign troops "officially" left in 1989. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angolan_Civil_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angolan_Civil_War > You don't really think of 20th century Portugal as having remnants of empire. Portugal officially returned macau to china in 1999. Now that is shocking. A small nation of 10 million keeping territory from a nation of 1.4 billion until 1999. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Macaus-Return-to-China-353703 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Macaus-Return-to-China-3537... Also portugal kept gao from india into the 60s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa It's pretty amazing how such a small colonial power stayed under the radar for so long. Most european empires still have overseas colonies. The french still have colonies all over the world. The british just renamed their the "commonwealth". And former european colonial powers still exercise power over much of africa, middle east, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mali_conflict#Battle_of_Konna_and_French_intervention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mali_conflict#Battle_... It's now under the banner of "democracy and freedom and etc" rather than to bring "civilization". European colonization just got rebranded. That's all.

danmaz74 9y ago
> The french still have colonies all over the world They're not colonies if their inhabitants are full French citizens (which they are AFAIK). Are the Hawaii a US colony?
- coredog64 9y ago
  Not only that, but Schengen rules are in place. They do use a different currency, but it is pegged to the Euro.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- 9y ago

pjc50 9y ago

If you ask which other first world countries have "remnants of empire" still, you may get some surprising answers.

sageikosa 9y ago

The "Scramble for Africa" was a particularly late colonization push (late 19th century). Colonization in Africa started after de-colonization was complete in the Americas.

taejo 9y ago
> de-colonization was complete in the Americas. Except for Canada and many islands which are still colonies today.