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. 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]
When Portugal complied with a British request to confiscate German ships interned in Portuguese ports, Germany reacted by declaring war on Portugal, thus forcing the Portuguese into the war.
During this battle, one of the most courageous acts in Portuguese military history was perpetrated, as Private Aníbal Milhais (also known as "Soldado Milhões" ["A Soldier as good as a million others" in his commanding officer's words]) defended the retreating Allied forces with nothing but his machine gun, allowing them to fall back and regroup. He defeated two German regiments and forced the remaining German forces to go around him. They found it impossible to defeat what they believe to be an heavily armed post. Once he ran out of bullets, he escaped the battlefield. He got lost along the way, and had nothing to eat for three days but the sweet almonds his family had sent him from Portugal. Lost and exhausted, he rescued a British major from drowning in a swamp. The major led him to the Allied camp, and told of Milhais's deeds.
The war caused Portugal 8,145 dead, 13,751 wounded and 12,318 prisoners or missing. At sea, 96 Portuguese ships were sunk (100,193 tons) and 5 Portuguese ships damaged (7,485 tons) by German submarines.
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the six divisions the British Army sent to the Western Front during the First World War. Planning for a British Expeditionary Force began with the 1906–1912 Haldane Reforms of the British Army carried out by the Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War (1899–1902).
SM U-35 was a German U 31-class U-boat which operated in the Mediterranean Sea during World War I. It ended up being the most successful U-boat participating in the war, sinking 220 merchant ships for a total of 505,121 gross register tons (GRT).
SM U-17 was a German submarine during World War I. U-17 sank the first British merchant vessel in the First World War, and also sank another ten ships, damaged one ship and captured two ships, surviving the war without casualty.
SM U-11 or U-XI was a U-10-class submarine in the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. She was originally a German Type UB I submarine commissioned into the German Imperial Navy as SM UB-15.
SM U-16 or U-XVI was a U-10-class submarine or U-boat of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. U-16 was constructed in Germany and shipped by rail to Pola where she was assembled and completed in September 1915. She was commissioned in October 1915.
SM U-66 was the lead ship of the Type U-66 submarines or U-boats for the Imperial German Navy during World War I. The submarine had been laid down in Kiel in November 1913 as U-7, the lead ship of the U-7 class for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. They became convinced after the outbreak of war in August 1914 that none of these submarines could be delivered to the Adriatic via Gibraltar, and sold the entire class, including U-7, to the German Imperial Navy in November 1914.
The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps was the main military force from Portugal that fought in the Western Front, during World War I. Portuguese neutrality ended in 1916 after the Portuguese seizure of German merchant ships resulted in the German Empire declaring war on Portugal. The expeditionary force was raised soon after and included around 55,000 soldiers.
SM U-27 or U-XXVII was the lead boat of the U-27 class of U-boats or submarines for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-27 was built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino (CNT) at the Pola Navy Yard and launched on 19 October 1916. She was commissioned on 24 February 1917.
SM U-28 or U-XXVIII was a U-27-class U-boat or submarine for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-28, built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino (CNT) at the Pola Navy Yard, was launched in January 1917 and commissioned in June.
SM UB-47 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-47 was sold to the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the war. In Austro-Hungarian service the B was dropped from her name and she was known as SM U-47 or U-XLVII as a member of the Austro-Hungarian U-43 class.
SM UB-42 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy during World War I. UB-42 operated in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas during the war. She was broken up at Malta in 1920.
SM UB-14 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine was also known by the Austro-Hungarian Navy designation of SM U-26.
SM UB-10 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I.
SM UB-12 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine disappeared in August 1918.
SM UB-13 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine was probably sunk by a British mine net in April 1916.
SM UB-16 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine was sunk by a British submarine in May 1918.
SM UB-17 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine disappeared during a patrol in March 1918.
SM UB-6 was a German Type UB I submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The submarine was interned after running aground in neutral Dutch waters, and was scuttled by her crew at Hellevoetsluis.
During World War I (1914–1918), Brazil initially adopted a neutral position. They did this in accordance with the Hague Convention, in an attempt to maintain markets for its export products, those being mainly coffee, latex and industrially manufactured items.
SM UB-50 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 May 1916. She was commissioned into the Pola Flotilla of the German Imperial Navy on 12 July 1917 as SM UB-50.