In 1914, the young Republic of Portugal, whose first two
presidents came from the Azores, set itself the objective of
resolving the state crisis that arose with the end of the
monarchy. The intended stabilization was hampered by an
unfavorable international environment. Six days after the start of
the First World War, the Congress of the Republic sided with
Great Britain, but without speaking out against Germany at the
same time. As a result, two opposing political currents brought
society to the brink of civil war: supporters of the war, who
called for intervention on the British side, faced opponents of
participation in the war.
The first group was close to the republican left, with prominent
figures such as Afonso Costa, Norton de Matos and João
Chagas. The opponents of the war were dominated by the
republican and monarchist right, where Brito Camacho set the
tone. To unite the factions, supporters of the war used the threat
to the Portuguese colonies as an argument. Other reasons for
Portugal’s desire to enter the war were the attempt to
consolidate the acceptance of the young republic in the
international community and to reinforce the alliance with
England at a time when there was a threat to the new form of
government and political sovereignty by part of the Spanish
neighbors.
In September 1914, the first Portuguese expeditionary force
moved to Angola and Mozambique under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Alves Roçadas. Great Britain, interested in
Portugal’s entry into the war, subsequently exerted sustained
pressure on the Portuguese government to confiscate German
warships and merchant ships that were in Portuguese ports and
had sought refuge there after the outbreak of war. The seizure
of the German ships, which finally took place on 23 February
1916, led to the declaration of war by the German Empire on
the Republic of Portugal on 9 March 1916.
From January 1917, a Portuguese expeditionary force moved
into Flanders. Logistically under-supported, this military corps
lost almost half of its soldiers, despite courageous resistance in
the German spring offensive of 1918 at the Battle of La Lys, with
1,300 dead, 4,600 wounded and 2,000 missing, as well as more
than 7,000 prisoners.