On Sun, 18 May 2008 17:38:46 -0700 (PDT), "Blair (TC)"
<stannard@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>On May 18, 6:15 am, "rodney" <pookiet...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> ****tuguese War Tax Stamp ~Mozambique postage 01c
>> Cut piece struck with Lourenco Marques canceller.
>>
>> A very busy stamp with lots of allegories
>> man in chains at the foot, Liberty holding
>> up a banner 9th March 1916 (?)
>>
>> http://cjoint.com/data/fsmhXJHQGE.htm
>
>Rodney:
>
>On 09 March 1916, Germany declared war on ****tugal.
>
>BACKGROUND
>The alleged reason for ****tugal's entry in the Great War
>was its historical alliance with England and later Great
>Britain, which dates back to 1386. This alliance (the
>Treaty of Windsor) was the cornerstone of ****tuguese
>foreign policy until ****tugal's admission into NATO
>after World War II, but, as is perhaps to be expected,
>always meant much more for ****tugal than for Britain.
>But other causes contributed to it as well.
>
>The Partido Republicano ****tuguês (****tuguese
>Republican Party) in power in 1914 owed much of its
>steady growth in popularity and ultimate success in
>overthrowing the Monarchy (which fell, being replaced
>by a Republic, on 5 October 1910) to the popular uproar
>caused by the King and Cabinet giving in to the
>infamous British "Ultimatum" of January 1890, which
>threatened ****tugal with war if ****tuguese colonial
>expeditions didn't immediately evacuate parts of
>what would later become Rhodesia which they had
>occupied. Both the ****tuguese public opinion and the
>Republican leaders were thus still very reluctant to
>acknowledge as an ally a country which had inflicted
>upon the ****tuguese Nation as a whole what was
>regarded as one of the greatest humiliations of its history.
>
>But the same Republican politicians also realistically
>understood that ****tugal's entry in the war was probably
>the only way to save its African colonies of Angola and
>Mozambique. Two secret treaties between Great Britain
>and Germany, signed in 1898 and confirmed in 1912,
>contemplated the partition of Angola and Mozambique
>between the former. Thus the ****tuguese government
>felt that the only way to stop its colonies from being
>traded like small change between Britain and Germany
>at the future peace talks was to be present at those
>talks with a voice of its own and the right to make
>demands from Britain after fighting alongside her.
>And the only way to achieve this was entering the war.
>
>****TUGAL'S ENTRY IN THE WAR
>
>But Britain herself was not enthusiastic at all about an
>eventual participation of its ****tuguese ally in the war.
>The British held the ****tuguese armed forces in the
>utmost (even racist) contempt and considered the
>country as a whole an absolutely worthless ally,
>incapable of defending itself and its colonies, let
>alone giving some sort of positive contribution to the
>British war effort. Thus, despite skirmishes between
>German and ****tuguese colonial troops and tribal
>revolts in Africa instigated by Germany were taking
>place since August 1914, in the same month the
>****tuguese government, under pressure from Britain,
>declared its neutrality, while reaffirming that the
>country was still bound by its old alliance with the
>United Kingdom. By 1915, though, the raising and
>training of a military force had already begun.
>
>Only the relentless butchery on the Western front
>convinced the British and French commands that
>the ****tuguese forces could be of some use.
>****tugal was therefore "allowed" to enter the war.
>The actual cause of the formal German declaration
>of war on 9 March 1916 was the seizure of 36
>German and Austro-Hungarian merchant ****ps
>anchored in front of Lisbon since the beginning
>of the war on 24 February 1916, at Britain's request.
>These were to be used by ****tugal to carry vital
>foodstuffs for the civilian population (or so ran the
>official version).
>
>Despite ****tugal's assurance that the ****ps would
>be handed back to Germany and indemnities paid,
>the German minister (Ambassador) Van Rosen
>delivered a formal declaration of war by Germany
>on 9 March 1916, claiming ****tugal was an
>"English vassal" and the seizure of the ****ps was
>an intentional provocation (the latter being of course
>absolutely correct). ****tugal promptly reciprocated
>by declaring war on Germany and the Austro-
>Hungarian Empire.
>
>Source:
>Hugo Rodrigues , Sintra, ****tugal
Further, if they hadn't declared war then, they would probably have
when von Lettow-Vorbeck's euros and African askaris trampled over
northern Mozambique and ruffled many of the ****tuguese defenders
there. His escapades were the only true "victory" of the war, because
overall von Lettow-Vorbeck was undefeated in battle during the Great
War.
Also, this is "sort of" how Kionga and its lowly 4 stamps came into
being.
There are plenty of ****tuguese colonial revenues overprinted for
postage, especially in ****tuguese East Africa. Some of these were for
war taxes.
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