1890 British Ultimatum
The 1890 British Ultimatum was an
It has sometimes been claimed that the British government's objections arose because the Portuguese claims clashed with its aspirations to create a
Background
At the start of the 19th century, the Portuguese presence in Africa south of the equator was limited in
A far more serious dispute arose in the area of the Zambezi valley and
Portugal attempted to assert its African territorial claims through three expeditions led by Alexandre de Serpa Pinto, first from Mozambique to the eastern Zambezi in 1869, then to the Congo and upper Zambezi from Angola in 1876 and lastly crossing Africa from Angola in 1877–1879. These expeditions were undertaken with the intention of claiming the area between Mozambique and Angola.[7] Following Serpa Pinto's explorations, the Portuguese government in 1879 made a formal claim to the area south and east of the Ruo River (the present south-eastern border of Malawi) and, in 1882, occupied the lower Shire River valley as far as the Ruo. The Portuguese then asked the British government to accept this territorial claim, but the opening of the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 ended the discussions.[8] Portugal's efforts to establish this corridor of influence between Angola and Mozambique were hampered by one of the articles in the General Act of the Berlin Conference which required uti possidetis of areas claimed rather than historical claims based on discovery or those based on exploration, as Portugal had used.[9]
To validate Portuguese claims, Serpa Pinto was appointed as its consul in Zanzibar in 1884 and given the mission of exploring the region between Lake Nyasa and the coast from the Zambezi to the
Despite the outcome of the Berlin Conference, the idea of a trans-African Portuguese zone was not abandoned; to help to create it, Portugal signed treaties with France and Germany in 1886. The German treaty noted Portugal's claim to territory along the course of the Zambezi linking Angola and Mozambique. Following the treaties, the Portuguese foreign minister prepared what became known as the
Ultimatum
In 1888, the Portuguese government instructed its representatives in Mozambique to make treaties of protection with the Yao chiefs southeast of Lake Nyasa and in the Shire Highlands. Two expeditions were organised, one under Antonio Cardoso, a former governor of Quelimane, set off in November 1888 for Lake Nyasa; the second expedition under Serpa Pinto (now governor of Mozambique) moved up the Shire valley. Between them, these two expeditions made over 20 treaties with chiefs in what is now Malawi.[15] Serpa Pinto met Johnston in August 1889 east of the Ruo, when Johnston advised him not to cross the river into the Shire Highlands.[16] Although Serpa Pinto had previously acted with caution, he crossed the Ruo to Chiromo, now in Malawi in September 1889.[17]
The incursion led to an armed conflict between Portuguese troops led by Serpa Pinto and the
Following this minor clash, Johnston's vice-consul, John Buchanan, accused Portugal of ignoring British interests in this area and declared a British protectorate over the Shire Highlands in December 1889 despite contrary instructions.[19] Shortly afterward, Johnston himself declared a further protectorate over the area to the west of Lake Nyasa (also contrary to his instructions) although both protectorates were later endorsed by the Foreign Office.[20]
The actions formed the background to an Anglo-Portuguese crisis in which a British refusal of arbitration was followed by the 1890 British Ultimatum.[21]
The ultimatum was a memorandum sent to the Portuguese Government by
What Her Majesty's Government require and insist upon is the following: that telegraphic instructions shall be sent to the governor of Mozambique at once to the effect that all and any Portuguese military forces which are actually on the Shire or in the Makololo or in the Mashona territory are to be withdrawn. Her Majesty's Government considers that without this the assurances given by the Portuguese Government are illusory. Mr. Petre is compelled by his instruction to leave Lisbon at once with all the members of his legation unless a satisfactory answer to this foregoing intimation is received by him in, the course of this evening, and Her Majesty's ship Enchantress is now at Vigo waiting for his orders.[23]
The Mr. Petre mentioned was the British Minister in Lisbon.[23]
Aftermath
Although the ultimatum required Portugal to cease from its activities in the disputed areas, there was no similar restriction on further British efforts to establish occupation there. Agents for Rhodes were active in Mashonaland and Manicaland and in what is now eastern Zambia, and John Buchanan asserted British rule in more of the Shire Highlands. There were armed clashes between Portuguese troops who were already in occupation in Manicaland and Rhodes’ incoming men in 1890 and 1891, which ceased only when some areas that had been allocated to Portugal in the unratified 1890 treaty were reassigned to Rhodes’ British South Africa Company in the 1891 treaty, with Portugal being given more land in the Zambezi valley in compensation for this loss.[24]
The seeming ease by which the Portuguese government had acquiesced to the British demands was seen as a national humiliation by many in Portugal, including republican opponents of Portugal's monarchy. Portuguese anger over the ultimatum led to the fall of Prime Minister José Luciano de Castro's administration and its replacement by a new administration led by António de Serpa Pimentel. Combined with a variety of other factors, such as the Portuguese royal family's expenses, the Lisbon Regicide, political instability and changing religious and social views in Portugal led to the 5 October 1910 revolution, which overthrew the Portuguese monarchy.[25] The reason that Lord Salisbury and his diplomatically isolated British government used tactics that could have led to war has been plausibly argued as the result of fear of Portuguese occupation of Manicaland and the Shire Highlands, which would have forestalled British interests.[26]
In an attempt to reach an agreement over Portuguese African borders, the Treaty of London defining the territorial limits of Angola and Mozambique, was signed on 20 August 1890 by Portugal and the United Kingdom. The treaty was published in the Diário do Governo (Portugal's Government Daily) on 30 August and presented to the parliament that same day, leading to a new wave of protests and the downfall of the Portuguese government. Not only was it never ratified by the Portuguese Parliament; but Cecil Rhodes, whose plans of expansion it affected, also opposed this treaty. A new treaty was negotiated which gave Portugal more territory in the Zambezi valley than the 1890 treaty, but what is now the Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe passed from Portuguese to British control. This treaty was signed in Lisbon on 11 June 1891, and in addition to defining boundaries, it allowed freedom of navigation on the Zambezi and Shire rivers and allowed the UK to lease land for a port at Chinde at the mouth of the Zambezi.[27]
The 1890 ultimatum soured Anglo-Portuguese relations for some time, although when in the late 1890s Portugal underwent a severe economic crisis, its government sought a British loan. However, with the outbreak of the Boer war, Britain sought support from Portugal and signed an Anglo-Portuguese Declaration on 14 October 1899. This new treaty reaffirmed former treaties of Alliance and committed Britain to defending Portuguese colonies from possible enemies. In return, Portugal agreed to stop arms being supplied to the Transvaal through Lourenço Marques and declared its neutrality in the conflict.[28]
Although official relations were repaired, the 1890 ultimatum was said to be one of the main causes of the failed
See also
- Gunboat diplomacy
- Perfidious Albion
- Portuguese Empire
- Scramble for Africa
- Pink Map
- Anglo-Portuguese Alliance
- Lusophobia
References
- ^ Livermore, H.V. (1997). "Lord Salisbury's Ultimatum". British Historical Society of Portugal Annual Report. 24: 151.
- ISBN 1-85065-172-8.
- ISBN 0-521-29894-6.
- ^ H. Livermore (1992), Consul Crawfurd and the Anglo-Portuguese Crisis of 1890 Portuguese Studies, Vol. 8, pp. 181–2.
- JSTOR 180296.
- ^ J G Pike (1969). Malawi: A Political and Economic History, London, Pall Mall Press pp. 77–79.
- JSTOR 1875649.
- ISBN 978-1-84701-050-6.
- ^ a b Teresa Pinto Coelho (2006). "Lord Salisbury's 1890 Ultimatum to Portugal and Anglo-Portuguese Relations", p. 2.
- JSTOR 1875649.
- ^ M Newitt (1995). A History of Mozambique, pp. 276–277, 325–326.
- ISBN 978-1-84701-050-6.
- ^ M Newitt (1995). A History of Mozambique, p. 341.
- ^ J G Pike (1969). Malawi: A Political and Economic History, pp. 83–85.
- ^ J McCracken, (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859-1966, pp. 52-3.
- ^ J G Pike, (1969). Malawi: A Political and Economic History, pp. 85-6.
- ^ J McCracken, (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859-1966, pp. 53, 55.
- ^ Teresa Pinto Coelho, (2006). Lord Salisbury's 1890 Ultimatum to Portugal and Anglo-Portuguese Relations, p. 3. http://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/files/windsor/6_pintocoelho.pdf
- ^ M Newitt, (1995). A History of Mozambique, p. 346.
- ^ R I Rotberg, (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa: The Making of Malawi and Zambia, 1873-1964, Cambridge (Mass), Harvard University Press, p.15.
- ^ F Axelson, (1967). Portugal and the Scramble for Africa, Johannesburg, Witwatersrand University Press, pp. 233-6.
- ^ Teresa Pinto Coelho, (2006). Lord Salisbury's 1890 Ultimatum to Portugal and Anglo-Portuguese Relations, p. 1. http://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/files/windsor/6_pintocoelho.pdf
- ^ a b Teresa Pinto Coelho, (2006). Lord Salisbury's 1890 Ultimatum to Portugal and Anglo-Portuguese Relations, p. 1. http://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/files/windsor/6_pintocoelho.pdf
- ^ M Newitt, (1995). A History of Mozambique, pp. 353-4.
- ^ João Ferreira Duarte, The Politics of Non-Translation: A Case Study in Anglo-Portuguese Relations
- ^ M Newitt, (1995). A History of Mozambique, p. 347.
- ^ Teresa Pinto Coelho, (2006). Lord Salisbury's 1890 Ultimatum to Portugal and Anglo-Portuguese Relations, pp. 6-7. http://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/files/windsor/6_pintocoelho.pdf
- ^ Teresa Pinto Coelho, (2006). Lord Salisbury's 1890 Ultimatum to Portugal and Anglo-Portuguese Relations, pp. 6-7. http://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/files/windsor/6_pintocoelho.pdf
Further reading
- Charles E. Nowell, The Rose-Colored Map: Portugal's Attempt to Build an African Empire from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Lisbon, Portugal: Junta de Investigações Científicas do Ultramar, 1982.