Diplomacy in the Twilight of Empire: Franco-Portuguese Relations during Decolonization

The wave of decolonization in the middle of the twentieth century marks a crucial redefinition in international affairs, when power blocs shifted from global imperial networks to a system of new nation-states. This paper considers the complex diplomatic relationship between France and Portugal at the moment when France gave up the last of its overseas empire (with Algerian independence in 1962), while Portugal fought to maintain its own. I investigate the murky territory the French navigated in order to retain their close alliance with Portugal, even as other western powers sought to censure Salazar’s regime for its conduct in Angola (and, later, Mozambique). Indeed, tension also existed within France and the French diplomatic core, with clear disagreements between those who opposed Portugal’s bloody colonial wars and those who believed that Portugal, as the remaining European power in Africa, represented the last best hope for the civilizing mission on the continent. Franco-Portuguese relations were further complicated by the rising prominence of France’s former colonies, especially Algeria, as these new states actively supported the anti-imperial movements in Portugal’s remaining colonies. As a snapshot of the shifting sands of regional power in the 1960s, this paper demonstrates the methods employed by former imperial powers to negotiate new roles in a world system resistant to traditional European empires.