Beginnings: the conquest of Ceuta and the first steps In 1415, the Portuguese fleet crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and captured the Moroccan city of Ceuta in North Africa. This event became the starting point of European colonial expansion. Led by Infante Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese, seeking gold, slaves, and a route to India, bypassed the Muslim world. They moved along the west coast of Africa, establishing forts and factories: Argan (1448), Lagos (1444), Elmina (1482). Trade in gold, ivory, and soon slaves made Portugal rich. By the end of the 15th century, the Portuguese controlled the Gulf of Guinea and reached the Cape of Good Hope. Africa was not a territory for settlement for them, but a source of resources. This model of "coastal presence" was different from the later colonization of internal lands. The era of slave trade: a tragedy built on money Portugal was a pioneer of transatlantic slave trade. Starting in the 1440s, Portuguese traders bought or captured Africans in the area of the Senegal River and sent them to Europe. After the discovery of the Americas, slaves were massed transported to Brazil. Portuguese factories on the coast of Angola, Guinea, Mozambique turned into "factories" for processing people. Estimates vary, but over 400 years, Portugal transported about 5-6 million slaves — more than any other European country. This forever changed the demographics of Africa, caused wars between tribes (which supplied prisoners) and left a deep psychological trauma. Portugal itself did not engage in slavery on its own territory, but lived off of it. Colonial rule: theory and practice of the "civilizing mission" In the late 19th century, during the "Scramble for Africa," Portugal formalized its possessions into large colonies: Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe. The official ideology was the "civilizing mission": the Portuguese supposedly brought Christianity, language, and progress to the primitive peopl ... Read more