A Grande Guerra em Angola: a expedição de Alves Roçadas e de Pereira D’Eça na estratégia intervencionista

This article analyses the relationship between political and military dimensions of Alves Roçadas (1914) and Pereira D’Eça (1915) expeditions to Angola during the Portuguese commitment in the context of the Great War. Existing bibliography focus mainly on the military aspects of those expeditions as the cases of Naulila combat against Germans and pacification campaign in southern Angola, giving little attention to political dimension analysis. By analysing documentation of some prominent Portuguese Government “interventionist” wing members, I consider that these expeditions were used to perform the objectives of the “interventionist” wing as a means of belligerence in Europe. Sending military expeditions to Angola in early September 1914 increased the probability of military confrontation with Southwest Africa Germans, demonstrated to Great Britain the Portuguese ability to mobilize thousands of soldiers with short notice and could garner unconditional population support, which were essential factors to the “interventionist” wing strategy