In the history of world colonization, when it comes to the first country to open colonies, Portugal is definitely the first, as early as 1415 AD, the dynasty that ruled Portugal at that time sent a fleet of ships across the strait to establish the first colonial stronghold in world history in the coastal city of Ceuta in North Africa, marking the beginning of world colonial history and the establishment of the first colonial empire in world history, the Portuguese Empire.
Before 1139 AD, there was no Portugal and Spain on the Iberian Peninsula in southern Europe, only a few kingdoms such as León, Castile, and Aragon, and parts of the Mediterranean coast were invaded by foreign Arabs, and the situation was very chaotic. In 1139 AD, the Portuguese Duke Alfonso, who was then the Burgundian dynasty that ruled Castile, declared that his territory along the Iberian Peninsula in the Atlantic Ocean had become an independent state, with the title of Portugal as the name of the country, and the Portuguese state was born, because he was a member of the royal family of the Burgundian dynasty, so the dynasty he established was also the Burgundy dynasty, the first dynasty in Portuguese history, and he himself called Alfonso I.
Alfonso I, founding king of the Burgundy dynasty of Portugal
After portugal formed an independent state, although it was recognized by other countries through war, but the helpless national strength was weaker than León, Castile, Aragon and so on, although the kings of the Burgundian dynasty were committed to expanding their territory, they failed to achieve great success, and could only open up to the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, just like a small country in a remote corner, the Iberian Peninsula developed to the early 14th century AD, basically leaving Castile and Aragon equally divided the world. The two kingdoms eventually merged into Spain under the Trastamala dynasty that ruled Castile in 1492 AD, and the Spanish state was born more than 300 years after the birth of Portugal.
Alfonso I established the portuguese state
Speaking of Portugal, in 1383 AD, the first dynasty in Portuguese history, the Burgundian Dynasty, fell, and the members of the royal family fought a two-year civil war for the throne, and finally in 1385 AD, João, who controlled the most elite army of the Burgundian Dynasty, the Knights of Avesh, took the throne, although he was the illegitimate son of Pedro I, the eighth king of the Burgundian dynasty, the younger brother of the ninth king Fernando I, and was a member of the royal family of the Burgundian dynasty, but his access to the throne was still regarded as a succession of dynasties by later generations. The dynasty was named after the Knights of Aves, loyal to him, known historically as the Avesh Dynasty, and he himself was known as João I.
João I, founding king of the Portuguese Avesh dynasty
João I may be the greatest monarch in Portuguese history, he knows that Portugal's geographical location and national strength can no longer have any major expansion on the Iberian Peninsula, so he set his sights on the endless ocean, he called the ocean a blue territory, thinking that if Portugal wants to rise to become a world power, it must develop to the sea, and he regards this matter as his lifelong dream.
João I immediately took action, formulating a detailed maritime policy and creating an elite fleet of seafaring ships. In 1415 AD, João I appointed his third son, Prince Henry, who loved navigation, as the supreme commander of the fleet, which consisted of 200 warships, carrying nearly 20,000 troops and thousands of Portuguese civilians, to the northwest of Africa on the other side of the ocean, successfully capturing the coastal city of Ceuta of the Fez Dynasty in Morocco that year, and establishing a colonial stronghold there, this historical event was recognized by later generations as the beginning of the world's exploration of overseas colonies, so Portugal became the first colonial country in world history. The Portuguese Empire, the first colonial empire in world history, was established.
In the following twenty or thirty years, Prince Henry was repeatedly ordered by his father João I to explore the deeper oceans with his fleet, and successively discovered the Madeira Islands, the Azores, etc., which were declared colonies by Portugal, and the Portuguese Empire became more prosperous and powerful.
João I established the Portuguese Empire as a colonial empire
Until the death of João I in 1433 AD, he still did not forget the cause of navigation before his death, it was under his wise and heroic rule, opened the prelude to the world's exploration of overseas colonies, and single-handedly created the first colonial empire in world history, the Portuguese Empire, absolutely worthy of the greatest monarch in Portuguese history.
After the death of João I, the Portuguese went forward and continued to develop the navigation industry, including his third son Prince Henry and his descendants, including other Portuguese navigators, and navigators from other European countries also joined the navigation industry, on the eve of the birth of Spain in 1492 AD, Portugal has established a large number of colonies on the African coast, south American coast, Indian coast, etc., is the world power, Spain was born after the birth of Portugal's huge overseas colonies, This became a colonial empire after Portugal, so Portugal is definitely the first colonial empire in world history.
By the middle of the 16th century, Portugal and Spain had almost equally divided the world colonies, the largest colony in South America was Brazilian, the southern part of North America and the rest of South America was Spanish, and the African part and the Asian part were Portuguese, until the rise of the Netherlands, France, and Britain, the ownership of the world's colonies was constantly changing, but fortunately, brazil's vast colony was always firmly occupied by Portugal.
Spain and Portugal divided the world's colonies almost equally
In 1822 AD, Brazil successfully separated from Portugal independence, Portugal's status as a world colonial power continued to decline, the national strength also continued to decline, by the middle of the 19th century AD Britain became the world's largest colonial empire, France became the world's second largest colonial empire, Portuguese colonies remained only in Africa Angola, Mozambique, and Asia's Macau, East Timor and a few others, the area is not large. Until after World War II, the Portuguese colonies became independent, and in 1975, Angola became independent after the independence of other colonies, declaring the end of the Portuguese Empire that lasted for more than 500 years, and Macao finally returned to China in 1999 AD, and Portugal's colonization activities ended completely.
The Portuguese Empire, the first colonial empire in world history
As the first colonial empire in world history, Portugal has a glorious history, although it has long since passed. Today's Portugal, whether it is international status or comprehensive national strength, is not very high and strong in the world, but today's Portugal is still a highly developed capitalist country, the Portuguese have perfect social welfare and a high standard of living, the gap between rich and poor is very small, per capita GDP is as high as more than 20,000 euros, the capital Lisbon is a world-famous international metropolis.
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal