On 18 December 1961, India dispatched 30,000 troops, supported by air fighter jets, to attack Portuguese troops stationed on the south Asian island of Goa. After fierce fighting, the Indian army captured more than 3,000 Portuguese troops and recovered the Goa region that had been occupied by Portugal for many years.
India won a complete victory against Portugal, Europe's old colonial power, and the nationalist sentiment of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the domestic population was unprecedentedly high. India seems to be a "South Asian superpower", and it is proud of the spring breeze between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Why, then, did India go to war with Portugal in 1961? What is the relationship between Goa and india's war with Portugal?
Above_ The Carac galleon that allows the Portuguese to traverse the East
First, the Portuguese occupation of Goa set the stage for a war between India and Portugal.
In the 15th century, Portugal and Spain took the lead in leading all mankind into the age of navigation.
In 1510, Portuguese troops occupied Goa. Before british colonists entered Asia, established powers such as Portugal seemed to consider themselves the colonial hegemons of the Asian continent.
In 1565, Portuguese-occupied Goa became the capital of Portuguese India, but with the arrival of British colonists, Portugal and Britain fought fiercely over the Indian subcontinent. Eventually, the British gradually occupied the entire Indian subcontinent by various means, while portugal retained only the Goa region in India.
By the end of World War II, with the implementation of the Mountbatten Plan, British India was divided into two independent sovereign states, India and Pakistan. Portugal did not withdraw its government and armed forces from Goa after the end of World War II, and for the Nehru government of India, which seeks the geopolitical initiative in South Asia, it naturally cannot tolerate the long-term Portuguese occupation, or even permanent occupation of The Goa region. As India's military strength increases, India must return to Goa through corresponding means.
Above_ Map of British India
Second, after the end of World War II, Portugal insisted on colonizing the Goa region, which rapidly deteriorated relations between India and Portugal, and the Indian government sent irregular army armed personnel into the Goa region to clash with the Portuguese army.
After the end of the Second World War, due to the heavy losses of the old colonial powers such as Britain and France in the world war, their control over the colonies was gradually relaxed. Although Britain, France and other countries still hope to maintain the basic plan of their colonies by force, under the wave of colonial peoples demanding independence, the "colonial dream" of Britain and France and other countries is only a yellow sorghum dream. Whether it was British India under British occupation, Vietnam under French occupation, or Indonesia under Dutch occupation, they all became independent sovereign states after the war. Even if the French army sent troops to re-attack Vietnam, it was also repulsed by the Vietnamese military and civilian defense of the country.
Established colonial countries such as Britain, France and the Netherlands were exiting their Asian colonies after World War II, but Portugal did not see the historical trend of colonies being swept into the garbage dump after World War II. Britain, France and the Netherlands gradually left Asia, but Portugal stubbornly held on to its last colony in South Asia, Goa. Since Portugal joined NATO, the United States supported Portugal's presence in the Goa region. The Portuguese colonial government exploited the population of Goa with extreme cruelty and adopted a resolute repressive attitude towards its resistance.
Above_ The Goa region is located in the central part of the west coast of India
In 1946, the Goa region engaged in a "non-violent independence movement", but the Portuguese army resolutely suppressed the "non-violent independence movement" of the Goa people, and the Indian government instead acquiesced to the people of Goa to expel the Portuguese colonists by means of armed struggle.
Of course, the Indian government is preparing to retake Goa by force on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is also negotiating with the Portuguese government, hoping to recover the Goa region by peaceful means. In 1949, India set up a legation in Portugal, hoping to return Portugal to Goa by establishing diplomatic relations. But Portugal stubbornly insisted that Goa be part of its territory.
By 1951, Portugal had simply changed the Goa region to an overseas province under the direct leadership of the Portuguese government, a move that undoubtedly told the Indian government that the possibility of returning to Goa in peace negotiations was minimal.
In 1955, India withdrew its consulate in Portugal, and relations between the two countries were completely broken. The Portuguese military police also shot and killed dozens of Indian volunteers who supported Goa's return to India in 1955.
Above_ Demonstration with signs reading "Portugal abandons Goa"
The Portuguese atrocities provoked the anger of the Indian government, which announced the severance of diplomatic relations with the Portuguese government, and the armed conflict between the two countries was raging. India announced an embargo on the Goa region.
Relations between India and Portugal deteriorated rapidly, and war was in jeopardy. But the Indian government still did not go to war immediately, and Prime Minister Nehru was waiting for an opportunity: waiting for the United States and the Soviet Union to make a statement on India's takeover of Goa. In Nehru's view, as long as the United States can remain neutral in India's war to retake Goa by force and does not support Portugal, India has full confidence that It will "fight back" Goa. If you have the support of the Soviet Union, it would be perfect.
Dwight David Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969)
Third, the United States was neutral, and the Soviet Union supported India and allowed India to take back Goa by force.
The great power relations during the Cold War period were inseparable from the superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union. The same is true of the development of the question of Goa. During President Truman's administration, the United States supported Portugal's stifling in Goa. But after Eisenhower was elected president of the United States, the Attitude of the United States on the Goa issue shifted from support for India to neutrality, at least on the surface. Of course, Eisenhower still hoped that India would resolve the Goa issue peacefully.
For Nehru, the neutrality of the United States is enough. The Soviet Side also actively supported India's reconquest of Goa. Beginning in the late 1950s, relations between Soviet leader Khrushchev and India heated up rapidly, and the Soviet Union provided India with a large number of advanced weapons, including MiG-21 fighter jets. India and the Soviet Union became quasi-political-military alliances.
With the Soviet Union behind his back, Nehru's attitude towards Portugal became increasingly tough. A cloud of war hung over the South Asian continent. Nehru was determined to act in war and show the world India's mighty military.
Above_ Eisenhower and Nehru
By 1960, the United Nations General Assembly had condemned the colonialist practices of individual countries. In 1961, a revolt broke out in Angola, Portugal's African colony. With the support of the Indian government, guerrilla forces in the Goa region fought fiercely with Portuguese troops. As it turns out, the time has come for India to retake Goa by force.
On December 18, 1961, India dispatched 30,000 troops, dozens of fighters and bombers from naval vessels, including aircraft carriers, to launch a general offensive against the 4,000 Portuguese troops stationed in Goa.
The aircraft carrier HMS Vikrant was taken over by India in late 1961 and subsequently fought in the War of Goa
The Portuguese could not have imagined that India would send aircraft carriers, bombers and other advanced weapons to retake Goa. After the fighting began, the Indian Air Force came out of the limelight – its air force fighters and bombers carried bombs and violently bombarded Portuguese army positions in Goa. The Indian 17th Infantry Division, with the cooperation of air, tanks and warships, launched a three-dimensional attack on the Portuguese army in Goa. Under the fierce attack of the Indian army, the Portuguese army was shaken, and the defenders put down their weapons to the Indians after a slight resistance.
By 19 December, Indian troops had retaken Goa, Dammamdiu and annihilated more than 3,000 Portuguese troops.
Above: Black soldiers evacuated from Goa after the defeat of the Portuguese army
News of India's defeat of Portugal, a European colonial power, returned home, and Nehru won more popular support. At this time, Nehru felt good about himself and was actively preparing for a new war. But Nehru could never have imagined that his army would return in a new war.
Author: Military Handsome Guy Correction/Editor: Lilith
Reference: The Lion of South Asia- A Perspective on India's Military Forces, Zhao Xiaozhuo, East China Normal University Press
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author