Portugal in the Great War
Encyclopedia
Anglo-Portuguese Alliance
The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, ratified at the Treaty of Windsor in 1386, between England and Portugal is claimed to be the oldest alliance in the world which is still in force — with the earliest treaty dating back to the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373.This alliance, which goes back to the...
started with the Treaty of Windsor in 1386 (the oldest alliance in the world, which is still in force), Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
did not initially form part of the system of alliances involved in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and thus initially kept its neutrality
Neutrality (international relations)
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
. However, tensions between Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
and Portugal arose due to German U-Boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
warfare which sought to blockade the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
— at the time the most important market for Portuguese products. Clashes also occurred with German troops in the south of the Portuguese colony of Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
in 1914 and 1915 (see German campaign in Angola
German campaign in Angola
Before official declaration of war between Germany and Portugal , German and Portuguese troops clashed several times on the border between German South West Africa and Portuguese Angola...
).
Initially, both the Portuguese and the German Governments officially stuck to neutrality. Unofficially, there were many hostile engagements between the countries. Portugal wanted to comply with British requests and also protect its colonies in Africa, and ultimately tensions resulted in war between Portugal and Germany being declared, first by Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
1914
- July German and British Empires secretly negotiated about possible dismemberment of Portuguese Angola; in such a case most of the land would fall into the hands of Germans. Angola-Bund founded in 1912 was the German organization promoting the takeover.
- August to September Skirmishes occurred between German and Portuguese colonial troops in Africa and the Germans instigated tribal revolts.
- September Portuguese government sent reinforcements to the southern border of Angola. After the war broke out the border between German South West Africa and Angola remained open. The Germans hoped to supply food and possibly even arms through it. However the Portuguese colonial government was hostile and tried to stop all the trade. A few German nationals in Angola were interned.
- October 1600 troops arrive in AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
and 1527 troops arrive in Mozambique from Portugal.
1915
- November 1543 troops arrive in MozambiqueMozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, commanded by Moura Mendes. This 2ª force was to recapture the Kionga TriangleKionga TriangleThe Kionga Triangle was a tiny territory on the border between German East Africa and the Portuguese colony of Portuguese East Africa , totalling just 1000 km² .Originally, the Germans established this as their outpost south of the Rovuma River, and there was a settlement...
from the Germans.
1916–1918, Portugal in the war
When Portugal complied with the British request to confiscate the German ships interned in Portuguese ports, Germany reacted by declaring war on Portugal, thus forcing the Portuguese officially into the war.1916
- February 23 Following a British request, Portugal interned 36 German and Austro-Hungarian ships in LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
. - March 9 Germany declared war on Portugal followed by Portugal declaring war on Germany and starts to organise Portuguese troops to go to the Western front.
- June 9 Afonso CostaAfonso CostaAfonso Augusto da Costa, GCTE, GCL was a Portuguese lawyer, professor, and republican politician.-Political career:Costa was the leader of the Portuguese Republican Party, and he was one of the major figures of the Portuguese First Republic. He was a republican deputy in the Chamber of Deputies...
(Finance Minister) and Augusto Soares participated in an Allied Economic Conference where the Allies decided that as condition for peace, Germany would have to return the territories of Alsace-LorraineAlsace-LorraineThe Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
to FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(occupied since 1871) and Kionga in MozambiqueMozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
to Portugal (occupied since 1894). - July 15 The BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Government formally invited Portugal to take an active part in the military actions of the AlliesAlliesIn everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
. - July 22 The Portuguese Expeditionary CorpsPortuguese Expeditionary CorpsThe Portuguese Expeditionary Corps was the main military force from Portugal that participated in the First World War. Portuguese neutrality ended in 1916 after the seizure of German merchant ships resulted in Germany declaring war...
(Corpo Expedicionário Português, CEP), with 30,000 soldiers, was established in Tancos, Portugal, under the command of General Norton de Matos. - August 7 The Portuguese Parliament accepted the participation of Portugal in the war, following the invitation of the British Government. The Portuguese war effort reached 55,000 infantry soldiers, plus 1,000 artillerymen, to be sent to France—4,000 soldiers per month—to man 12 km of battlefront. In fact, only the first two divisions reached France, as the shipping of American troops drastically reduced the Allies' transportation capacity. At the same time, Portugal fielded forces in its African colonies, in Mozambique, to defend the colony from German colonial forces, and in the south of Angola, against native unrest instigated by the Germans.
- December 3 The German U-boat, SM U-38, captained by Max ValentinerMax ValentinerCaptain Christian August Max Ahlmann Valentiner was a German U-boat commander during World War I.He was the third highest-scoring U-boat commander of the war, and was awarded the Pour le Mérite, the highest Prussian military order until the end of the war, for his achievements.He was also branded...
went into FunchalFunchalFunchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. The city has a population of 112,015 and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.-Etymology:...
harbour on MadeiraMadeiraMadeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
and torpedoed and sank 3 ships, CS Dacia (1,856 tons), Kanguroo (2,493 tons) and Surprise (680 tons). The commander of the French GunboatGunboatA gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
Surprise and 34 of her crew (7 Portuguese) died in the attack. The Dacia, a BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
cable laying vessel, had previously undertaken war work off the coast of CasablancaCasablancaCasablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
and DakarDakarDakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, was in the process of diverting the German South American cable into Brest, France. Following the attack on the ships, the Germans proceeded to bombard FunchalFunchalFunchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. The city has a population of 112,015 and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.-Etymology:...
for 2 h from a range of about 2 mi. Batteries on Madeira returned fire and eventually forced the Germans to withdraw. - December 26 The FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Government asked Portugal to send artillery crews to France to operate 20 to 30 heavy artillery batteries.
1917
- Small amount of Portuguese troops sent to the New ForestNew ForestThe New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to help in the timber shortage, working with the Canadian Forestry CorpsCanadian Forestry CorpsThe Canadian Forestry Corps was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army with its own cap badge, and other insignia and traditions.The Canadian Forestry Corps was created 14 Nov 1916. The crest of the Canadian Forestry Corps consists of a circle, with a beaver on top, superimposed on a pair of...
, today the area is known as the Portuguese FireplacePortuguese FireplaceThe Portuguese Fireplace is a war memorial in the New Forest National Park, near the village of Lyndhurst, Hampshire, United Kingdom. It is located on the road between Bolderwood and Emery Down, approximately 2 km from the latter. It is near to Millyford Bridge and is used as a Waymark...
.
- January 3 Convention with Great Britain to regulate Portuguese participation in the Western FrontWestern Front (World War I)Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
. Portuguese troops of the CEP would be integrated in the BEF (British Expeditionary Force). - January 7 The Independent Heavy Artillery Corps (Corpo de Artilharia Pesada Independente, CAPI) was created to respond to the French request for artillery crews. Under a Portuguese Superior Command, this unit would operate 25 heavy artillery batteries.
- February 2 The first Portuguese troops arrived at the port of BrestBrest, FranceBrest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, in BrittanyBrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, France. - February 23 The second contingent of the CEP left for France.
- April 4 The Portuguese troops arrived at the front. First Portuguese casualty: Private António Gonçalves Curado (killed in action).
- May 30 The First Infantry Brigade of the CEP First Division occupied a sector in the battle front.
- June 4 German attack on the sector defended by the First Brigade.
- June 16 Second Infantry Brigade occupied another sector on the battle front.
- July 10 CEP First Division assumed responsibility of its part of the Portuguese sector on the battle front. It was subordinated to the XI Corps of the British ArmyBritish ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, under the command of General Richard HakingRichard HakingGeneral Sir Richard Cyril Byrne Haking, GBE, KCB, KCMG was a British general in the First World War. He is remembered chiefly for the high casualties suffered by his forces at the second Battle of Fromelles, although at least one British historian has sought to defend his reputation, regarding...
. CEP Third Infantry Brigade occupied a sector on the battle front. - September 23 The Fourth Brigade, known as the Brigade of Minho (Brigada do Minho), part of the Second Division, reached the front.
- October 17 The first Portuguese artillery soldiers, representing Portugal's direct support to the French war effort, arrived in France. They were designated as Corps d'artillerie lourde portugais (CALP).
- November 5 Portuguese command assumed the responsibility for its sector in the front. Until this date, it had been under the command of General Henry HorneHenry Horne, 1st Baron HorneGeneral Henry Sinclair Horne, 1st Baron Horne GCB, KCMG was a military officer in the British Army, most notable for his generalship during World War I. He was the only British artillery officer to command an army in the war. Until recently Horne was the unknown General of the Great War and did...
's British First ArmyBritish First ArmyThe First Army was a field army of the British Army that existed during the First and Second World Wars. Despite being a British command, the First Army also included Indian and Portuguese forces during the First World War and American and French during the Second World War.-First World War:The...
. - Late 1917 In Portuguese East AfricaMozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, German officer Paul von Lettow-VorbeckPaul Emil von Lettow-VorbeckPaul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of the German East Africa campaign. For four years, with a force that never exceeded about 14,000 , he held in check a much larger force of 300,000 British, Belgian, and Portuguese troops...
, after a series of long running battles with numerically superior British forces, entered the colony from nearby German East AfricaGerman East AfricaGerman East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
. - December 12 2 German U-boats, SM U-156 and SM U-157SM U-157SM U-157 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-157 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic....
(captaining by Max ValentinerMax ValentinerCaptain Christian August Max Ahlmann Valentiner was a German U-boat commander during World War I.He was the third highest-scoring U-boat commander of the war, and was awarded the Pour le Mérite, the highest Prussian military order until the end of the war, for his achievements.He was also branded...
) again bombarded FunchalFunchalFunchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. The city has a population of 112,015 and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.-Etymology:...
, Madeira. This time the attack lasted around 30 min. Forty, 4.7 inch and 5.9 inch shells were fired. There were 3 fatalities and 17 wounded, In addition, a number of houses and Santa Clara church were hit. - December 17The German U-boat SM U-156 Stops and scuttles the Portuguese ship Acoriano (a Wooden three-masted schooner) SE of the Azores
- December 26 The German U-boat SM U-157SM U-157SM U-157 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-157 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic....
(captaining by Max ValentinerMax ValentinerCaptain Christian August Max Ahlmann Valentiner was a German U-boat commander during World War I.He was the third highest-scoring U-boat commander of the war, and was awarded the Pour le Mérite, the highest Prussian military order until the end of the war, for his achievements.He was also branded...
) sinks the Portuguese ship "Lidia" in the AzoresAzoresThe Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
.
1918
- February 17 The German U-boat SM U-157SM U-157SM U-157 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-157 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic....
(captaining by Max ValentinerMax ValentinerCaptain Christian August Max Ahlmann Valentiner was a German U-boat commander during World War I.He was the third highest-scoring U-boat commander of the war, and was awarded the Pour le Mérite, the highest Prussian military order until the end of the war, for his achievements.He was also branded...
) sinks the Portuguese ship Estrella Da Bissao off the coast of South Africa. - March 16 The Portuguese artillery batteries enter in action.
- March 27 A German offensive restrains the Portuguese soldiers from being released. As a third Portuguese Division was never sent to France, the Portuguese Army did not receive reinforcements at all. Portuguese soldiers had to serve in the battle front for long periods and were thus amongst the most exhausted men in the front.
- April 6 The condition of the Portuguese soldiers become so difficult that, finally, the British decided to release the Portuguese. The CEP was supposed to be reorganized, the First Division going to the rear as a reserve force and the Second Division becoming part of the Eleventh Corps of the British Army, under General Haking's command. Haking visits the Portuguese troops and decides to send the Second Division to the rear from April 9, which would never happen. The Germans attacked the British lines, forcing them to retreat about 60 km. Instead of being released, the Portuguese troops had to fight off the German offensive on its sector.
- April 9 The Battle of La Lys, as it became known in Portugal, or Operation Georgette, or Battle of Estaires to the British, started with a heavy artillery barrage from the Germans, followed by a German offensive with intensive use of lethal gas. The German Sixth Army deployed eight divisions (about 100,000 men), supported by intensive artillery fire. Against this force, the Portuguese had 20,000 soldiers and 88 guns. As a result, the Second Division was annihilated during the battle. The Portuguese CEP lost 327 officers and 7,098 soldiers, about 35% of its effective fighting capacity. The survivors were sent to the rear, some of the units being integrated in the British Army later on. During this battle, one of the most courageous acts in Portuguese history was perpetrated, as private Aníbal MilhaisAníbal MilhaisAníbal Augusto Milhais was the most decorated Portuguese soldier of World War I and the only Portuguese soldier awarded with the highest national honour, the Ordem de Torre e Espada do Valor, Lealdade e Mérito on the battlefield instead of the...
(also known as "Soldado Milhões" ["A Soldier as good as a million others" in his commanding officer's words]) defended all alone the retreating allied forces with nothing but his machine gun, allowing them to fall back and regroup. Once he ran out of bullets, he escaped the battlefield, after defeating two German regiments and forcing the remaining German forces to go around him, finding impossible to defeat what they believed to be an heavily armed post, yet, he got lost along the way, having to eat nothing but sweet-almonds his family had sent him from Portugal for three days. Lost and exhausted, he was able to rescue a Scottish major from drowning in a swamp. This major led him to the Allied camp and told everyone Milhais' deeds. - July General Tomás António Garcia Rosado is appointed as the new Commanding Chief of the remaining CEP.
- July German forces under von Lettow-Vorbeck captured Namakura/Nhamacurra in Portuguese East Africa and seized important arms and supplies for his force after similar smaller successes against Portuguese outposts had already helped reprovision his force.
- July 4 CEP First Division was subordinated to the British Fifth ArmyBritish Fifth ArmyThe Fifth Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I and part of the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War.-History:...
, commanded by General William BirdwoodWilliam Birdwood, 1st Baron BirdwoodField Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, CIE, DSO was a First World War British general who is best known as the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.- Youth and early career :Birdwood was born...
. - August 25 General Garcia Rosado assumes command of the CEP in France. The German U-boat SM U-157SM U-157SM U-157 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-157 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic....
sinks the Portuguese ship Gloria, 30 miles from Port Santo, Madeira Islands - September 22 The German U-boat SM U-157SM U-157SM U-157 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-157 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic....
sinks the Portuguese ship Gaia, near the Azores. - October 14 In the Action of 14 October 1918Action of 14 October 1918The Action of 14 October was a naval engagement of the First World War when the German Navy submarine U-139 attacked the Portuguese civilian steamer São Miguel and the Portuguese Navy patrol boat NRPAugusto de Castilho in the Atlantic Ocean on the 14 of October, 1918.-Background:On the island of...
the Portuguese patrol boat NRP Augusto Castilho (commanded by Carvalho AraújoCarvalho AraújoJosé Botelho de Carvalho Araújo was a Portuguese Navy officer and colonial administrator.-Life:Son of José de Carvalho Araújo Júnior and Margarida Ferreira Botelho de Araújo, he was born in the northern city of Porto at the parish of São Nicolau, while his fathers were visiting the city...
) is sunk by the German U-boat U-139 (commanded by Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière) after several hours of fighting. - November 11 Germany accepts the armistice proposed by the Allies. The war ends.
Portugal had 8,145 dead, 13,751 wounded, and 12,318 prisoners or missing. At sea 96 Portuguese ships were sunk (100,193 tons) and 5 Portuguese ships were damaged (7,485 tons) by German submarines.
1919
- January 18 The Portuguese delegation at the Peace Conference in VersaillesVersaillesVersailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
, France, was led by Prof. Egas MonizEgas MonizAntónio Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz , known as Egas Moniz , was a Portuguese neurologist and the developer of cerebral angiography...
. In the Peace Treaty, Germany had to cede the port of Kionga, hitherto associated with German East AfricaGerman East AfricaGerman East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
(the mainland of modern TanzaniaTanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
), to Portugal.
1921
- November 19 Charles I the last Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian EmpireAustria-HungaryAustria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
went into exile on the Portuguese island of MadeiraMadeiraMadeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
, where he would remain until his death on April 1, 1922. Charles I had tried in 1917 to enter secretly into peace negotiations with France. Although his foreign minister, Ottokar Czernin, was interested in negotiating only a general peace that would include Germany as well, Charles himself, in negotiations with the French with his brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-ParmaPrince Sixtus of Bourbon-ParmaPrince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma was a Prince of the Duchy of Parma, a Belgian officer in the First World War, and the central figure in the Sixtus Affair.- Biography :Sixtus was a son of the last Duke of Parma, Robert I and his...
, an officer in the Belgian army, as an intermediary, went much further in suggesting his willingness to make a separate peace. When news of the overture leaked in April 1918, Charles denied involvement until the French Prime Minister Georges ClemenceauGeorges ClemenceauGeorges Benjamin Clemenceau was a French statesman, physician and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. For nearly the final year of World War I he led France, and was one of the major voices behind the Treaty of Versailles at the...
published letters signed by him. This led to Czernin's resignation, forcing Austria-Hungary into an even more dependent position with respect to its seemingly-wronged German ally. Determined to prevent a restoration attempt, the Council of Allied Powers had agreed on Madeira because it was isolated in the Atlantic and easily guarded.