In 1919, shortly after the Armistice of November 1918, two essential factors, brought about under British influence, marked a turning point in the establishment of Portugal’s political institutions:
the strengthening of the powers of the President of the Republic, who was granted the authority to dissolve the Government and Parliament;
the restoration of diplomatic relations with the Holy See, which had been severed since the establishment of the Republic in October 1910.
In the first case, this represented a break with the constant revolutionary experiments of the preceding years, during which the President had been little more than a ceremonial figure and governments were overthrown by revolutions.
The United Kingdom, for its part, was interested in the appointment of Catholic prelates and bishops in the British overseas territories—later to form part of the Commonwealth—appointments that fell under the authority of Pope Benedict XV. Protestant Britain was drawing closer to the Catholic Church, exercising the diplomacy required by the grave social crisis and divisions affecting Italian society. This situation led British Intelligence to establish a network of one hundred secret agents for the protection of the Vatican.
By restoring relations with the Holy See, Portugal was automatically supporting the interests of its longstanding British ally. All of this made sense within the context of international relations and from the perspective of concord between nations.
Once the conflict had ended, however, the Portuguese Republic faced another problem: a war debt to Britain amounting to £25 million, an enormous sum at the time. It would only be settled in 1927, under the Military Dictatorship that emerged from the Revolution of 28 May 1926, which had received the blessing of the United Kingdom.
With a presence in Gibraltar, the British had an interest in maintaining stability throughout the Iberian Peninsula and in safeguarding the maritime route to India via Malta, Cyprus and the Suez Canal, free from obstruction.
Particular attention is given to the Portuguese diplomats Armindo de Sttau Monteiro in London and Pedro Theotónio Pereira in Madrid, as well as to Sir Samuel Hoare in Madrid. The latter acted as a kind of resident Foreign Secretary, much as Armindo Monteiro and Theotónio Pereira did when Salazar simultaneously assumed responsibility for the Ministries of Finance, Defence and Foreign Affairs. This arrangement was made viable by the considerable ability and competence of those two men, who represented credible alternatives to the head of the Portuguese Government.
The book also examines Colonel Donovan, an American intelligence officer, lawyer of Irish origin and former classmate of President Roosevelt, who met regularly in Lisbon, London and even Rome with Pope Pius XII to discuss secret support for Jewish refugees through the worldwide network of apostolic nunciatures. As regards Rome, it was only in the twenty-first century that the actions undertaken by Monsignor Carreira, Rector of the Pontifical Portuguese College, to save dozens of refugees and persecuted people in the Italian capital became known.
CONTENTS
Note on Dates // Introductory Remarks
1. When the Republic Restored Relations with the Holy See (1919)
2. The Iberian Peninsula: An Essential Stronghold on the Route to India and the Far East via Suez
2.1. Two Anglophile Ambassadors: Armindo Monteiro and Pedro Theotónio Pereira
2.1.2. Keynesian Influence and the Background to Bandung
3. The Mathematician Who Stood Out among the Professors of Law
3.1. Portuguese Diplomacy in Line with the Foreign Office: The Dispatch of an Agent of “His Majesty” to Salamanca
3.2. British Endorsement of Portuguese Diplomacy in Response to the Situation in Spain in 1937
3.2.1. Iberian Neutrality as an Essential Element of British Geopolitics
3.2.2. Britain and Portugal Working Hand in Hand behind the Scenes of Intelligence: London Nearly Pre-empted Portugal in Recognising the Burgos Government
3.2.3. The Repercussions of the Popular Front in South America: Precedents in Uruguay and Brazil
4. Sir Samuel Hoare: Member of Parliament, Minister… and Global Politician
4.1. Literature, Intelligence or a Holy Grail Code?
4.2. The Year of All Dangers—1936: The Popular Front in Spain and the King of England Abdicates to Marry Mrs Simpson
4.2.1. Edward VIII’s Journey to Angola
4.2.2. The King Reaches a Gentlemen’s Agreement with the British Press in Fleet Street
4.3. A Former Member of the Royal Air Force Flies to the Canary Islands to Collect Franco
5. The Reasons behind Hoare’s Appointment to Madrid
5.1. Two Italians on a Secret Mission to Ambassador Hoare
5.2. Norton de Matos: A Personality Comparable to Hoare
5.3. Hoare in London after Sixteen Months in Madrid
6. Ian Fleming, Author of James Bond, in Washington with President Roosevelt
7. The Foreign Office and the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a Tripartite Entente with Spain: Hoare, Theotónio, Count Jordana and… Armindo Monteiro
7.1. Roosevelt Gives Shape to the Peninsula’s Geostrategy
7.2. Hoare Organises the Embassy Services in an Integrated Manner and with a Single Voice
8. The Aftermath of Twenty-Three Years of the Estado Novo and the Bandung Conference of 1955
8.1. The Engagement of Salazar and Carolina d’Asseca
9. Theotónio and Britain in the Post-War Period… Portugal Aligns Itself with Paris to Delay Autonomy for Angola and Mozambique
9.1. Roosevelt Had Understood All the Cultural, Religious and Economic Factors Involved
9.1.1. Kennedy Revives Roosevelt’s Plan for the Independence of Key African Territories
9.2. The Brothers-in-Law Botelho Moniz and Venâncio Deslandes, and the Trás-os-Montes Group of Quintão Meireles, Sarmento Rodrigues and Adriano Moreira
10. Spain Opens Its Economy to the International Market in 1955 and Begins a Process of Liberalisation
10.1. Portugal without Economic Scale
10.2. Officials, Politicians and Diplomats behind the Scenes
11. Maintaining the Dictatorships in the Iberian Peninsula because of the Cold War
11.1. When the Treaty of Windsor Operated to Its Fullest Extent, 1936–1945
11.2. In London, Surrounded by the Most Distinguished British Figures
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