What was the effect of Portugal entering the war on the allied side? Also, can any of you guys enlighten me about ww1 fought in Africa, the only I ever learned of was the german army in tanzania holding off an army 8 times their size or something like that.

Portugal had 50, 000 men in France and sustained 7, 000 combat deaths, but had little impact on the war at all.

DavidWrote:

[t]AlexWrote:
What was the effect of Portugal entering the war on the allied side? Also, can any of you guys enlighten me about ww1 fought in Africa, the only I ever learned of was the german army in tanzania holding off an army 8 times their size or something like that.[/t]


Germany lost all of it's colonies around the world since they were right next to lager Allied colonies. The effects of Portugal entering WWI is the same as Iceland joining the war against terrorism. None.

Didn't any German colony repel invasion? Also, why the hell did Portugal declare war in the 1st place?

Portugal's most important market was Great Britain, and Germany's U Boat campaign effected the Portuguese trade drastically. King Manuel II was dethroned by a coup in 1910 when he upset some people after he caved to British pressure to surrender some African territory after serrious threats of war. The fact that most European monarchs were far more pro Central Powers than entete made this one more step towards the British side. Also, Portugal recieved symbolic aid from the British at the battle of Atoleiros in 1385 when King John of Aviz defeated invading Castilleian troops supported by French cavalry thus gauranteeing Portuguese independence. In reality the force was small and played a very minor role, but it started the legend of Portugal being "Britain's oldest ally". That legend grew increasingly during the Napoleonic Wars when Nelson and the Portuguese pushed through Iberia towards France. All of this, along with German Schutztruppe in South West Africa inciting rebellions in Angola and attacking Portuguese outposts in Mozambique form Tanzania before war was declared, led to Portugal going to war in 1916. They siezed a large amount of German ships who were cought around Gibraltar in 1914 and sought safety in Portuguese ports. They also sent an expedition force to Mozambique to open up a Southern front and streach out the already thinly spread German forces under von Lettow-Vorbeck, and they already had an expeditionary force in Angola dealing with native rebellions, some caused by the Germans, and some not. However, the front they opened in East Africa was in a widely uncharted area, and it was low lying jungle that was very prone to tropcal diseases and flooding. The Expeditionary force was under the command of General Gil. The Gil Offensive was a massive failure and the Expeditionary Force was decimated. Troops starved at the front while crates of food sat on docks in Southern Mozambique. The supply lines were non-existant as the rain had been bad and flooding was all encompassing. Mules, horses and oxen died from the teste fly, and motor trucks sank in the mud. The Gil Offensive also failed due to the Germans far better encompassing of the native population into their military, these Askari, as they were called, were better at jungle and savannah warfare, not as prone to tropical disease, and proved superior than their Portuguese counterparts, and the Germans learned well from them. Those who did surrvive in fighting condition were simply incorperated into the colony's garrison. General Gil suffered the fate of many of his men and died of disease. A think a second expeditionary force was sent, but Im not sure. Either way von Lettow lost control of Wintgen's and his force who broke through British lines and went raiding, distracting the bulk of a highly skilled and newly formed Belgian force and many British troops. This covered Lettow as he grouped his remining forces into one column and broke through Portuguse lines and rampaged through Africa till the war ended. In Europe Portugal formed the CEP, Portugues Expeditionary Force, which assembled in Tancos with extrordinary speed in 1916 with 33, 000 men. Eventually the force would reach 55, 000. Because of the U Boat threat and President Wilson demanding British ships to transport US troops if America was to join the war, The CEP wasn't able to arrive in France until February 1917, and they didn't enter the line until April. Throughout 1917 they performed poorly, and when granted leave many deserted. They had taken a 12 kilometer section of the front and were under the command of the British General Horne. In November 1917 command was finally changed to Portuguese command, led by General Norton de Matos. The condition of the CEP improved greatly at that point. In April 1918, as the German's carried out the deadly Kaiserschlacht offensive the CEP was thrown into the war's deciding battle. The Germans opened opperation Georgette after opperation Michael failed to capture Amiens. Ludendorff may not have taken Amiens, but it did push the BEF back and leave the channel ports vulnerable. Thus operation Georgette to take the ports and cut the British supply lines. The objective was Hazebrouck, a railroad junction and stepping stone to Dunkirk, Calais and the channel ports. The center of the offensive was launched at the 2nd Portuguese division by 8 divisions of 100, 000 men rushed forward against 20, 000 portuguese who had only 88 guns, while the Germans had the largest artillery barrage in history on their side. About 7500 portuguese were lost in the onslaught of German gas, tanks, flamethrowers and airplanes, but they held their ground and stopped the operation. The CEP had lost about 35% of their fighting force in Georgette, and were forced to encorperate into the British forces due to the fact that shipping replacements from Portugal was impossible due to America's dependence on European transports and the U Boat threat. In the end it could ligitamitly be said that Portugal's military contribution to the entete powers could be considered greater than that of America. They dented an all ready damaged German tradeing fleet, outstreched German forces in East Africa and stopped the onslaught of Germany's all or nothing offensive.

The funny thing about the War in Africa is that it's part in History is recognized by society because the British are basically the writers of history. When they lost at Tanga they didn't even report the failure and Newspapers didn't report the happenings in Africa to the extent that they happened. Consequently it is very hard to find liturature and so forth on it. British propaganda had a very bad effect on history, and when the histories of the war are and were being written many facts are scewed or just plain wrong some we just don't know. We still don't know Japanese casualties. At the Siege of Tsing Tao both sides relied on Chinese spies to relay enemy casualties. These spies usually just told each side what they wanted to hear and collected their pay. They told the Germans that the Japanese were rought with disease and disorganised, and the Japanese that the Germans were low on supplies, food, and ammo. Niether proved to be true but those reports hit the home fronts and Japanese casualty lists ranged from a couple hundred in Japan, Britain... to 12, 000 in Germany, Austria... Whatever it was both sides probably found the false reports better for homefront morale. Propaganda also turned the Kaiser into the most mysterious man of the century if not in all of history. Propaganda is horrible for history

"Mimi and Toutou's Big Adventure" an excellent book about the naval battle fought on lake Tanganika. The British mounted an expedition to haul two gunboats over savannah, mountains, and jungle to engage a small but powerful German fleet on the lake, powerful enough to keep the Belgians on the west bank scratching their heads. The British officers were all wonderfully eccentric characters, their exploits making me laugh out loud at times. And one of the German ships, is still in service as a ferry on the lake!