Anglo-Portuguese Alliance
1.1000 Anglo-Portuguese Alliance
Alliance Members:England and Portugal
Signed On:Renewed in 1648, with the original treaty signed, June 16,
1373, in the city of London. In force as of date of publication of this
volume.
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source: Excerpt published in the American Journal of International
Law,vol. 10, p. 351–354.
SUMMARY
While almost all alliances formed prior to or during the Thirty Years
War ended with cessation of hostilities and the Peace of Westphalia, at
least one alliance survived the war and remains in force to this day.
The Anglo-Portuguese alliance is the longest active, formal, interna-
tional alliance, dating back more than seven centuries to the Treaty of
London, and it has been renewed at least ten times, in 1386, 1642,
1654, 1660, 1661, 1703, 1810, 1814, 1899 and 1943.
The original treaty was formed after the British helped defend the
Portuguese Royal House of Avis against Spanish attacks. In 1386, the
Treaty of Windsor renewed the mutual defense relationship, which
was sealed one year later with the marriage of Philippa of Lancaster,
daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, to João I of Portugal.
The allies have called upon each other for aid several times. In 1661,
the British defended Portugal against threats from France. By 1700,
France had declared war on Britain and asked Portugal to close its
ports to British shipping; the Portuguese Court responded by signing
a grand alliance in 1703, joining Britain and the Netherlands against
France. In 1807, France’s Napoleon invaded Portugal and forced the
royal family to flee to Brazil; Britain came to Portugal’s defense,
defeating Napoleon within three years.
Portugal began World War II as a neutral power. Given the military
situation on the Iberian Peninsula following the Spanish Revolution
and German efforts in the North Atlantic, the British wrote the Por-
tuguese on September 5, 1939, that they agreed with the assessment
that “the observance of neutrality by Portugal would best serve the
national interests of both Portugal and Great Britain in the present
emergency.” By 1943, the British had asked for Portuguese assistance
in the war, requesting use of air and naval bases on the Azores Islands
owned by Portugal. Winston Churchill describes the reply in his book
The Second World War(pages 146–147):
“I have an announcement”, I said, “to make to the House
arising out the treaty signed between this country and
Portugal in the year 1373 between His Majesty King
Edward III and King Ferdinand and Queen Eleanor of
Portugal.” I spoke in a level voice, and made a pause to
allow the House to take in the date, 1373.Anglo-Portuguese relations of course remain close to this day. Trade
ties are numerous, and both countries are members of the European
Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Excerpt of Alliance Text
From Article I: “In the first place, we settle and covenant that
there shall be from this day forward between our abovesaid
Lord Edward, King of England and France, and the Lord
Ferdinand, King of Portugal and Algarve, and the Lady Eleanor
Queen and his Consort, their Successors in the aforesaid King-
doms of England and Portugal, and their Realms, Lands,
Dominions, Provinces, Vassals, and Subjects faithfully obeying
them, whatsoever, true, faithful, constant, mutual, and perpet-
ual Friendships, Unions, Alliances, and Leagues of sincere affec-
tion, and that as true and faithful Friends they shall henceforth
reciprocally be Friends to Friends, and Enemies to Enemies, and
shall assist, maintain, and uphold each other mutually by sea
and by land against all Men that may live or die, of whatever
dignity, station, rank, or condition they may be, and against
their Lands, Realms, and Dominions.
They shall strive for and preserve, as much as in them lies,
the personal safety, security, interest, and honour, and the
harmlessness, conservation and restitution of their rights, prop-
erty, effects, and Friends, wheresoever they be.
They shall everywhere faithfully prevent the hurts and
injuries, disgrace or baseness which they know or which one
Party knows to be at any future time intended or contemplated
against the other Party, and shall provide remedies for them;
and they shall as expeditiously as may be, by Letters or Messen-
gers, or in any better way which they can contrive, without
reserve and fully inform, forewarn, and usefully counsel the
other Party against whom such things are meditating, relative to
what has just been mentioned.”1.1001 Treaty of Defensive Alliance between
Denmark and the Netherlands
Alliance Members:Denmark and the Netherlands
Signed On:October 9, 1649, in the city of The Hague (Netherlands)
Alliance Type:Defense Pact (Type I)
Source:Consolidated Treaty Series,vol. 2, p. 9.
Additional Citations:Dumont,vol. 4 (part 1), p. 529.SUMMARY
This alliance is between the newly recognized United Provinces of the
Netherlands and Frederick III, king of Denmark. The Dutch had
found prosperity through overseas trade, but their geographic posi-
tion made Dutch merchant ships especially vulnerable to the English
fleet. Loaded merchant vessels had to return to the Provinces via the
English Channel, or through the northern route, near Scotland. Thus,
this alliance was sought to encourage at least some support in the case
of English attack.
Both Protestant and Republican at the time, England and the
Provinces should have been natural allies, but the merchant rivalry
proved too much as the Dutch increased their trading alliance with
Denmark in 1651 and then rebuffed parliamentary overtures for a
trading agreement. The Navigation Acts passed by the Commonwealth
limited non-British vessels to transporting goods only from the ship’s
country of origin, and therefore had the intended effect of crippling
the Dutch carrying trade. After seizure of multiple Dutch ships carry-
ing French goods, war broke out in July of 1652.
The Dutch also proved instrumental in defending Denmark from
Swedish attacks. In 1658, the Dutch sent a fleet of seventy-five ships