Portuguese Colonialism in Angola

After the much lamented ‘loss’ of Brazil to independence in 1822, Angola replaced the South American giant at the centre of affections of the idealists of Portuguese grandeur. This very large, under-populated territory in south-west Africa held the aspirations of those who still believed in the possibility of a return to past greatness that, since the seventeenth century, had become more and more elusive for Portugal. The wealth and potential of Brazil had been lost, but, by the middle of the nineteenth century onwards, it was being sought in Angola.