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As has been stated many times before , the Anglo -Portuguese alliance is the oldest pact still currently in force in the world . It has been the bedrock cornerstone of Lisbon's foreign policy as a means of insuring Portuguese independence against Spanish incursions . Yet , despite the benefit it has given to Portugal , it has often been used by the British to extract unequal economic and political terms from Lisbon , in exchange for a promise of protection .
In Portuguese history , the Ultimatum of 1890 - when Britain issued a threat of war to Lisbon over Portugal's attempt to connect its two African colonies via an inland corridor - - is a seminal event that prompted anger at the monarchy in Portugal and hatred toward Lisbon's oldest ally . Through the negotiations that followed the showdown , the British received unofficial license to perform all sorts of shenanigans with its ally's colonies , including trying to give them to Germany .
This thesis considers the Ultimatum in a larger context of Anglo -Portuguese relations marked by inequality , which had been standard operating procedure since Portugal's separation from Spain in 1640 . This status quo continued until the mid -twentieth century . |
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