The Portuguese empire (1825-1890): ideology and economy

Abstract

Taking as points of reference the opposing theories of «economic imperialism» and «prestige imperialism», this article weighs up the various factors which contributed to the consolidation of Portuguese colonial plans centred in Africa, after the breakdown of the Luso-Brazilian system. This study emphasizes in particular the political motivations involved, which were in part geo-strategic, and in part tied in with the construction of a national identity, the image which the country had of itself.