Domestic and international politics of Portugal’s declining naval power, 1820-1910

Abstract

This article aims to estimate Portugal’s naval power and explain its variation between 1820 and 1910. Our measure of naval power is the total annual tonnage of combat ships. In addition, we compare Portugal’s naval power to that of Great Britain, which had the largest navy of that period. Although there were a few episodes of increase in Portuguese naval power, the central trend is one of sharp decline. The factors explaining this trend are, at the domestic level, economic fluctuations, internal conflicts and the political role of the Army. At the international level, the independence of Brazil and Lisbon’s position vis-à-vis the European powers stand out. We also seek to weigh the influence of these factors on the main episodes of change in the tonnage of Portugal’s combat ships. We conclude that domestic political factors played a leading role in determining the country’s naval power.