Small and neutral Portugal tries to resist the pressure applied by a cheerful Great Britain to join the Entente Allied cause. British warships encourage Portuguese acquiescence, as the shadow of German militarism threatens. After German submarines sank Portuguese vessels, Portugal seized German ships in its ports. Germany responded by declaring war on Portugal on March 10, 1916. One of a series of 1916 postcards on neutral nations by Em. Dupuis.
Je voudrais bien . . . mais je suis si petit.I would like to but I am so small.PortugalSigned:Em. Dupuis 1916Reverse:Visé Paris. No. 117Logo: Paris Color 152 Quai de JemmapesCarte Postale
Portugal held colonies in Africa — Angola and Mozambique — and had clashed with Germany, particularly along the borders of the latter. Although remaining neutral, Portugal was under increasing pressure from her ally, Great Britain, to join the Entente Allies. In retaliation for the sinking of neutral Portuguese vessels, the Portuguese Government seized 38 German ships in Portuguese waters on March 8, 1916. Germany demanded their immediate release and, when Portugal refused, declared war. Austria-Hungary did the same on March 15.A Portuguese Expeditionary Force of 50,000 men arrived in France on February 3, 1917, and saw action in Flanders on June 17.In the days immediately before the Battle of the Lys, Germany's Operation Georgette, the second of the German offensives of 1918, Portugals two divisions were being relieved. The 1st Division had been withdrawn on April 5, and were replaced only by the 2nd Division, which extended its line, now greatly thinned, to the north. On the April 9, 1918, they day they were scheduled to be relieved, the German attack began at 3 a.m. after two days of heavy bombardment, much of it mustard gas. The Portuguese were driven back, and lost 6,000 prisoners.
Portugal is a country in Europe.
