I am reading Robert Fisk’s “In Time of War” in which (on Pages 536/7)he states that when Hitler’s death was reported the Portuguese Government “called for two days of national mourning for Hitler and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast on public buildings.”
Can this be true? Did any other “neutral” country display official grief in this fashion?
I thought the Allies regarded Portugal as a benevolent neutral.
Hehe an OP on my favorite topic and my country.
I can’t give you much help but Portugal had a Dictatorial Regime then and did a lot of trading with Nazi Germany. On the other hand we were traditionaly old Allies of England.
If someone told me offhand that we officialy mourned Hitler’s death I would doubt it but since you read it in a book I can’t give you any facts.
I wonder if we declared war on Germany in its final days like many other countries (I realize it would answer your question). I will try to investigate.
I don’t know if that specific event is true, but it wouldn’t suprise me. Portugal during WWII was ruled by Antonio Salazar, a Fascist dictator who came to power following a 1926 military coup (though he didn’t become leader until, I think, 1932). Portugal had been a British ally going back to the 19th century, and Salazar maintaned that relationship, allowing the UK to use the Azore Islands as an airbase during the war, but at the same time he had a certain amount of political sympathy for Hitler. And, during the Spanish Civil War, Salazar aided Franco’s Nationalists, which was, of course, the same side Hitler and Mussolini aided. I’m pretty sure that Portugal never entered into WWII, even when it was fairly clear who was winning.
A slight deviation, but the same thing happened in Ireland when the death of Hitler was announced. President De Valera visited the German Embassy in person to pass on his condolences.
Yes.That’s in the same book on Page 535. It’s excused as “protocol”
Portugal has been an ally of England since the fourteenth century (except for the period when Spain ruled Portugal around 1600). The alliance between Portugal and England (and later Great Britain and the UK) may be the longest-standing in the world.
I do recall Erie (Ireland), Spain and Portugal as being listed as countried that said they were “SORRY” Hitler died. I used to love to read the old Chicago Tribune on microfische.
Remember that Portugal and Spain were fascist states and while they were suppported by other Fascists they were only friendly to Hitler or anyone else for that matter, IF it would suit their purpose only.
For instance Spain wasn’t stupid enuff to let Hitler use Spain to attack Gilbralter. He gave Hitler just enuff to keep him out of his hair. Considering the damage done by the Civil War Spain would have been hard pressed to be an asset to Germany
Minor nitpick: de Valera was Taoiseach (prime minister), not President, at the time.
To put this event in context, FDR had died just a couple weeks earlier, and de Valera made the same gesture at his death. He defended his visit to the German minister by insisting that he was merely following the protocol of neutrality.
More cynical explanations have been offered (e.g. that he was really just trying to piss Churchill off), and there’s probably some truth in them. But Irish wartime policies quietly did much to help Britain and the Allies - they just didn’t get as much publicity as the condolences to Germany did. IOW, don’t read this event as evidence of Irish sympathy for the Axis.
Franco and Hitler held a famous “summit” at Hendaye in 1940. Essentially, Franco told Hitler ‘I’m with you…but Spain is too poor now to offer much help’.
Hitler supposedly said afterward “I’d rather have several teeth pulled than to go though that Spanish rigamarole again” (William Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich).
Also keep in mind that Portugal historically has been wary of Spain - as Spain has nearly 4 times the population of Portugal. While Franco and Salazar had a tacit alliance, they were not nearly as close as one might presume. Salazar wanted to prevent a leftist victory in Spain, but once Franco was firmly in power they kept their distance.
FInally, it must be noted that Portugal’s central foreign policy goal from the 1920’s until 1974 was the maintanance of a large and far flung colonial empire. Salazar would not risk loosing Angola, Mozambique, Timor, and other territories to the Allies.
My only nitpick is that Ireland was Eire, not Erie. I believe the residents of that fine city in Pennsylvania were opposed to Hitler and Germany in WWII.
Éire, actually. “Eire” means something else entirely in Irish 
I believe that Portugal provided air bases on the Azores for the Brits early on in WWII.
In his memoirs, Churchill reported that when he advised the Commons of the lease of the bases, he mentioned that it was pursuant to the treaty of peace and friendship signed between “His Late Majesty King Edward III” and the King of Portugal.
(In his memoirs, he took some glee from the double-takes he got from some of the MPs when the reference sunk in.)
I think that the England-Portugal treaty is the oldest treaty still in force.
What does it mean? I’m irish and I’m ashamed to say I dont know.
I think that the simple explanation is that de Valera acted strictly by the rules of diplomatic protocol at the expense of domestic and international condemnation of his action.
As to pissing Churchill off de Valera pissed everybody off… including the American ambassador.
Who exactly was de Valera hoping to avoid offending by adhering to ‘the rules of diplomatic protocol’?
I don’t think that causing offence, in this instance, mattered to de Valera.
Sufficient to say that he was a stickler for observing the diplomatic niceties.
Having said that, I think, when he thought nobody was looking he slyly kicked the ball the Allies way.
Eire was probably benevolently neutral in the Allies favour.
It means “burden”.
Although Ireland was a benevolant neutral and indeed many Irish people joined the British fighting forces, there were one or two “incidents”. One was the refusal of Ireland to let the Allied navies use Irish ports ,although this would have been useful in the U Boat war. Understandable I suppose although this did not stop Portugal doing the same thing.
The other was that some sections of the IRA were used by the Germans to try and smuggle in German spies via the “back door” into Northern Ireland. I think that all these spies were detained by the Irish police before they had a chance to cross the border into the UK.
And that’s the point, David. Many IRA members were interned by de Valera’s government during the war in part because of fears they might assist the German cause.
I wouldn’t count refusal to let the Allies use Irish ports as an “incident”; to do so strikes me as a clear violation of neutrality, Portugal’s actions notwithstanding.
This thread is changing colour to GREEN!
I suppose de Valera did the best he could considering all the circumstances.
The British left the 26 counties only in 1938 so there was a legacy of bitterness and political division which would not allow de Valera to afford the British, and later the Allies, use of the Irish ports as bases from which to fight the U-boats.
In the early years of the war it seemed that the British would be defeated and de Valera was fearful that Germany would invade England through the Irish back-door so who could really blame him for his stance? Churchill too considered invading Ireland from which to fight the Battle of the Atlantic. Poor de Valera walked a tight-rope with the British Lion and the Nazi beast waiting in the pit to devour him if he mis-stepped. (And a few bombs on Dublin to persuade him to keep his balance.)