HISTORY OF ALLIANCE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 16, 14 October 1943, Page 6

HISTORY OF ALLIANCE

LONDON, October 12.

The original Anglo-Portuguese alliance of 1373 was followed by similar treaties iu 1386, 1642, 1654, 1660. 1661, 1703, 1815, and a secret declaration of 1899. The validity of the old treaties was generally reaffirmed in the treaties which Britain concluded in 1904 and 1914. The alliance involves a general obligation by Britain to defend and protect Portugal and her empire. Many of the ancient clauses have become obsolete, „nt in respect to the mutual assistance to be rendered by ■ the parties it retains its validity. The present agreement gives it fresh validity. "The history of the alliance revives memories of the time of Edward the. Black Prince and the wars between Britain and Frhhce,” states the diplomatic correspondent of the “Daily Herald,” W. N. Ewer. “When the French took part in the wars of the Spanish Succession we aided the Portuguese in withstanding the Spanish aggression, which the French supported. "Again, when Napoleon ventured into Spain, Britain sent an army under Arthur Wellesley which played a vital part in undermining the Napoleonic power by forcing fighting on two fronts. “In the period between its inception and today the bonds of friendship between the two nations have never broken and have continually strengthened. In the last war Portugal, true to her treaty obligations, stood on the side of Great Britain. Ever since the outbreak of the present' war Portugal, with British approval, has made it clear that her neutrality was conditioned by the terms of her alliance with Britain. Now, in the terms of that treaty, and in furtherance of the safety of lives and shipping in the Atlantic, she has taken a step which will strengthen further the tics between the two allies.”