History of the Azores

The following article describes the history of the Azores.

Founding

The Azores were known in the fourteenth century and can be seen incompletely, for example, in the Atlas Catalan. A History of the Azores by Thomas Ashe written in 1813 marks the discovery of the islands by Joshua Vander Berg of Bruges in Flanders.cite book|first=Thomas|last=Ashe|title=History of the Azores, or. Western islands|date=1813|publisher=Oxford University] Vander Berg was said to have landed there during a storm on his way to Lisbon. Ashe then claims that the Portuguese left to explore the area and claim it for Portugal shortly after. The exact date of re-discovery is unknown, though historic accounts indicate that the islands of Santa Maria and São Miguel were the first to be discovered by the Portuguese navigator Diogo de Silves around 1427. On August 15, 1432, Gonçalo Velho Cabral, with a dozen crew members on a small sailing vessel, disembarked on Santa Maria, naming after the fact that it was Assumption of Our Lady.

The Islands were named the Azores, or "Hawk Islands" by the Portuguese for the number of hawks and falcons found there.

The colonization of the then-unoccupied islands started in 1439 with the village "Praia dos Lobos" being founded along the "Ribeira do Capitão" (Captain's Stream). Later, a few families came from the continental provinces of Algarve and Alentejo after Gonçalo Velho's nephew and heir, João Soares de Albergaria, advertising ton them. In the following centuries settlers from other European countries arrived, most notably from Northern France and Flanders.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus stopped on Santa Maria after his 1493 voyage to America. After being mistaken for a pirate, he was taken prisoner and was only set free after officials justified his landing.

Economic Development

The island of São Miguel was apparently populated by 1444. The population came from the ships "Estremadura", "Alto Alentejo", "Algarve", all from continental Portugal. The colonists spread themselves along the coastline in areas where conditions of accessibility and farming were best. The fertlity of the Azores contributed to its population expansion, as the islands were soon exporting wheat to the Portuguese garrison in North Africa and of sugar cane and dyes to Flanders. Later oranges were grown and exported to the British Isles. The area was also a frequent subjects from pirate attacks.

During these times Ponta Delgada became the capital. The first capital was Vila Franca do Campo, but when it was destroyed in 1522 Ponta Delgata assumed the position. It became the first city on the island in 1546.

Occupation

Terceira Island was the third island to be discovered, and its name literally means "Third Island". It was originally called the Island of Jesus Christ and was first settled in 1450. Graciosa Island was settled shortly afterward from settlers from Terceira.

The residents of Terceira, who mostly settled in Porto Judeu and Praia da Vitória and along the coastline, took a brave stand against King Philip II of Spain upon his ascension to the Portuguese throne in 1580. They, along with most of the rest of the Azores, believed that António, Prior of Crato was the rightful successor, and defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Salga in 1581.

In 1583, Philip tried again at defeating the Azoreans. He sent his combined Iberian fleet to clear the French traders from the Azores, decisively hanging his prisoners-of-war from the yardarms and contributing to the "Black Legend". The Azores were the second-to-last part of the Portuguese empire to resist Philip's reign over Portugal (Macau being the last), Azores was returned to Portuguese control with the end of the Iberian Union, not by the military efforts, as these were already in Restoration War efforts in the mainland, but by the people attacking a well-fortified Castilian guarnition.

The Azores served as a port of call for the Spanishgalleons during their occupation. In December of 1640 the Portuguese monarchy was restored and the islands again became a Portuguese possession.

During the Civil War

The 1820 civil war in Portugal had strong repercussions in the Azores. In 1829, in Vila da Praia, the liberals won over the absolutists, making Terceira the main headquarters of the new Portuguese regime and also where the Council of Regency ("Conselho de Regência") of Mary II of Portugal was established.

Historical districts

Beginning in 1868, Portugal issued its stamps overprinted with "AÇORES" for use in the islands. Between 1892 and 1906, it also issued separate stamps for the three administrative districts of the time.

From 1836 to 1976, the archipelago was divided into three districts, quite equivalent (except in area) to those in the Portuguese mainland. The division was arbitrary, and didn’t follow the natural island groups, rather reflecting the location of each district capital on the three main cities (neither of each on the western group).

*Angra consisted of Terceira, São Jorge, and Graciosa, with the capital at Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira.
*Horta consisted of Pico, Faial, Flores, and Corvo, with the capital at Horta on Faial.
*Ponta Delgada consisted of São Miguel and Santa Maria, with the capital at Ponta Delgada on São Miguel.

During World War II

During the Second World War, in 1943, the Portuguese dictator Salazar leased bases in the Azores to the British. This represented a change in policy. Previously the Portuguese government only allowed German U-boats and navy ships to refuel there. [ [http://www.adl.org/Braun/dim_14_1_neutrality_europe.asp The Role of Portugal - co-opting Nazi Gold, Jonathan Petropoulos, "Dimensions", , Vol 11, No 1, 1997] ] . This was a key turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic, allowing the Allies to provide aerial coverage in the middle of the Atlantic. This helped them to hunt U-boats and protect convoys.

In 1944, American forces constructed a small and short-lived air base on the island of Santa Maria. In 1945, a new base was founded on the island of Terceira and is currently known as Lajes Field. It was founded in an area called Lajes, a broad, flat sea terrace that had been a farm. Lajes Field is a plateau rising out of the sea on the northeast corner of the island. This air force base is a joint American and Portuguese venture. Lajes Field has, and continues to support US and Portuguese military operations. During the Cold War, the US Navy P-3 Orion anti-submarine squadrons patrolled the North Alantic for Soviet submarines and surface spy vessels. Since its inception, Lajes Field has been used for refuelling aircraft bound for Europe, and more recently, the Middle East. The US Army operates a small fleet of military ships in the harbor of Praia da Vitória, three kilometers southeast of Lajes Field. The airfield also has a small commercial terminal handling scheduled and chartered passenger flights from other islands in the archipelago, Europe, and North America.

Recent times

In 1976, the Azores became the Autonomous Region of the Azores ("Região Autónoma dos Açores"), one of the Autonomous regions of Portugal, and the Azorean districts were suppressed.

References

External links

* [http://theazoresislands.blogspot.com/search/label/History The Azores Islands, Site with abundant information about the Azores Islands History]