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Angola The Dutch Interregnum, 1641-48
During the first half of the 1600s, when Portugal
became
involved in a succession of European religious and
dynastic wars at
the insistence of its ally, Spain, the Portuguese colonies
were
subjected to attacks by Spain's enemies. Holland, one of
Spain's
most potent enemies, raided and harassed the Portuguese
territories
in Angola. The Dutch also began pursuing alliances with
Africans,
including the king of Kongo and Nzinga of Matamba, who,
angered by
their treatment at the hands of the Portuguese, welcomed
the
opportunity to deal with another European power.
When it rebelled against Spain in 1640, Portugal hoped
to
establish good relations with the Dutch. Instead, the
Dutch saw an
opportunity to expand their own colonial holdings and in
1641
captured Luanda and Benguela, forcing the Portuguese
governor to
flee with his fellow refugees inland to Massangano. The
Portuguese
were unable to dislodge the Dutch from their coastal
beachhead. As
the Dutch occupation cut off the supply of slaves to
Brazil, that
colony's economy suffered. In response, Brazilian
colonists raised
money and organized forces to launch an expedition aimed
at
unseating the Dutch from Angola. In May 1648, the Dutch
garrison in
Luanda surrendered to the Brazilian detachment, and the
Dutch
eventually relinquished their other Angolan conquests.
According to
some historians, after the retaking of Luanda, Angola
became a de
facto colony of Brazil, so driven was the South American
colony's
sugar-growing economy by its need for slaves.
Data as of February 1989
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