Quote:
Originally Posted by sglancy12
So, big question back to you, as a resident of the Iberian Peninsula, would Portugal (in the mid-1990s, not now) stayed in NATO or withdrawn? Under a goon like Salazar they would have stayed in, but I'm not familiar with Portugal's politics in the 1990s. They, like Spain, have everything to lose and nothing to gain by joining the conflict. At least in the short term. Granted, it would suck to have the Iron Curtain roll all the way forward to the Rhine for the next 50 years, but I just can't see the Red Army (in TW2K) rolling through Portugal and Spain.
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I think, I'll be the one to answer that question as I spent plenty of time in Portugal from 1986-2002 (my mother living there). Also I happen to meet most of the army head officers in 1995 (including the Portuguese chief of staff).
First of all, IMO, Portugal will definitely remain within NATO and that will be for a very simple reason. That country was always faithfull to its ally and the Portuguese are very proud of that.
Portugal would not benefit much for it, I agree, but they have a very important position for the alliance. NATO ship are more than able to operate from Portugal and patrol most of of the western central Atlantic. However, their army would not represent a great addition but they have some experience abroad that have been lost by everyone else (especially in Africa and Jungle' regions).
Portugal is remote enough to escape most bombing except for Lisbon and Porto. Lisbon would certainly be entirely whiped out but that is not as sure for Porto. The northern half of the city would be destroyed but the southern half will certainly survive.
Internally, Portugal would be more stable than Spain. Algarve and Parts of the South would be mostly insular with each fortifed city/town/village living on itself. A strong pro-soviet movement would plague Alentejo, the surroundings of Lisbon and part of the central area. The coast would be cantonment with military garrison in every coastal fort (at the time they were still owned by the army). Lisbon itself would be full chaos as a small area north of Porto. I'm not entirely sure for central Portugal but it might be partly organised around the university town of Coimbra. At last, the northern area (north of the Douro river and including what is left of Porto), would remain organized and faithfull to NATO (fully anti-communist). In addition, this last region might include what was Spanish Galicia.
The Portuguese army would lack a great number of modern weapon but firearms are more than common with a few private people still owning artillery pieces. One of my mother's neighbour was living on a hill top with his house defended by Bofors 40mm gun and Machineguns. Up to the early 1990's most rich portuguese were still travelling with weapons at their side (an effect of the 1974-75 revolution).