Portuguese Macao

This article is about the specific polity Portuguese Macao and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics

The territory of Portuguese Macau, located in southern China, was first leased to Portugal as a trading post by the Ming dynasty in 1557. Portugal paid an annual rent and administered the territory under Chinese sovereignty until 1887. Portugal later gained perpetual colonial rights in the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking.

Establishment

January 1558: By 1557, the Portuguese established a permanent settlement in Macao, paying an annual ground rent of 500 taels to Ming China. In 1573, the Chinese built the Barrier Gate to regulate traffic and trade. The rent and boundary delimitation showed both the Portuguese subsidiary position to the Ming government and China's tacit acceptance of Macau's de facto foreign occupation.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. War of the Portuguese Succession

Was a succession crisis caused by the death of the King of Portugal without heirs. The conflict saw two main claimants to the Portuguese throne: António, Prior of Crato, proclaimed in several towns as King of Portugal, and his first cousin Philip II of Spain, who eventually succeeded in claiming the crown, reigning as Philip I of Portugal.

October 1580: Philip II of Spain succeeded in claiming the Portuguese crown, reigning as Philip I of Portugal.

2. Portuguese Restoration War

Was a revolution organized by the Portuguese nobility and bourgeoisie sixty years after the crowning of Philip I (Philip II of Spain), the first "dual monarch", that ended the Iberian Union.

November 1640: A revolution organized by the nobility and bourgeoisie on 1 December 1640, sixty years after the crowning of Philip I (Philip II of Spain), the first "dual monarch", ended the Iberian Union between Portugal and Spain.

3. World War II

Was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945 (it started sooner in certain regions) between the Axis Powers (mainly Germany, Japan and Italy) and the Allies (mainly the Soviet Union, the U.S.A., the U.K., China and France). It was the war with more fatalities in history. The war in Asia began when Japan invaded China on July 7, 1937. The war in Europe began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The war ended with the complete defeat of the Axis powers, which were occupied by the Allies.

3.1.World War II (Asia & Pacific)

Was the East Asian, South Asian and Pacific theatre of World War II.

January 1942: D. João, Lapa and Montanha Islands are taken in 1941 by the Empire of Japan.

3.2.End of World War II in Europe

Refers to the surrender of Axis forces and the end of World War II and to the territorial changes that were a direct consequence of World War II but happened after the traditional end of the War.

3.2.1.The Surrender of Japanese forces

Surrender of Japanese forces at the end of World War II.

January 1946: D. João, Lapa and Montanha Islands were restored to China in 1945.

4. Further events (Unrelated to Any War)

January 1852: Taipa is occupied by Portugal and added to Macao.

January 1865: Portoguese occupation of Coloane.

December 1999: The 1987 Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration called Macau a "Chinese territory under Portuguese administration". The granting of full sovereignty to the People's Republic of China was transferred in a ceremony on 20 December 1999.