History of São Tomés and Príncipes

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The location of the two main islands in the Gulf of Guinea

The story of São Tomés and Príncipes relates to half a millennium of colonial history of these islands and to a good three decades of history of the state of the same name. There is no pre-colonial history of the islands, as they were - probably - uninhabited at the time of the Portuguese arrival. However, there is a story of the ancestors of each group of today's inhabitants who influenced the culture and history of the islands. For the descendants of African slaves, this story refers to the peoples and empires of southern Africa, especially Angola , for the descendants of deported Jews to the Sephardic communities of Spain, and for the descendants of Portuguese immigrants to medieval Portugal .

Colonial times

Discovery and Colonization: 1471 to 1850

Portuguese fortress on São Tomé
The Príncipe Islands and the northern part of São Tomés on a map from 1729

The island of São Tomé was discovered on December 21, 1471 by the Portuguese captain João de Santarém and taken possession of for Portugal. He reached Príncipe as the first European a few weeks later, on January 17, 1472. Santarém sailed a certain stretch of the African coast every year on behalf of the merchant Fernão Gomes , who had acquired the right from the Portuguese King Alfonso V (called "the African") to explore on behalf of the Portuguese crown at your own expense. At the time of discovery, both islands were uninhabited. Príncipe was first named Santo Antonio , in 1502 it was renamed Príncipe.

In 1485 there was a first attempt to colonize the islands. Alvaro de Caminha was not successful until 1495 with a permanent settlement on São Tomé. Caminha had received land there as a fief from the Portuguese king. A settlement was also built on Príncipe in 1500 as a fiefdom of a Portuguese nobleman.

The majority of the first settlers did not come voluntarily. In addition to prisoners from Portugal and slaves from southern Africa, the Portuguese sent 2,000 children of Sephardic Jews who had been expelled from Spain to the islands. In 1492 these Jews fled to Portugal, where the corresponding anti-Jewish decrees did not come into force until 1496. In Portugal they were subject to substantial taxes that most could not pay. In this situation the Portuguese king had their children taken from them and deported to São Tomé. Even today, many of São Tomé's residents are aware of this origin.

In 1506 there were 1,000 free residents on São Tomé, 600 of them Jewish children, and 2,000 slaves. The islands became a hub for the Portuguese slave trade. Every year several thousand slaves were shipped from here to the plantations of Portuguese Brazil and the Caribbean . In addition, sugar cane was grown here on the basis of slave labor. At the end of the 16th century, up to 12,000 tons of sugar were being produced annually. From 1572 São Tomé and 1573 also Príncipe were directly subordinate to the Portuguese crown.

Historical view of the entrance to the port of Príncipe Island from 1727

At the beginning of the 17th century the situation changed. In the first 100 years of the island's history, slaves had repeatedly escaped and settled in hard-to-reach parts of São Tomé. These people were named Angolares after the main region of origin of the slaves . There were increasing attacks by Angolares and French or Dutch privateers on settlements and plantations. The plantation economy was particularly hard hit. In addition, the competition from the sugar plantations in Brazil was noticeable and sugar production fell to a tenth. Many wealthy Portuguese left the islands, settled in Brazil and invested in plantations there. The interest of the "motherland" in the islands waned and São Tomé and Príncipe opened their ports to the ships of all nations that traded between Africa and South America. From now on, however, slave revolts repeatedly threatened the isolated colony. In 1844, 185 white people lived on the islands, 7054 so-called filhos de terra ("sons of the earth"), descendants of Portuguese immigrants and African mothers, 5514 slaves and 1200 to 1300 Angolares. The free lived predominantly on São Tomé (6000 people), the slaves predominantly on Príncipe (3300 people).

Second colonization: 1850 to 1950

Colonial cathedral on São Tomé

The end of Portuguese rule over Brazil in 1822 contributed to the so-called “2. Colonization ”of the islands. Portuguese from the motherland began again to invest in plantations in the remaining colony of São Tomé and Príncipe. These large landowners, mostly based in Portugal, often used fraud and violence through their administrators to get to the land of the small Creole planters. Portuguese companies and large landowners residing in the “mother country” soon owned the bulk of the fertile, volcanic soil of the island of São Tomé. Their large plantations were called rocas . At the same time, they introduced two new plantation plants: coffee and, above all, cocoa . In 1869 slavery was also banned in Portugal and its colonies, but the slaves were obliged to work for their old masters for another nine years. De facto, slavery on São Tomé and Príncipe did not end until 1878. (Paid) forced labor continued for decades. The locals mostly (and not entirely wrongly) equated work on the large plantations with slave labor and refused to do it. From 1875 onwards the Portuguese recruited contract workers (“servicais”) on the African mainland. This recruitment was forbidden to the small native planters, so the abolition of slavery hit them particularly hard.

By 1900, a slim majority of the islands' 42,000 residents were contract workers from the mainland. In 1908, São Tomé was the largest cocoa producer in the world. In 1909, a British journalist, Henry Nevinson , drew the attention of the British public to the "modern slavery" (also the title of his book) of contract work on São Tomé and induced the chocolate producer William Cadbury to boycott the "slave cocoa" from the island. In 1909, the boycott forced the Portuguese to allow the 35,000 contract workers and their descendants born in the country (the "Tongas") to return to their homeland. The large landowners then procured prisoners from the Portuguese colony of Mozambique and recruited workers from the Portuguese Cape Verde . There were often conflicts between locals and Cape Verdeans due to linguistic and cultural differences that were fueled by the colonial administration.

First organizations and the Batepá massacre

Coat of arms of São Tomés and Príncipe from 1935

The economic situation of the islands deteriorated increasingly from the turn of the century. Still, many wealthy locals managed to send their sons to Portugal to study. Here in the “mother country” they founded various newspapers and in 1919 also the emancipatory association “Liga Africana”. On the islands themselves in 1911 (the year the republic was introduced in Portugal) Creole planters founded the “Liga dos Interesses Indigenas”, ie the “League for the Interests of the Indigenous People”, which was directed against the Portuguese large landowners. In 1926 the league was banned again.

In 1937 the colonial administration tried to force the locals to work on the plantations by introducing a poll tax. In 1951 the islands were declared an overseas province with no further practical impact . Governor Carlos de Souza Gorgulho tripled the poll tax again in 1952 to 90 escudos - corresponding to 90 days of forced labor. He also banned the lucrative production of palm wine and had people rounded up for forced labor for a building program in the capital. The guards were often released criminals, sometimes even murderers, and the workers were treated badly. The rumor that local landowners would be expropriated in favor of newly recruited Cape Verdeans led to an uprising in 1953 known as the " Batepá Massacre ". Depending on the source, this uprising or its suppression by soldiers, white volunteers, criminals and contract workers claimed between a few hundred and up to 2000 victims. The government deported and sentenced numerous people, while the governor in charge and others were honored. Later, however, Governor Gorgulho had to resign from his post. The uprising triggered the beginning of a national consciousness on the islands, at the same time the resistance of the locals to the plantation work was finally broken. Today is the date of the uprising national holiday in the country.

The way to independence

Cocoa beans

European observers in the 1950s and 1960s compared the working conditions on the rocas of São Tomé with those of black workers in the cotton fields of Virginia or Brazil in the 19th century. However, in contrast to the Portuguese colonies of Angola , Mozambique or Portuguese Guinea on the African mainland, no armed rebellion developed on the islands. Organized protest took place almost exclusively in exile. In 1960 the CLSTP, Comissao de Libertacao de São Tomé e Principe (Committee for the Liberation of São Tomés and Principes) was founded and in 1964 recognized by the Organization for African Unity as a liberation movement. The head of the CLSTP branch in neighboring Gabon was Miguel Trovoada , who later became Prime Minister of the state of São Tomé and Príncipe. The support he received from Gabon was not unselfish. Gabon speculated on an annexation of the islands to its national territory. In 1972 the “Committee” was renamed “Movement” and from now on was called the Movimento de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe (MLSTP). On the islands themselves, intimidation by the colonial police remained "quiet".

In April 1974, the dictatorial regime of Marcelo Caetano in Portugal was overthrown and it was decided to give the African colonies independence. Strikes and demonstrations in September claimed several lives, and a large number of the 2,000 white Portuguese left the island in the last phase before independence. The Portuguese government recognized the MLSTP as the representative of the people of São Tomé and Principe for talks to prepare for independence in Algiers in late 1974.

On July 6, 1975, elections were held under the terms of a one-party system , and on July 12, 1975, the Portuguese government transferred all power to a constituent assembly. Your spokesman, Nuno Xavier , declared the independence of the new state of São Tomé and Principe on the same day.

Until 1961, when everyone was granted Portuguese citizenship and could vote in local elections, all locals were excluded from the right to vote. Active and passive women's suffrage was introduced on July 12, 1975.

The independent state

Economic decline and dictatorship 1975 to 1991

The presidential palace on São Tomé

The MLSTP had won all seats in the Constituent Assembly and provided Manuel Pinto da Costa as the president and the aforementioned Miguel Trovoada as the premier of the new state. The residents had not achieved democratic freedoms. The MLSTP declared itself to be the country's socialist unity party and the party branches essentially took over the functions of the previously existing colonial institutions. The posts abandoned by the Portuguese were quickly filled by mostly young and inexperienced party members. In 1978 the government called in troops from Angola and Guinea-Bissau to help allegedly threatened from outside. The Angolan soldiers remained on the islands for the next decade and a half as the pillars of the regime. Prime Minister Miguel Trovoada, who spoke out against the presence of Angolan soldiers, was removed from office and demoted to Minister of Economy. When in 1979 protest demonstrations against the feared expropriation of private land demanded that Miguel Trovoada be appointed president, he was expelled from the party and arrested. Only because of international criticism was he able to leave prison after two years in 1986 and go into exile in France. Various opposition politicians fared like him.

As a symbol of the old colonial system, the hated rocass system was dissolved in the year of independence and the plantations were nationalized. Forced labor was officially abolished, although the new National Day of Remembrance of the Batepa massacre was declared a “day of voluntary work”, which the population was obliged to do. The attempt at “collective self-administration” by the former rocas failed. Cocoa production halved within a short time, the plantation workers spent more time on the private cultivation of food (which was forbidden to them as in colonial times). In addition to home-made problems, the drop in cocoa prices, the aging of cocoa plants and the return of 10,000 citizens who fled Angola's civil war there made matters worse. The state had to become dependent on foreign donors, especially the World Bank and the IMF , in order to survive. There were business closings and, for the first time in the history of the islands, mass unemployment. Food was rationed and in 1981 there were hunger riots and secessionist movements on Príncipe .

The economic and political situation eased in the second half of the 1980s, when the World Bank and countries providing development aid rewarded the regime's change of course towards the West and a market economy with new loans.

The “wind of change” in Africa in the early 1990s also reached São Tomé and Príncipe. Young politicians within the Unity Party demanded reforms, the multi-party system was introduced in 1990 and the new constitution was adopted by an overwhelming majority in the 1990 constitutional referendum.

Democratization and Oil: 1991 to Present

Former President Fradique Menezes

The elections of January 1991 won with 51% of the " Partido de Convergência Democrática-Grupa de Reflexão ", "PCD" for short. The old state party MLSTP received little more than a third of the seats. The election for president was won as an independent candidate by Miguel Trovoada, who had returned from exile. He repeated this victory in 1992. In 2001 he had to hand over the office to Fradique de Menezes . MLSTP and PCD became the big competitors in a functioning two-party system, in 1994 and 1998 the renewed MLSTP (meanwhile renamed MLSTP-PSD, where PSD stands for Social Democratic Party) won the majority of seats in parliament.

In 1995 the army attempted a coup . After the amnesty was promised, the soldiers withdrew to the barracks. Another military coup was successful in July 2003. The army justified the coup with rampant corruption, but withdrew after a week. The economic situation has changed since the beginning of the millennium due to large offshore oil discoveries. However, the flow of money from the start of the funding is a long time coming. The funds from the award of the first concessions were in the branch of the Nigerian Hallmark Bank, which went bankrupt before funds could be paid out. Since 2001, the island state has been operating a "Joint Development Zone" (JDZ) with neighboring oil giant Nigeria, and the country's domestic politics are dominated by the discussion about the influence of Nigerians and the lack of visible changes in the still miserable living conditions of most Saotomans and Principes. In mid-2005 there was a general public service strike and demonstrations by high school students. Although President Fradique Menezes was elected president for the second time in free elections, the mutual allegations of corruption within the political elite led to great instability in the political situation in the country.

The 2006 parliamentary elections had the following distribution of seats:

  • MDFM 23 seats
  • MLSTP 20
  • ADI 11
  • the movement Novo Rumo 1 seat

The domestic and foreign election observers won free and fair called presidential election of July 30, 2006 Menezes, with around 60% of the votes in a turnout of 63% of the 91,000 registered voters.

In November 2007 the incumbent Prime Minister Tome Vera Cruz survived a government crisis that was resolved peacefully through the exchange of some ministers. In February 2008, President Menezes named the politician Patrice Trovoada as Vera Cruz's successor. On May 20, 2008, the Trovoada government lost a vote of confidence in parliament, and Joaquim Rafael Branco became the new prime minister in June 2008.

In the free and fair parliamentary elections on August 1, 2010 , Trovoada's ADI party won almost an absolute majority with 26 of the 55 seats. Furthermore accounted for

  • MLSTP-PSD 21 seats
  • PCD 7 seats
  • Menezes' MDFM only 1 seat

Despite constitutional concerns, President Menezes had also taken over the office of party chairman at the end of 2009, but had to relinquish it a little later due to domestic political pressure. The government formed on August 14, 2010 again leads Trovoada as prime minister.

From the fifth democratic presidential election of the state on July 17, 2011 with subsequent runoff on August 7, 2011, the former President Manuel Pinto da Costa triumphed just over his opponent, Speaker of Parliament Evaristo Carvalho. The previous President Menezes had not been able to run for two terms.

Scientific importance

Plaque in honor of Eddington in Sundy

On May 29, 1919, the solar eclipse expedition led by Arthur Stanley Eddington on the volcanic island of Príncipe experimentally proved the correctness of Einstein's general theory of relativity .

See also

literature

  • Walter Schicho: Handbook Africa. In three volumes . Volume 2: West Africa and the islands in the Atlantic , Brandes & Appel, Frankfurt am Main 2001, ISBN 3-86099-121-3 .
  • São Tomé and its petrol blue miracle, Le Monde diplomatique (supplement to the daily newspaper ), October 2006.
  • Michael Zeuske: "The São Tomé-Mina-Congo-Angola Complex", in: Zeuske: Slaves and slavery in the worlds of the Atlantic 1400-1940. Outlines, beginnings, actors, fields of comparison and bibliographies , LIT Verlag, Münster [u. a.], pp. 225-239 ( ISBN 3-8258-7840-6 ).

Movie

  • Daniel Cattier, Juan Gélas, Fanny Glissant (Directors): Human Trafficking - A Brief History of Slavery. Episode 2: 1375-1620: For all gold in the world. France, documentation, 2018. Original title: Les routes de l'esclavage. ( Online at arte -tv)

Web links

Commons : History of São Tomés and Príncipes  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ June Hannam, Mitzi Auchterlonie, Katherine Holden: International Encyclopedia of Women's Suffrage. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-57607-064-6 , p. 10.
  2. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 332.