Relations between power, strategy and territory during the portuguese maritime-commercial expansion in the great navigations

Abstract

This article aims to study Portuguese power and strategy during territorial expansion between 1415 and 1560, called Great Navigations, focusing on ways in how power and strategy were deployed to build a global colonial Empire. The method employed was the historical-deductive and the research technique was the literature review. Moreover, to understand the evolution of events, the concept of “long time” by Fernand Braudel was used. The bibliographic review was extensive, covering more than 50 sources. The work is divided into: Introduction, Methodology, Concept of Power, Concept of Strategy, The Construction of Portuguese National Power, The Maritime Vocation, The Power of Knowledge and Navigator Spirit, The Construction of the Empire and Conclusion. As a result, it was observed that Portugal built and applied a strategy that, combining all the capabilities of state power, especially scientific-technological and psychosocial, built a global Empire with important territorial implications.