A Madeiran at the Command of the Empire. Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos and the Administrative Reorganization of Mozambique (1907)

Abstract

Considering the urgency of inquiring the participation of Madeiran elites in the governance process of the Portuguese Empire, this article aims to analyze the colonial thinking of Conselheiro Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos, Minister of the Navy and Overseas between 1906 and 1908, expressed in his project of reform of the Portuguese administration in Mozambique, the Decree with force of law of May 23, 1907. As such, we seek to analyze and understand the originality of thought – and political action – of one of the most important members of the Madeiran elite in the final phase of the Portuguese Monarchy, paying special attention to its intervention in the political management of the Portuguese Colonial Empire in Africa. The analysis is both historical-political and juridical, methodologically oriented and properly framed in the context of the period. In documentary terms, we used as main sources the works and speeches written and delivered by Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos himself, as well as the texts of the administrative reforms of 1869 and 1907 and also some complementary works. The article is organized in three points, which focus on: the political and colonial context of the period, with emphasis on Mozambique; the biography and thought on colonial matters by Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos; the actual analysis of the diploma of administrative reorganization in Mozambique, based on the principle of decentralization, of 1907.

Keywords

Portuguese Empire; Mozambique; Colonial Administration; Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos; Madeira.