Conclusion

Abstract

The defining feature of West German policy towards the Estado Novo during the governments headed by Willy Brandt and Marcelo Caetano was its ambiguity. This final chapter draws together elements from across the book in order to demonstrate that, as contradictory as Bonn’s behaviour was, there was a predominant strand: the government essentially carried out a policy of continuity, with some significant exceptions. Delving into the wider historical implications of this policy option, the chapter argues that the FRG helped sustain the Lisbon dictatorship and consequently the process of Portuguese resistance to decolonisation. This was not Bonn’s primary intention, but rather a by-product of contemporary West German priorities, namely the safeguarding of neue Ostpolitik and a preference for peaceful evolutionary solutions, as well as a flawed interpretation of Portuguese European and colonial reality. Therefore this book concludes that the context of Cold War in Europe coupled with Marcelismo’s international image posed a challenge to the dynamics of African emancipation.