In the case of Portugal, which a few weeks ago was rumored ready to walk out of the NATO Council should critics of its Angola policy prove harsh, there has been a noticeable relaxation of tension.

By 1850, Luanda was one of the greatest and most developed Portuguese cities in the vast Portuguese Empire outside Mainland Portugal, full of trading companies, exporting ( together with Benguela ) palm and peanut oil, wax, copal, timber, ivory, cotton, coffee, and cocoa, among many other products.

Angola's war for independence did not end in a military victory for either side, but was suspended as a result of a coup in Portugal that replaced the Caetano regime.

In 1138, Ali ibn Yusuf was defeated by Alfonso VII of León, and in the Battle of Ourique ( 1139 ), by Afonso I of Portugal, who thereby won his crown.

Afonso I ( 25 June 1109, Guimarães or Viseu – 6 December 1185, Coimbra ), more commonly known as Afonso Henriques (), nicknamed " the Conqueror " (), " the Founder " () or " the Great " () by the Portuguese, and El-Bortukali (" the Portuguese ") and Ibn-Arrik (" son of Henry ", " Henriques ") by the Moors whom he fought, was the first King of Portugal.

Thus the possibility of re-incorporating Portugal ( up to then Southern Galicia ) into a Kingdom of Portugal and Galicia as before was eliminated and Afonso became sole ruler ( Duke of Portugal ) after demands for independence from the county's church and nobles.

Finally, in 1143, the Treaty of Zamora established peace between the cousins and the recognition by the Kingdom of León that Portugal was a sovereign kingdom.

Portugal was obliged to surrender as his ransom almost all the conquests Afonso had made in Galicia ( north of the Minho ) in the previous years.

With this papal blessing, Portugal was at last secured as a kingdom.

In July 2006, the tomb of the king ( which is located in the Santa Cruz Monastery in Coimbra ) was to be opened for scientific purposes by researchers from the University of Coimbra ( Portugal ), and the University of Granada ( Spain ).

Afonso II (; English Alphonzo ), or Affonso ( Archaic Portuguese ), Alfonso or Alphonso ( Portuguese-Galician ) or Alphonsus ( Latin version ), nicknamed " the Fat " ( Portuguese o Gordo ), King of Portugal, was born in Coimbra on 23 April 1185 and died on 25 March 1223 in the same city.

He was the second but eldest surviving son of Sancho I of Portugal by his wife, Dulce, Infanta of Aragon.

o Bolonhês ), King of Portugal ( 5 May 1210 in Coimbra – 16 February 1279 in Alcobaça, Coimbra or Lisbon ) was the first to use the title King of Portugal and the Algarve, from 1249.

He was the second son of King Afonso II of Portugal and his wife, Urraca of Castile ; he succeeded his brother, King Sancho II of Portugal, who was removed from the throne on 4 January 1248.

As the second son of King Afonso II of Portugal, Afonso was not expected to inherit the throne, which was destined to go to his elder brother Sancho.

Finally, in 1267, a treaty was signed in Badajoz, determining that the southern border between Castile and Portugal should be the River Guadiana, as it is today.

Afonso IV (; 8 February 1291 – 28 May 1357 ), called the Brave (), was King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1325 until his death.

He was the only legitimate son of King Denis of Portugal by his wife Elizabeth of Aragon.

Although he was initially successful in starving out Britain, Portugal refused to capitulate, leading to the Peninsular War throughout Spain.

In 1648, after Portugal has regained its independence from the Spanish rulers in 1640, a large Portuguese force from Brazil under the command of Salvador Correia de Sá retook Luanda, leading to the return of the Portuguese in large numbers.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal was a leading European power, ranking with England, France and Spain in terms of economic, political, and cultural influence.

He had been the leading patron of all maritime exploration by Portugal up to that time.

More than a year after the war in Europe broke out, the government of Portugal ordered the seizure of German ships anchored in Portuguese ports following a British request, leading to a declaration of war by Germany.

The montado landscape of Portugal produces approximately 50 % of cork harvested annually worldwide, with Corticeira Amorim being the leading company in the industry.

In 1514 he served as ambassador from king Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X leading a luxurious embassy presenting in Rome the new conquests of Portugal.

Nonetheless, Germany thoroughly defeated Portugal 3 – 1, at one point leading 3 – 0 due to Bastian Schweinsteiger's two goals and an own goal, also off his shot, by Portugal's Petit.

The European discovery of Brazil was preceded by a series of treaties between the kings of Portugal and Castile, which were the leading seafaring powers at the time.

It took several years to create a strong democratic government due to the radical leftist inclination of some of the leading revolutionaries, and during this period Portugal divested itself of almost all of its overseas territories and underwent severe economic turmoil, as the old regime had shaped the Portuguese economy with such a stranglehold that it took some time to nationalize and reprivatize businesses.

In his Ascona 400 debut in Portugal, Toivonen surprised the event favourites by leading the rally before retiring five stages from the finish.

Discovery of the Americas in the late 1400s as well as new trade routes to Africa and India ( which made Portugal a leading trading power ) brought about the decline in Italian economic power.

Sultan Beyazid II ( 1481 – 1512 ), issued a formal invitation to the Jews expelled from Catholic Spain and Portugal, leading to a wave of Jewish immigration.

Her niece, Joanna of Castile, attempted to gain the throne by bringing in the foreign help of Afonso V of Portugal, leading to the War of Castilian Succession.

In recognizing her victory in defending Coimbra, she was called " Queen " by Pope Paschal II and in light of this recognition, she appears in her documents as " Daughter of Alphonso and elected by God ", explicitly being called queen in an 1117 document, leading some to refer to her as the first monarch of Portugal.

However, during a qualifier in Germany, Rui Costa was controversially sent off for taking too long to walk off the field while Portugal was leading 1 – 0.

Portugal finished first place in Group D of the World Cup finals, with victories over Angola ( 1 – 0, goal from Pauleta, the leading goalscorer in the World Cup qualifiers ), Iran ( 2 – 0, scored by Deco, and Cristiano Ronaldo ) and Mexico ( 2 – 1, goals from Maniche and Simão ).

Following the death of Emperor Askia Daoud, a civil war of succession weakened the Empire, leading Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur of the Saadi Dynasty of Morocco to dispatch an invasion force ( years earlier, armies from Portugal had attacked Morocco, and failed miserably, but the Moroccan coffers were on the verge of economic depletion and bankruptcy, as they needed to pay for the defenses used to hold off the siege ) under the eunuch Judar Pasha.

Still leading the 2nd Division during Marshal André Masséna's 1810 invasion of Portugal, Hill fought at the Battle of Bussaco.

He scored the free kick that stunned Brazil, leading to a 2 – 1 win for Portugal.

After his death in Portugal ( in either Lisbon or Coimbra ) his reputation grew still greater, and he had a direct influence on such leading philosophers as Hugo Grotius, René Descartes, John Norris, and Gottfried Leibniz.

Internationally the interview was covered by the Wall Street Journal and The Morning Star, and the main news in Denmark featured it, as well as Das Journal in Austria, Diário Digital in Portugal and France's leading daily paper, Le Monde.

She reoccupied Kindonga and began mobilizing support of all the sobas opposed to Hari a Angola and Portuguese rule, leading to a second war with Portugal.