Ribeiro De Meneses, Filipe and McNamara, Robert
(2014)
Exercise ALCORA: Expansion and Demise, 1971–4.
International History Review, 36 (1).
pp. 89-111.
ISSN 0707-5332
Abstract
Exercise ALCORA, launched in 1970, was a military understanding negotiated, in
secret, by Portugal, Rhodesia, and South Africa. Between October 1970 and
April 1974 there were regular meetings of the various ALCORA bodies, which
had the effect of bringing closer the staff officers of the three armed forces. The
military ties between the three countries were further deepened through the creation
of permanent ALCORA planning and intelligence organisations, as well as
dedicated military forces. This article examines ALCORA’s trajectory, and the
hopes deposited in it by its promoters, as well as its eventual demise in the wake
of the Portuguese revolution of 1974. It pays close attention to the links between
that trajectory and the changing security situation in southern Africa, notably in
the Tete province of Mozambique, the source of mounting concern within the
ALCORA establishment. The shortcomings of ALCORA are also highlighted,
notably its failure to identify the greatest of all threats: Portugal’s waning commitment
to its colonial wars.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Southern Africa; decolonisation; ALCORA; 1974 Revolution; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > History |
| Item ID: |
7623 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2013.828638 |
| Depositing User: |
Filipe Ribeiro De Meneses
|
| Date Deposited: |
17 Nov 2016 11:25 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
International History Review |
| Publisher: |
Taylor & Francis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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