Portugese Trade Empire

>be irreverent minor European power
They had one of the best naval powers at the beginning iirc. they invested heavily in cannon first which gave them a large advantage and later others both European and Muslim followed suit and caught up.

>kick everyone's ass
They didn't conquer entire countries tho. They only captured naval forts. Not to mention they were mostly
outsed after a century or so in Asia (or atleast in my country).

>be irreverent minor European power
wrong, Portugal was quite powerful early on especially regarding the navy.
>sail over to Africa/Asia
because of their wealth and navy from not being irrelevant
>kick everyone's ass
better tech
>conquer dozens of cities and create a globe spanning trade empire
once again better tech, but also extremely profitable colonies in Brazil, and foreign trading posts were very profitable for the nation hosting the port. Italians had places on the Turks' coast in the 1400s and such because it benefited both. This wasn't all like China and hong kong which was an embarrassment to the Qing and certainly not a benefit.
Some places like bahrain iirc were subjugated for a port and control over strategic waterways. Obviously it wasn't all out of trade with locals, especially in africa

1. Europe has been using gunpowder since 14th century
2. Portugese were heavily navy-based, while all the non-european powers didn't really have any proper navy since it was considered unimportant
3. They rarely even conquered anything, mostly they just built their own trade forts and traded there with the consent of local rulers

>They rarely even conquered anyt-

>

And the army of monkeys and birds put up a hell of a fight

Portugal built some cool shit

Pity the natives ruined it

>They didn't conquer entire countries tho. They only captured naval forts

that's still just as impressive. I can't imagine any foreign power doing the equivalent to Europeans. e.g., an Indian principality capturing Italian cities.

Maybe it is due to their friends.

> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Lisbon

>that's still just as impressive. I can't imagine any foreign power doing the equivalent to Europeans.
You can say it was more of an Italian thing than a European one. They were unmatched before they were booted out.

>e.g., an Indian principality capturing Italian cities
Surely you understand the need to secure resources and why people would do such a thing?
The Indian's had everything they needed at home and Vasco de Gama was eager in just being trading partners but the Zamorin of Calcutta got greedy so Gama allied with a neighboring Indian kingdom to take over Kerala (he was getting BTFO at the beginning)

>irreverent

Trade posts aren't Empire, lyl.

Portugal is also the first European colonial power kicked out of its colonial holdings.

This. Portugal wasn't Irrelevant.

I don't recall any major European conflict which centered around Portugal, user.

They had complete control over their colonial territories. Their empire was hardly just "trade posts".

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Empire#

Their empire was hollow, they were explorers more than anything else. They lacked the port infrastructure to engage in high volume trade to the east. But they had military might along the sea, outtechong their rovals in the Indian ocean. They couldn't do the trading, but they did tax trade in the Indian ocean with impunity. Those that didn't like it and refused to pay were sunk or their city bombarded into submission.

Their exploration and connections they made throughout Africa would serve as a model for other European nations during colonization. Conquor portions of the shore, set up walls and a fort, and engage in trade with native tribes. This was the first part of the slave trade.

Dutch had way more fleet capacity and quickly began breaking their grip on sea trade once they stopped dealing with the Spanish. Dutch ships were designed for trade since so many city states based off the cloth and wool trade with England.

>They had complete control over their colonial territories. Their empire was hardly just "trade posts".
Complete control over colonial trade posts?

>But they had military might along the sea, outtechong their rovals in the Indian ocean.
Uhhhhh for like a century at most. Goa was their only remaining colonial post from their bright beginning's before the Dutch took over for a short while (and then they themselves got booted out by the local kingdom)

>Dutch had way more fleet capacity and quickly began breaking their grip on sea trade once they stopped dealing with the Spanish. Dutch ships were designed for trade since so many city states based off the cloth and wool trade with England.
The Portugese may have paved the way but the Dutch walked it much better.

Look at the wiki link's map image at the top of the page. Literally color codes trade posts.

Wow, you're a dumbo.

While the Portuguese owned the Indian ocean solo, they were very famous for sinking vessels on the sea that didn't pay up. Their extent to trade in the Indian ocean was a low volume pepper and spices trade back to Europe and taxing trade by the locals.

The Dutch had a way larger population base to draw sailors from as well since it was highly urbanized with fertile land to have a dense population. The Dutch would beat the Portuguese in the slave trade by volume, only for the British to clap their waffle baking cities and assume complete control over the slave trade. All slaves having to be moved through bonger ships gave them a huge boost to the demand for British trade, which in turn modernized and expanded their trade so that by the 19th century they had both global empire holdings and the ability to do high volume trade through it