| Chapter 1: | Cherished Myths |
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In this sense, all kinds of theories trying to apply a sort of multisecular paradigm to Portuguese colonization reciprocally interweave and reveal incomplete truths, none of which are able to offer a clear systemic model. As far Angola is concerned, for instance, the recourse to a centuries-old tradition and the celebration of a national pantheon peopled by immaculate and monodimensional heroic discoverers, restorers, soldiers, and explorers often acted as a curtain concealing the fragility of a colonial government squeezed between hostile native populations and rival colonial powers. Furthermore, there was the rebellious and undisciplined nature of the overseas army, the lack of resources forcing Portuguese traders to depend on foreign capital, the impossibility to replace local religions and diffuse Christianity due to the paucity of clergy members, and the precariousness of a flawed educational system.
Whether written by European and American historians or reelaborated by African historians, African history is generally undermined by a current distortion unacceptably reducing the importance of African values; considering only the consequences of post-Berlin Conference colonisation, any kind of African hegemony in relation to European projects and practices is neglected and, especially in the Portuguese case, Africans invariably appear to be destined for natural submission. However, for a correct interpretation of Angolan history, it is necessary to take into consideration the difficulties experienced by European settlers on the continent, where the answer to colonising efforts has always been immediate and, on more than a single occasion, successful in reducing or erasing the marks of European penetration.
The Portuguese could easily control small territories such as Cape Verde or São Tomé, but the violent opposition of continental African institutions made further advances very difficult. On the western African coast, early Portuguese expeditions had to make use of lançados, men recruited firstly among Africans and later among European convicts, who could choose between the death penalty or life imprisonment and abandonment on a foreign shore. If some of them managed to survive and secure the installation of small European coastal nuclei, others were immediately slaughtered by the locals, under the impotent gaze of their shipmates on board.