In 1961 the Indian army marched into Portuguese Goa and after two days of fighting formally annexed it into the country. Given that the world largely believed that conquering foreign lands hadn't been cool since the end of the WW2 why was it allowed to stand? Why did the world let India annex Goa? To find out why watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

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After World War II, the global community, for the most part, came to the conclusion that invading your

neighbours to take land wasn't okay anymore.

Yet, in 1961, India invaded the Portuguese overseas territory of Goa to incorporate it into the country.

And right what the Indian government saw as a historic wrong.

But given that India simply marched its army into the territory of a Western European nation, this raises a question.

How did the world react to this and why didn't anybody try to stop India?

So, as you'll know, India gained its independence from Britain in 1947 alongside Pakistan and despite Britain being gone, there were other European countries which still held territory in the area.

France, for its part, ceded its lands to India in the 1950s, and India had hoped that Portugal would do the same, and so it asked if the country was open to handing Goa back and when it would do so.

The Portuguese response was that they were happy to do that roughly 5 minutes after the heat death of the universe.

And the reason that Portugal refused was that unlike Britain or France, the Portuguese government held no distinction between overseas territories and Portugal itself.

Shockingly, the Indian government wasn't happy with this, and so built up its military on the border and started to hint that it would invade.

The Portuguese knew that they couldn't resist and so they turned to a third party to negotiate, the British.

In a twist that would shock exactly 0 people, the Indian government wasn't willing to be lectured by their former colonial masters on what lands they were entitled to.

And so, relations got worse and India sanctioned Portugal.

The Indian government continued with the diplomatic route until 1960 when it decided to just conquer the lands instead.

In December 1961, the Indian army entered Goa and in 2 days it had been overrun and the Portuguese garrison there had surrendered.

Well, when the invasion occurred, the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was visiting the country and along with the rest of the communist world he congratulated the Indians on making their country whole again.

Because the response there was mostly non-existent because, well, they were busy planning for a thing.

But as for the rest of the world, well, the Portuguese of course were none too pleased but they had 1 trick up their sleeve.

The hope was that since Portugal saw Goa as a part of the country proper, NATO would do the same.

Instead, most NATO nations condemned the invasion, demanded that India withdraw and some placed India under sanction.

Britain was less harsh in its condemnation and largely blamed Portugal for not accepting the inevitable.

But beyond this, there was nothing the world really could do.

No nation in NATO cared to do more than the absolute bare minimum to defend the dying Portuguese Empire and India knew this.

Furthermore, it was difficult for Portugal or its allies to retaliate because the overwhelming majority of Goa's population wanted to join India, after which there was nothing more to be done and so everybody accepted it almost immediately thereafter.

Of course, with the exception being Portugal.

And it wasn't until its dictatorship was overthrown by the military in the 1970s that the new government formally acknowledged the loss of Goa, after which the 2 nations normalised relations and everybody moved on and the annexation was largely forgotten.

I hope you enjoyed this episode with a special thanks to my patrons...

Wood, Boogily Woogily, Daniel Tabean, Camoon Yoon, Miss Izzet, Gustav Swann, Aaron the White, Anthony Beckett, The McWhopper, Maggie Paskowski, Copper Tone, Spinning 3 Plates, Shuenin, Words About Books Podcast, and Charles I.


Speaker 0: After World War II, the global community, for the most part, came to the conclusion that invading your

Speaker 1: neighbours to take land wasn't okay anymore. Yet, in 1961, India invaded the Portuguese overseas territory of Goa to incorporate it into the country. And right what the Indian government saw as a historic wrong. But given that India simply marched its army into the territory of a Western European nation, this raises a question. How did the world react to this and why didn't anybody try to stop India?

So, as you'll know, India gained its independence from Britain in 1947 alongside Pakistan and despite Britain being gone, there were other European countries which still held territory in the area. France, for its part, ceded its lands to India in the 1950s, and India had hoped that Portugal would do the same, and so it asked if the country was open to handing Goa back and when it would do so. The Portuguese response was that they were happy to do that roughly 5 minutes after the heat death of the universe. And the reason that Portugal refused was that unlike Britain or France, the Portuguese government held no distinction between overseas territories and Portugal itself. Shockingly, the Indian government wasn't happy with this, and so built up its military on the border and started to hint that it would invade.

The Portuguese knew that they couldn't resist and so they turned to a third party to negotiate, the British. In a twist that would shock exactly 0 people, the Indian government wasn't willing to be lectured by their former colonial masters on what lands they were entitled to. And so, relations got worse and India sanctioned Portugal. The Indian government continued with the diplomatic route until 1960 when it decided to just conquer the lands instead. In December 1961, the Indian army entered Goa and in 2 days it had been overrun and the Portuguese garrison there had surrendered.

So how exactly did the world react? Well, when the invasion occurred, the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was visiting the country and along with the rest of the communist world he congratulated the Indians on making their country whole again. With 1 notable exception, China. Because the response there was mostly non-existent because, well, they were busy planning for a thing. But as for the rest of the world, well, the Portuguese of course were none too pleased but they had 1 trick up their sleeve.

NATO. The hope was that since Portugal saw Goa as a part of the country proper, NATO would do the same. It did not. Instead, most NATO nations condemned the invasion, demanded that India withdraw and some placed India under sanction. Britain was less harsh in its condemnation and largely blamed Portugal for not accepting the inevitable.

But beyond this, there was nothing the world really could do. No nation in NATO cared to do more than the absolute bare minimum to defend the dying Portuguese Empire and India knew this. Furthermore, it was difficult for Portugal or its allies to retaliate because the overwhelming majority of Goa's population wanted to join India, after which there was nothing more to be done and so everybody accepted it almost immediately thereafter. Of course, with the exception being Portugal. And it wasn't until its dictatorship was overthrown by the military in the 1970s that the new government formally acknowledged the loss of Goa, after which the 2 nations normalised relations and everybody moved on and the annexation was largely forgotten.

I hope you enjoyed this episode with a special thanks to my patrons... Winston K. Wood, Boogily Woogily, Daniel Tabean, Camoon Yoon, Miss Izzet, Gustav Swann, Aaron the White, Anthony Beckett, The McWhopper, Maggie Paskowski, Copper Tone, Spinning 3 Plates, Shuenin, Words About Books Podcast, and Charles I.

Speaker 0: You

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Why did the world let India annex Goa? (Short Animated Documentary)