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✅What Role Did the Azores Play in World War II??

During World War II (1939-45), the government of Salazar managed to maintain a policy of neutrality. While he could not deny his ideological affinities with the Nazi-Fascist Axis forces, he also could not afford to provoke the hostility of the Allied forces.

Thus, in this delicate balance, the Portuguese government had to navigate diplomatically and otherwise, trying to appease both sides. It is precisely within this strategic chess game that the Azores would play a significant role.

We will not dwell on the so-called "Operation Felix," which involved Germany’s planned occupation of Spain and Portugal, and which, if executed, would have led to the Allied occupation of the Azores. The islands were considered the "midway house" and the ideal launching point for future Allied offensives.

What is important to highlight is that Portugal’s official neutrality effectively translated into a "collaborative neutrality." This was reflected in its commercial relations with Germany, to which it exported significant quantities of tungsten—a crucial mineral for the Nazi war industry—while simultaneously establishing strategic relations with the Allies by granting them access to the Azores as a military base. However, Salazar's government delayed granting permission for the Allies to occupy the islands for as long as possible, despite strong pressure from Churchill and Roosevelt, likely out of fear of Hitler’s retaliation.

It was only in 1943 that England, and later the United States, received Salazar’s "green light" to use the Azores as a military platform. The Americans and the British built the Lajes Base and a small airport in Santa Maria. The Americans, in particular, benefited from the use of the Azores, as they sought to secure the fastest route for transporting troops and ammunition to the European and North African fronts.

The Cold War that followed the end of World War II further reinforced the strategic importance of the Azores as a key stopover for American air operations. As noted by Susana Costa, "the Americans strengthened their interest in the Lajes Base due to the inability of aircraft to make direct flights between the American and European continents," including the transport of nuclear energy using B-29 bombers.

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