Meetings & Workshops

The AABA project carried out a programmed activity called "Simplified Military History", an informative complement to support and develop alternative views on curricular themes, with special attention to the age level of the target population of the implemented action.

The activities were structured according to the axes of analysis: military technology and technical innovation for themes 1 and 2; cultural dynamics and impacts of war in theme 3.

Composed of three independent and sequential collaborations, the presentation of three themes was shared with the teachers:

1) Typology of the Military, 15th to 17th centuries (AABA project);

2) São Jorge Castle, between the French Invasions and the Establishment of the Republic;

3) Portugal and Brazil at the time of the English Ultimatum.

A total audience of 83 students and teachers

Meeting with experts in military history from the 17th century, at the Military Museum of Lisbon.

Preparation of collaboration goals between Universidade Aberta and the AABA project, in the documentary, artistic and technological areas.

Meeting with the management team of the Black Gunpowder Museum, at Barcarena (Oeiras).

Preparation of collaboration goals between the AABA project and the Museum, as well as collaboration with a particular project taking place in Goa, India, related to the manufacture of black gunpowder in the distant East, by the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Project dissemination session at the University of Lisbon.

AABA Workshop - Presentation of thematic lines and partners collaborating on the project. 

During the recreation of artillery fire, the maneuver of the artillerymen and the use of charging instruments were demonstrated. There were several misfires and safety maneuvers and unloading of the cannons were carried out.

Subsequently, the person responsible and Director for the exercise, Joaquim Guedes (GRHMA -Grupo de Reconstituição Histórica do Município de Almeida) and Carlos Alves Lopes (CH-ULisboa - Centro de História da Universidade de Lisboa) have explain several thematic. They had the opportunity to explain the organization of the battery in the field, and has disclosed technological and historical issues about weapons. 

Thanks were given to GRHMA from Almeida and in particular to Joaquim Guedes and his wife and other elements participating in the event at Vimeiro.

For the AABA project, another important collaboration was opened.

The theme “Museums for Education and Research” is all the more relevant as it alerts  society for the fundamental role of education in combating some of the challenges  most pressing issues today, such as social inequality and property illiteracy.  (ICOM 2024).

At the invitation of Mr. Colonel Francisco Amado Rodrigues, Director of the Military Museum of Lisbon, the Military History Group of History Center from the University of Lisbon (CH-ULisboa) in the person of Doctor Carlos Alves Lopes collaborated in several thematic visits. 

The central topic was centered on the historical value of the heritage on display (pieces of  artillery) and its importance for the history of science and the metallurgical industry.

 Among the participating public, the presence of visitors from the Society of  Geography of Lisbon (SGL) and the Historical Society of the Independence of Portugal (SHIP),  between others.

The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815) mark the period of transformation from the small armies of hired men existing in the second half of the 18th century, to a return at the beginning of the 19th century to the large armies of enlisted men.

But what became exceptional was the technological evolution observed, and sometimes forgotten in the study of this period, which elevated the artillery weapon into a scientific weapon that gained its recognition and tactical autonomy on the battlefields, to the point of progressively begin to dominate them. This recognition is documented by the evolution of the number of pieces that were used in combat, from a few dozen before the Napoleonic era to thousands in Napoleon's campaign in Russia in 1812.

The demand for training and training of gunners had to accompany the increasing complexity of the operation of the pieces, which led to the incorporation of specialists in different areas, such as: mechanics, chemistry and mathematics, into their ranks.

Industrial manufacturing processes also evolved as a result of new casting methods that made weapons more efficient and consequently opened up new opportunities for tactical use, combined with decades of experimentation in battle.

The use of cannons and howitzers was in practice a way of increasing the armies' fire capacity, but not all tactical options were a success and they ended up being abandoned. One example was the use of battalion cannons, light and small pieces with the function of adding fire capacity to infantry units, but which implied a change in their mobility. If during the 18th century and even at the beginning of the Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802), but also at some particular moments during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), with the increased use of tactics anchored in the mobility of units on the battlefield , battalion artillery pieces were no longer seen as useful by several nations. The increase in fire capacity did not compensate for the loss of tactical mobility of the infantry.

The general tactical doctrine of the battlefields of the early 19th century would have a characteristic based on the “tactical mobility” of the forces present and the infantry units with their battalion cannons tended to lose maneuverability, especially because the infantry units artillery, even if small, had difficulty following the attack movement of the units to which they were associated.

If maneuverability was generally requested from all types of units present on the battlefield, the artillery was also requested to fire plans to support the attack and whenever necessary fire plans to close off specific defense areas.

This requirement led to another tactical doctrine specific to artillery, the “concentration of fire”, which gave artillery a significant potential in its destructive capacity, which conflicted with the option of dispersion by infantry battalions. At the time it was recognized that a battery's firepower was always greater than the sum of its parts.

Perspectivas Estratégicas & Perspectiva Táctica: As peças de artilharia entre os os séculos XVI-XIX.

In 1640, with the war of Restoration, the development of field artillery in Portugal began, in what could be considered the military Enlightenment period of the Portuguese Army.

The exhibition presents a guiding line that leads the visitor to get to know the evolution of field artillery in Portugal and in the American territory, today known as Brazil.

With a common military history, there were and are several times when the two current independent nations influence each other and share bonds of friendship.