António Augusto dos Santos (January 22, 1929 - October 13, 2004) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

and commander of the Portuguese forces in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

from 1964 until he was relieved of command at the end of 1969. On the outbreak of the

Mozambican War of Independence The Mozambican War of Independence ( pt, Guerra da Independência de Moçambique, 'War of Independence of Mozambique') was an armed conflict between the guerrilla forces of the Mozambique Liberation Front or FRELIMO () and Portugal. The w ...

in 1964, Augusto dos Santos commanded the Portuguese forces in that Portuguese territory and favored the use of African units trained by Portuguese regulars who fought alongside the Portuguese Army regulars. General Dos Santos believed in a hearts and minds campaign that resulted in the construction of schools and other infrastructure and the training of African Units to build partner capacity (a technique that is used today by the U.S. Military in Africa). He was relieved by General

Kaúlza de Arriaga Kaúlza de Oliveira de Arriaga, OA, GCC, OC, OIH (18 January 1915 – 2 February 2004) was a Portuguese general, writer, professor and politician. He was Secretary of State (junior minister) of the Air Force between 1953 and 1955 and commande ...

who took over in 1970 and demonstrated poorer success for the Portuguese in the counterinsurgency operations (

Gordian Knot Operation Operation Gordian Knot (''Operação Nó Górdio'') was the largest and most expensive Portuguese military campaign in the Portuguese overseas province of Mozambique, East Africa. The operation was carried out in 1970, during the Portuguese Col ...

) in that the scorched earth policy he pursued turned the people against him. For his efforts in Mozambique, Gen dos Santos was awarded the Military Order of the Tower and Sword. A year later, Augusto dos Santos began serving as the Portuguese Army Chief of Staff (Chefes do Estado-Maior do Exército), a post he held until 1972. He was retired at the time of the military coup in Lisbon on 25 April 1974, which overthrew the

Portuguese government , border = Central , image = , caption = , date = , state = Portuguese Republic , address = Official Residence of the Prime Minister Estrela, Lisbon , appointed = President ...

headed by

Marcelo Caetano Marcelo José das Neves Alves Caetano (; 17 August 1906 – 26 October 1980) was a Portuguese politician and scholar. He was the second and last leader of the Estado Novo after succeeding António Salazar. He served as prime minister from 196 ...

and would put to an end the

Portuguese Colonial War The Portuguese Colonial War ( pt, Guerra Colonial Portuguesa), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambican War of Independence, ...

(1961-1974) shortly thereafter. He refused to participate in the revolution even though he was asked to participate in the revolutionary government. He withdrew from public life and remained a private citizen until his death.Portuguese Army Registry 1972

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Antonio Augusto dos Mozambican War of Independence Portuguese generals 1929 births 2004 deaths