~~ wobbly lines ~~

1385 and John of Aviz is standing on a hill with 6,000 soldiers, asserting his right to be King of Portugal.

Unfortunately, at the bottom of that hill is is the King of Castile, with 30,000 Castilians, French, Aragonese and Italians who disagree.

Luckily, for John:

1) This is a REALLY steep hill to (potentially) die on
2) His enemies LOVE knights
3) He has crossbowmen
3) He has 200 battle-hardened English longbowmen.

Because the English have just pulled a Helms Deep /2

The English are there because In 1373 the Kings of Portugal and England signed a very early and vague version of the Treaty mentioned in the first post.

"Your enemies are my enemies. Forever."

John of Portugal had invoked it in hope as much as expectation. And yet...

...the English show up.

So when the Castilians and French decide to LARP the Battle of Crecy that day?

Well... /3

At the Battle of Aljubarrota, through the better generalship by John of Aviz, insane Portuguese bravery, and a LOT of bloody arrows King John wins a stunning victory and secures Portugal's place in Europe forever.

After? The Treaty of Windsor is signed.

It is now official.

The perpetual alliance between England and Portugal is proclaimed and affirmed. It will hold through centuries of warfare, Empire building by both nations and the Napoleonic wars. /4

~~ More wobbly lines ~~

It's now 1927. The British Government secretly start debating dropping the Treaty. Britain is strong. Portugal isn't. Is it in Britain's interests?

Sir Austen Chamberlain oversees a report into its value.

It IS worth keeping he says:

1) Britain shouldn't break alliances just because it can. These things matter.
2) The Navy are worried about the French taking the Azores
3) That 'perpetual' bit made the lawyers he spoke to say "Oooh. VERY interesting" in a scary way /5