The World’s Oldest Treaty

Britain’s Ties With Europe Are Older Than You Think

The Luso-British Alliance, ratified in 1386 with the signing of the Windsor Treaty, marks the oldest active political treaty in the world. Signed between the then kingdom of Portugal and the English Crown, the treaty assured mutual military aid in the face of aggression from foreign forces.

This agreement would heavily inform how the two nation’s consequent foreign policy was conducted. For example, Britain sent military support to Portugal when Spain invaded the country in 1762, and later helped to stave off Napoleon’s attempts at conquering the Iberian country. Parallelly, Portugal sided with the UK during World War One, and helped Britain’s efforts in the 1981 Falklands War by providing logistical support through its military bases in the Azores.

Today the treaty remains intact, but mostly as a symbol of the two nation’s joint history and mutual support. This is because the emergence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) replaced, in practice, the most fundamental pillars of the Windsor Treaty, giving the two nations access to an (arguably) more effective tool of fulfilling their security needs at a greater scale.

The strength of symbolism though, should not be overlooked, especially in today’s Britain. The Windsor Treaty proved that it was possible, through political adherence to a set of rules, to avoid conflict and enhance the prospects of cooperation. Even though the alliance benefited both countries when it came to defence or privileged trade arrangements, its greater accomplishment lies in the fact that Portugal and the UK were never engaged in warfare since its signing.

Such values and accomplishments, one could argue, are fairly aligned with those of the European Union.

Which begs the question: is Brexit a revolutionary reaction of a country striving to regain its lost sovereignty, or a departure from its long tradition of deepening ties with its European counterparts?