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The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP, Portuguese: ''Corpo Expedicionário Português'') was the main military force from Portugal that fought in the Western Front, during World War I. Portuguese neutrality ended in 1916 after the seizure of German merchant ships resulted in Germany declaring war. The expeditionary force was raised soon after and included around 55,000 soldiers. ==Background== (詳細はPortuguese Government seized a number of merchant ships belonging to the Central Powers which were anchored in Lisbon; the German government took this as a hostile act and declared war.〔Rodrigues〕 The Government announced it would raise an expeditionary force to fight on the Western Front, with the first units being raised by July. In early 1917, the force was split into two elements: #Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (''Corpo Expedicionário Português'' or CEP) – an infantry force of about 55,000 men, to operate under the control of the British First Army;〔Rodrigues〕 #Independent Heavy Artillery Corps (''Corpo de Artilharia Pesada Independente'' or CAPI) – an artillery force of nine batteries of heavy railway guns, manned by Portuguese gunners with artillery provided by France and the United Kingdom, to operate under the control of the French Army.〔Rodrigues〕 Initially, CEP was constituted as a single reinforced infantry division, organized according to the Portuguese model, in which divisions were much larger than the British ones. Subsequently, it was decided to reorganize the CEP according to the British model, allowing it to become an army corps of two divisions and corps support troops, just by adding some additional battalions. This new organization would allow it to have sufficient autonomy to be able to take the responsibility for an entire independent sector of the Western Front.〔Henriques & Leitão〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Portuguese Expeditionary Corps」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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