History of Portugal (1834–1910)

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History of Portugal


caption=Prime Minister João Franco.The History of Portugal from the end of the Liberal Civil War in 1834 to the republican revolution of 1910 was marked by several events that made way for the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic in the 5 October 1910 revolution.

The initial turmoil of "coups d'état" perpetrated by the victorious generals of the Civil War was followed by a parliamentary unstable system of governmental "rotation" marked by the growth of the Portuguese Republican Party. This was caused mainly by the inefficiency of the monarchic governments as well as the monarchs' apparent lack of interest for the country, aggravated by the British ultimatum for the abandonment of the Portuguese "pink map" project that united Portuguese East and West Africa (today's Angola and Mozambique).

The situation culminated in a dictatorship-like government imposed by King Carlos I, in the person of João Franco, followed by the king's assassination in the Lisbon regicide of 1908 and the revolution of 1910.

The monarchs: Maria II, Pedro V, Luís I

Devourism

The first years of the post-civil war Portuguese constitutional monarchy were known as the Devourism period, after a speech by Gastão Pereira de Sande, Count of Taipa, an opositionist (that at the time were known as radicals) who stated that the government was a "gang made up to devour the country under the shadow of a child".

The Regicide of Carlos I in Lisbon

On February 1 of 1908, the king and the royal family returned to Lisbon from Vila Viçosa. After leaving the train in Almada and travelling by boat to Lisbon, they were met in the downtown of Lisbon by members of the court, government and some few citizens. On the way to the royal palace, while passing through the Terreiro do Paço two republican activists Alfredo Costa and Manuel Buíça fired on the open carriage in which the royal family were riding. Five bullets were fired from a rifle carried by Buíça (a former army sergeant), hidden under his long overcoat. Three of these struck and killed the king, while another fatally wounded the Prince Royal Luis Filipe. Meanwhile the younger of the two royal sons Prince Manuel had been wounded in the arm. The Queen alone escaped death or injury. The police immediately killed the two assassins, as well as a bystander in error. The royal carriage headed to the nearby Navy Arsenal, where Luís Filipe died. Soon after Manuel was acclaimed king of Portugal.

Despite his short reign, King Manuel II would prove to be a popular monarch. His reign and life were marked by the brutal murder of his father and older brother and his unexpected accession to the throne at the age of 18.

Despite threats from the ultra-militant section of the Republican Party, the Carbonária, King Manuel courageously took responsibility for upholding the institutions of state and Rule of Law.

King Manuel II of Portugal can be seen as a moderniser and as having been concerned with the interests of the working class, ecouraging the government to adopt social reform, friendly societies and social security programmes, which would only be re-adopted by the republic after the Carnation Revolution in 1974.

The 5 October 1910 revolution and the establishment of the Republic

The General Elections in Portugal on 28 August 1910 gave the republicans only 14 deputies in Parliament although including republican sympathisers, this number was closer to 40, in comparison with the 120 pro-monarchy deputies. Nevertheless, due to the weakening of the State and Rule of Law due to the murder of King Carlos two years earlier, the republican coup d'etat was successful with the republic being announced from the balcony of Lisbon City Hall on the morning of 5 October 1910.