History of Portugal
The
History of Portugal is that of an ancient
European nation, whose present origins go back to the Early
Middle Ages, that ascended to a great world power in the
Age of Discoveries with its vast
Empire. Following its heyday as a world power during the
15th and
16th centuries,
Portugal lost much of its wealth and status first through the loss of its military and naval power due to the military disaster of
Alcacer-Kibir, and shortly thereafter its fleet, which had had been incorporated into the
Spanish Armada so the country was unable to defend its interests overseas. It was further weakened later with the destruction of much of the capital,
Lisbon in a
1755 earthquake, occupation during the
Napoleonic Wars, and the
independence in
1822 of its largest colony
Brazil. A
1910 revolution deposed the
monarchy; however, the Republic was unable to solve the country's problems, amid corruption, repression of the Church and near bankruptcy of State, and in 1926, a military coup installed a dictatorship that would only come to an end in
1974, when a left-wing
military coup installed broad
democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its
African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of
NATO,
OECD and
EFTA and entered the
European Community (now the
European Union) in
1986.
Portugal's name derives from the
Roman name
Portus Cale.
Cale was the name of an early
settlement located at the mouth of the
Douro River, which flows into the
Atlantic Ocean in the north of what is now Portugal. Around
200 BCE, the Romans took the
Iberian Peninsula from the
Carthaginians during the
Second Punic War, and in the process conquered Cale and renamed it Portus Cale. During the
Middle Ages, the region around Cale became known by the
Visigoths as
Portucale. Portucale evolved into
Portugale during the
7th and
8th centuries, and by the
9th century, the term "Portugale" was used extensively to refer to the region between the rivers Douro and
Minho, the Minho flowing along what would become the northern border between Portugal and
Spain.
Some historians believe that the "Cale" part of
Portucale derived from the
Greek word
Kalles ("beautiful"), referring to the beauty of the
Douro Valley where
ancient Greek pioneers chose to settle. Other historians claim that the earliest settlers in the region were
Phoenician and that the name
Cale was derived from the
Phoenician languages of those who settled along the Portuguese coast in the pre-Roman period. Others say that
Cale is derived from the
Callaeci people (see below) who lived in the region.
In any case, the
Portu part of the name
Portucale would become
Porto, the modern name for the city located on the site of the ancient city of Cale at the mouth of the Douro River. And
port would become the name of the wine from the Douro Valley region around Porto. Today,
Cale became
Gaia (
Vila Nova de Gaia), a city on the other side of the river. Many think that both cities should merge into one, due to their closeness and historical relation.
Portugal has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, first by
Neanderthals and then by
homo sapiens.
In the early
first millennium BCE, several waves of
Celts invaded Portugal from
central Europe and intermarried with the local
Iberian people, forming the
Celtiberian ethnic group, with many tribes, such as the
Lusitanians, the
Calaicians or Gallaeci and the
Cynetes or Conii (amongst other less significant tribes such as the
Bracari,
Celtici,
Coelerni,
Equaesi,
Grovii,
Interamici,
Leuni,
Luanqui,
Limici,
Narbasi,
Nemetati,
Paesuri,
Quaquerni,
Seurbi,
Tamagani,
Tapoli,
Turduli,
Turduli Veteres,
Turdulorum Oppida,
Turodi, and
Zoelae).
There were, in this broad period, some small semi-permanent commercial coastal establishments, founded by the
Greeks and the
Phoenicians-
Carthaginians.
Main articles: Lusitania, Gallaecia, Hispania.
 |
Ruins of the Roman city of Conimbriga, destroyed by the invading barbarians. Some survivors established a new city in the north, Coimbra. |
In
219 BCE, the first Roman troops invaded the Iberian Peninsula. Within 200 years, almost the entire peninsula was dominated, becoming part of the
Roman Empire. The
Carthaginians, Rome's adversary in the
Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies.
In Portuguese territory, the conquest started from the south, where the Romans found friendly natives, the
Conii. Within several decades, the Romans had conquered the entire territory. In
194 BCE, a rebellion began in the north. The Lusitanians and other native tribes, under the leadership of
Viriathus, successfully wrested control of all entire Portugal from the Romans.Viriathus was born in Lorica, current
Loriga, in the Hermínius moons, current Serra da Estrela,Portugal. Rome sent numerous legions and its best generals to Lusitania to quell the rebellion, but to no avail " the Lusitanians gained more and more territory. The Roman leaders decided to change their strategy. They bribed an ambassador sent by Viriathus, convincing him to kill his own leader. Viriathus was
assassinated, and the resistance was soon over.
Rome installed a colonial regime. During this period, Lusitania grew in prosperity and many Portuguese cities and towns were founded. In
27 BCE, Lusitania gained status of
Roman province. Later, a northern province of Lusitania was formed, known as
Gallaecia, with capital in Bracara (Today's
Braga).
Main article Visigoths.In the early
5th century,
Germanic tribes, not all of them truly
barbarians, invaded the peninsula, namely the
Suevi, the
Vandals (
Silingi and
Hasdingi) and their allies, the Sarmatian
Alans. Only the kingdom of the
Suevi (
Quadi and
Marcomanni) would endure after the arrival of another wave of Germanic invaders, the
Visigoths, who conquered all of the Iberian Peninsula and expelled or partially integrated the Vandals and the Alans. The
Visigoths eventually conquered the
Suevi kingdom and its capital city
Bracara in
584"
585.
In
711, the
Islamic
Moors (mainly
Berber with some
Arab) invaded the Iberian Peninsula, destroying the Visigothic Kingdom. Many of the ousted Gothic nobles took refuge in the unconquered north
Asturian highlands. From there they aimed to reconquer their lands from the Moors: this war of reconquest is known as the
Reconquista.
In
868, Count
Vímara Peres reconquered and governed the region between the Minho and Douro rivers. The county was then known as
Portucale (i.e. Portugal).
While it had its origins as a dependency of the
Kingdom of Leon, Portugal occasionally gained de facto independence during weak Leonese reigns.
Portugal gained its first
de jure independence (as
Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal) in
1065 under the rule of
Garcia II. Due to feudal power struggles, Portuguese and Galician nobles rebelled. In 1072, the country rejoined
León and
Castile under Garcia II's brother
Alphonso VI of Castile.
Main article History of Portugal (1112-1279).In
1095, Portugal separated almost definitely from the Kingdom of Galicia, both under the rule of the
Kingdom of Leon, just like Castile (Burgos). Its territories consisting largely of mountain, moorland and forest, were bounded on the north by the Minho, on the south by the
Mondego.
At the end of the
11th century, the Burgundian knight
Henry became count of Portugal and defended his independence, merging the County of Portucale and the County of Coimbra. Henry declared independence for Portugal while a civil war raged between Leon and Castile.
Henry died without reaching his aims. His son,
Afonso Henriques, took control of the county. The city of Braga, the unofficial Catholic centre of the Iberian Peninsula, faced new competition from other regions. The lords of the cities of Coimbra and
Porto (then Portucale) with the Braga's clergy demanded the independence of the renewed county.
Portugal traces its national origin to
24 June 1128 with the
Battle of São Mamede. Afonso proclaimed himself first
Prince of Portugal and in
1139 the first
King of Portugal. By
1143, with the assistance of a representant of the
Holy See at the conference of Zamora, Portugal was formally recognized as independent, with the prince recognized as
Dux Portucalensis. In
1179, Afonso I was declared, by the
Pope, as king. After the Battle of São Mamede, the first capital of Portugal was Guimarães, from which the first king ruled. Later, when Portugal was already officially independent, he ruled from Coimbra.
Main article The Consolidation of the Monarchy in Portugal (1279"1415)From
1249 to
1250, the Algarve was finally reconquered by Portugal from the Moors. In
1255, the capital shifted to Lisbon.
Portugal has always been turned towards the sea; its land-based boundaries are notably stable. The border with Spain has remained almost unchanged since the
13th century. A
1373 treaty of alliance between
England and Portugal remains in effect to this day with the
United Kingdom. Since early times, fishing and overseas commerce have been the main economic activities.
Henry the Navigator's interest in exploration together with some technological developments in navigation made Portugal's expansion possible and led to great advances in geographic knowledge.
:
Main article Portugal in the period of discoveriesDuring the
15th and
16th centuries, Portugal eclipsed most other nations in terms of
economic,
political, and
cultural influence and it had an extensive empire throughout the world.
July 25,
1415 marked the beginning of the
Portuguese Empire, when the Portuguese Armada along with King
John I and his sons Prince
Duarte (future king), Prince Pedro, Prince Henry the Navigator and Prince Afonso, also with the legendary Portuguese hero
Nuno Alvares Pereira departed to
Ceuta in
North Africa, a rich trade
Islamic centre. On
August 21, the city was conquered by Portugal, and the long-lived Portuguese Empire was founded. Further steps were taken which expanded the Empire even more.
In
1418 two of the captains of Prince Henry the Navigator,
João Gonçalves Zarco and
Tristão Vaz Teixeira, were driven by a storm to an island which they called
Porto Santo ("Holy Port") in gratitude for their rescue from the shipwreck. In
1419, João Gonçalves Zarco disembarked on
Madeira Island. Between
1427 and
1431, most of the
Azorean islands were discovered.
In
1434,
Gil Eanes turned the
Cape Bojador, south of
Morocco. The trip marked the beginning of the Portuguese exploration of Africa. Before the turn, very little information was known in Europe about what lay around the cape. At the end of the
13th century and the beginning of the
14th, those who tried to venture there became lost, which gave birth to legends of
sea monsters. Some setbacks occurred: in
1436 the
Canaries were recognized as Castilian by the Pope; earlier they were recognized as Portuguese. Also, in
1438 in a military expedition to
Tangier, the Portuguese were defeated.
|
Bartolomeu Dias turning the Tormentas Cape, renamed Cabo da Boa Esperança (Cape of Good Hope), representing Portugal's hope of becoming a powerful and rich empire by reaching India. |
However, the Portuguese did not give up their exploratory efforts. In
1448, on a small island known as
Arguim off the coast of
Mauritania, an important castle was built, working as a
feitoria (a
tradepost) for commerce with inland Africa, some years before the first African
gold was brought to Portugal, circumventing the Arab caravans that crossed the Sahara. Some time later, the
caravels explored the Gulf of Guinea which lead to the discovery of several uninhabited islands:
Cape Verde,
Fernão Poo,
São Tomé,
Príncipe and
Annobón. Finally, in
1471, the Portuguese captured Tangier, after years of attempts. Eleven years later, the fortress of São Jorge da Mina in the Gulf was built. In
1483,
Diogo Cão reached the
Congo River.
In 1484, Portugal officially rejected
Christopher Columbus' idea of reaching India from the west, because it was seen as unreasonable. This began a long-lasting dispute which eventually resulted in the signing of the
Treaty of Tordesillas with Spain in 1494. The treaty divided the (largely undiscovered) world equally between the Spanish and the Portuguese, along a north-south meridian line 370 leagues (1770 km/1100 miles) west of the Cape Verde islands, with all lands to the east belonging to Portugal and all lands to the west to Spain.
A remarkable achievement was the turning of the
Cape of Good Hope by
Bartholomew Diaz (Bartolomeu Dias) in
1487; the richness of
India was now nearby, hence the name of the cape. In
1489, the King of
Bemobi gave his realms to the Portuguese king and became
Christian. Between
1491 and
1494,
Pêro de Barcelos and
João Fernandes Lavrador explored
North America. At the same time,
Pêro da Covilhã reached
Ethiopia.
Vasco da Gama sailed for India, and arrived at
Calicut on
May 20 1498, returning in glory to Portugal the next year. The
Monastery of Jerónimos was built, dedicated to the discovery of the route to India. In
1500,
Pedro Álvares Cabral sighted the Brazilian coast; ten years later, Afonso de Alburquerque conquered
Goa, in India.
João da Nova discovered
Ascension in
1501 and
Saint Helena 1502;
Tristão da Cunha was the first to sight the
archipelago still known by his name
1506. In East Africa, small
Islamic states along the coast of
Mozambique,
Kilwa,
Brava and
Mombasa were destroyed or became subjects or allies of Portugal.
|
The arrival of the Portuguese in Japan, the first who managed to reach it, initiating the Nanban ("southern barbarian") period of active commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West. |
The two million Portuguese people ruled a vast empire with many millions of inhabitants in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. From
1514, the Portuguese had reached
China and
Japan. In the
Indian Ocean and
Arabian Sea, one of Cabral's ships discovered
Madagascar (
1501), which was partly explored by Tristão da Cunha (
1507);
Mauritius was discovered in 1507,
Socotra occupied in
1506, and in the same year D. Lourenco d'Almeida visited
Ceylon.
In the
Red Sea,
Massawa was the most northerly point frequented by the Portuguese until
1541, when a fleet under
Estevão da Gama penetrated as far as
Suez.
Hormuz, in the
Persian Gulf, was seized by
Alfonso d'Albuquerque (
1515), who also entered into diplomatic relations with
Persia.
On the Asiatic mainland the first trading-stations were established by Cabral at Cochin and Calicut (
1501); more important, however, were the conquest of
Goa (
1510) and
Malacca (
1511) by Albuquerque, and the acquisition of
Diu (
1535) by
Martim Afonso de Sousa. East of Malacca, Albuquerque sent
Duarte Fernandes as envoy to Siam (now
Thailand) in 1511, and dispatched to the Moluccas two expeditions (
1512,
1514), which founded the Portuguese dominion in the
Malay Archipelago.
Fernão Pires de Andrade visited Canton in
1517 and opened up trade with China, where in
1557 the Portuguese were permitted to occupy
Macao. Japan, accidentally reached by three Portuguese traders in
1542, soon attracted large numbers of merchants and missionaries. In
1522, one of the ships in the expedition that
Ferdinand Magellan organized in the Spanish service completed the first
voyage around the world.
By the end of the
15th century, Portugal expelled some
local Jews, along with those refugees that came from Castile and
Aragon after
1492. In addition, many Jews were forcibly converted to Catholicism and remained as
Conversos. Many Jews remained
secretly Jewish, in danger of persecution by the
Portuguese Inquisition. Many of the merchant Jews who fled reached such prominence in commerce that for centuries a "Portuguese" abroad was presumed a Jew of Portuguese descent.
In
1578, a very young king
Sebastian died in battle without an heir (the body was not found), leading to a
dynastic crisis. The Cardinal
Henry became ruler, but died two years after. Portugal was worried about the maintenance of its independence and sought help to find a new king. Because
Philip II of Spain was the son of a Portuguese princess, Spain invaded Portugal and the Spanish ruler became Philip I of Portugal in
1580; the
Spanish and Portuguese Empires were under a single rule.
Impostors claimed to be King Sebastian in
1584,
1585,
1595 and
1598. "
Sebastianism", the myth that the young king will return to Portugal on a foggy day has prevailed until modern times.
After the
16th century, Portugal gradually saw its wealth decreasing. Even if Portugal was officially an autonomous state, the country was under the rule of the
Spanish monarchy from 1580 to 1640, and
Portuguese colonies were attacked by
Spain's opponents, especially the
Dutch and
English.
At home, life was calm and serene with the first two Spanish kings; they maintained Portugal's status, gave excellent positions to Portuguese nobles in the Spanish
courts, and Portugal maintained an independent law, currency and government. It was even proposed to move the Spanish capital to
Lisbon. Later,
Philip III tried to make Portugal a Spanish province, and Portuguese nobles lost power. Because of this, on
December 1 1640, the native king,
John IV, was acclaimed, and a Restoration war against Spain was made. Ceuta governors would not accept the new king; they maintained their allegiance to Spain.
In the
17th century the Portuguese emigrated in large numbers to Brazil. By
1709,
John V prohibited emigration, since Portugal had lost a sizable fraction of its population. Brazil was elevated to a vice-kingdom and
Amerindians gained total freedom.
:
Main articles Portugal from the Restoration to the 1755 Earthquake and Sebastião de Melo, Marquis of PombalIn
1738, Sebastião de Melo, the talented son of a Lisbon squire, began a diplomatic career as the Portuguese
Ambassador in
London and later in
Vienna. The
Queen consort of Portugal,
Archduchess Maria Anne Josefa of Austria, was fond of de Melo; and after his first wife died, she arranged the widowed de Melo's second marriage to the daughter of the Austrian Field Marshal
Leopold Josef, Count von Daun. King
John V of Portugal, however, was not pleased and recalled de Melo to Portugal in
1749. John V died the following year and his son, Joseph I of Portugal was crowned. In contrast to his
father, Joseph I was fond of de Melo, and with the
Queen Mother's approval, he appointed de Melo as
Minister of Foreign Affairs. As the King's confidence in de Melo increased, the King entrusted him with more control of the state.
By
1755, Sebastião de Melo was made Prime Minister. Impressed by British economic success he had witnessed while Ambassador, he successfully implemented similar
economic policies in Portugal. He abolished slavery in the Portuguese colonies in
India; reorganized the army and the navy; restructured the
University of Coimbra, and ended discrimination against different
Christian sects in Portugal.
But Sebastião de Melo's greatest reforms were economic and financial, with the creation of several companies and guilds to regulate every commercial activity. He demarcated the region for production of
Port to ensure the wine's quality, and his was the first attempt to control wine quality and production in Europe. He ruled with a strong hand by imposing strict law upon all classes of Portuguese society from the high nobility to the poorest working class, along with a widespread review of the country's
tax system. These reforms gained him enemies in the upper classes, especially among the high nobility, who despised him as a social upstart.
Disaster fell upon Portugal in the morning of
November 1,
1755, when Lisbon was struck by
a violent earthquake with an estimated
Richter scale magnitude of 9. The city was razed to the ground by the earthquake and the subsequent
tsunami and ensuing fires. Sebastião de Melo survived by a stroke of luck and then immediately embarked on rebuilding the city, with his famous quote:
What now? We bury the dead and feed the living. Despite the calamity, Lisbon suffered no epidemics and within less than one year was already being rebuilt. The new downtown of Lisbon was designed to resist subsequent earthquakes. Architectural models were built for tests, and the effects of an earthquake were simulated by marching troops around the models. The buildings and big squares of the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon still remain as one of Lisbon's tourist attractions: They represent the world's first quake-proof buildings. Sebastião de Melo also made an important contribution to the study of
seismology by designing an inquiry that was sent to every parish in the country.
Following the earthquake, Joseph I gave his Prime Minister even more power, and Sebastião de Melo became a powerful, progressive dictator. As his power grew, his enemies increased in number, and bitter disputes with the high nobility became frequent. In
1758 Joseph I was wounded in an attempted assassination. The
Tavora family and the Duke of Aveiro were implicated and executed after a quick trial. The
Jesuits were expelled from the country and their assets confiscated by the crown. Sebastião de Melo showed no mercy and prosecuted every person involved, even women and children. This was the final stroke that broke the power of the aristocracy and ensured the victory of the Minister against his enemies. Based upon his swift resolve, Joseph I made his loyal minister Count of Oeiras in
1759.
Following the Tavora affair, the new Count of Oeiras knew no opposition. Made
Marquis of Pombal in
1770, he effectively ruled Portugal until Joseph I's death in
1779. His successor, Queen
Maria I of Portugal, disliked the Marquis (See
Tavora affair), and forbade him from coming within 20 miles of her, thus curtailing his influence.
Main articles: History of Portugal (1777-1834), History of Portugal (1834-1910)In
1807 Portugal refused
Napoleon's demand to accede to the
Continental System of embargo against the
United Kingdom; a French invasion under
Marshal Junot followed, and Lisbon was captured on
1 December 1807. British intervention in the
Peninsular War restored Portuguese independence, the last French troops being expelled in
1812. The war cost Portugal the province of
Olivença, now governed by Spain.
Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, was the Portuguese capital between
1808 and
1821.
1820 saw
constitutionalist insurrections at
Oporto (
August 24 and Lisbon (
September 15). When Brazil declared its independence from Portugal in
1822, Lisbon regained its status as the capital of Portugal.
The death of
John VI in
1826 led to a crisis of royal succession. His eldest son,
Peter I of Brazil briefly became
Peter IV of Portugal, but neither the Portuguese nor the Brazilians wanted a unified monarchy; consequently, Pedro abdicated the Portuguese crown in favor of his seven-year-old daughter,
Maria da Glória, on the condition that when of age she marry his brother,
Miguel. Dissatisfaction at Pedro's constitutional reforms led the "absolutist" faction of landowners and the church to proclaim Miguel as king in February
1828. This led to the
Liberal Wars in which Pedro, with British assistance, eventually forced Miguel to abdicate and go into exile in
1834, and placed his daughter on throne as Queen
Maria II.
The First Republic has, over the course of a recent past, lost many
historians to the
New State. As a result, it's difficult to attempt a global synthesis of the republican period in view of the important gaps that still persist in our knowledge of its political history. As far as the October
1910 Revolution is concerned, a number of valuable studies have been made (Wheeler, 1972), first among which ranks Vasco Pulido Valente's polemical thesis. This historian posited the Jacobin and urban nature of the revolution carried out by the
Portuguese Republican Party (PRP) and claimed that the PRP had turned the republican regime into a de facto dictatorship (Pulido Valente, 1982). This vision clashes with an older interpretation of the First Republic as a progressive and increasingly democratic regime which presented a clear contrast to
Salazar's ensuing
dictatorship (Oliveira Marques, 1991).
A republican
Constitution was approved in
1911, inaugurating a parliamentary regime with reduced presidential powers and two chambers of parliament (Miranda, 2001). The Republic provoked important fractures within Portuguese society, notably among the essentially monarchist rural population, in the trade unions, and in the Church. Even the PRP had to endure the secession of its more moderate elements, who formed conservative republican parties like the
Evolutionist party and the
Republican Union. In spite of these splits the PRP, led by
Afonso Costa, preserved its dominance, largely due to a brand of clientelist politics inherited from the monarchy (Lopes, 1994). In view of these tactics, a number of opposition forces were forced to resort to violence in order to enjoy the fruits of power. There are few recent studies of this period of the Republic's existence, known as the ‘old' Republic. Nevertheless, an essay by Vasco Pulido Valente should be consulted (1997a), as should the attempt to establish the political, social, and economic context made by M. Villaverde Cabral (1988).
The PRP viewed the outbreak of the
First World War as a unique opportunity to achieve a number of goals: putting an end to the twin threats of a Spanish invasion of Portugal and of foreign occupation of the colonies and, at the internal level, creating a national consensus around the regime and even around the party (Teixeira, 1996a). These domestic objectives were not met, since participation in the conflict was not the subject of a national consensus and since it did not therefore serve to mobilise the population. Quite the opposite occurred: existing lines of political and ideological fracture were deepened by Portugal's intervention in the First World War (Ribeiro de Meneses, 2000). The lack of consensus around Portugal's intervention in turn made possible the appearance of two dictatorships, led by General
Pimenta de Castro (January-May
1915) and
Sidónio Pais (December 1917-December
1918).
Sidonismo, also known as
Dezembrismo (
Eng. Decemberism), aroused a strong interest among historians, largely as a result of the elements of modernity that it contained (José Brandão, 1990; Ramalho, 1998; Ribeiro de Meneses, 1998, Armando Silva, 1999; Samara, 2003 and Santos, 2003). António José Telo has made clear the way in which this regime predated some of the political solutions invented by the
totalitarian and
fascist dictatorships of the
1920s and
1930s (Teixeira, 2000, pp. 11-24). Sidónio Pais undertook the rescue of traditional values, notably the
Pátria (
Eng. Homeland), and attempted to rule in a charismatic fashion. A move was made to abolish traditional political parties and to alter the existing mode of national representation in parliament (which, it was claimed, exacerbated divisions within the
Pátria) through the creation of a
corporative Senate, the founding of a single party (the
National Republican Party), and the attribution of a mobilising function to the Leader. The State carved out an economically interventionist role for itself while, at the same time, repressing
working-class movements and leftist republicans. Sidónio Pais also attempted to restore public order and to overcome, finally, some of the rifts of the recent past, making the Republic more acceptable to
monarchists and
Catholics.
The vacuum of power created by Sidónio Pais' murder (Medina, 1994) on
14 December 1918 led the country to a brief
civil war. The monarchy's restoration was proclaimed in the north of Portugal on
19 January 1919 and, four days later, a monarchist insurrection broke out in
Lisbon. A republican coalition government, led by
José Relvas, coordinated the struggle against the monarchists by loyal army units and armed civilians. After a series of clashes the monarchists were definitively chased from
Oporto on
13 February 1919. This military victory allowed the PRP to return to government and to emerge triumphant from the elections held later that year, having won the usual absolute majority.
It was during this restoration of the ‘old' Republic that an attempted reform was carried out in order to provide the regime with greater stability. In August
1919 a conservative President was elected "
António José de Almeida (whose Evolutionist party had come together in wartime with the PRP to form a flawed, because incomplete, Sacred Union) " and his office was given the power to dissolve Parliament. Relations with the
Holy See, restored by Sidónio Pais, were preserved. The President used his new power to resolve a crisis of government in May
1921, naming a
Liberal government (the Liberal party being the result of the postwar fusion of Evolutionists and Unionists) to prepare the forthcoming elections. These were held on
10 July 1921 with victory going, as was usually the case, to the party in power. However, Liberal government did not last long. On
19 October a military
pronunciamento was carried out during which " and apparently against the wishes of the coup's leaders " a number of prominent conservative figures, including
Prime Minister António Granjo, were assassinated. This event, known as the ‘night of blood' (Brandão, 1991) left a deep wound among political elites and public opinion. There could be no greater demonstration of the essential fragility of the Republic's institutions and proof that the regime was democratic in name only, since it did not even admit the possibility of the rotation in power characteristic of the elitist regimes of the nineteenth century.
A new round of elections on
29 January 1922 inaugurated a fresh period of stability, since the PRP once again emerged from the contest with an absolute majority. Discontent with this situation had not, however, disappeared. Numerous accusations of corruption, and the manifest failure to resolve pressing social concerns wore down the more visible PRP leaders while making the opposition's attacks more deadly. At the same time, moreover, all political parties suffered from growing internal faction-fighting, especially the PRP itself. The party system was fractured and discredited (Lopes, 1994; João Silva, 1997). This is clearly shown by the fact that regular PRP victories at the ballot box did not lead to stable government. Between 1910 and 1926 there were forty-five governments. The opposition of
presidents to single-part governments, internal dissent within the PRP, the party's almost non-existent internal discipline, and its constant and irrational desire to group together and lead all republican forces made any government's task practically impossible. Many different formulas were attempted, including single-party governments, coalitions, and presidential executives, but none succeeded. Force was clearly the sole means open to the opposition if it wanted to enjoy the fruits of power (Schwartzman, 1989; Pinto, 2000).
By the mid-1920s the domestic and international scenes began to favour another authoritarian solution, wherein a strengthened executive might restore political and social order. Since the opposition's constitutional route to power was blocked by the various means deployed by the PRP to protect itself, it turned to the army for support. The armed forces, whose political awareness had grown during the war, and many of whose leaders had not forgiven the PRP for sending it to a war it did not want to fight, seemed to represent, to conservative forces, the last bastion of ‘order' against the ‘chaos' that was taking over the country. Links were established between conservative figures and military officers, who added their own political and corporative demands to the already complex equation. The
pronunciamento of 28 May 1926 enjoyed the support of most army units and even of most political parties. As had been the case in December
1917, the population of Lisbon did not rise to defend the Republic, leaving it at the mercy of the army (Ferreira, 1992a). There are few global and up-to-date studies of this turbulent third phase of the Republic's existence (Marques, 1973; Telo, 1980 & 1984). Nevertheless, much has been written about the crisis and fall of the regime and the 28 May movement (Cruz, 1986; Cabral, 1993; Rosas, 1997; Martins, 1998; Pinto, 2000; Afonso, 2001). The First Republic continues to be the subject of an intense debate which is impossible to summarise in these paragraphs. A recent historiographical balance sheet elaborated by Armando Malheiro da Silva (2000) is a good introduction into this debate. Nevertheless, one can distinguish three main interpretations. For some historians, the First Republic was a progressive and increasingly democratic regime. For others, it was essentially a prolongation of the liberal and elitist regimes of the nineteenth century. A third group, finally, chooses to highlight the regime's revolutionary, Jacobin, and dictatorial nature.
Main article: Estado Novo (Portugal)
.
Political chaos, several strikes, harsh relations with the Church, and considerable economic problems aggravated by a disastrous
military intervention in the First World War led to the military
28th May 1926 coup d'état, installing the
Second Republic that would later become the
Estado Novo in
1933, led by
António de Oliveira Salazar, which transformed Portugal into a proto-Fascist
Axis-leaning state, which later evolved into some mixture of single party corporative regime. India invaded and annexed
Portuguese India in
1961. Independence movements also became active in
Angola,
Mozambique and
Portuguese Guinea, and a series of
colonial wars started.
Not all who dispute the near-universally negative view historians have taken of this period are sympathizers with the later Fascistic regime (
saudosistas). However, most agree that Salazar and Caetano's corporative regime installed by the military
coup d'état of 1926 was a repressive dictatorship, though the regime was slowly trying to democratize and to solve the problems of the
colonies. Portugal, never an outcast, was a founding member of
OECD,
NATO and
EFTA.
After the death of Salazar in 1970, his replacement by Marcelo Caetano offered a certain hope that the regime would open up, the
primavera marcelista (Marcelist spring), however the colonial wars in Africa continued,
political prisoners remained incarcerated, freedom of association was not restored,
censorship was only slightly eased and the
elections remained tightly controlled. The regime retained its characteristic traits:
censorship, corporativeness, with a market economy dominated by a handful of economical groups, continuous
surveillance and
intimidation of all sectors of
society through the use of a
political police and techniques instilling fear, such as arbitrary imprisonment, systematic political persecution, and assassination.
The largely symbolic opening up of the 70s was meant to reduce social pressures generated by poor living conditions and to send a positive signal to the
international community from which Portugal had been marginalized.
The solutions envisioned for the
colonies, called ultramarine provinces following the French precedent, it is said it was to remove the concept of colony and the idea of Portugal from Minho to East Timor.
Main artiles: History of Portugal (1974-1986), History of Portugal (1986-2000), History of Portugal (2000-present day)The
Carnation Revolution of 1974, an effectively bloodless left-wing military coup, installed the
Third Republic. Broad democratic reforms were implemented. In
1975, Portugal granted independence to its
Overseas Provinces (
Províncias Ultramarinas in
Portuguese) in
Africa (
Mozambique,
Angola,
Guinea-Bissau,
Cape Verde and
São Tomé and Príncipe). In that same year,
Indonesia invaded and annexed the Portuguese province of
Portuguese Timor (East Timor) in
Asia before independence could be granted. The Asian dependency of
Macao, after an agreement in
1986, was returned to
Chinese sovereignty in
1999. Portugal applied international pressure to secure East Timor's independence from
Indonesia, as East Timor was still legally a Portuguese dependency, and recognized as such by the
United Nations. After a referendum in
1999, East Timor voted for independence and Portugal recognized its independence in
2002.
 |
Treaty of Accession of Portugal to the European Communities |
With the
1975"
76 independence of its colonies (except Macao, because it hadn't any independence movement), the 560 year old
Portuguese Empire had already effectively ended. With it, 15 years of war effort also came to an end. Also many
Portuguese returned from the colonies, coming to comprise a sizeable sector of the population and starting an economic recovery, thus opening new paths for the country's future just as others closed. In
1986, Portugal entered the
European Economic Community and joined the Euro in 1999.
*
Paleolithic**
Modern Humans make way into the
Iberian peninsula, coming from
Southern France.
**Extinction of the
Neanderthal Man in its last refuge -
Portugal.
**
Pre-historic art in the
Valley of Foz Côa.
*
Mesolithic**The
European population, sheltered in
Iberia due to the
Ice Age, migrates and recolonizes all of
Western Europe during the
Allerød Oscillation.
*
Neolithic**Development of
Agriculture in
Iberia.
**Beginning of the
Megalithic European culture.
*
Bronze Age**First wave of
Indo-European migrations into
Iberia, of the
Urnfield culture (Proto-
Celts).
**Bronze culture of the
Castro Villages in the Northwest of Iberia (modern
Galicia and northern
Portugal); Bronze culture of Portuguese
Estremadura; Bronze culture of Portuguese
Beira Alta; Emergence of
Tartessos in
Andalusia.
*
Iron Age**
Phoenician colonization and influence of
Mediterranean Iberia.
**
Tartessian civilization in southern
Iberia.
**Emergence of
towns and cities in the southern coastal areas of western
Iberia.
**Second wave of Indo-European migration into Portuguese territory (
Celts of the
Hallstatt culture).
**
Greek colonization and influence in eastern
Iberia.
**First forms of writing in
Portugal, the
Southwest script, part of the
Tartessian script.
**A new wave of
Celts (of the
La Tène culture) establish themselves in
Alentejo.
**The
Lusitanians inhabit central
Portugal, the
Calaicians or Gallaeci northern
Portugal, the
Celtici are in
Alentejo and the
Conii are in the
Algarve.
*
Roman Lusitania and Gallaecia**
218 BC - Invasion of
Iberia by the
Roman Republic as part of the offensive against
Carthage during the
Second Punic War.
**
200 BC-
150 BC - Several
Lusitanian rebellions against
Roman conquest.
**
147 BC-
139 BC -
Lusitanian War against the
Romans under the command of
Viriathus.
**
137 BC - The
Romans conquer
Gallaecia.
**
114 BC -
Praetor Gaius Marius is governor of
Lusitania; the
Lusitanians resist with a long guerrilla war.
**
83 BC-
72 BC-
Quintus Sertorius Hispanic revolt, where he is joined by the
Lusitanians.
**
61 BC-
60 BC -
Julius Caesar is
Propraetor governor of
Lusitania and defeats rebelious
Lusitanians and
Gallaecians.
**
27 BC - The
Roman Emperor Augustus creates the province of
Lusitania (till then part of
Hispania Ulterior), with capital in
Emerita Augusta (currently
Mérida). Originally Lusitania included the territories of
Asturias and
Gallaecia.
**
23 BC - The emperor
Augustus establishes the
Principate and the
Pax Romana.
**c.
250 -
Braga becomes an Episcopal
Diocese.
**
366-
383 - Damasus, son of Antonius and Laurentia, born in the
Conventus Bracarensis of
Gallaecia (near the modern city of
Guimarães), is the reigning
Pope under the name
Damasus I.
**
388 -
Paternus becomes bishop of the
Episcopal see of
Braga.
*
Germanic Kingdoms**
409***Invasion of the NW of the
Iberian peninsula (the Roman
Gallaecia) by the
Germanic Suevi (
Quadi and
Marcomanni) under king
Hermerico.
***Invasion of the
Iberian peninsula by the
Germanic Vandals (
Silingi and
Hasdingi) and the
Sarmatian Alans.
**
415 - Invasion of the
Iberian peninsula by the
Germanic Visigoths lead by King
Theodorid.
**
429 - The
Vandals and the
Alans move to
North Africa.
**
468 -
Lusídio, Roman governor of
Lisbon, delivers the city to the
Suevi.
**
470 - King
Euric of the
Visigoths conquers southern
Gallaecia and
Lusitania to the
Suevi.
**
562 - Saint
Martin of Dumes becomes
Bishop of
Braga.
**
585 -
Andeca, the last king of the
Suevi, helds out for a year before surrendering in to the
Visigothic King
Leovigild. With his surrender, this branch of the Suevi vanished into the Visigothic kingdom.
*
Al'Garb Al'Andalus and the beginning of the Reconquista**
711 "
Islamic Umayyad Moors (mainly
Berber with some
Arab), under
Tariq ibn-Ziyad, invade and eventually conquer the
Iberian Peninsula (
Visigothic King
Roderic is killed while opposing the invasion), except from the northernmost part - the
Asturias.
**
718 -
Pelayo establishes the
Kingdom of Asturias. This is considered to be the beginning of the
Reconquista.
**
722 - A powerful
Moorish force sent to conquer
Asturias once and for all is defeated by king
Pelayo at the
Battle of Covadonga. Today, this is regarded as the first significant
Christian victory of the
Reconquista.
**
755 -
Abd ar-Rahman I of the
Umayyad dynasty flees to Iberia to escape the
Abbasids.
**
756 - The Umayyad
Abd ar-Rahman I defeats
Yusuf al-Fihri and becomes Commander of al-Andalus Muslims, proclaiming himself
Emir of
Cordoba.
**
791 -
Alfonso II becomes King of
Asturias in
Oviedo and conquers a number of Moorish strongholds and settles the lands south of the
Douro River.
**
798 - In a raid on Muslim lands,
Alfonso II of Asturias enters
Lisbon but can not occupy it.
**
800 - 10 year Rebellion againsts the Muslims breaks out in the fringes of
Al-Andalus (
Lisbon,
Mérida,
Toledo). Each rebellion is bloodily suppressed by the central Islamic authorities.
**
844 -
Vikings raid the Galician estuaries, are defeated by
Ramiro I of Asturias, attack
Lisbon,
Beja and the
Algarve, and sack
Seville.
**
866 -
Alfonso III the Great, son of
Ordonho I of Asturias, becomes King of
Asturias. He iniciates the repopulation of
Porto,
Coimbra,
Viseu and
Lamego.
*
First County of Portugal**
868 - Establishment of the 1st County of
Portugal, a fiefdom of the
Kingdom of Asturias, by count
Vímara Peres, after the reconquest from the
Moors of the region between the
Minho and
Douro Rivers.
**
878 - The region of
Coimbra (today, Central Portugal) is incorporated in the
Kingdom of Asturias by the Count
Hermenegildo Guterres.
**
910 -
Ordonho II becomes King of
Galicia with the support of the Count of
Portugal.
**
913 - An expedition commanded by
Ordonho II, then vassal king of
Galicia, into Muslim territory takes
Évora from the Muslims.
**
925 -
Ramiro II, son of
Ordonho II of León, was the first to bear the title
King of Portuguese Land.
**
926 - The
Umayyad Emir Abd al-Rahman III, faced with the threat of invasion by the
Fatimids, proclaims himself
Caliph of Córdova.
**
938 - First document where the word
Portugal is written in its present form.
**
976 -
Caliph Al-Hakam II dies, and
Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir takes over in the name of his protégé
Hisham II, becoming a military dictator usurping caliphal powers and lauching a big number of offensive campaignes against the Christians.
**
1031 - The
Moorish Caliphate of Córdoba falls. Many
Taifas (independent
Moorish kingdoms) begin to spring up.
**
1056 - The
Almoravides (al-Murabitun) Dynasty begins its rise to power.
**
1063 -
Ferdinand I of
Castile-León divides his kingdom among his sons.
Galicia is allotted to his son
Garcia.
**
1065 - Independence of the
Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal is proclaimed under the rule of
Garcia II of Galicia.
**
1071 - Garcia II of Galicia becames the first to use the title King of Portugal, when he defeates, in the
Battle of Pedroso (near
Braga), Count
Nuno Mendes, last count of Portugal of the
Vímara Peres House.
**
1072 - Loss of independence of the
Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal, forcibly reannexed by
Garcia's brother king
Alfonso VI of Castile.
**
1090 -
Almoravid Yusuf ibn Tashfin cames to Iberia and conquers all the
Taifas.
**
1094 -
Almoravid Sir ibn Abi Bakr takes
Badajoz and
Lisbon.
**
1095 - The
Almoravides take
Santarém.
*
Second County of Portugal**
1095 - Establishment of the 2nd County of
Portugal (
Condado Portucalense), by Count
Henry of Burgundy, who marries princess
Teresa of León.
**
1112 "
Afonso Henriques inherits the County of
Portugal, a fiefdom of the
Kingdom of León.
**
1128 " Count
Afonso Henriques defeats his mother,
Teresa of León, that governs the county after her husband's death with the title of
Regina (Queen), in the
Battle of São Mamede and becomes sole ruler (
Dux -
Duke) after demandes for independence from the county's people, church and nobles.
*
First Dynasty: Burgundy**
1139,
July 26 "
Independence of Portugal from the
Kingdom of León declared after the
Battle of Ourique against the
Almoravides lead by
Ali ibn Yusuf: Duke Afonso Henriques becomes
Afonso I, king of Portugal.
**
1143 "
Treaty of Zamora.
Alfonso VII of Leon and Castille recognizes the Kingdom of
Portugal with the assintance of the Holly Sea who recognizes Alphonso has the ruller of Portugal, but the church did not wanted a division in Hispania in an era of crusades against the Moors so it did not recognized him as king.
**
1179 "
Pope Alexander III recognizes
Afonso I as King, thus
Portugal becomes officially a kingdom.
**
1095"
1279 A Portuguese kingdom was established independent from León and
extended southwards until it reached its present continental limits.
**
1279"
1383 The monarchy was gradually consolidated in spite of resistance from the Church, the nobles and the rival kingdom of
Castile.
**
1383-
1385 " Civil war and political anarchy:
1383-1385 Crisis.
*
Second Dynasty: Aviz**
1385***
João I of Portugal acclaimed king by the Portuguese;
Castilians do not accept this claim.
***
Battle of Aljubarrota: João I defeats the
Castilians and secures the throne.
**
1386 -
Treaty of Windsor (between Portugal and England), an alliance between
England and Portugal.
**
1394 "
Henry the Navigator, son of king
João I of Portugal, is born.
**
1415"
1499 -
A period of crusades and discoveries.
**
1494 - The
Treaty of Tordesillas is signed between
Portugal and
Spain, divided the world outside of
Europe in an exclusive duopoly between the two
Iberian nations.
**
1498 -
Vasco da Gama discovers the sea-route to
India.
**
1500 -
Pedro Álvares Cabral discovers
Brasil**
1499"
1580 -
The Portuguese Empire stretches from
Brasil eastward to the
Moluccas, reaching the zenith of its prosperity and entering a period of swift decline.
**
1580 -
Dinastic crisis of the
16th century.
*
Third Dynasty: Habsburg (Spanish rule)**
1581"
1640 -
Spanish kings ruled over
Portugal in a personal union of the Crowns. Portugal loses de facto independence to Spain.
*
Fourth Dynasty: Bragança**
1640 " The
Duke of Braganza becomes king
João IV of Portugal. Restoration of
Portuguese Independence and end of
Spanish control.
**
1755 " The
Lisbon earthquake destroys the city to the ground; an enormous
tsunami wave washes away what remained standing.
**
1750-
1777 -
Sebastião de Melo, Marquis of Pombal rules
Portugal as Prime Minister of King
Joseph I of Portugal.
**
1807-
1814 -
Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of
France, invades
Portugal. The
Portuguese Royal Family is transferred to the colony of
Brasil. An
Anglo-
Portuguese Army, commanded by
Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st
Duke of Wellington, resists French occupation during the
Peninsular War.
**
1820 -
Portugal demandes the return of King
João VI of Portugal to
Lisbon.
**
1822 -
Brasil declares independence. Pedro, son of King
João VI of Portugal, becomes Emperor
Pedro I of Brazil.
**
1826 " Emperor
Pedro I of Brazil also becomes King
Pedro IV of Portugal.
**
1828 " Miguel, King
Pedro IV of Portugal's brother, is proclaimed Absolute King
Miguel I of Portugal, rival to Pedro IV. Beginning of the Portuguese
Liberal Wars.
**
1834 - End of the Portuguese
Liberal Wars.
Miguel I of Portugal is exiled to
Germany.
Portugal becomes a Constitucional Monarchy.
**
1890 - Emergence of a strong
Portuguese Republicanism movement.
*
First Republic**
1910 - The
Republican Revolution, supported by popular uprising and virtually no resistance, is victorious and puts an end to the
Portuguese Monarchy. The last
King of Portugal,
Manuel II of Portugal, and the
Portuguese Royal Family, embark for exile in
England. The
Republic is officially proclaimed in
Lisbon.
**
1916"
1918 - Portugal contributes to the
Great War on the
Allies' side.
*
Second Republic: Authoritarian Estado Novo**
1926 - The
28th May military coup d'état puts an end to the 1st Republic of
Portugal. Establishment of the
Ditadura Nacional (National Dictatorship).
**
1928 -
António de Oliveira Salazar becomes Minister of Finance. General
António "scar de Fragoso Carmona is
President of the Republic.
**
1932 -
António de Oliveira Salazar becomes
Prime Minister.
**
1933***A new
Constitution is approved in a false referedum, defining Portugal as a
Corporative,
Single Party and
Multi-continental country (in
Europe,
Africa,
Asia and
Oceania).
***A
Conservative Authoritarian regime entitled
Estado Novo is installed.
***The Single Party
União Nacional (National Union) is created.
***The
Estatuto do Trabalho Nacional (Code of National Labour) is published, prohibiting all free trade unions.
***A
Political Police, the
PVDE (
Polícia de Vigilância e de Defesa do Estado; State Defense and Vigilance Police) is created.
***
Censorship, particularly of the
Mass media, is systematic and generalized.
**
1936-
1939 - During the
Spanish Civil War,
Portugal promptly supportes
Nationalist Spain under General
Francisco Franco and sends military aid (the Battalion of the
Viriatos) in their fight against the
Spanish Republicans.
**
1939-
1945 - During
World War II Portugal remains neutral.
**
1949 -
Portugal is a founding member of
NATO.
**
1954 - The
Dadra and Nagar Haveli enclave of
Portuguese India, dependent of
Daman, is occupied by
India.
**
1960 -
Portugal is one of the founding member of the EFTA -
European Free Trade Association.
**
1961***The
Portuguese Colonial War starts in
Angola, it will spread, in the years to come, to
Mozambique and
Portuguese Guinea (today
Guinea-Bissau).
***The
Indian army conquers Portuguese
Goa and
Daman and Diu, in
Portuguese India.
**
1968***
António de Oliveira Salazar leaves the Government due to health problems.
***
Marcello das Neves Alves Caetano becomes
Prime Minister.
**
1970***Death of
António de Oliveira Salazar.
***Portugal invades
Conakry, in the
Republic of Guinea.
*
Third Republic: Democracy**
1974 - The
Carnation Revolution of the
25 April puts an end to five decades of authoritarian dictatorship.
**
1975 - Independence is granted to all
Portuguese colonies in
Africa and promised to
East Timor (which is violently annexed by
Indonesia).
**
1986 - Portugal joins the European Communities (
EEC later
EU).
**
1999***
Macao, the last overseas
Portuguese colony, is returned to
China.
***
Indonesia ceases its occupation of
East Timor.
**
2002 -
Portugal adopts the
euro as currency.
*
Timeline of Portuguese history**
Viriathus**
Pre-Roman Western Iberia (Before the 3rd Century BC)**
Roman Lusitania and Gallaecia (3rd Century BC to 4th Century AC)**
Germanic Kingdoms (5th to 8th Century)**
Al' Garb Al'Andalus and the beginning of the Reconquista (8th to 9th Century)**
First County of Portugal (9th to 11th Century)**
Second County of Portugal (11th to 12th Century)**
First Dynasty: Burgundy (12th to 14th Century)**
Second Dynasty: Aviz (14th to 16th Century)**
Third Dynasty: Habsburg (Spanish rule) (16th to 17th Century)**
Fourth Dynasty: Bragança (17th to 20th Century)**
First Republic (20th Century)**
Second Republic: Authoritarian Estado Novo (20th Century)**
Third Republic: Democracy (20th Century to Present)*
List of Portuguese monarchs*
List of Prime Ministers of Portugal*
Presidents of Portugal*
Monuments of Portugal*
History of Europe.
*
Portugal Chronology World History Database*
History of Portugal: Primary Documents
