The 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 thereafer its fleet, which had had been incorporated into the Spanish Armanda] 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
Africa n and Asian 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 ''.
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 Language s 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 others 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 .
.]]
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. 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 ).
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 .
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 .
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.
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 Discoveries ''
navigators in
Lisbon ,
Portugal ]]During 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 mythical 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 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.
), 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 ,
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
Islam ic states along the coast of
Mozambique ,
Kilwa ,
Brava and
Mombasa were destroyed or became subjects or allies of Portugal.
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
Converso s. 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.
Impostor s 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, and most people even at the end of the
19th Century believed in it.
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
Court s, 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
Amerindian s gained total freedom.
: ''Main articles
Portugal From The Restoration To The 1755 Earthquake and
Sebastião De Melo, Marquis Of Pombal ''
In
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 Sect s 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 insure 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 in
1770 , he effectively ruled Portugal until Joseph I's death in
1779 . His successor, Queen
Maria I Of Portugal , disliked the Marquis, and forbade him from coming within 20 miles of her, thus curtailing his influence.
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 .
See Also: Portuguese First Republic
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 (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.
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 pro-Fascist 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 War s started.
Not all who claim that the negative view historians have taken of this period are sympathizers with the later Fascistic regime (''saudosistas''), but 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, , 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.
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 .
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.
See Also: Timeline of Portuguese history
- --- 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 .
- ---The European population, sheltered in Iberia due to the Ice Age , migrates and recolonizes all of Western Europe during the Allerød Oscillation .
- ---Development of Agriculture in Iberia .
- ---Beginning of the Megalithic European Culture .
- ---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 .
- --- 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 .
- --- 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 .
- --- 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.
- --- 711 – Islamic Umayyad Moors (mainly Berber with some Arab ), under Tariq Ibn-Ziyad , invade and eventualy 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 , Merida , Toledo ). Each rebellion is bloodily suppressed by the central Islamic authorities.
- --- 844 - Viking s 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 .
- --- 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 River s.
- --- 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 Fatimid s, 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 Taifa s (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 Taifa s.
- --- 1094 - Almoravid Sir Ibn Abi Bakr takes Badajoz and Lisbon .
- --- 1095 - The Almoravides take Santarém .
- --- 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.
- ---.
- --- 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 .
- ---.
- --- 1385
-- João I Of Portugal acclaimed king by the Portuguese; Castilians do not accept this claim.
-- 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 .
- --- 1581 – 1640 - Spanish kings ruled over Portugal in a personal union of the Crowns. Portugal loses de facto independence to Spain.
- --- 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.
- --- 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.
- --- 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 Óscar 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 .
- --- 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.
