Other successes contributed to securing the kingdom's independence and arousing English interest in an alliance, expressed in 1386 by the Treaty of Windsor. He then married D. John with Philippa, daughter of the Duke of Lancaster, pretender to the throne of Castile, for being married to a daughter of D. Peter I the Cruel. Peace with Castile, however, would only be concluded in 1411.
The most significant fact, however, of the long reign of D. João I, in 1415, took Ceuta, a city in North Africa that served as a base for the Moorish pirates who threatened the first Portuguese maritime incursions. Infant D. Henry, one of the sons of King D. João I and notable encourager of maritime expansion, then in its dawn.
D. Duarte, who tried in vain to conquer Tangier, and D. Afonso V, during whose reign the ascension of the house of Bragança took place, which at the time owned about a third of the Portuguese territory. In 1481, D. John II, nicknamed the "Perfect Prince", energetic monarch, jealous of his royal prerogatives. During his reign, Diogo Cão discovered the mouth of the Congo River in 1482, and four years later Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope, in southern Africa. This opened up the sea route to the Indies, at the time the ultimate objective of Portuguese navigations.
In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed with Spain, and under the arbitration of the Spanish Pope Alexander VI, which established the line of demarcation of the future colonies of the two countries.
With the death of D. João II, in 1495, succeeded his cousin, the Duke of Beja, D. Manuel I the Lucky. In whose reign, which lasted until 1521, D. Manuel had the glory of seeing his dream of reaching India by sea come true – a feat accomplished by Vasco da Gama, who in 1498 reached Calicut. Two years later Pedro Álvares Cabral arrived on the coast of Brazil and from there he headed for India, where the Portuguese established a commercial empire whose greatest figure was Afonso de Albuquerque.
When seeking a rapprochement with Spain, due to the need to defend their common overseas interests, D. Manuel nourished the hope of uniting the entire peninsula under the scepter of Avis, for which he married Isabel, daughter of the kings of Spain. As a condition of the link, he was required to "purify" Portugal from the Jews. Converted to Christianity, these "New Christians" or Marranos, however, were massacred in Lisbon in 1506, after which they took refuge in Holland.
The son of D. Manuel, D. João III -- who, for Brazil, was "the Colonizer" -- installed the Inquisition in Portugal (the first auto-da-fé took place in 1540). His grandson D. succeeded him. Sebastião, driven by the Jesuits to religious fanaticism and obsessed with the idea of a crusade against Moorish Africa. The great expedition that he prepared was completely defeated on August 4, 1578, in the battle of Alcácer Quibir, in which the young monarch, only 24 years old, disappeared. As no traces of his body were ever found, the myth of his return emerged from this, and the corresponding mystical trend, Sebastianism, which lasted until the 20th century.
His great-uncle, Cardinal D. Henry, who would reign for only two years. With his death, in 1580, the succession problem arose, as he was celibate and with him the direct line to Avis ended. There was no lack of suitors, including Filipe II, from Spain (grandson, by maternal line, of D. Manuel I). Upon dying D. Henry, Philip ordered the invasion of Portugal by the Duke of Alba. The resistance of the supporters of D. Antônio, prior of Crato (bastard son of a brother of D. João III), was dominated, and Filipe II became king of Portugal, like Filipe I, reigning from 1580 to 1598.
Iberian Union (1580-1640). The commitments made by Filipe II of Spain to respect Portuguese autonomy were not respected by his successors Philip III (II of Portugal, who reigned from 1598 to 1621) and Philip IV (III of Portugal, king from 1621 to 1640).
Portuguese resentment against Spanish domination -- Filipe III and Filipe IV did not even deign to visit the country -- has risen with trade losses caused by Spain's wars and taxes levied for pay for them.
In reality, however, the administration of Portugal was kept separate from Spain and few Spaniards were appointed to Portuguese positions. Two insurrections -- one in 1634 and the other in 1637 -- failed, but in 1640 the situation proved propitious, as Spain found itself in war with France and dealing with an internal revolt in Catalonia, which the Count-Duke of Olivares intended to quell with troops Portuguese. The Duke of Bragança assumed the leadership of the liberation movement, which erupted on December 1st. Two weeks later, the Spanish garrisons being expelled, he was crowned King of Portugal, with the name of D. John IV, who reigned from 1640 to 1656.
Bragança Dynasty (1640-1910).
The rise of the Bragança dynasty was confirmed by the Cortes in January 1641. Faced with the threat of Spanish invasion, D. João IV sent missions to several countries in search of help. On May 26, 1644, at Montijo, the Spaniards were defeated and their invasion attempts failed. The help of England, in men and arms, came after the marriage, in 1662, of D. Catarina de Bragança, daughter of D. João IV, with the English king Carlos II. After new Portuguese victories (Ameixial, in 1663, and Montes Claros, in 1665), the peace and recognized by Spain for the restoration of Portugal's independence, signed with the Treaty of Lisbon, in 1668.
At that time, D. Alfonso VI (1656-1683), unhappy monarch, who suffered from mental faculties and found himself betrayed by his wife, Marie de Savoie-Nemours.
This obtained the annulment of the marriage and soon contracted the marriage with the king's brother, D. Peter, declared regent. D. Afonso was thrown into prison, and his brother ascended the throne as D. Peter II. During his reign, from 1683 to 1706, Portugal began to recover from the efforts and tensions of the struggles against Spain, and to feel the effects of the discovery of gold in Brazil. During this period, the Treaty of Methuen (1703) was signed with Great Britain, by which the exchange of Port wine for English woolen fabrics became the basis of Anglo-Portuguese commerce, to the detriment of the fledgling textile manufacture Portuguese.
In the reign of D. João V, from 1706 to 1750, Portugal achieved remarkable prosperity. The fifth, a tax levied on Brazil's precious stones and metals, provided the monarchy with an independent source of wealth. The Cortes, which had been meeting irregularly since 1640, were no longer convened: the government began to be exercised by ministers appointed by the king, personally little interested in the management. Academies, libraries, palaces, sumptuous churches were built. In 1716 the archbishop of Lisbon became patriarch and the king received from the pope the title of S. M. Very faithful. At the end of the reign, however, largely due to the incompetence of the ministers, the country entered a phase of stagnation.
The recovery would take place in the following reign, of D. José I, from 1750 to 1777. D. José appointed as prime minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, later Count of Oeiras and Marquis de Pombal, who achieved complete ascendancy over the monarch and established a regime of despotism in the kingdom enlightened. He carried out extensive reforms in the sugar and diamond trade, founded the silk industry, and in 1755 effectively faced the crisis caused by the earthquake that devastated Lisbon and created in the Algarve the Companhia da Pescaria do Tuna and Sardine and the Companhia do Grão-Pará and Maranhão, which monopolized trade with the north of the country. Brazil.
Then came the establishment of the Board of Trade, with powers to restrict the privileges enjoyed by English merchants from the treaties of 1654 and 1661, and the creation of the Companhia Geral das Vinhas do Alto Douro, as well as the reform, in 1772, of the University of Coimbra. Pombal's methods, however, were arbitrary and sometimes cruel. In 1759 he expelled the Jesuit priests from Portuguese domains and persecuted some members of the nobility. The Pombaline dictatorship ended with the death of the king and the accession to the throne of his daughter, D. Mary I, in 1777. After Pombal's resignation, the Jesuits returned, and the Treaty of Santo Ildefonso sealed peace with Spain, which in 1762 had invaded Portugal.
After 15 years of his reign, D. Maria I went crazy. His son - the future D. João VI - then began to rule in his name and in 1799 he became Prince Regent. That same year, in November, Napoleon Bonaparte took power in France. Two years later, Spain, instigated by the French, invaded Portugal. For the Peace of Badajoz, signed in June 1801, Portugal lost the city of Olivença.
In the following years, the country came under intense pressure to sever its relations with the United Kingdom. In 1806 Napoleon decreed the continental blockade, by which he intended to close European ports to English ships. Portugal tried to remain neutral, but by the secret Franco-Spanish treaty of Fontainebleau, signed in October 1807 by Napoleon and Charles IV of Spain, the dismemberment of the nation had been planned Portuguese.
The French invasion of Portugal followed, led by General Andoche Junot, former French ambassador to Lisbon.
On the morning of November 27, 1807, the Prince Regent, accompanied by his family and the court, boarded the Portuguese squadron which, escorted by English ships, took him to Brazil. Junot declared the Bragança dynasty deposed, but already in August 1808 he disembarked at Mondego Bay, ahead of 13,500 British soldiers, Sir Arthur Wellesley (future Duke of Wellington), who in the same month achieved the victories of Roliça and Osier. By the Sintra Convention, signed later, Junot was allowed to withdraw from Portugal with his troops.
In 1808, a second French invasion, commanded by Marshal Nicolas-Jean de Dieu Soult, resulted in the temporary occupation and sacking of the city of Porto. As Wellesley approached, the French once again withdrew. In August 1810 the third French invasion took place. It was commanded by Marshal André Masséna, accompanied by Marshal Michel Ney and General Junot. New victories were achieved by Wellington, in Bussaco and Torres Vedras. In March 1811, Masséna ordered the retreat, under persecution by Anglo-Portuguese forces, and in April the French crossed the border, definitively leaving Portuguese territory. Peace with France was signed in May 1814.
Portugal was represented at the Congress of Vienna, although without playing a relevant role. The Anglo-Portuguese treaties signed between 1809 and 1817 had a certain influence on the future of Africa. English efforts to obtain Portugal's collaboration in suppressing the slave trade resulted in the treaty of January 22, 1815 and in the additional convention of 1817, in which Portuguese claims on a considerable part of the continent were recognized African.
Constitutionalism. The Napoleonic campaigns had caused great damage in Portugal. The absence of the royal family and the presence of a foreign commander (Englishman William Carr Beresford) at the head of the Army Portuguese, associated with revolutionary agitation and liberal influences, produced an atmosphere of discontent and restlessness.
In December 1815 Brazil was elevated to the category of united kingdom to Portugal and Algarve and D. João VI - who had ascended the throne in March 1816, as a result of the death of his mother - showed no intention of returning to Portugal. In 1817, Beresford brought down a conspiracy in Lisbon and had the Masonic leader General Gomes Freire de Andrade executed.
The excitement grew. And when Beresford himself traveled to Brazil in order to advocate the return of the king, in August 1820 a constitutionalist revolution, which spread and led to the formation, in Lisbon, of the Provisional Board of the Supreme Government of the Kingdom. British officers were expelled from the army, and the Constituent Assembly was convened, which drew up a democratic constitution.
In July 1821, D. João VI, after overcoming his reluctance to cross the Atlantic again, landed in Lisbon. He swore to keep the constitution, but his wife, D. Carlota Joaquina, and her second child, D. Miguel, they refused to do it. The eldest son, D. Pedro, had been, by father's decision, at the head of the Brazilian government. The Portuguese constitutionalists, in disagreement with the Brazilian desire not to return to the former colony situation, sought to force D. Peter coming back. He preferred to remain, proclaimed the independence of Brazil and, in September 1822, became emperor with the title of D. Peter I.
Such events made it possible for D. Miguel, brother of D. Pedro I, appeal to absolutist forces in an attempt to overthrow the constitutionalists.
The insurrection, on April 30, 1824, was almost successful: D. João VI was even taken by the diplomatic corps aboard an English ship. With the failure of the revolt, known as the "abrilada", D. João VI was restored and D. Miguel had to go into exile in Vienna.
In 1825 Portugal recognized the independence of Brazil. The king assumed the title of emperor pro forma and later ceded it to D. Peter. When, in March 1826, the king died, a problem of succession arose. The regency council recognized D. Pedro I, emperor of Brazil, as legitimate king of Portugal as D. Peter IV. This abdicated in favor of daughter D. Maria da Glória, then seven years old, but conditioned her abdication to the girl's marriage to her uncle D. Miguel and the oath by him of the constitutional letter that he, D. Pedro, granted.
Such a solution displeased the absolutists.
They preferred an unconditional resignation by D. Peter. In October 1827, D. Miguel was sworn in and appointed regent. In February 1828 he landed in Lisbon and his supporters began to persecute the liberals. There was a meeting of the Cortes in Lisbon (in March the Chamber of Deputies was dissolved by D. Miguel) and, in July, the acts of D. Pedro, including the constitutional charter. D. Miguel was proclaimed king of Portugal.
Terceira island, in the Azores, became the center of the liberal cause. There, in June 1829, a regency was created in the name of D. Maria da Gloria. In 1831, D. Pedro abdicated the Brazilian throne and went to Europe to organize the campaign against his brother.
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In July 1832, liberal forces landed near Porto, which they did not take long to occupy. The rest of the country, however, was on the side of D. Miguel, who for a year besieged the liberals in Porto. However, the enthusiasm of the Miguelistas cooled; the Duke of Terceira (Antonio José de Sousa Manuel) and the English captain Charles Napier, who assumed command of the Liberal fleet, made a successful landing in the Algarve in June 1833.
The Duke of Terceira advanced on Lisbon, taken in July, and in May of the following year D. Miguel capitulated in Évora-Monte, from where he went, once again, into exile. D. Peter died in September 1834. D. Maria da Glória became queen as D. Mary II. Its main objective was to defend the constitutional charter against those who demanded a democratic constitution like that of 1822. In September 1836 the Democrats took power, becoming known as "Septembers".
The leaders of the supporters of the charter rebelled and were exiled, but in 1842, with the Septembrist front disunited, the charter was restored by Antônio Bernardo da Costa Cabral. Certain reforms made by Costa Cabral, in industry and in public health, caused a popular uprising -- the Revolution of Maria da Fonte (so called by to have participated in it, actually or imagined, a Minho with that name, but of dubious identification) -- which spread quickly and put an end to its government.
Portugal was divided between the Septembrists, who occupied Porto, and the Marshal-Duque de Saldanha (General João Carlos de Saldanha), who then enjoyed the Queen's confidence in Lisbon. Saldanha negotiated the intervention of members of the Quadruple Alliance (formed in 1834 by the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Portugal), and a joint Anglo-Spanish force obtained the surrender of Porto in June 1847. The civil war ended that same month, with the signing of the Gramido Convention.
Saldanha ruled until 1849, when Costa Cabral returned to power, to be overthrown again in April 1851 and yield place once again to Saldanha, which remained in government for five years, a period that allowed the pacification of the parents.
He succeeded D. Maria II, in 1853, her eldest son from her second marriage (with Fernando de Saxe-Coburgo), D. Pedro V, an intelligent and nostalgic prince. He proved to be a conscientious and capable monarch, deserving of general esteem and admiration. His reign, however, was saddened by the cholera and yellow fever epidemics that ravaged Lisbon. In 1861 the king himself fell victim to typhoid fever. His brother's reign, D. Luís I, although in recent years advances by the republicans have been noted.
With the death of D. Luís I, in 1889, and the accession to the throne of D. Carlos I, broke out serious dispute with the United Kingdom. The latter, by the treaty of 1815, had recognized Portuguese possessions in Africa. Later, Germany and Belgium entered the colonial race and, at the Berlin Conference in 1885, the definition of "effective occupation" was adopted as the basis for the possession of colonial territories. In Lisbon, a colonialist movement had taken hold, claiming the territory that stretched latitudinally from Angola to Mozambique. This claim in 1886 was recognized by France and Germany.
Despite a British protest formulated in 1888 by Robert Arthur Tolbot Gascoyne-Cecil, third Marquess of Salisbury, the Portuguese Foreign Minister, Henrique de Barros Gomes, sent Major Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto to Shiré, in Niassalândia (present-day Malawi), in order to consummate its annexation. Serpa Pinto, however, became involved in fighting with tribes that were under British protection and in January 1890 an English ultimatum demanded the Portuguese withdrawal. Amidst great popular excitement, Barros Gomes had to give in, which led to the government's resignation.
The incident caused deep resentment in Portugal, not only against the former ally but also against the monarchy, which in January 1891 was threatened by a republican revolution in Porto. In October 1899, however, when the United Kingdom was on the verge of conflict in the Transvaal, a secret declaration (Treaty of Windsor), later made public, confirmed the old treaties of alliance.
Meanwhile, the financial situation remained dire and republicanism continued to make progress. In 1906, the monarchist João Franco assumed the leadership of the government, who tried to reform the finances and administration, but was accused of illegally making advances of money to the king. This scandal was followed by conspiracy rumors that culminated, on February 1, 1908, with the murder of D. Carlos I and his heir, D. Luís Filipe, in Lisbon.
The regicide -- whether perpetrated by fanatics or secret society agents is unknown -- was applauded by the republicans, who were already preparing for the final assault on the monarchy.
In the brief reign of D. Manuel II, from 1908 to 1910, the monarchist politicians, with their disunity, helped to hasten the fall of the regime. The August 1910 elections gave a majority to the republicans in Lisbon and Porto. On October 3, the assassination of a republican leader, physician Miguel Bombarda, provided the pretext for an uprising that had already been organized. The next day, civilians, soldiers and sailors started the revolution, whose main figure was Antônio Machado dos Santos. A day later she was victorious. D. Manuel II fled by sea to Gibraltar and from there to the United Kingdom. In 1932, he died, and his body was transferred to Portugal.
Republic. The newly installed regime formed a provisional government, under the presidency of the writer Joaquim Fernandes Teófilo Braga. This enacted a new electoral law, which granted the right to vote to all Portuguese adults and proceeded to the election of a Constituent Assembly, which in June 1911 began its works. The constitution was approved on August 20, and four days later the first elected president, Manuel José de Arriaga Brum da Silveira, took office.
Although a monarchist invasion attempted in October 1911 by Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro was foiled, the greatest danger to the new regime came from its internal dissensions. At the time, he was relatively integrated in his attacks on monarchism and persecution of the church. Also in October, religious orders were expelled and their property confiscated; the teaching of religion in primary schools was abolished, and the church was separated from the state.
The conditions under which Catholics and monarchists were imprisoned had repercussions abroad, but only gradually was this legislation modified.
New universities were founded in Lisbon and Porto, but the work of destruction proved to be easier than that of construction and it was not long before the republicans split into evolutionists (moderate), led by Antônio José de Almeida, unionists (centrists), led by Manuel Brito Camacho, and democrats (left wing), under the leadership of Afonso Augusto da Costa. Several leading Republicans, however, had not gone. The turmoil of republican political life represented little improvement over the monarchic regime, and in 1915 the army began to show discontent.
General Joaquim Pereira Pimenta de Castro formed a military government and allowed the royalists to reorganize themselves, but a democratic revolution on May 14 led to his arrest and confinement in the Azores. President Arriaga resigned and was replaced by Teófilo Braga and, four months later, by Bernardino Luís Machado Guimarães. He was deposed in December 1917 by the revolution of Major Sidônio Bernardino Cardoso da Silva Pais, who instituted a right-wing "presidential" regime, with himself in power. His government came to an abrupt end, as Pais was assassinated on December 14, 1918.
After the provisional presidency of Admiral João do Canto and Castro Silva Antunes, the Democrats returned to power, with the election of Antônio José de Almeida.
When the first world war broke out, Portugal proclaimed, on August 7, 1914, its loyalty to the English alliance. The following month a first expedition to reinforce the African colonies set out and clashes occurred in northern Mozambique, on the border with Tanganyika, now integrated with Tanzania, and in southern Angola, on the border with South West Africa, today Namibia. In February 1916, Portugal confiscated the German ships that had broken out in Portuguese ports, and in March the German minister in Lisbon handed over his country's declaration of war to the Portuguese government.
In 1917 a Portuguese expeditionary force, commanded by General Fernando Tamagnini de Abreu e Silva, was sent to the western front.
Under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Portugal received 0.75% of the compensation payable by Germany plus the Quionga area in East Africa captured by Portuguese forces. President Antônio José de Almeida completed his term in October 1923, but the ministries were rapidly succeeding.
Revolutionary movements became more frequent as the Democratic Party lost its cohesion. In the army, there were signs of impatience with political unrest. Although the Democrats achieved a clear majority in the 1925 elections and Manuel Teixeira Gomes became presidency to Bernardino Luís Machado Guimarães without incident, a military uprising broke out in February 1926 in Lisbon.
The revolt was put down, but at the end of May Commander José Mendes Cabeçadas Júnior and General Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa rebelled in Braga. Bernardino Machado was deposed and a provisional government was formed.
Salazar period. Initially, Cabeçadas headed the provisional government, with Gomes da Costa as minister of war. The latter, however, dismissed Cabeçadas, considered excessively linked to his political class. Gomes da Costa, in turn, was deposed a few weeks later, and his Foreign Minister, General Antônio Oscar de Fragoso Carmona, took over as head of government in July 1926. In March 1928, Carmona was elected president of the republic, a position he held until his death, in April 1951.
After a revolutionary attempt in February 1927, which resulted in considerable bloodshed, Carmona's government no longer suffered any serious opposition. The military regime had as its program simply the restoration of order. To remedy the country's precarious financial situation, it was proposed to obtain a loan from the League of Nations, but the conditions offered included the supervision of finances, which was seen as an attack on sovereignty. national. Consequently, the loan was rejected, and Carmona invited Antônio de Oliveira Salazar to take up the post of finance minister in 1928.
Salazar, professor of economics at the University of Coimbra, took full control of all income and expenditure, while undertaking a complete overhaul of the country's administration; as finance minister, from 1928 to 1940, he managed an uninterrupted series of budget balances that restored national financial credit; as prime minister, from 1932 onwards, he began the process by which, in the following year, he began to enforce the new constitution; as Minister of Colonies in 1930, he prepared the Colonial Act for the administration of the Portuguese colonial empire; and, as foreign minister, from 1936 to 1947, he guided Portugal in solving the difficulties caused by the war Spanish civil society and, in World War II, maintained neutrality compatible with the alliance. Anglo-Portuguese.
In May 1940, a concordat was signed with the Vatican, which clarified the position of the Catholic Church in Portugal. The church was repossessed of most of the properties it had before 1910, religious teaching was re-established in schools. official, the operation of private religious colleges was authorized and religious marriages began to be recognized. When Carmona died, Salazar, according to the constitution, assumed the presidential functions, which he exercised until General Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes took office in August 1951.
The corporatist and authoritarian regime instituted by Salazar came to be known as the Estado Novo. As of the 1934 elections, all seats in the National Assembly were held by government supporters, although on three occasions there were a few opposition candidates.
In 1954 India's attempts to absorb Goa were repulsed and in July 1955 the Indian government broke off relations with Portugal. The United Nations (UN), to which Portugal only joined in 1955, did not define it in a way The situation of the enclaves was categorical and on December 18, 1961 troops from India invaded Goa, Daman and Diu. The next day the Portuguese capitulated. A serious threat to the remaining overseas territories came with the rebellion that broke out in Angola in the following years, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea (today Guinea-Bissau), forcing the metropolis to maintain large armed contingents in those areas.
At the end of the 1960s, there were approximately 120,000 Portuguese soldiers stationed in those three "overseas provinces", in an attempt to contain the expansion of nativist movements, of ideological orientation diverse. In Portuguese Guinea, the military problem became particularly critical. In the face of pressure from the UN, Lisbon sought to promote the economic development of African territories, with works such as the construction of the gigantic Cabora Bassa dam in Mozambique. Neither this, however, nor South Africa's support for Portuguese colonial policy, dictated by the strategic importance of Angola and Mozambique, could contain the insurrection.
In January 1961 a group of anti-Salazarist insurgents, led by Henrique Carlos da Mata Galvão, took over the Portuguese liner Santa Maria, while sailing in the Caribbean. The attack was said to have been planned to coincide with uprisings in Angola and other Portuguese colonies, but no rebellion took place and the insurgents were granted political asylum in Brazil. In January 1962, a small military revolt, the first against Salazar, was crushed in Beja. In 1958, Craveiro Lopes was replaced in the presidency of the republic by Admiral Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tomás.
