Lisbon Regicide
Encyclopedia
The Lisbon Regicide was the name given for the assassinations of King Carlos I of Portugal
and his heir, Luis Filipe, the Prince Royal by assassins sympathetic to republican
interests. It occurred on the 1st of February, 1908 in the Praça do Comércio
, Lisbon
, then referred to as the Terreiro do Paço.
Some idealistic
students, politicians, free-thinkers and dissidents were inspired by the founding of the French Third Republic
in 1870, and hoped that a similar regime could be installed in Portugal. The intellectual style was heavily middle class and urban, and hardly concealed its cultural mimicry of the French Republic. Most of the Republican leadership were from the same generation. Many were of the best educated in the country and were heavily influenced by the French positivist Comte
and the socialist Proudhon, both democratic and nationalist. The ideology after 1891 was peppered with municipal autonomy, political and economic democracy, universal male suffrage, direct elections for legislative assemblies, a national militia instead of a professional army, the secularization of education, and the separation of Church and State, which were all tenets copied from French revolutionaries.
By some, the writings of Léon Gambetta
, a proponent of opportunistic republicanism, or the socialist leader, Jean Jaurès
, were read and admired by students at the University of Coimbra.
After the period of monarchist revanchism
in France had waned, and the daily Sud Express
rail service between Lisbon and Paris was established in 1887, the leftist French Jacobin
influence grew stronger in Portugal, especially because it counteracted the national humiliation caused by the British ultimatum
of 1890. These liberal ideas were encouraged by the French Republic (in 1870
) and the Brazilian Republic (in 1889
), although the 1789 Revolution
was considered an inspiration and model.
Their ideology was very inclusive and "vague" enough to attract a variety of supporters, and the manner in which the Republican party developed, allowed it to avoid narrow partisan appearances; it was an ideology easily promoted by revolutionary evangelists such as the journalist João Chagas
, Magalhães Lima, Basílio Teles, Guerra Junqueiro
or França Borges.
, the British delivered what is known as the British Ultimatum
—a rejection of the territorial claims defined by the Pink Map
of Portuguese Africa. This breach of the Treaty of Windsor forced the King to abandon Portugal's claim to a large swath of territory between Angola
and Mozambique
(encompassing present-day Zambia
, Zimbabwe
, and Malawi
). This humiliating episode led to general public outrage in Portugal and was seized by nascent republicans and ideological Jacobins as an opportunity to attack the monarchy.
The crisis was not as a consequence of the King's actions; rather, it arose from the expansionist policies of the government under Prime Minister José Luciano de Castro. The Minister of the Navy and Overseas Territories, Henrique de Barros Gomes
, conspired with German diplomats to expand colonial territory and create "a new Brazil in Africa". This was in conflict with British interests and Portugal was quickly forced to abandon these designs under threat of diplomatic sanction and perhaps even military action. King Carlos attempted to mitigate the losses—through skillful diplomacy and leveraging blood relations with both British and German royalty—and was moderately successful, but Portuguese Africa was ultimately limited to territory in Angola and Mozambique. The Portuguese populace was outraged by the loss of territory, which they saw as a blow to their pride.
Ultimately, José Luciano de Castro's government fell not because of the ultimatum, but, instead, the opposition to the new tobacco monopoly contract, which had led to disorder; Luciano de Castro resigned.
, and some were members of the Portuguese Carbonária
, a hard-core activist organ that virtually became "a state within the state".
By 1907 there was a strong, and growing, republican presence in the cities of Lisbon and Porto
, where the Portuguese Republican Party
had already won local elections and intended to promote a republican government at the national level. But, in 1906 elections the Party only received 2.7% of the votes, equivalent to 4 seats in the National Assembly and all within the city of Lisbon, where their supporters were concentrated, although their leader Bernardino Machado would later declare, "we are the majority", to the Times in Paris.
as a consequence of an inefficient system of rotating governments, that saw the Progressive Party
and Regenerator Party alternating as government. The British Ambassador in Portugal at the time, Sir Francis Villiers explained the confusion and inefficiency of the Cortes (Parliament) in these terms:
The transfer of government was an undemocratic process, decided between the leaders, rubber-stamped by the monarch, and legalized through fixed elections. The other sectors of the nation were also corrupted by serious economic and social issues: the judiciary was corrupt, illiteracy was between 70-80%, the nation's finances were crippled by high taxation, the monopolies on tobacco and other commodities, by the numerous sinecures
and high customs duties on imported goods.
This system was aggravated at the beginning of the 20th Century by new groups that formed from factions from within the two main parties. In 1901 João Franco
, supported by 25 deputies abandoned the Regenerator Party to form the Liberal Regenerator Party, with a radical programme of social and economic policies within the framework of the constitutional monarchy. In 1905, the Dissidência Progressista (English: Progressive Dissidence) was formed by José Maria de Alpoim
, who also split from the Progressive Party with six other deputies. The intense rivalry between the new parties, aggravated by personal animosities, were regularly critiqued by members of the nascent Republican Party. Despite King Carlos's intent to execute meaningful reform, the efforts were largely undermined by monarchist inefficiency, incompetence, factionalism, and Republican propaganda.
When King Carlos decided to become politically active, it had become difficult to form a non-coalition cabinet that could win a majority in Parliament. In May of 1906, he appointed João Franco
as premier, with an admirable plan to combat the issues of the day, but the opposition was confrontational and progressively less unmanageable.
João Franco tried to govern in a coalition with José Luciano de Castro, but it, too, became unmanageable. Franco eventually solicited the King to discontinue Parliament in order to implement a series of political changes. They included censoring the press, jailing reactionaries and establishing reforms to decentralize the government (a program stolen, for the most part, from the Right and from Republicans). These same measures had always been advocated by the traditional parties, but the monarch had refused to take an active participation stating that "the King reigns, but does not govern." Ostensibly, João Franco would govern by parliamentary dictatorship
until order could be restored. This was the simplest method of governing during periods of crisis. It was first used in 1833, when the major parties at the time could not agree on establishing a government. The King had given Franco the means of governing without them and elections would only be held when he and Franco thought it was opportune and when “normality” had been restored.
However, this measure further increased political tension. Even the two major monarchist parties, Partido Regenerador and Partido Progressista
, who were accustomed to sharing power in an informal rotation were infuriated. In reaction to King Carlos's action, which favored Franco's faction, they joined forces with the Partido Republicano Português to resist Franco and his cohorts. The political strategy was "Machiavellian", as Brito Camacho
, leader of the Partido Unionista, later attested. There were equal personal attacks aimed at João Franco and the monarch from pro-republican sympathizers, progressive dissidents and academics. At one point, Afonso Costa
(a leader in the Republican Party) criticized the government for permitting unauthorized transfers for expenses within the royal household without the Cortes' sanction. Declaring that the sums should be repaid, he then insisted that the King should leave the country or be put in prison, exhorting that:
As the session became increasingly confrontational, another Republican mounted a desk declaring:
Even Teofilo Braga
, future President of the Provisional Government and Second President of the First Portuguese Republic, was forcibly removed for calling the King "a highwayman in mantle and crown". Both Costa and Braga were suspended for thirty days. Agitation and conflict continued in the city of Lisbon, instigated in many cases by Republican youth and their supporters; there were many police arrests and discoveries of stockpiles of arms and some bombs. These developments created an increasingly volatile situation. Franco then prohibited all public meetings, imposed stricter controls on the press freedom and began to take judicial action against “all cases of offenses against the state”. The King became further embroiled in the events when he replaced the elected municipal councils by nominated committees and gave himself the power to nominate an unlimited number of life peers to the Upper House.
The Republicans deemed him responsible for many of the problems in the country. João Chagas
, the republican journalist, declared:
The King was growing increasingly vulnerable. By then, members of the Republican Party had already decided to support direct or indirect dissident groups such as the Carbonária
, organized by elements of Portuguese masonry
, in order to force regime change. On 28 January 1908, various republican leaders were imprisoned in an affair that came to be known as the Golpe do Elevador da Biblioteca (English: The Municipal Library Elevator Coup
). Police caught Afonso Costa
(the Republican) and Francisco Correia Herédia (Viscount of Ribeira Brava) armed at the Municipal Library Elevator, along with others who had gathered to attempt a coup d'état. They were members of a faction referred to as the Grupo dos Dezoite (English: Group of 18), who were responsible for executing João Franco. António José de Almeida
, Carbonária
leader Luz de Almeida, journalist João Chagas
, João Pinto dos Santos, França Borges and Álvaro Poppe were imprisoned along with other conspirators. José Maria de Alpoim
was able to escape to Spain. During the course of the events 93 Republican sympathizers were detained and arms confiscated, but the Party was only partially dismantled.
In response to these events, in which the monarch faced reactionary elements opposed to policies he believed were fair, his government presented King Carlos the January 30, 1908 Decree. This law demanded the foreign deportation or colonial expulsion, without trial, to individuals condemned of attempting to subvert public order. At the signing of the document, the King declared: "I sign my sentence of death, but you gentlemen want it that way." Ironically, although the decree was signed on January 30, it was not made public before the assassination on February 1. Preparations for the King's assassination were made in advance: from evidence obtained from the home of the assassin Buíça (on January 28). At the end of 1907, during a Press Congress in Paris, a group of Portuguese politicians and French revolutionaries had already planned the liquidation of the head of government in the Café Brébant, along the Boulevard Poissonière. On the morning of February 1, in the Quinta do Ché (in Olivais) and in the days preceding it, the conspirators confirmed the final decision to go ahead with attempt.
, in the Alentejo, where they routinely spent time hunting during the winter. The Infante D. Manuel
, the youngest son, had returned to Lisbon days earlier, in order to complete his studies. The previous political events noted had forced King Carlos to cut his retreat short and to return to Lisbon: the Royal Family catching the train from Vila Viçosa
on the morning of February 1. During their trip, the train was temporarily derailed at the loop near Casa Branca, resulting in a delay of an hour. The royal carriage arrived in Barreiro at the end of the afternoon, from where the Royal Family sailed on the D. Luís to the Terreiro do Paço in the center of Lisbon. On disembarking at the Estação Fluvial Sul e Sueste, around 5:00pm, they were met by various members of the government, including Prime Minister João Franco, the Prince D. Manuel, and the King's brother, Afonso, Duke of Oporto. Even in a climate of tension, the monarch opted to travel in an open carriage, wearing his service uniform as Generalíssimo of the Army, in order to present an air of normality. The two princes were in civilian clothes. According to usual practice, the carriage was accompanied by armed police and a mounted cavalry officer (Francisco Figueira Freire).
There were only a few people in the Terreiro do Paço as the carriage rounded the eastern part of the square and the first shot rang out. As reported later, a bearded man had walked out into the road after the carriage had passed, removed a Winchester
carbine rifle
hidden under his overcoat, knelt on one knee and fired at the King from a distance of about 8 metres. The shot hit the King's neck, killing him immediately, while another gunman in the square opened fire at the carriage and onlookers ran in panic. The first assassin: later identified as Manuel Buíça
, a teacher and former sergeant dismissed from the army; continued to fire. His second shot clipped the shoulder of the monarch, who slumped to the right with his back lying to the left-side of the carriage. Taking advantage of this, the second assassin, Alfredo Costa (a clerk and editor), jumped onto the carriage step and, standing at the height of the passengers, fired at the slumped body of the King. The Queen, then stood and attempted to strike back at him with the only available weapon, a bouquet of flowers, yelling: "Infames! Infames!"(English: Infamous! Infamous!].
The assassins then turned their attentions on the Prince Royal, Luís Filipe, who had stood to draw and fire a hidden revolver, but was quickly hit in the chest. The bullet, from a small-caliber revolver, did not exit his sternum nor was it fatal, and the Prince reportedly fired four rapid-shots at his attacker, who fell from the carriage-step. However as Luís Filipe stood, he became more visible to the attacker with the rifle and was hit by a large-caliber shot that exited from the top of his skull. The young Prince D. Manuel, protected by his mother during the events, tried to stop the bleeding using a handkerchief, but it quickly became soaked with his brother's blood.
As shots continued across the square, Queen Amélia returned to her feet to call for assistance. The Countess Figueiró, Viscount Asseca and Marquis Lavradio jumped on the landau to support the Crown Prince. The young Prince Manuel was hit in the arm, while the coach-man was hit in the hand. The assassin Buíça then attempted to fire another round, although it is unclear whether he was aiming at the Queen, at Prince Manuel or at other officials of the government. He was stopped by the intervention of Henrique da Silva Valente, a soldier of the 12th Infantry, who had appeared in the square during the commotion. During his brief confrontation with Buíça, Silva Valente was shot in the leg, but was able to distract the assassin. The cavalry-officer, Francisco Figueira, remounted his horse and fired on Costa who was then seized by police officers. Buíça, wounded in the leg, attempted to escape but was also taken.
The coachman, Bento Caparica, was able to direct the carriage to the Arsenal das Marinhas (English: Royal Naval Arsenal) where the King and heir to the throne were officially declared dead in the infirmary (the Prince expiring shortly after his arrival). When D. Afonso finally reached the Arsenal, he instinctively accused João Franco of being responsible for the tragedy. The Queen Mother, Maria Pia of Savoy
was called to the Arsenal, where she met with Queen Amélia, and desolately cried in French "On a tué mon fils!", to which Queen Amélia replied "Et le mien aussi!"
Believing that the events were part of another coup d'état, the population of Lisbon locked themselves in their homes and the city became deserted. However the troops were confined to their barracks and the situation remained calm.
In the evening the Queen, the Queen Mother and new King, Manuel II of Portugal
remained under guard in the Palácio das Necessidades in fear of a further attempt on their lives. In a macabre follow-up, the bodies of the deceased were transported to the Palace in two carriages, as if they were still alive (the head of King Carlos was slumped on the shoulder of his uncle, Infante D. Afonso, now the new Prince Royal). No autopsies were completed, and the bodies were embalmed under the supervision of the Royal physician D. Thomaz de Mello Breyner, a task that was made more difficult by the nature of their wounds.
The new monarch requested the resignation of João Franco's government for not safeguarding the Royal Family, in context of the previous elevator conspiracy and the unpopular policies of his government. Although the Prime Minister had realized that his policies had made him a target, he was never aware the monarch was also targeted by dissidents. Presiding over the Council of State on the afternoon of January 2, with his hand on his chest and in wearing his military uniform, the young monarch confessed his inexperience and lack of preparation requesting aid from his loyal ministers.
The young King voted from the resignation of the João Franco and the formation of coalition government, later referred to as the Acclamation Government, presided by the independent Ferreira do Amaral
. The new Prime Minister included in his cabinet members of the Regenerator and Progressive Parties, that formally ended the administrative dictatorship and reverted parliament to normalacy. In fact, Ferreira do Amaral completely abandoned the positions of the former-King: he annulled the dictatorial measures published earlier, liberated political prisoners, provided an amnesty for marines involved in the 1906 revolt, but also going as far as consenting to some Republican demands, including permission for pilgrimages to the tombs of the assassins (at one point about 22,000 people), an event organized by the Associação do Registo Civil (English: Association of the Civil Registry).
The King was also present at the Council Minister's meeting that enacted these measures, and which acclaimed the Marquês de Soveral as Ambassador to England. Close to the Royal Family, the marques also voted for the resignation of João Franco's government. But later, resuming his functions in England, he encountered the British monarch Edward VII in London, to which he stated:
Later, the Marques would note: "It was then that I understood the error that we had committed."
Ironically, at his resignation João Franco gave the Republicans the argument that only they were responsible for the collapse of the administrative dictatorship. Initially hesitant, the Republicans proposed a cooperation pact between themselves and the regime, but later at their national Congress in Setúbal (April 24-25, 1909) they quickly decided on forcibly taking power. The initial hesitation was due to the party's structure; the Republican Party was a collection of disenfranchised interests, political movements and dissident groups. Some Republicans were sincerely shocked by the regicide, even if it meant regime change. Rural conservatives were afraid of the effects that such actions would have with their English allies. But the Republican party could not turn their backs on their supporters, the youth of Lisbon, already indoctrinated by the party's propaganda. Consequently, although the Party condemned the act publicly (as if obligated to), its leadership continued to support its base. Magalhães Lima would later declare to the public press in Paris: "I am pleased; yes, very well pleased, for my country, to which a little calm will be restored," repudiating any responsibility for the assassinations on the part of the Republican Party.
, who were intent on weakening the monarchy. The investigation was concluded on October 5, and the trial was scheduled to begin on October 25. In the meantime, new suspects were discovered: Alberto Costa, Aquilino Ribeiro
, Virgílio de Sá, Domingos Fernandes, among others who were in refuge in Brazil or France, while two were killed by the Carbonária to silence them.
The process itself was in vain: after the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic, judges Juiz Almeida and Azevedo delivered their report to José Barbosa (their superior) who, in turn, sent it to Afonso Costa (Minister of Justice for the Provisional Government) where it was lost. It is known that the exiled King Manuel II received a copy of the report from the judges, but these were stolen from his residence during the course of a robbery, close to his death in 1932.
talked to various peoples close to the events, and extracted from the leader of the dissidents, José Maria Alpoim, the confession:
António da Albuquerque, who was exiled in Spain by the Royal Family after his defamatory romance O Marquês da Bacalhoa, wrote the testimony of Fabrício de Lemos (one of the other assassins present in the Terreiro do Paço), which he recounted in his book A Execução do Rei Carlos (English: The Execution of King Carlos). Aquilino Ribeiro
, who did not partiicpate directly, but was involved, knew the plan and the assassins, also wrote of the events in his work Um escritor confessa-se (English: A Writer Confesses). José Maria Nunes, one of the assassins in the Terreiro do Paço, also left his descriptions of the events, often autobiographical and self-aggrandizing, but generally credible in his interpretation: E para quê?
Of these four analyses, only Aquilino referred to the possible kidnapping of the Royal Family, and planned assassination of the Prime Minister João Franco. The plan, it is presumed, was developed at the end of 1907. At that time, José Maria Alpoim developed associations within the Carbonária, established a plan to acquire arms, assassinate the Prime Minister and later a plan to assassinate the King. These plans, as stated by José Maria Nunes, were elaborated in Paris, at the Hotel Brébant, on the Boulevard Poissóniere, between two politicians and some French revolutionaries. Maria Nunes did not indicate who the politicians were, nor was he willing to identify them, but the French revolutionaries likely pertained to the international anarchist movement; the Portuguese ambassador in Paris had heard of plans to assassinate the Royal Family from elements of the anarchist movement living in France.
The Portuguese dissidents were the principal financiers and the Carbonária provided the men. It was also discovered that the weapons used in assassinations were acquired by Gonçalo Heitor Freire (a Republican and Mason) through the Viscont of Ribeira Brava, one of principal conspirators. The arms, used in the Library Elevator Coup plot, originally guarded in the Armazéns Leal, were transported to Viscount's home, where they remained hidden. After the plot failed, a group of 18 men met in a mansion in Xabregas on either December 30 or 31, where they plotted the deaths of the Royal Family. Eight of the 18 men have been identified; of this group five or eight constituted the first group, positioned in the Terreiro do Paço: Alfredo Costa, Manuel Buíça, José Maria Nunes, Fabrício de Lemos, Ximenes, Joaquim Monteiro, Adelino Marques e Domingos Ribeiro. The second group took-up positions in Santos
, while a third group waited in Alcântara
, covering the road until the Palácio das Necessidades. The attackers did not believe they would survive the attempt: Manuel Buíça had a will written and Alfredo Costa made a point of paying a debt to a friend. Still, as is known, the majority of the first group was able to escape into the crowd and the other groups never intervened in the assassinations.
The plan to kill the King was part of the revolt's main plot. But still, a curious story was later recounted: provoked by the derailment of the Royal carriage on the return to Lisbon. On the day of the plot, just a little after 4:00 in the afternoon, and 300 kilometeres from the capital in Pìnzio, near Guarda
, two servants of José Maria Alpoim, returning to the capital after sending their master into exile in Salamanca
, ran out of gas and were forced to stop in the village. In a local tavern, and witnessed by various people, the servants affirmed that at that hour there was no King in Portugal, because he was dead. But, since the plot had occurred around 5:00 p.m., how had the servants become aware of the events? It is likely that the timing of the events would have occurred, if the train had not derailed earlier in the day. At what level of planning had the plot progressed, and how involved was the dissident José Maria Alpoim in the plot? These questions continued to persist, and although the two assassins (Buíça and Costa) were blamed for the attacks the remaining plotters were never forgotten. After the October 5 Revolution, José Maria Alpoim and the former Viscount of Ribeira Brava were not able to fully participate in the hierarchy of the new regime: Apoim never advanced beyond adjunct to the Attorney General and the former Viscount did not survive his tenure as Civil Governor of Lisbon (he was a victim of a October 1918 revolt).
The assassinations remain controversial in Portugal. In 2008, the socialist government of the Portuguese Third Republic
refused to participate in ceremonies destined to honor the memory of the slain royals on the centenary of the Lisbon regicide, forbidding any official participation by military personnel or government officials. The head of the House of Braganza
, Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
, led the ceremonies by placing flowers on the site where the royals were assassinated, and by celebrating a mass in their memory at the Church of São Vicente de Fora
, where they are buried. During the centenary year, many artistic, cultural, and historic events took place in honor of King Carlos I and the royal family, and several books were published.
Carlos I of Portugal
-Assassination:On 1 February 1908 the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon. They travelled by train to Barreiro and, from there, they took a steamer to cross the Tagus River and disembarked at Cais do Sodré in central Lisbon. On their way to the royal palace, the open...
and his heir, Luis Filipe, the Prince Royal by assassins sympathetic to republican
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
interests. It occurred on the 1st of February, 1908 in the Praça do Comércio
Praça do Comércio
The Praça do Comércio is located in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. Situated near the Tagus river, the square is still commonly known as Terreiro do Paço , because it was the location of the Paços da Ribeira until it was destroyed by the great 1755 Lisbon Earthquake...
, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, then referred to as the Terreiro do Paço.
Motivations
Jorge Morais has defended that: "the implantation of the [First] Republic in 1910 is not disassociated from the Regicide, which was cautiously and meticulously prepared, in contrast with the early thesis that it was the unplanned initiative of two anarchists." In fact, there were many factors that influenced the actions of the assassins.French Jacobinism and ideology
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
students, politicians, free-thinkers and dissidents were inspired by the founding of the French Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
in 1870, and hoped that a similar regime could be installed in Portugal. The intellectual style was heavily middle class and urban, and hardly concealed its cultural mimicry of the French Republic. Most of the Republican leadership were from the same generation. Many were of the best educated in the country and were heavily influenced by the French positivist Comte
Comte
Comte is a title of Catalan, Occitan and French nobility. In the English language, the title is equivalent to count, a rank in several European nobilities. The corresponding rank in England is earl...
and the socialist Proudhon, both democratic and nationalist. The ideology after 1891 was peppered with municipal autonomy, political and economic democracy, universal male suffrage, direct elections for legislative assemblies, a national militia instead of a professional army, the secularization of education, and the separation of Church and State, which were all tenets copied from French revolutionaries.
By some, the writings of Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta was a French statesman prominent after the Franco-Prussian War.-Youth and education:He is said to have inherited his vigour and eloquence from his father, a Genovese grocer who had married a Frenchwoman named Massabie. At the age of fifteen, Gambetta lost the sight of his right eye...
, a proponent of opportunistic republicanism, or the socialist leader, Jean Jaurès
Jean Jaurès
Jean Léon Jaurès was a French Socialist leader. Initially an Opportunist Republican, he evolved into one of the first social democrats, becoming the leader, in 1902, of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. Both parties merged in 1905 in...
, were read and admired by students at the University of Coimbra.
After the period of monarchist revanchism
Revanchism
Revanchism is a term used since the 1870s to describe a political manifestation of the will to reverse territorial losses incurred by a country, often following a war or social movement. Revanchism draws its strength from patriotic and retributionist thought and is often motivated by economic or...
in France had waned, and the daily Sud Express
Sud Express
Sud Express is the name of a famous night train connection originally between Paris and Lisbon, but now covering only the southern part of the traditional route...
rail service between Lisbon and Paris was established in 1887, the leftist French Jacobin
Jacobin (politics)
A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
influence grew stronger in Portugal, especially because it counteracted the national humiliation caused by the British ultimatum
British Ultimatum
The 1890 British Ultimatum was an ultimatum by the British government delivered on 11 January 1890 to Portugal in breach of the Treaty of Windsor of 1386...
of 1890. These liberal ideas were encouraged by the French Republic (in 1870
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
) and the Brazilian Republic (in 1889
Brazilian Declaration of Independence
The Brazilian Independence comprised a series of political events occurred in 1821–1823, most of which involved disputes between Brazil and Portugal regarding the call for independence presented by the Brazilian Kingdom...
), although the 1789 Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
was considered an inspiration and model.
Their ideology was very inclusive and "vague" enough to attract a variety of supporters, and the manner in which the Republican party developed, allowed it to avoid narrow partisan appearances; it was an ideology easily promoted by revolutionary evangelists such as the journalist João Chagas
João Chagas
João Pinheiro Chagas was a Portuguese journalist and politician. He was born in Brazil, from Portuguese parents who soon moved back to Portugal. He was an editor at the newspapers "O Primeiro de Janeiro", "Correio do Norte", "O Tempo" and "O Dia"...
, Magalhães Lima, Basílio Teles, Guerra Junqueiro
Guerra Junqueiro
Abilio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro was a Portuguese, bachelor in law at the University of Coimbra, a top civil servant, member of the Portuguese House of Representatives, journalist, author, and poet. His work helped inspire the creation of the Portuguese First Republic...
or França Borges.
The Ultimatum
In the second year of the reign of King Carlos ICarlos I of Portugal
-Assassination:On 1 February 1908 the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon. They travelled by train to Barreiro and, from there, they took a steamer to cross the Tagus River and disembarked at Cais do Sodré in central Lisbon. On their way to the royal palace, the open...
, the British delivered what is known as the British Ultimatum
British Ultimatum
The 1890 British Ultimatum was an ultimatum by the British government delivered on 11 January 1890 to Portugal in breach of the Treaty of Windsor of 1386...
—a rejection of the territorial claims defined by the Pink Map
Pink Map
The Pink Map was a document representing Portugal's claim of sovereignty over the land between Angola and Mozambique, which today is currently Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.The Pink Map collided with Sir Cecil Rhodes' "Cape to Cairo Red Line"...
of Portuguese Africa. This breach of the Treaty of Windsor forced the King to abandon Portugal's claim to a large swath of territory between Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
and Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
(encompassing present-day Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, and Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
). This humiliating episode led to general public outrage in Portugal and was seized by nascent republicans and ideological Jacobins as an opportunity to attack the monarchy.
- "In passionate meetings, street demonstrations, political rallies, in countless poems, articles, pamphlets, even cartoons, Britain was depicted as a treacherous nation of pirates and profit-mongers able to commit the most outrageous and infamous action against her oldest ally. The King [Carlos I of Portugal], as well as the whole dynasty, on the other hand, were branded as cowards, corrupts, trading the sacredness of the motherland for power and luxury."
Henrique de Barros Gomes
Henrique de Barros Gomes , was a Portuguese politician, member of the Progressive Party, who assumed the functions of director of the Bank of Portugal, Minister of various Ministries during Regeneration Era politics and member of the Geographic Society of Lisbon, as well as diverse national and...
, conspired with German diplomats to expand colonial territory and create "a new Brazil in Africa". This was in conflict with British interests and Portugal was quickly forced to abandon these designs under threat of diplomatic sanction and perhaps even military action. King Carlos attempted to mitigate the losses—through skillful diplomacy and leveraging blood relations with both British and German royalty—and was moderately successful, but Portuguese Africa was ultimately limited to territory in Angola and Mozambique. The Portuguese populace was outraged by the loss of territory, which they saw as a blow to their pride.
- "The ultimatum provoked a crisis of authority in the State, which was simultaneously discredited by its diplomatic and military weakness, a failed Republican rising in Oporto in January of 1891, a financial crisis, and the end of the previous decade’s understanding between the dynastic parties."
Ultimately, José Luciano de Castro's government fell not because of the ultimatum, but, instead, the opposition to the new tobacco monopoly contract, which had led to disorder; Luciano de Castro resigned.
Republicanism
Since its formation, the Republican Party of Portugal had wanted regime change. These republicans banded together after 1897, ostensibly to protest the British ultimatum, but progressively their appeals grew on nationalist appeals to fears of British colonialism, Spanish reoccupation or just to challenge the failed policies of the parties in government. Teachers, journalists, small-businessmen, clerks, and artisans were drawn to the Republicans, who appealed to nationalism, universal suffrage, separation of church and state, but most notably the abolition of the monarchy and privileges of the nobility. As a party of attraction and assimilation it included in its membership, and as its allies, other groups that were not so idealistic: secret societies, socialists and anarchist-syndicalists, who supported republicanism as a means of achieving change and ending the monarchy. A significant number of Republicans were MasonsFreemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, and some were members of the Portuguese Carbonária
Carbonária
The Carbonária was originally an anti-clerical, revolutionary, conspiratorial society, originally established in Portugal in 1822 but soon disbanded. It was allied with the Italian Carbonari. A new organization of the same name and claiming to be its continuation was founded in 1896 by Artur...
, a hard-core activist organ that virtually became "a state within the state".
By 1907 there was a strong, and growing, republican presence in the cities of Lisbon and Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
, where the Portuguese Republican Party
Portuguese Republican Party
The Portuguese Republican Party was a Portuguese political party formed during the late years of monarchy that proposed and conducted the substitution of the Constitutional Monarchy by the Portuguese First Republic....
had already won local elections and intended to promote a republican government at the national level. But, in 1906 elections the Party only received 2.7% of the votes, equivalent to 4 seats in the National Assembly and all within the city of Lisbon, where their supporters were concentrated, although their leader Bernardino Machado would later declare, "we are the majority", to the Times in Paris.
Rotatavism
Problems within the political system had arisen during the Portuguese Regeneration EraRegeneration (Portugal)
In the history of Portugal, the Regeneration is the name given to the period of the Portuguese Constitutional Monarchy following the military insurrection of 1 May 1851 that caused to the fall of Costa Cabral and of the Septembrist government...
as a consequence of an inefficient system of rotating governments, that saw the Progressive Party
Progressive Party (Portugal)
The Progressive Party , along with the their opponent the Partido Regenerador, was a political party in Portugal during the constitutional monarchy at the end of the 19th century.-Ideology:...
and Regenerator Party alternating as government. The British Ambassador in Portugal at the time, Sir Francis Villiers explained the confusion and inefficiency of the Cortes (Parliament) in these terms:
- "Sittings of the Cortes...were spent in idle vociferation, and were often suspended for months together; the finances were carelessly if not corruptly conducted, annual deficits were accepted as inevitable, a considerable expenditure being always devoted to allowances granted, although not authorized by parliament, to supplement wholly inadequate salaries, taxation was unequal, and too often evaded by the wealthy, the administration of justice was notoriously imperfect, commercial policy consisted only in the imposition of the highest possible duties, no attention was paid to the promotion of agriculture or the development of natural resources, to education, to the housing of the poor, to the protection of labor, or to any of those social questions which directly affect the people."
The transfer of government was an undemocratic process, decided between the leaders, rubber-stamped by the monarch, and legalized through fixed elections. The other sectors of the nation were also corrupted by serious economic and social issues: the judiciary was corrupt, illiteracy was between 70-80%, the nation's finances were crippled by high taxation, the monopolies on tobacco and other commodities, by the numerous sinecures
Sinecure
A sinecure means an office that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service...
and high customs duties on imported goods.
This system was aggravated at the beginning of the 20th Century by new groups that formed from factions from within the two main parties. In 1901 João Franco
João Franco
João Franco Ferreira Pinto Castelo-Branco, GCTE was a Portuguese politician, Minister, 43rd Minister for Treasury Affairs and 73rd Prime Minister in the last years of the Portuguese monarchy...
, supported by 25 deputies abandoned the Regenerator Party to form the Liberal Regenerator Party, with a radical programme of social and economic policies within the framework of the constitutional monarchy. In 1905, the Dissidência Progressista (English: Progressive Dissidence) was formed by José Maria de Alpoim
José Maria de Alpoim
José Maria de Alpoim Cerqueira Borges Cabral was a politician, member of the Progressive Party of Portugal, and later the Republican Party of Portugal, who held various roles during the last years of the constitutional monarchy in Portugal...
, who also split from the Progressive Party with six other deputies. The intense rivalry between the new parties, aggravated by personal animosities, were regularly critiqued by members of the nascent Republican Party. Despite King Carlos's intent to execute meaningful reform, the efforts were largely undermined by monarchist inefficiency, incompetence, factionalism, and Republican propaganda.
Prelude
João Franco
João Franco Ferreira Pinto Castelo-Branco, GCTE was a Portuguese politician, Minister, 43rd Minister for Treasury Affairs and 73rd Prime Minister in the last years of the Portuguese monarchy...
as premier, with an admirable plan to combat the issues of the day, but the opposition was confrontational and progressively less unmanageable.
João Franco tried to govern in a coalition with José Luciano de Castro, but it, too, became unmanageable. Franco eventually solicited the King to discontinue Parliament in order to implement a series of political changes. They included censoring the press, jailing reactionaries and establishing reforms to decentralize the government (a program stolen, for the most part, from the Right and from Republicans). These same measures had always been advocated by the traditional parties, but the monarch had refused to take an active participation stating that "the King reigns, but does not govern." Ostensibly, João Franco would govern by parliamentary dictatorship
Parliamentary sovereignty
Parliamentary sovereignty is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. In the concept of parliamentary sovereignty, a legislative body has absolute sovereignty, meaning it is supreme to all other government institutions—including any executive or judicial bodies...
until order could be restored. This was the simplest method of governing during periods of crisis. It was first used in 1833, when the major parties at the time could not agree on establishing a government. The King had given Franco the means of governing without them and elections would only be held when he and Franco thought it was opportune and when “normality” had been restored.
However, this measure further increased political tension. Even the two major monarchist parties, Partido Regenerador and Partido Progressista
Partido Progressista
Partido Progressista may refer to:*Progressive Party *Progressive Party...
, who were accustomed to sharing power in an informal rotation were infuriated. In reaction to King Carlos's action, which favored Franco's faction, they joined forces with the Partido Republicano Português to resist Franco and his cohorts. The political strategy was "Machiavellian", as Brito Camacho
Manuel de Brito Camacho
Manuel de Brito Camacho a military officer, writer, publicist and politician, who among other positions, was Minister of Public Works, Commerce and Industry and Republican High Commissioner to Mozambique...
, leader of the Partido Unionista, later attested. There were equal personal attacks aimed at João Franco and the monarch from pro-republican sympathizers, progressive dissidents and academics. At one point, Afonso Costa
Afonso Costa
Afonso Augusto da Costa, GCTE, GCL was a Portuguese lawyer, professor, and republican politician.-Political career:Costa was the leader of the Portuguese Republican Party, and he was one of the major figures of the Portuguese First Republic. He was a republican deputy in the Chamber of Deputies...
(a leader in the Republican Party) criticized the government for permitting unauthorized transfers for expenses within the royal household without the Cortes' sanction. Declaring that the sums should be repaid, he then insisted that the King should leave the country or be put in prison, exhorting that:
- "For less than Dom Carlos has done, the head of Louis XVI fell."
As the session became increasingly confrontational, another Republican mounted a desk declaring:
- "The ship of exile shall convey Dom Carlos away, reviled, harassed and despised—that royal criminal, who has known neither how to honour nor love the country which has tolerated him."
Even Teofilo Braga
Teófilo Braga
Joaquim Teófilo Fernandes Braga ]] 24 February 1843 – 28 January 1924) was a Portuguese writer, playwright, politician and the leader of the Republican Provisional Government after the abdication of King Manuel II, as well as the second elected President of the First Portuguese Republic, following...
, future President of the Provisional Government and Second President of the First Portuguese Republic, was forcibly removed for calling the King "a highwayman in mantle and crown". Both Costa and Braga were suspended for thirty days. Agitation and conflict continued in the city of Lisbon, instigated in many cases by Republican youth and their supporters; there were many police arrests and discoveries of stockpiles of arms and some bombs. These developments created an increasingly volatile situation. Franco then prohibited all public meetings, imposed stricter controls on the press freedom and began to take judicial action against “all cases of offenses against the state”. The King became further embroiled in the events when he replaced the elected municipal councils by nominated committees and gave himself the power to nominate an unlimited number of life peers to the Upper House.
The Republicans deemed him responsible for many of the problems in the country. João Chagas
João Chagas
João Pinheiro Chagas was a Portuguese journalist and politician. He was born in Brazil, from Portuguese parents who soon moved back to Portugal. He was an editor at the newspapers "O Primeiro de Janeiro", "Correio do Norte", "O Tempo" and "O Dia"...
, the republican journalist, declared:
- "[The King governed] against all the Parties and men that served him..."
The King was growing increasingly vulnerable. By then, members of the Republican Party had already decided to support direct or indirect dissident groups such as the Carbonária
Carbonária
The Carbonária was originally an anti-clerical, revolutionary, conspiratorial society, originally established in Portugal in 1822 but soon disbanded. It was allied with the Italian Carbonari. A new organization of the same name and claiming to be its continuation was founded in 1896 by Artur...
, organized by elements of Portuguese masonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, in order to force regime change. On 28 January 1908, various republican leaders were imprisoned in an affair that came to be known as the Golpe do Elevador da Biblioteca (English: The Municipal Library Elevator Coup
Municipal Library Elevator Coup
The Municipal Library Elevator Coup, The Elevator Coup or 28 January 1908 Coup , was the name given for the attempted coup d'etat by members of the Portuguese Republican Party and Progressive...
). Police caught Afonso Costa
Afonso Costa
Afonso Augusto da Costa, GCTE, GCL was a Portuguese lawyer, professor, and republican politician.-Political career:Costa was the leader of the Portuguese Republican Party, and he was one of the major figures of the Portuguese First Republic. He was a republican deputy in the Chamber of Deputies...
(the Republican) and Francisco Correia Herédia (Viscount of Ribeira Brava) armed at the Municipal Library Elevator, along with others who had gathered to attempt a coup d'état. They were members of a faction referred to as the Grupo dos Dezoite (English: Group of 18), who were responsible for executing João Franco. António José de Almeida
António José de Almeida
António José de Almeida, GCTE, GCA, GCC, GCSE, , son of José António de Almeida and wife Maria Rita das Neves, was a Portuguese political figure...
, Carbonária
Carbonária
The Carbonária was originally an anti-clerical, revolutionary, conspiratorial society, originally established in Portugal in 1822 but soon disbanded. It was allied with the Italian Carbonari. A new organization of the same name and claiming to be its continuation was founded in 1896 by Artur...
leader Luz de Almeida, journalist João Chagas
João Chagas
João Pinheiro Chagas was a Portuguese journalist and politician. He was born in Brazil, from Portuguese parents who soon moved back to Portugal. He was an editor at the newspapers "O Primeiro de Janeiro", "Correio do Norte", "O Tempo" and "O Dia"...
, João Pinto dos Santos, França Borges and Álvaro Poppe were imprisoned along with other conspirators. José Maria de Alpoim
José Maria de Alpoim
José Maria de Alpoim Cerqueira Borges Cabral was a politician, member of the Progressive Party of Portugal, and later the Republican Party of Portugal, who held various roles during the last years of the constitutional monarchy in Portugal...
was able to escape to Spain. During the course of the events 93 Republican sympathizers were detained and arms confiscated, but the Party was only partially dismantled.
In response to these events, in which the monarch faced reactionary elements opposed to policies he believed were fair, his government presented King Carlos the January 30, 1908 Decree. This law demanded the foreign deportation or colonial expulsion, without trial, to individuals condemned of attempting to subvert public order. At the signing of the document, the King declared: "I sign my sentence of death, but you gentlemen want it that way." Ironically, although the decree was signed on January 30, it was not made public before the assassination on February 1. Preparations for the King's assassination were made in advance: from evidence obtained from the home of the assassin Buíça (on January 28). At the end of 1907, during a Press Congress in Paris, a group of Portuguese politicians and French revolutionaries had already planned the liquidation of the head of government in the Café Brébant, along the Boulevard Poissonière. On the morning of February 1, in the Quinta do Ché (in Olivais) and in the days preceding it, the conspirators confirmed the final decision to go ahead with attempt.
Assassinations
The King, Queen and Prince Royal had been on a month-long retreat in the Vila ViçosaVila Viçosa
Vila Viçosa is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 195.0 km² and a total population of 8,745 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 5 parishes, and is located in the District of Évora....
, in the Alentejo, where they routinely spent time hunting during the winter. The Infante D. Manuel
Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
, the youngest son, had returned to Lisbon days earlier, in order to complete his studies. The previous political events noted had forced King Carlos to cut his retreat short and to return to Lisbon: the Royal Family catching the train from Vila Viçosa
Vila Viçosa
Vila Viçosa is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 195.0 km² and a total population of 8,745 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 5 parishes, and is located in the District of Évora....
on the morning of February 1. During their trip, the train was temporarily derailed at the loop near Casa Branca, resulting in a delay of an hour. The royal carriage arrived in Barreiro at the end of the afternoon, from where the Royal Family sailed on the D. Luís to the Terreiro do Paço in the center of Lisbon. On disembarking at the Estação Fluvial Sul e Sueste, around 5:00pm, they were met by various members of the government, including Prime Minister João Franco, the Prince D. Manuel, and the King's brother, Afonso, Duke of Oporto. Even in a climate of tension, the monarch opted to travel in an open carriage, wearing his service uniform as Generalíssimo of the Army, in order to present an air of normality. The two princes were in civilian clothes. According to usual practice, the carriage was accompanied by armed police and a mounted cavalry officer (Francisco Figueira Freire).
There were only a few people in the Terreiro do Paço as the carriage rounded the eastern part of the square and the first shot rang out. As reported later, a bearded man had walked out into the road after the carriage had passed, removed a Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
carbine rifle
Carbine
A carbine , from French carabine, is a longarm similar to but shorter than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full rifles, firing the same ammunition at a lower velocity due to a shorter barrel length....
hidden under his overcoat, knelt on one knee and fired at the King from a distance of about 8 metres. The shot hit the King's neck, killing him immediately, while another gunman in the square opened fire at the carriage and onlookers ran in panic. The first assassin: later identified as Manuel Buíça
Manuel Buiça
Manuel dos Reis da Silva Buíça , was Portuguese schoolteacher, former cavalry Sergeant, and excellent marksman involved with Alfredo Costa in the regicide of King Carlos I of Portugal and the Prince Royal, Luis Filipe, during the events that became known as the 1908 Lisbon Regicide .-Biography:Son of...
, a teacher and former sergeant dismissed from the army; continued to fire. His second shot clipped the shoulder of the monarch, who slumped to the right with his back lying to the left-side of the carriage. Taking advantage of this, the second assassin, Alfredo Costa (a clerk and editor), jumped onto the carriage step and, standing at the height of the passengers, fired at the slumped body of the King. The Queen, then stood and attempted to strike back at him with the only available weapon, a bouquet of flowers, yelling: "Infames! Infames!"(English: Infamous! Infamous!].
The assassins then turned their attentions on the Prince Royal, Luís Filipe, who had stood to draw and fire a hidden revolver, but was quickly hit in the chest. The bullet, from a small-caliber revolver, did not exit his sternum nor was it fatal, and the Prince reportedly fired four rapid-shots at his attacker, who fell from the carriage-step. However as Luís Filipe stood, he became more visible to the attacker with the rifle and was hit by a large-caliber shot that exited from the top of his skull. The young Prince D. Manuel, protected by his mother during the events, tried to stop the bleeding using a handkerchief, but it quickly became soaked with his brother's blood.
As shots continued across the square, Queen Amélia returned to her feet to call for assistance. The Countess Figueiró, Viscount Asseca and Marquis Lavradio jumped on the landau to support the Crown Prince. The young Prince Manuel was hit in the arm, while the coach-man was hit in the hand. The assassin Buíça then attempted to fire another round, although it is unclear whether he was aiming at the Queen, at Prince Manuel or at other officials of the government. He was stopped by the intervention of Henrique da Silva Valente, a soldier of the 12th Infantry, who had appeared in the square during the commotion. During his brief confrontation with Buíça, Silva Valente was shot in the leg, but was able to distract the assassin. The cavalry-officer, Francisco Figueira, remounted his horse and fired on Costa who was then seized by police officers. Buíça, wounded in the leg, attempted to escape but was also taken.
Events after the assassinations
During the confusion that followed, both Alfredo Costa and Manuel Buíça were killed by police, to the detriment of any further investigation. Reportedly Buíça, although already wounded, had continued to struggle. Their bodies were taken to the near-by police station near the city hall, along with other persons captured and/or wounded from the square who were suspected of being sympathizers or additional assassins. Sabino Costa, a worker at a local jewellery store (and monarchist), was mistaken for a third assassin in the crowd and summarily shot twice in the head in the presence of other prisoners.The coachman, Bento Caparica, was able to direct the carriage to the Arsenal das Marinhas (English: Royal Naval Arsenal) where the King and heir to the throne were officially declared dead in the infirmary (the Prince expiring shortly after his arrival). When D. Afonso finally reached the Arsenal, he instinctively accused João Franco of being responsible for the tragedy. The Queen Mother, Maria Pia of Savoy
Maria Pia of Savoy
Maria Pia of Savoy was a Portuguese Queen consort, spouse of King Luís I of Portugal. On the day of her baptism, Pope Pius IX, her godfather, gave her a Golden Rose. Maria Pia was married to Luís on the 6 October 1862 in Lisbon...
was called to the Arsenal, where she met with Queen Amélia, and desolately cried in French "On a tué mon fils!", to which Queen Amélia replied "Et le mien aussi!"
Believing that the events were part of another coup d'état, the population of Lisbon locked themselves in their homes and the city became deserted. However the troops were confined to their barracks and the situation remained calm.
In the evening the Queen, the Queen Mother and new King, Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
remained under guard in the Palácio das Necessidades in fear of a further attempt on their lives. In a macabre follow-up, the bodies of the deceased were transported to the Palace in two carriages, as if they were still alive (the head of King Carlos was slumped on the shoulder of his uncle, Infante D. Afonso, now the new Prince Royal). No autopsies were completed, and the bodies were embalmed under the supervision of the Royal physician D. Thomaz de Mello Breyner, a task that was made more difficult by the nature of their wounds.
Reaction
The great States and Kingdoms of Europe were revolted, partly due to King Carlos's popularity, as much as the manner in which the assassination was planned and orchestrated. Newspapers around the world published images, some based on false descriptions and exaggerations, but all with the defiant Queen Amélia wielding a bouquet of flowers. In London, the newspapers exhibited photographs of the coffins covered in flowers, with the headline: "Lisbon’s shame!" The English monarch, Edward VII, a friend of the assassinated monarch and heir was known to have uttered:- "They murdered two gentlemen of the Order of the GarterOrder of the GarterThe Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
in the street like dogs and in their own country no one cares!"
The new monarch requested the resignation of João Franco's government for not safeguarding the Royal Family, in context of the previous elevator conspiracy and the unpopular policies of his government. Although the Prime Minister had realized that his policies had made him a target, he was never aware the monarch was also targeted by dissidents. Presiding over the Council of State on the afternoon of January 2, with his hand on his chest and in wearing his military uniform, the young monarch confessed his inexperience and lack of preparation requesting aid from his loyal ministers.
The young King voted from the resignation of the João Franco and the formation of coalition government, later referred to as the Acclamation Government, presided by the independent Ferreira do Amaral
Francisco Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral
Francisco Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral, GCTS, KCVO was a Portuguese naval commander and politician.-Ancestry:...
. The new Prime Minister included in his cabinet members of the Regenerator and Progressive Parties, that formally ended the administrative dictatorship and reverted parliament to normalacy. In fact, Ferreira do Amaral completely abandoned the positions of the former-King: he annulled the dictatorial measures published earlier, liberated political prisoners, provided an amnesty for marines involved in the 1906 revolt, but also going as far as consenting to some Republican demands, including permission for pilgrimages to the tombs of the assassins (at one point about 22,000 people), an event organized by the Associação do Registo Civil (English: Association of the Civil Registry).
The King was also present at the Council Minister's meeting that enacted these measures, and which acclaimed the Marquês de Soveral as Ambassador to England. Close to the Royal Family, the marques also voted for the resignation of João Franco's government. But later, resuming his functions in England, he encountered the British monarch Edward VII in London, to which he stated:
- "Well, what kind of country is that, in which you kill the King and Prince and the first thing to do is ask for the resignation of the Prime Minister? The revolution has triumphed, isn't it true?"
Later, the Marques would note: "It was then that I understood the error that we had committed."
Ironically, at his resignation João Franco gave the Republicans the argument that only they were responsible for the collapse of the administrative dictatorship. Initially hesitant, the Republicans proposed a cooperation pact between themselves and the regime, but later at their national Congress in Setúbal (April 24-25, 1909) they quickly decided on forcibly taking power. The initial hesitation was due to the party's structure; the Republican Party was a collection of disenfranchised interests, political movements and dissident groups. Some Republicans were sincerely shocked by the regicide, even if it meant regime change. Rural conservatives were afraid of the effects that such actions would have with their English allies. But the Republican party could not turn their backs on their supporters, the youth of Lisbon, already indoctrinated by the party's propaganda. Consequently, although the Party condemned the act publicly (as if obligated to), its leadership continued to support its base. Magalhães Lima would later declare to the public press in Paris: "I am pleased; yes, very well pleased, for my country, to which a little calm will be restored," repudiating any responsibility for the assassinations on the part of the Republican Party.
Investigation
An extensive enquiry was held on the events in 1908, initially presided by judge Alves Ferreira, but later by José da Silva Monteiro and Almeida de Azevedo, that lasted two years. During this period evidence was provided to indict members of the CarbonáriaCarbonária
The Carbonária was originally an anti-clerical, revolutionary, conspiratorial society, originally established in Portugal in 1822 but soon disbanded. It was allied with the Italian Carbonari. A new organization of the same name and claiming to be its continuation was founded in 1896 by Artur...
, who were intent on weakening the monarchy. The investigation was concluded on October 5, and the trial was scheduled to begin on October 25. In the meantime, new suspects were discovered: Alberto Costa, Aquilino Ribeiro
Aquilino Ribeiro
Aquilino Gomes Ribeiro, ComL was a Portuguese writer and diplomat. He is considered as one of the great Portuguese novelists of the 20th century. He was nominated for the Nobel Literature Prize in 1960....
, Virgílio de Sá, Domingos Fernandes, among others who were in refuge in Brazil or France, while two were killed by the Carbonária to silence them.
The process itself was in vain: after the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic, judges Juiz Almeida and Azevedo delivered their report to José Barbosa (their superior) who, in turn, sent it to Afonso Costa (Minister of Justice for the Provisional Government) where it was lost. It is known that the exiled King Manuel II received a copy of the report from the judges, but these were stolen from his residence during the course of a robbery, close to his death in 1932.
Conspirators and revolutionaries
Authors of the period, many Republican, brought light on the responsible actors and their motivations, although many details remain unclear. Raul BrandãoRaul Brandão
Raul Germano Brandão was a Portuguese writer, journalist and military officer, notable for the realism of his literary descriptions and by the lyricism of his speech. Brandão was born in Foz do Douro, a parish of Porto, where he spent the majority of his youth...
talked to various peoples close to the events, and extracted from the leader of the dissidents, José Maria Alpoim, the confession:
- "Only two people in Portugal know everything, I am the other...Only I and others know in which house the meeting was held, who was presided, and who traded Buíça the revolver for the carbine."
António da Albuquerque, who was exiled in Spain by the Royal Family after his defamatory romance O Marquês da Bacalhoa, wrote the testimony of Fabrício de Lemos (one of the other assassins present in the Terreiro do Paço), which he recounted in his book A Execução do Rei Carlos (English: The Execution of King Carlos). Aquilino Ribeiro
Aquilino Ribeiro
Aquilino Gomes Ribeiro, ComL was a Portuguese writer and diplomat. He is considered as one of the great Portuguese novelists of the 20th century. He was nominated for the Nobel Literature Prize in 1960....
, who did not partiicpate directly, but was involved, knew the plan and the assassins, also wrote of the events in his work Um escritor confessa-se (English: A Writer Confesses). José Maria Nunes, one of the assassins in the Terreiro do Paço, also left his descriptions of the events, often autobiographical and self-aggrandizing, but generally credible in his interpretation: E para quê?
Of these four analyses, only Aquilino referred to the possible kidnapping of the Royal Family, and planned assassination of the Prime Minister João Franco. The plan, it is presumed, was developed at the end of 1907. At that time, José Maria Alpoim developed associations within the Carbonária, established a plan to acquire arms, assassinate the Prime Minister and later a plan to assassinate the King. These plans, as stated by José Maria Nunes, were elaborated in Paris, at the Hotel Brébant, on the Boulevard Poissóniere, between two politicians and some French revolutionaries. Maria Nunes did not indicate who the politicians were, nor was he willing to identify them, but the French revolutionaries likely pertained to the international anarchist movement; the Portuguese ambassador in Paris had heard of plans to assassinate the Royal Family from elements of the anarchist movement living in France.
The Portuguese dissidents were the principal financiers and the Carbonária provided the men. It was also discovered that the weapons used in assassinations were acquired by Gonçalo Heitor Freire (a Republican and Mason) through the Viscont of Ribeira Brava, one of principal conspirators. The arms, used in the Library Elevator Coup plot, originally guarded in the Armazéns Leal, were transported to Viscount's home, where they remained hidden. After the plot failed, a group of 18 men met in a mansion in Xabregas on either December 30 or 31, where they plotted the deaths of the Royal Family. Eight of the 18 men have been identified; of this group five or eight constituted the first group, positioned in the Terreiro do Paço: Alfredo Costa, Manuel Buíça, José Maria Nunes, Fabrício de Lemos, Ximenes, Joaquim Monteiro, Adelino Marques e Domingos Ribeiro. The second group took-up positions in Santos
Santos-o-Velho
Santos-o-Velho is one of the 53 freguesias of Lisbon, Portugal, with an area of 0.51 km² and 4,013 inhabitants...
, while a third group waited in Alcântara
Alcântara (Lisbon)
Alcântara is a civil parish of the city and municipality of Lisbon. Its name is derived from the Arabic , meaning the bridge, and refers to an ancient Roman bridge that once existed there, until the reign of John V...
, covering the road until the Palácio das Necessidades. The attackers did not believe they would survive the attempt: Manuel Buíça had a will written and Alfredo Costa made a point of paying a debt to a friend. Still, as is known, the majority of the first group was able to escape into the crowd and the other groups never intervened in the assassinations.
The plan to kill the King was part of the revolt's main plot. But still, a curious story was later recounted: provoked by the derailment of the Royal carriage on the return to Lisbon. On the day of the plot, just a little after 4:00 in the afternoon, and 300 kilometeres from the capital in Pìnzio, near Guarda
Guarda
Guarda Municipality is located in Guarda District, Beira Interior Norte sub-region in Centro Region in Portugal. It has a total area of 712.1 km² and a total population of 44,149. It contains the city of Guarda, Portugal....
, two servants of José Maria Alpoim, returning to the capital after sending their master into exile in Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
, ran out of gas and were forced to stop in the village. In a local tavern, and witnessed by various people, the servants affirmed that at that hour there was no King in Portugal, because he was dead. But, since the plot had occurred around 5:00 p.m., how had the servants become aware of the events? It is likely that the timing of the events would have occurred, if the train had not derailed earlier in the day. At what level of planning had the plot progressed, and how involved was the dissident José Maria Alpoim in the plot? These questions continued to persist, and although the two assassins (Buíça and Costa) were blamed for the attacks the remaining plotters were never forgotten. After the October 5 Revolution, José Maria Alpoim and the former Viscount of Ribeira Brava were not able to fully participate in the hierarchy of the new regime: Apoim never advanced beyond adjunct to the Attorney General and the former Viscount did not survive his tenure as Civil Governor of Lisbon (he was a victim of a October 1918 revolt).
Consequences
The assassination of King Carlos and the Prince Royal was the effective end of the constitutional monarchy in Portugal, later confirmed in the October 5, 1910 revolution. The regime continued to function for another 33 months, with growing agitation and demands for reform, although considerably less than in the future First Republic. It can not be denied that the weak and permissive attitude in the Government of Acclamation was an incentive for the Republican Party to attempt another coup. Although the assassinations did not change the system of government, it did delay it.The assassinations remain controversial in Portugal. In 2008, the socialist government of the Portuguese Third Republic
Portuguese Third Republic
The Third Portuguese Republic is a period in the history of Portugal corresponding to the current democratic regime installed after the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, that put an end to the paternal autocratic regime of Estado Novo of António de Oliveira Salazar and Marcello Caetano...
refused to participate in ceremonies destined to honor the memory of the slain royals on the centenary of the Lisbon regicide, forbidding any official participation by military personnel or government officials. The head of the House of Braganza
House of Braganza
The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...
, Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza , is the 24th Duke of Braganza and a pretender to the throne of Portugal.-Birth and education:...
, led the ceremonies by placing flowers on the site where the royals were assassinated, and by celebrating a mass in their memory at the Church of São Vicente de Fora
Monastery of São Vicente de Fora
The Church or Monastery of São Vicente de Fora; meaning "Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Walls" is a 17th century church and monastery in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal...
, where they are buried. During the centenary year, many artistic, cultural, and historic events took place in honor of King Carlos I and the royal family, and several books were published.