Chapter 357: Portuguese Civil War

Who is this mysterious organization that helped the Portuguese opposition? Of course, it is the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau established by Gao Da.

Portugal has always been Spain's target, and Spain's attention to Portugal has never decreased.

The scope of activities of the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau is the entire Iberian Peninsula, and Gao Da and the bureau are well aware of the chaos in Portugal and the plotting of the opposition.

Although theoretically the current King of Portugal is Gao Da's nephew, when considering national interests, Gao Da will not mix too much personal emotion.

Besides, the Portuguese monarchy in history didn't last long either. Being overthrown earlier or later makes no difference, and perhaps some royal bloodlines can be preserved.

In fact, during the Louis I period, Gao Da didn't think about overthrowing the Portuguese royal family so early. After all, Portugal at that time belonged to the "fence-sitting faction." They kept swaying between Spain and Britain to ensure that Portugal could have certain autonomous rights and not be infiltrated too severely by Spain or Britain.

Such a situation lasted until Carlos I came to power. Portugal began to rely on Britain in politics and economy. Indeed, after leaning towards Britain, Portugal soon got rid of Spain's influence, and they no longer had to transport thousands of immigrants to Spain every year.

The good cooperation between Portugal and Spain during the Louis I period was instantly broken, and the relationship between Portugal and Spain seemed to be returning to the situation of opposition and competition 20 years ago.

For Gao Da, the change in the Portuguese government is something he cannot accept. Originally, Spain's infiltration into Portugal had achieved certain results, and many Portuguese were not exclusive to immigrating to Spain.

The two or three thousand Portuguese immigrants Spain obtained each year were the best proof. These Portuguese lived well after coming to Spain, and their situation also attracted more Portuguese immigrants to yearn for Spain.

Because the original Portuguese government swayed between Britain and Spain, they did not prohibit these immigrants from going to Spain on the surface.

Although doing so would lead to a certain population loss, Portugal also obtained a large amount of industrial products from Spain, and the domestic economic situation was relatively good.

Since the Portuguese government modified the regulations related to immigration, many Portuguese immigrants who wanted to go to Spain were blocked within the national borders.

British industrial products also replaced Spanish industrial products, which had a certain impact on Spain's export of industrial finished products.

Since Portugal does not give Spain face, Spain naturally does not need to give Portugal face.

On May 11, 1892, with the support of the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, the Portuguese Republican Party united with other parties opposing the government to launch the Republican Uprising.

This uprising had thousands of citizens and hundreds of mobilized police participating. People held high the red and green republican flag, sang "The Portuguese," the song that would become the national anthem of the Portuguese Republic in the future, and expressed their dissatisfaction with the corrupt government.

The location of the uprising was in Portalegre, an area carefully planned by the Republicans. Originally, in the Louis I era, Portugal and Spain had relatively good cooperation.

The railway in Spain's Extremadura region went straight to Portugal's Portalegre, all the way west to Portugal's capital, Lisbon.

After Carlos I came to power, as Britain strengthened its control over Portugal, Portugal also chose to close the railway connection with Spain.

Although British industrial products soon flooded the market, people in the Portalegre area still lost their jobs.

This place was originally an important material transfer station, and more than half of the goods Spain exported to Portugal were transferred here.

After the railway was closed, the transport workers here all lost their jobs, and other staff at the transfer station were basically unable to make ends meet.

To say who is the most dissatisfied group with the current Portuguese government, the people in the Portalegre area are definitely the most intense group.

Choosing the location of the uprising here, the masses in Portalegre don't mind contributing to the uprising.

And because of the participation of the masses here, the uprising team soon evolved into a large-scale uprising with tens of thousands of people participating.

More importantly, the uprising team had thousands of rifles. Although there were no heavy weapons, these thousands of militiamen holding rifles could also cause no small impact on Portugal's order.

Portugal itself has a population of less than 5 million, and the standing army on the mainland is less than 50,000. If it weren't for Spain, a powerful neighbor, Portugal might not even be able to achieve a standing army of 50,000.

Portugal's army, like Spain's, has not experienced decent combat for a long time. The targets of the Portuguese army's operations were mostly African natives, and they were natives with relatively small populations.

Under such circumstances, an uprising of tens of thousands of people soon had a serious impact on Portugal's situation.

The uprising team soon broke through the Portalegre municipal government, seized the arsenal set up in the city, and integrated the local police and garrison.

This integration made the uprising team have thousands more rifles, and the momentum of the uprising became larger and larger, already having the ability to threaten Lisbon.

Because the uprising team acted quite quickly, when the Portuguese army rushed to the Portalegre area, several hours had passed since the uprising occurred.

Thousands of uprising teams soon controlled the municipal government and city council. When the Portuguese army rushed to the Portalegre area, the uprising team had even built a defensive line of considerable scale.

Looking at the defensive line with considerable order in front of them, the Portuguese officer who came to quell the rebellion immediately felt that something was wrong.

Just from the defensive positions dug by the other side, their uprising was definitely not a temporary idea, but premeditated.

Even thinking in the direction of conspiracy theory, these uprising teams were able to occupy the municipal government and parliament in a short time, I am afraid there is support from other forces behind them.

Speaking of which, the situation in Portugal is quite chaotic. There are roughly two major forces in the country, namely the Conservative faction and the Republican faction.

And among these two factions, there are pro-British factions and pro-Spanish factions respectively. Among the pro-Spanish factions, there are also Pan-Iberianists. They not only support Portugal leaning towards Spain, but even hope that the two countries on the Iberian Peninsula can merge to establish a super major power that makes other major powers fearful.

The reason why there are such complex power relations in Portugal is mainly because of the swaying between Britain and Spain during the Louis I period.

At that time, because the Pink Map plan was forcibly dispelled by Britain, the Portuguese people had considerable dissatisfaction and resentment towards Britain.

This also led to the prevalence of Pan-Iberianism on the entire Iberian Peninsula, and many Portuguese believed that the merger of Portugal and Spain would make them live better.

And after the new King of Portugal, Carlos I, came to power, he directly cut off the relationship with Spain and turned to be close to Britain, which had a worse relationship with Portugal.

Although this did allow Portugal to get rid of Spain's control, Carlos I obviously did not consider the opinions of the Portuguese.

A few years ago, the British forcibly destroyed Portugal's Pink Map plan, and now Portugal is rushing to become Britain's younger brother. Isn't this self-degrading?

Portugal is a colonial empire after all. Even if its current comprehensive strength is not as good as European major powers, there is no need to be so humble and fully lean towards Britain in politics and diplomacy.

In the same period of history, although the Republican Party in Portugal had taken shape, most Portuguese people still believed in the monarchy and were willing to support Carlos I. This also led to the fact that although the Republican Party's rebellion broke out many times, it did not pose too much threat to the Portuguese royal family's ruling status.

In the end, the assassination had an effect, but it only changed a king for Portugal.

And now, after the Portuguese Pink Map plan was proposed earlier and destroyed by the British earlier, the relationship between the Portuguese people and Britain became even worse than in history.

Carlos I's act of being close to Britain made the Portuguese quite dissatisfied, which also means that Carlos I had lost his popular foundation.

The scale of this uprising was far larger than in history, and the impact caused was far larger than in history.

Originally, Carlos I only used a small amount of troops to suppress the Republican Party's uprising, and now, it has evolved into a head-on battle between the uprising army and the Portuguese army.

Yes, this is no longer a simple uprising. From the development of the current situation, it has evolved into Portugal's internal war.

The topic of the Portuguese Civil War spread rapidly to the whole of Europe and also attracted the attention of multiple countries.

Britain is one of the countries most concerned about the Portuguese Civil War. After all, Portugal at this time has completely leaned towards Britain, and Britain is not willing to lose Portugal as an ally.

On the second day of the civil war, the British government summoned the Portuguese ambassador to London and expressed that Britain was willing to help Portugal solve the domestic rebellion.

Yes, the British government used the word "rebellion." They believed that the Republican Party's uprising was a rebellion, and this war was not a civil war in Portugal. The Republican Party side was illegal, and they attempted to steal Portugal's national power.

While Britain supported Portugal, Spain also contacted the Portuguese Republican Party.

In order not to expose that the supporter behind the Republican Party was Spain, the weapons supported by the National Security Intelligence Bureau to the Republican Party were all purchased from other places, coming from multiple European countries.

Although it also mixed with some Spanish standard weapons, because of the large number and variety, other countries could not conclude that it was Spain supporting the Portuguese Republican Party.

On the second day after the Republican Party successfully launched the uprising, another large batch of weapons and equipment was transported to the Republican Party.

Spain even friendly recommended a battle plan to the Republican Party, suggesting that they attack Castelo Branco to the north, occupy Portugal north of Lisbon, and divide Portugal north and south with the Portuguese government.

Attacking Lisbon to the west is impossible. After all, it is Portugal's capital. In order to prevent Spain from attacking itself, Portugal deployed a large number of garrison troops along the line east of Lisbon.

Relying on the current troop strength of the uprising team, wanting to occupy Lisbon is completely impossible. Attacking west will only waste troop strength, and finally let the Portuguese government quickly quell this rebellion.

But if they continue to attack north, the possibility of victory will be much greater.

Castelo Branco and its northern Guarda eastern part are Spain's Castile-Leon region. This area has another name, which is the Meseta Plateau.

Precisely because of the existence of the Meseta Plateau, the probability of Spain attacking Portugal from here is extremely low, and the defensive troop strength on the Portuguese side is naturally much less.

The Extremadura region is located in the valley area between the Toledo Mountains and the Sierra Morena. Attacking Portugal from here is a plain.

If they can attack the area where Portugal's troop strength is weak to the north, this uprising really has hope to evolve into a larger-scale civil war, thereby changing the pattern of Portugal.

Of course, if this uprising really evolves into a civil war, the British are very likely to directly take the field to help Portugal.

But this may not be a bad thing for Spain. After all, the British's personal participation will only make the Portuguese's hatred for Britain deeper.

Even if Portugal can quell this rebellion with the help of Britain, it cannot save the current situation of Portugal's increasing hatred for Britain.

What Gao Da wants to do is to vigorously cultivate the number of Pan-Iberianists and pro-Spanish supporters in Portugal, and directly take action at the critical moment to forcibly incorporate Portugal into his own rule.

Watching the scale of this civil war in Portugal getting larger and larger, Spain naturally will not let go of the opportunity to brush up its reputation.

On May 15, 1892, Gao Da officially announced the donation of 5 million pesetas of materials to the Portuguese people to help the Portuguese people in the civil war area restore normal life.

The Spanish government also announced the donation of materials worth 3 million pesetas to the Portuguese government the next day and stated that the border near Portugal would be temporarily opened to accommodate those Portuguese people who were affected by the war and needed to protect their own safety.

Although the Portuguese government internally suspected that this rebellion might be supported by Spain, they had to express gratitude for Spain's donation on the surface.

This kind of thing, if there is no sufficient evidence, saying it will only make one's situation more embarrassing.

The Spanish government will not be harmed by a little groundless framing, and Portugal will instead make this war harder to fight because of offending Spain.

On the day the uprising occurred, the King of Portugal, Carlos I, summoned Prime Minister Joao Franco and requested him to immediately mobilize the army to suppress this rebellion.

The hardliner Joao Franco immediately agreed to the King's request and promised to use the army to suppress this rebellion at all costs.

Unfortunately, the development of the situation soon exceeded the expectations of Carlos I and Joao Franco.

The army they sent not only did not quickly suppress this rebellion, but instead fought back and forth with the uprising team.

Although the uprising team were all militiamen organized temporarily, the situation of the Portuguese army was not too good either.

The Portuguese army had not experienced large-scale war for a long time, and because the enemy in front of them was their own compatriots, they did not have much fighting will.

The Republican Party contacted several other opposition parties and carried out lobbying for some neutral officers and soldiers in the Portuguese army, trying to decompose Carlos I's army.

Facts have proved that doing so really has an effect. Not all of them in the army are Carlos I's die-hard loyalists. After all, they were just ordinary Portuguese people before joining the army.

Carlos I became the King of Portugal for only three short years, and his mediocre operations failed to make him win the loyalty of these armies.

Faced with their own compatriots, and possibly their own friends and family, these Portuguese armies were already quite good not to defect on the spot.

Some of them really didn't want to shoot their own people because of the government's orders. They didn't want the Portuguese to kill each other. After all, the number of Portuguese was limited, and killing each other would only make Portugal weaker.

Thanks to everyone for the monthly tickets! I didn't expect it to reach 1,000 so quickly. I will add more tomorrow, thanks for the support!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 358 =====