Chapter 359: The Portuguese Republic

Gao Da's plan to annex Portugal was quite complex; the first step was to make the Portuguese people lose faith in their government and the royal family.

Then, he would have the Portuguese Republican Party overthrow the Portuguese monarchy, abolish the monarchy and the nobility, and eliminate these forces that hindered the unification of the Iberian Peninsula.

Following that, he would cultivate Pan-Iberianists within Portugal on a large scale, allowing the Portuguese to gradually accept the idea of joining Spain.

Finally, he would have the Portuguese Republican government step down. When the Portuguese discovered that the Republican government could not save Portugal either, they would pin their hopes on the new idea of joining Spain to form a super-power that would make other great powers tremble.

To make the Portuguese even more disappointed in their government and the British, Gao Da had Spanish newspapers and media report extensively on the actions of the British military within Portugal, providing detailed records of the casualties among Portuguese civilians caused by the British military's indiscriminate attacks.

These news reports, in addition to causing an uproar within Portugal, also sparked considerable discussion across Europe.

In the eyes of the public in other countries, such actions by the British were blatant interference in Portugal's internal affairs and the bullying of a weak nation by a powerful one.

Portuguese immigrants in Spain also expressed their views on this, arguing that the British had no right to interfere in Portugal's internal affairs and that the various atrocities committed by the British military in Portugal would only deepen the Portuguese people's hatred for the British.

Countries with poor relations with Britain, such as Russia and France, also expressed their attitudes through various means.

The Russian government even stated that it would donate a batch of supplies to Portugal to help the Portuguese people soothe the harm and pain caused by the British military.

Suddenly, the British government became the target of public criticism. They had not expected that their counter-insurgency efforts would not only fail to win the support of the Portuguese people but instead make the Portuguese people's hatred for the British even more profound.

Citizens in cities led by Porto, while marching, not only held up slogans opposing the government but also carried banners protesting British atrocities, reminding the Portuguese of the humiliation Britain had brought upon Portugal.

The Pink Map plan at the time had shocked all of Portugal and was regarded by the Portuguese as the hope for national revival.

It was precisely their trusted ally, Britain, that had single-handedly shattered their hopes, causing the relationship between Portugal and Britain at the time to hit rock bottom.

The Portuguese could not understand at all how, as soon as Carlos I took the throne, Portugal had returned to its original role as Britain's little brother.

The spontaneous marches by the public were forcibly suppressed by the government with military force; the Portuguese government single-handedly facilitated a situation of domestic fratricide, causing the Portuguese to pay a heavy price in casualties.

On June 1, 1892, the insurgent army led by the Republican Party passed through Viseu and successfully arrived in Porto, where they were warmly welcomed by the local citizens.

The Republican Party quickly took control of all of Porto and, on the second day after arriving, officially announced the establishment of the Portuguese Republic.

In the newspaper published on June 2, the Republican Party printed an article titled "Establishing a Portuguese Republic Where the Portuguese Themselves Are in Charge," in which they heavily criticized Carlos I and the Prime Minister he appointed, João Franco, stating that it was their tyrannical rule that had brought Portugal to such a dire situation.

The Republican Party also condemned British interference in the article. The Republican Party stated that this was Portugal's own domestic affair, and the British had no power and no reason to interfere in Portugal's own matters.

The British military had caused massive casualties to the Portuguese public; their actions within Portugal were brutal, barbaric, and bloody.

In view of the Portuguese government's actions, the Republican Party decided to establish a Portuguese Republic where the Portuguese themselves were in charge, to save Portugal and save all the Portuguese people mired in suffering.

As this article spread throughout Portugal, the Republican Party's claims gained the support of many Portuguese.

Cities such as Castelo Branco, Guarda, Viseu, Vila Real, Bragança, and Viana do Castelo responded one after another to the Republican Party's call, announcing their accession to the Portuguese Republic established by the Republican Party to jointly resist the brutal and incompetent Portuguese dictatorial government.

This left Carlos I completely stunned. The original rebellion had completely turned into a civil war, and the republic established by the Republican Party had received responses from many cities.

As for the Portuguese government, apart from Lisbon and its surrounding areas which were still under government control, other places seemed to have a trend of slipping out of control.

Although Lisbon appeared impregnable, in reality, there were many undercurrents surging within it.

As the capital of Portugal, it gathered a large number of ambitious youths. Compared to the relatively blind farmers, these ambitious youths had their own thoughts on judging the national situation.

They could naturally see the problems existing in the Portuguese government and could see just how outrageous the Portuguese government's decisions were.

Currently, there have already been several small-scale protests erupting in Lisbon. However, because these protests were only spontaneously organized by these students, the Portuguese government could still easily suppress them while the scale remained small.

But clearly, with the development of the situation, these students now had a trend of gathering together.

Once they were allowed to gather and plan large-scale protests like the Republican Party, it would not be so easy to suppress large-scale demonstrations.

Every suppression of a protest would lead to massive casualties, and every act of the government using military force to suppress protests would make the Portuguese even more disappointed in the government.

Looking at the current situation, the Portuguese government had already gone down the wrong path and could not turn back; in the future, the Republican Party's advantage would only grow, and the demise of the Portuguese monarchy seemed to be only a matter of time.

Facing the mud-slinging from Spain and even many European countries, the British government also had a headache.

There was no problem with the news reports; the British military had indeed caused many Portuguese civilians to be injured or killed in the process of suppressing the rebellion.

But this could not be blamed on the British military. These Portuguese civilians stood with the rebel army, and in trying to wipe out the rebel army, it was inevitable that these ordinary civilians would be accidentally injured.

The plan given to the British by the Portuguese side was to forcibly suppress the rebel army; one could not just let go of the rebel army stirring up the situation in Portugal just because these Portuguese civilians stood with them.

In order to make their interference in Portugal seem reasonable and well-founded, the British government first declared that they had received a request from the Portuguese government, and that it was only because the Portuguese government was unable to resolve the chaotic situation in the country that Britain had to dispatch troops to help its ally restore a peaceful environment.

At the same time, the British media reported extensively on the reasons for the outbreak of this rebellion.

Some media even speculated that the Republican Party was supported by the Spanish behind the scenes. They believed that the Spanish had single-handedly orchestrated the Republican Party's uprising in order to disrupt the situation in Portugal and then take advantage of the chaos to occupy all of Portugal.

And it must be said, they actually guessed correctly.

But unfortunately, neither other European countries nor the Portuguese public believed this point of view put forward by the British themselves.

First of all, it seemed unlikely that Spain would support the Republican Party.

The Republican Party was indeed the largest opposition party in Portugal, and they were incomparably keen on overthrowing the current monarchical government.

But the problem was that Spain was also a monarchical government. The republic established by the Republican Party was in conflict with Spain; there was no hope for these two countries to merge, and it was even more impossible for the Republican Party to abandon its own party platform to support Spain, a monarchical country.

Viewed this way, it was highly probable that Spain was not the supporter behind the Republican Party.

More importantly, could everyone not see the ridiculous maneuvers of the Portuguese government?

Originally, the Republican Party did not have the ability to stir up such a large rebellion; it was the Portuguese government that single-handedly pushed some people who originally supported the country over to the Republican Party.

Switching from the swing faction to the pro-British faction was one thing, but with Britain being a constitutional monarchy, what was going on with Carlos I wanting to engage in an absolute monarchy?

Although there was no major problem with an absolute monarchy itself, if one encountered a monarch who had no ability but considered himself to have great ability, that would only accelerate the speed of the country's collapse.

The British plan to shift the blame did not succeed, and Spain would not indulge Britain.

Spanish newspapers reported one after another on the conflict between Portugal and Britain caused by the Pink Map plan, in order to make the Portuguese recall the scene of Britain single-handedly destroying Portugal's colonial plan back then.

And it must be said, such reports were indeed effective.

The Portuguese at that time were as hateful toward Britain as they had been expectant of the Pink Map plan.

If it weren't for Britain single-handedly destroying Portugal's colonial plan, Portugal at this time could have achieved rapid development like Spain through large, contiguous African colonies.

The area of Portugal's East and West African colonies was not small; if they could be integrated, their value would be no lower than Spain's Congo colony.

Such things were impossible not to associate; once the Pink Map plan of the past was recalled, the hearts of the Portuguese would be filled with endless grief.

On June 5, 1892, Gao Da joined Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to publicly express their opinions on the Portuguese Civil War. Gao Da stated that whether it was internal rebellion or civil war, these were the internal affairs of each country, and external countries should not impose interference.

Forced interference would only cause greater pain to the country in civil strife; such acts of forced interference were inhumane, barbaric, and violent.

The successive statements of the three great powers were immediately reprinted by newspapers and media across Europe, which also aroused the high vigilance of the British government.

Britain had no allies, which caused Britain to immediately fall into a disadvantage in diplomatic public opinion.

Moreover, Britain had indeed not acted very decently in this matter.

In order to prevent Portugal from leaning toward Spain, Britain did not hesitate to use troops to forcibly help Portugal suppress the rebellion. But the Portuguese government was completely hopeless; helping such a Portuguese government actually meant standing on the opposite side of all the Portuguese people.

Those who follow the Dao receive much support; those who lose the Dao receive little. The Portuguese government at this time was one that had lost the Dao; they could not obtain help from any country other than Britain, and even the domestic public maintained a quite passive attitude, with some even directly joining the side of the Republic.

The British government was now in a dilemma. If they continued to help Portugal suppress the rebellion, it would inevitably make their international public opinion even worse.

But if they did not help Portugal, the momentum of the Republican Party did not look like that of the side that would fail.

Although Portugal still had a large number of troops in its colonies, would these troops obey the orders of the Portuguese government? It was really not certain.

Looking closely at the forces within Portugal, the Republican Party had the support of capitalists behind it.

Why did the capitalists support the Republican Party? The reason was precisely that the policies promulgated by Carlos I affected the interests of the capitalists.

Originally, when Portugal and Spain cooperated, these capitalists earned a large amount of income through trade between the two sides.

They earned enough price differences by importing a large number of cheap industrial products from Spain, and the cooperation with Spain also allowed their wealth to multiply several times in a short period.

Good times did not last long; after the Portuguese side severed cooperation with Spain, these capitalists lost a large sum of income.

Don't look at how British industrial products quickly flooded the Portuguese market; the problem was that the export of British industrial products was not something the Portuguese capital could decide.

Britain's exports to Portugal relied entirely on sea transport, which was completely different from the original reliance on land transport from Spain.

The time cost and transport cost required for sea transport were much greater than those of land routes. Even if the capitalists could transport supplies from Britain via sea, the money they earned would be much less than what they originally earned from purchasing supplies from Spain.

Portugal's development of its colonies, like Spain's, relied on domestic nobles and capitalists.

The nobles were certainly on the side of the King. If the throne were lost, their titles would certainly not be preserved.

But these capitalists were different. Capitalists were profit-driven; they would only consider the choice most favorable to themselves.

Not to mention choosing between a monarchical government and a republican government, even if it were choosing between Portugal and Spain, they would choose the most profitable one without hesitation.

Compared to the current monarchical government, Portuguese capitalists would certainly prefer to choose the Republican Party.

With the support of these capitalists and the Republican Party, it was really hard to say who the troops in the colonies would listen to.

While the British government was in a dilemma, Gao Da also received a letter from his elder sister, Maria Pia.

Princess Maria Pia was the second daughter of the Italian King Victor Emmanuel II and also Gao Da's own elder sister.

She married the Portuguese King Luís I, and the current Portuguese King Carlos I was precisely her son, that is, Gao Da's nephew.

As the Queen Mother of Portugal, Princess Maria Pia was naturally also aware of the current chaos within Portugal.

What frightened Princess Maria Pia was that the Republican Party had already gained an advantage in some areas, and the Portuguese Republic they established had gained the support of many Portuguese people, which also meant that the foundation of the Portuguese monarchy had been shaken.

Looking closely at the process of monarchies being overthrown in various European countries, France was definitely the most classic.

Princess Maria Pia was worried that the Portuguese royal family would be executed after the country was lost and the monarchy overthrown, so she requested help from her own younger brother, the current Spanish King Gao Da.

Because of the international public opinion caused by Britain's interference in Portugal, Princess Maria Pia did not request Gao Da to interfere in the Portuguese Civil War, but requested him to preserve the bloodline of the Portuguese royal family when the Portuguese royal family was overthrown.

Princess Maria Pia certainly understood the gap in ability between her son Carlos I and her husband Luís I.

Luís I's ability was definitely above the passing line; although the Portugal under his rule was also declining, at least it had expanded quite a few African colonies.

If it weren't for Britain's forced interference, Portugal would have even had a real hope of integrating its East and West African colonies and using the development of the colonies to rapidly build up the country.

It was precisely because the Pink Map plan was forcibly destroyed by Britain that the Portuguese public at the time did not have much dissatisfaction with the government; their hatred and resentment were all transferred to the British government, which was also the reason why the Portuguese were dissatisfied with Britain's forced interference in their own domestic affairs.

Because a long time had passed since the Pink Map plan and the subsequent colonial conflict incidents, Carlos I did not have a very clear understanding of the impact caused at the time.

He thought that the Portugal under his rule was still like the Portugal under his father's rule, able to choose freely between Britain and Spain.

But in reality, from the moment Portugal's Pink Map plan was forcibly destroyed by Britain, Portugal and Britain had already lost the most basic foundation for cooperation.

As long as there was no threat from Spain, the alliance between Portugal and Britain could not have been maintained.

And this alliance was not maintained because the relationship between Britain and Portugal was good, but because both Britain and Portugal needed such an alliance treaty to guard against Spain's annexation of Portugal.

Carlos I clearly did not see the primary and secondary relationship.

Only by swaying back and forth between Spain and Britain could Portugal obtain good opportunities for development. Once they firmly chose one side, they would inevitably face strong suppression from the other.

Although Britain was indeed the more powerful side, Spain was closer to Portugal.

The moment Carlos I chose to rely on Britain, it actually meant that the situation within Portugal could no longer remain stable.

After reading the letter from his sister, Princess Maria Pia, Carlo immediately wrote a reply.

In this reply, Carlo promised his sister that he would do his utmost to ensure the continuation of the Portuguese royal bloodline.

Carlo also suggested that if the situation in Portugal truly reached an irredeemable point, some members of the Portuguese royal family could come to Spain under the guise of a diplomatic visit.

They would receive good protection in Spain, and it would not be too late to return to Portugal after the incident ended.

Although he did not particularly like his nephew Carlos I, Carlo had no dissatisfaction whatsoever toward his sister, Princess Maria Pia.

Not to mention taking refuge in Spain for the short term, Carlo would not mind at all even if they resided in Spain for the long term.

In any case, the Spanish royal family had endless money, and slightly increasing expenses for his own family had no impact on Carlo at all.

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(End of this chapter)