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 monarchy, abolish the nobility, and eliminate these forces that hindered the unification of the Iberian Peninsula.

Following that, he would cultivate Pan-Iberianism within Portugal, allowing the Portuguese people to gradually accept the idea of joining Spain.

Finally, the Portuguese republican government would be made to step down. When the Portuguese people discovered that the republican government could not save Portugal either, they would pin their hopes on the new idea of joining Spain, forming a superpower that would make other great powers tremble.

To make the Portuguese people even more disappointed in their government and Britain, Gao Da had Spanish media outlets 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 blind attacks.

These news reports not only caused an uproar within Portugal but also sparked widespread discussion across Europe.

In the eyes of the public in other countries, such behavior by Britain was 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 Britain 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 Britain.

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 heal the wounds 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 fail to win the support of the Portuguese people and instead deepen their hatred for Britain.

When citizens in cities led by Porto held parades, in addition to holding up slogans against the government, they also carried banners protesting British atrocities, reminding the Portuguese people of the humiliation Britain had brought upon their country.

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

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 people 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 parades of the masses were forcibly suppressed by the government with military force; the Portuguese government single-handedly brought about a situation of domestic fratricide, causing the Portuguese people 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 of their arrival, officially announced the establishment of the Portuguese Republic.

In the newspaper printed on June 2, the Republican Party published an article titled "Establishing a Portuguese Republic Ruled by the Portuguese Themselves," in which they harshly criticized Carlos I and the Prime Minister he appointed, João Franco, stating that it was their brutal rule that had left Portugal in 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 that the British had no power or reason to interfere in Portugal's business.

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

In view of the actions of the Portuguese government, the Republican Party decided to establish a Portuguese Republic ruled by the Portuguese themselves to save Portugal and all the Portuguese people mired in suffering.

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

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 support for the Portuguese Republic established by the Republican Party to jointly oppose the brutal and incompetent Portuguese dictatorial government.

This left Carlos I completely stunned. The original rebellion had turned into a full-blown civil war, and the republic established by the Republican Party had gained the response of many cities.

As for the Portuguese government, aside from Lisbon and its surrounding areas which remain under government control, all other regions seem to have a trend of slipping out of their grasp.

Although Lisbon appeared as solid as a rock, there were actually many undercurrents within the city.

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

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

Currently, several small-scale parades had already broken out in Lisbon. However, because these parades were only spontaneously organized by students and were small in scale, the Portuguese government could still easily suppress them.

But it was clear that with the development of the situation, these students were already trending toward gathering together.

Once they were allowed to gather and plan large-scale parades like the Republican Party, suppressing such organized protests would not be so easy.

Every suppression of a parade would lead to massive casualties, and every time the government used military force to suppress a parade, it would make the Portuguese people even more disappointed in the government.

As it stood, the Portuguese government was already on a path of no return; 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 many other European countries, the British government was also feeling a headache.

The news reports were not wrong; the British military had indeed caused quite a few 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 insurgent army; to wipe out the insurgents, it was inevitable that these ordinary civilians would be accidentally harmed.

The plan given to Britain by the Portuguese side was to forcibly suppress the insurgent army; they could not just let the insurgents stirring up the situation in Portugal go just because these Portuguese civilians stood with them.

To make their interference in Portugal appear reasonable and well-founded, the British government first declared that they had acted at the request of the Portuguese government, and that with the Portuguese government unable to resolve the chaotic domestic situation, Britain had been forced to dispatch troops to help its ally restore a peaceful environment.

At the same time, 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. They believed that the Spanish had single-handedly orchestrated the Republican Party's uprising to disrupt the situation in Portugal and then take advantage of the chaos to occupy all of Portugal.

And believe it or not, they actually guessed right.

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

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 incredibly 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 of merger between the two countries, and it was even more impossible for the Republican Party to abandon its party platform to support Spain, a monarchical country.

From this perspective, it was highly probable that Spain was not the supporter behind the Republican Party.

More importantly, could everyone not see the absurd operations 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 toward the Republican Party.

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

Although there was no major problem with monarchical autocracy itself, if one encountered a monarch who had no ability but thought he was very capable, it would only accelerate the speed of the country's collapse.

Britain's plan to shift the blame had not succeeded, and Spain would not let Britain off the hook.

Spanish newspapers reported continuously on the conflict between Portugal and Britain caused by the Pink Map plan, all to make the Portuguese people recall the scene where Britain single-handedly destroyed Portugal's colonial plan back then.

And believe it or not, such reports were indeed effective.

The Portuguese people of that time were as expectant of the Pink Map plan as they were hateful toward Britain now.

If it weren't for Britain single-handedly destroying Portugal's colonial plan, Portugal could have achieved rapid development like Spain by acquiring vast, contiguous African colonies.

Portugal's East and West African colonies were not small in area; if they could be integrated, their value would be no less than Spain's Congo colony.

This kind of thing was impossible not to associate; once the original Pink Map plan was recalled, the hearts of the Portuguese people would be filled with endless sorrow.

On June 5, 1892, Gao Da, in conjunction with Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, publicly expressed their opinions on the Portuguese civil war. Gao Da stated that whether it was internal rebellion or civil war, it was the internal affair 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 high vigilance in the British government.

Britain had no allies, which immediately put Britain at a disadvantage in diplomatic public opinion.

Furthermore, Britain has indeed not acted very honorably in this matter.

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 meant they had actually stood on the opposite side of all 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 republic's side.

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 them.

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 large quantities of cheap industrial products from Spain, and the cooperation with Spain also allowed their wealth to double several times in a short period.

Good times did not last; after the Portuguese side cut off cooperation with Spain, these capitalists lost a large chunk of income.

Although British industrial products soon 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 for land transport. Even if capitalists could transport materials from Britain by sea, the money they earned would be much less than what they originally earned by purchasing materials from Spain.

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

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

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

Not to mention choosing between a monarchical government and a republican government, even if they had to choose between Portugal and Spain, they would choose the one that made the most money without hesitation.

Compared to the current monarchical government, Portuguese capitalists would definitely be more willing 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 sister, Maria Pia.

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

She had married King Luís I of Portugal, and the current King of Portugal, Carlos I, was her son, which made him Gao Da's nephew.

As the Queen Mother of Portugal, Princess Maria Pia naturally also understood 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 Portugal's monarchy had been shaken.

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

Princess Maria Pia 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 brother, the current King of Spain, Gao Da.

Because of the international public opinion caused by Britain's interference in Portugal, Princess Maria Pia did not ask Gao Da to interfere in the Portuguese civil war, but rather asked him to preserve the bloodline of the Portuguese royal family when the Portuguese royal family was overthrown.

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

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

If it weren't for Britain's forced interference, Portugal might even have 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 transferred to the British government, which was also the reason why the Portuguese people were dissatisfied with Britain's forced interference in their domestic affairs.

Because a long time had passed since the Pink Map plan and the subsequent colonial conflict events, 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.

If there were 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 so 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 understand the relationship between the primary and the secondary.

Only by swaying back and forth between Spain and Britain could Portugal obtain good development opportunities. 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 not remain stable.

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

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

Gao Da also suggested that if the situation within Portugal really reached an irredeemable point, some members of the Portuguese royal family could come to Spain under the guise of diplomatic visits.

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

Although he did not like his nephew Carlos I, Gao Da had no dissatisfaction with his sister, Princess Maria Pia.

Not to mention taking refuge in Spain in the short term, even if they lived in Spain for a long time, Gao Da would not mind at all.

Anyway, the Spanish royal family had endless money; increasing some expenses for his family had no impact on Gao Da at all.

5100-word main chapter, thanks for the support!

Total update today exceeded 10,000 words; it can be considered as not letting down everyone's support.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 360 =====