Chapter 419: Second Portuguese Civil War

The sudden outbreak of civil unrest in Portugal was something European countries did not expect, and what made these countries even more unexpected was that the civil unrest that broke out in Portugal actually quickly involved two major powers.

At the end of June 1904, after the Iberian Party denounced the Republican Party for its inaction and the internal struggle caused the long-term decline of Portugal's domestic economy, the Republican Party quickly launched a counterattack against the Iberian Party.

The leader of the Republican Party, who was also the current President of Portugal, Cristiano Santos, publicly expressed his opposition to the Iberian Party, stating that the data listed by the Iberian Party were all nonsense, and their behavior of inciting the people to resist the Portuguese republican government was the true cause of the civil unrest.

The Iberian Party was the sinner of Portugal; on the surface, they wanted Portugal and Spain to unite, but in reality, they had already become the running dogs of the Spanish people, and the true purpose was to want Portugal to be annexed by Spain.

It had to be admitted that the Republican Party's strategy was wise. They knew they could not refute the data provided by the Iberian Party because this data was true; the economic and industrial situation in Portugal in recent years was indeed in constant decline.

But if they admitted that the data provided by the Iberian Party was true, it was equivalent to affirming their own crimes. After all, the one who had been ruling Portugal in recent years was the Republican Party, and the one who caused Portugal to fall into long-term decline was also the Republican Party.

Since they could not refute the Iberian Party in this regard, they could only use the strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" in other aspects, shifting the people's attention away from the fact that the economy and industry of Portugal under the rule of the Republican Party were constantly declining, and focusing on the situation that many Portuguese people were worried about—whether the union of Portugal and Spain would lead to the situation of being annexed by Spain.

This point indeed hit the "seven inches" (the Achilles' heel) of the Iberian Party, and this was precisely the weakest point of the Pan-Iberianism ideology.

The union of two countries could indeed create a more powerful country, but if the strength of the two united countries was not at the same level, whether it was a union or an annexation was not so easy to distinguish.

The Iberian Party knew that this problem was not something they could explain clearly because they could not represent the attitude of the Spanish side.

The Spanish government could not jump out and guarantee to the Portuguese people that if Portugal and Spain united, Spain absolutely could not annex Portugal.

If the Spanish government took the initiative to jump out, it would instead have a feeling of "there is no silver 300 taels here" (a Chinese idiom meaning to reveal one's secret by trying to hide it). Regardless of the attitude of the Spanish government, they could only silently pay attention to the quarrel that broke out in Portugal at this time.

In order to destroy the ruling status of the Republican Party in Portugal, the Iberian Party gave the Republican Party a ruthless blow, which was to list in detail the achievements of all Republican Party presidents in Portugal over the past 12 years and compare them with the former King Carlos I, whose throne was abolished.

In the propaganda of the Republican Party's media organizations, the Portuguese people regarded Carlos I, whose throne was abolished, as a muddle-headed and incompetent monarch, believing that it was his muddle-headedness and incompetence that led to the collapse of Portugal's economy, eventually erupting into the republican uprising that overthrew the Kingdom government.

But when the things done by so many presidents were compared with the things done by Carlos I, whose throne was abolished, the people were surprised to find that their actions seemed to be no different.

The income of the people did not change at all because of the arrival of the republican government; there was still a huge mountain pressing on their heads, only this mountain had changed its name.

Before, it was the nobility and the church oppressing the civilians; now it had become the bureaucrats of the Republican Party oppressing the civilians. The large landowners and the church had not completely disappeared in Portugal, and the oppression of civilians by these people had not stopped at all.

Looking at it this way, the Republican Party president and the previous king seemed to be no different. Except for the fact that they changed a name, they were all equally incompetent and could not stop Portugal's continued decline.

This comparison did not cause any actual harm to the Republican Party, but it made the Portuguese people understand a fact: the republican government they were longing for could not change Portugal, and the Republican Party was absolutely not the savior of Portugal.

Since the Republican Party could not save Portugal, was there any need for the Republican Party to continue to hold Portugal's political power? The people's trust in the ruling party was shaken, which also allowed other opposition parties, including the Iberian Party, to see hope.

During the previous public opinion war between the Republican Party and the Iberian Party, other opposition parties did not help the Republican Party or the Iberian Party.

But when they keenly sensed that the Republican Party had already lost the support of the people, these large and small opposition parties quickly jumped out, constantly publishing their ideas in the news to attract the support of those people who had the same thoughts.

The Iberian Party was naturally among them. Although it had support from Spain, to obtain Portugal's political power, it still needed the necessary popular foundation.

Only by obtaining the popular foundation could the Iberian Party, like the original Republican Party, find a suitable opportunity and use the method of armed uprising to seize Portugal's political power.

These opposition parties saw the crisis of the Republican Party, and the Republican Party could naturally also perceive its own terrible situation.

The Republican Party itself was a party that relied on armed uprising to seize political power; they certainly knew how fatal it was to lose the support of the people.

In order to prevent these opposition parties from imitating their own rise route, the Republican Party quickly mobilized Portugal's military power and decided to launch the most cruel blow against the culprit leading to this situation—the Iberian Party.

On July 3, 1904, a Republican Party member of parliament in Portugal submitted a proposal to the parliament. This proposal detailed the suspicion that the Iberian Party existed to incite civil unrest in Portugal and collude with foreign anti-republican government forces, requesting the parliament to declare the Iberian Party illegal and arrest the high-level members of the Iberian Party.

This proposal caused an uproar within the parliament, and large and small opposition parties also controlled a portion of the seats in the Portuguese parliament.

But it is very clear that as the ruling party of Portugal, the Republican Party holds the largest number of seats and occupies a huge advantage, which is also the reason why they are able to control the Portuguese presidential throne.

These opposition parties understood the truth of "when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold" (a Chinese idiom meaning that if one party is destroyed, the other will be in danger), but they could not veto the proposal put forward by the Republican Party member of parliament.

Soon, this proposal was passed with 114 votes in favor, 46 votes against, and 12 abstentions. The current President of Portugal, Cristiano Santos, also publicly announced the voting results of the parliament a few hours later and signed a presidential decree, declaring the Iberian Party illegal and deciding to arrest all high-level members of the Iberian Party.

The Republican Party's behavior of "flipping the table" when they couldn't win made many opposition parties feel disdainful, and also made them worry about their own situation.

It was very clear that the Republican Party was the only one in the parliament. If the Republican Party didn't like them, they could also vote to declare their party illegal and then arrest these high-level members of the opposition parties.

This was fatal for these opposition parties, which meant that their lives were held in the hands of the Republican Party and could be cut off at any time.

Some small opposition parties chose to compromise; even if they were dissatisfied, they had no ability to oppose. These small opposition parties only owned individual parliamentary seats, and the number of Portuguese people supporting them was not enough to launch a large-scale armed uprising.

Since they could not oppose the Republican Party either civilly or militarily, it was better to accept their fate and pray that the Republican Party would not take cruel action against them. ===== CHAPTER 420 =====