Chapter 455

Forming a personal union with Spain was after all a big event for Portugal; no matter what the result of this event was, the Portuguese government did not want to bear the scolding of the public in the end.

Not wanting to be the scapegoat was also very simple; just let this event be pushed by all Portuguese citizens. If forming a personal union with Spain was something all Portuguese were willing and striving to complete, then no matter what the future outcome of this personal union was, in short, the current Portuguese government would not have any responsibility.

Wanting to obtain the support of the public was also very simple, and that was to hold public opinion polls in major cities in Portugal, letting the public choose whether to unite with Spain to form a personal union, or continue to maintain Portugal's independent status.

On February 7, 1906, the government of the Portuguese Democratic Republic officially issued a public announcement, stating that it would hold a public opinion referendum in major cities in Portugal, letting the Portuguese choose their own destiny.

Any citizen possessing Portuguese nationality could participate in this vote; if the number of people supporting the formation of a personal union with Spain exceeded 55% of the total number of votes, the Portuguese government would officially start the process of uniting with Spain to form a personal union.

If the number of people hoping that Portugal would continue to maintain its independent status exceeded 55% of the total number of votes, Portugal would continue to maintain its independent status, and completely veto the proposal to unite with Spain to form a personal union.

If neither of these two items obtained more than 55% of the votes, Portugal would continue to conduct a national referendum one year later, until one of the options obtained the support of the public.

The public opinion referendum would officially start on February 12 and continue until March 11, using one month to decide Portugal's final destiny.

Upon learning that the government decided to use a public opinion referendum to decide Portugal's destiny, most of the Portuguese were still relatively satisfied with this.

At least on this point, the Portuguese government did indeed fulfill the promise made when establishing the republican system: to establish a Portuguese Republic where the Portuguese themselves were the masters.

Although it was used in a choice that might end the history of the Portuguese Republic, for Portugal, at least it could be considered a progress.

When the Portuguese government officially announced the referendum plan, in addition to the Portuguese public paying attention to the upcoming referendum, the Spanish public and the public of various European countries were also paying attention to this referendum.

There were five days left until the start of the referendum; for Portugal, a country with a small population, it was enough to carry out various preparatory work for the referendum.

It was actually just setting up ballot boxes in major cities in Portugal; citizens could receive ballots in their own cities according to one per person, and subsequently cast their ballots for the option they supported.

In order to prevent the occurrence of cheating, when each person received a ballot, they must register in the city where they were located, and each city would also screen these people who received ballots to ensure that there would be no incidents of impersonation or receiving multiple ballots.

As time reached February 12, 1906, the public opinion referendum within Portugal also officially started.

Because this referendum decided the destiny of a country, this rare moment attracted newspaper media from all over Europe to visit, and they also filmed many scenes of the voting site.

For the Portuguese government, they hoped that the more foreign newspapers that came, the better. The arrival of these newspapers could also help the Portuguese public supervise the fairness of the government in the public opinion referendum; no matter what the result of the vote was, anyway, the government would not have responsibility, and everything was the choice of the public.

From the number of people participating in the public opinion referendum in each city, it could also be seen that the Portuguese were still quite interested in this moment of being able to personally decide Portugal's destiny.

In order to reflect the fairness of the referendum, while counting the votes, the Portuguese government also invited some Portuguese citizens and domestic and foreign media to act as supervisors.

Under the joint efforts of many people, the number of votes in the first week of the public opinion referendum was finally counted.

In the first week of the public opinion referendum, which was the 7 days from February 12 to February 18, the Portuguese government counted a total of 871,600 votes, and the number of people voting accounted for 16.44% of Portugal's total population.

Among these 871,600 votes, the number of votes supporting the formation of a personal union with Spain was as high as 600,700, accounting for 68.92% of the total votes.

Although the first week's vote could not represent the final result of the referendum, it could also be seen from the choice of the Portuguese public that most people were still willing to support the formation of a personal union with Spain.

The subsequent voting results could also prove this point.

The number of people participating in the public opinion referendum in the second week was much less; the Portuguese government counted a total of 756,200 votes, among which the number of votes supporting the formation of a personal union with Spain was as high as 462,800, accounting for as high as 61.21%.

Although the proportion decreased, compared to the 55% pass line stipulated by the Portuguese government, the voting result still exceeded it by a lot.

The number of people participating in the public opinion referendum in the third and fourth weeks became fewer and fewer; the votes counted by the Portuguese government were only 521,200 and 594,600.

The votes of the last two days were also counted in the votes of the fourth week, which was also the reason why the votes of the fourth week could surpass the third week.

After the summary and calculation of the Portuguese government, a total of 2,743,600 Portuguese participated in this public opinion referendum, accounting for about 51.77% of Portugal's total population; it could be said that the whole nation participated in this vote.

After all, there were a large number of elderly and children within Portugal, and these people were unable to participate in the voting link.

It could be said that most of the adult citizens within Portugal participated in this vote, and the result of the vote could also completely reflect the attitude of the Portuguese public toward Spain forming a personal union.

After the final statistics, among the 2,743,600 votes, the number of votes supporting the formation of a personal union with Spain totaled 1,624,200, accounting for as high as 59.19%, which had already met the 55% pass line set by the Portuguese government.

After confirming that there were no errors in the voting and counting links, the Portuguese government officially announced on March 17, 1906, that it would follow the final result of the public opinion referendum and start the negotiation work for uniting with Spain to form a personal union.

Gao Da also received the invitation from the Portuguese government on the same day, hoping that Gao Da would personally go to Lisbon for the coronation ceremony and become the new King of the Kingdom of Portugal.

Europe did not have the process of "three resignations and three refusals"; Gao Da's own ability and prestige were already sufficient, so naturally there was no need to engage in any face-saving projects.

After receiving the invitation from the Portuguese government, Gao Da immediately expressed his agreement to be crowned King of Portugal, and immediately summoned the Portuguese Ambassador to Ma Deli, and had a meeting with the Portuguese Ambassador that lasted for several hours.

The Portuguese government had already completely accepted the idea of uniting with Spain to form a personal union; the Portuguese Ambassador to Ma Deli's attitude toward Gao Da was also quite respectful; it could be said that the Portuguese government had already regarded Gao Da as the new King of Portugal.

According to the agreement between Gao Da and the Portuguese Ambassador to Lisbon, Portugal would hold a coronation ceremony for Gao Da in the near future, and Gao Da would officially be crowned King of Portugal.

After Gao Da was crowned King of Portugal, he would have sufficient legal basis to establish this personal union. It could be said that Portugal at this time could no longer escape from Gao Da's palm; since it was destined to rule Portugal, Gao Da was also willing to give the current Portuguese government more benefits, letting them work for him with peace of mind.

After the public opinion referendum in Portugal ended, the consultation between Spain and Portugal regarding the personal union was also completely placed on the table.

After more than a month of discussion, the Portuguese government finally reached a compromise with Spain regarding the federation, and both sides also agreed that after Gao Da was crowned King of Portugal, they would officially push forward the formation work of the new federation.

The name of the new country was determined to be the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal, the purpose of which was also to respect the two parts that made up the new country, Portugal and Spain.

For this new name, whether it was the Spanish government or the Portuguese government, they were able to accept it.

After more than a month of preparation by the Portuguese government, on April 15, 1906, in Portugal's capital, Lisbon, the Portuguese government held a grand coronation ceremony for Gao Da, and Gao Da also officially declared his coronation as King Carlos I of Portugal.

On April 16, the Spanish and Portuguese governments jointly issued a statement, stating that they would form a United Kingdom ruled by the same royal family with the other side, and the politics and economy of Spain and Portugal would be managed by their respective governments, while military and diplomacy would be handed over to the United Kingdom government for unified management.

Gao Da also officially changed from the King of Spain to the King of the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal, and the territory he held expanded from the original Spain to the entire Iberian Peninsula, and also connected a large piece of African territory.