Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 362 Portuguese Republic
Carlo's plan to annex Portugal was quite complicated. The first thing to do was to make the Portuguese disappointed with the government and the royal family.

Then let the Portuguese Republicans overthrow the Portuguese royal family, abolish the monarchy and the aristocracy, and eliminate these forces that affect the unification of the Iberian Peninsula.

Then, Pan-Iberianism was vigorously cultivated in Portugal, so that the Portuguese gradually accepted the idea of ​​joining Spain.

Finally, the Portuguese republican government was forced to step down. When the Portuguese found that the republican government could not save Portugal, they would hope to join Spain in this new idea and form a superpower that would scare other powers.

In order to make the Portuguese more disappointed with the government and Britain, Carlo asked the Spanish newspaper media to extensively report on the actions of the British army in Portugal and to record in detail the casualties of Portuguese civilians caused by the British army's blind attack.

In addition to causing a stir in Portugal, these news reports also sparked considerable discussion in Europe.

In the eyes of people in other countries, Britain's actions are blatant interference in Portugal's internal affairs and bullying of a weak country by a strong country.

Portuguese immigrants in Spain also expressed their opinions on this. They believed that Britain had no right to interfere in Portugal’s internal affairs, and that the various evil deeds committed by the British army in Portugal would increase the Portuguese people’s hatred of Britain.

Countries like Russia and France, which have bad relations with Britain, have also expressed their attitudes in various ways.

The Russian government even stated that it would donate supplies to Portugal to help the Portuguese people heal the damage and pain caused by the British army.

Suddenly, the British government became the target of public criticism. They did not expect that their actions to suppress the rebellion would not only fail to win the support of the Portuguese people, but also deepen the hatred of the Portuguese people towards Britain.

During the march, citizens of some cities, led by Porto, not only held up slogans against the government, but also held up banners protesting against British atrocities, recalling the humiliation that Britain had brought to Portugal.

The Pink Map Project at that time shocked the whole of Portugal and was regarded by the Portuguese as a hope for national revival.

It was Britain, Portugal's trusted ally, that shattered Portugal's hopes, causing the relationship between Portugal and Britain to fall to a low point at the time.

The Portuguese completely couldn't understand why, as soon as Carlos I came to power, Portugal returned to its original role as Britain's younger brother.

The spontaneous demonstrations by the people were forcibly suppressed by the government. The Portuguese government was responsible for the situation of fratricide in the country, which also caused huge casualties among the Portuguese.

On June 1892, 6, the rebel army led by the Republicans successfully passed through Viseu and arrived in Porto, where they were warmly welcomed by local citizens.

The Republicans quickly took control of the entire Porto and officially declared the establishment of the Portuguese Republic the day after arriving in Porto.

On June 6, the Republican Party published an article entitled "Establishing a Portuguese Republic Where the Portuguese Have the Final Say" in its newspaper. In the article, the party severely criticized King Carlos I and Prime Minister João Franco, whom he appointed, and said that it was their brutal rule that had put Portugal in such a bad situation.

The Republican Party also condemned the British interference in the article. The Republican Party said that this is Portugal's own domestic affairs, and the British have no right and no reason to interfere in Portugal's own affairs.

The British army caused huge casualties to the Portuguese people. What they did in Portugal was brutal, barbaric and bloody.

In view of what the Portuguese government had done, the Republicans decided to establish a Portuguese Republic where the Portuguese themselves had the final say, to save Portugal and all the Portuguese who were suffering.

As the article spread across Portugal, the Republican Party's claims also gained support from many Portuguese people.

Cities such as Castelo Branco, Guarda, Viseu, Real, Braganza and Viana do Castelo responded to the call of the Republicans one after another. They announced that they would join the Portuguese Republic established by the Republicans to fight against the brutal and incompetent Portuguese dictatorship.

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

As for the Portuguese government, except for Lisbon and surrounding areas, which are still under the control of the government, other places seem to be out of control.

Although Lisbon seems to be impregnable, there are actually many undercurrents within it.

As the capital of Portugal, there are a large number of ambitious young people gathered here. Compared with the more blind farmers, these ambitious young people have their own ideas about the national situation.

Of course, they can also see the problems in the Portuguese government and how outrageous its decisions are.

There have been several small-scale demonstrations in Lisbon. However, because these demonstrations were spontaneously organized by students, the Portuguese government was able to suppress them easily if they were small in scale.

But it is obvious that as the situation develops, these students are now tending to gather together.

Once they gather together and plan large-scale marches like the Republicans did, it will not be easy to suppress the large-scale marches.

Every time a march is suppressed, it will result in a large number of casualties. Every time the government suppresses a march by force, the Portuguese people will become more disappointed with the government.

At present, it seems that the Portuguese government has gone down the wrong path and there is no turning back. In the future, the Republican Party’s advantage will become greater and greater, and the demise of the Portuguese monarchy seems to be only a matter of time.

Faced with the dirty tricks from Spain and even many European countries, the British government is also having a headache.

There is nothing wrong with the news reports. The British army did cause many Portuguese civilians to be injured or killed in the process of suppressing the rebellion.

But this cannot be blamed on the British army. These Portuguese people stood with the rebel army, and if they wanted to wipe out the rebel army, they would definitely hurt these ordinary people by mistake.

The plan that Portugal gave to Britain was to forcibly suppress the rebel army. They could not let the rebel army that was stirring up the situation in Portugal go just because these Portuguese civilians stood with the rebel army.

In order to make its interference in Portugal seem justified, the British government first stated that it had been requested by the Portuguese government. When the Portuguese government was unable to resolve the chaotic domestic situation, Britain was forced to send 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 the rebellion.

Some media even speculated that the Republicans were supported by the Spanish. They believed that the Spanish planned the Republican uprising in order to disrupt the situation in Portugal and then take over the whole of Portugal.

You know what, they actually guessed it right.

But unfortunately, neither people in other European countries nor the Portuguese people believe the views expressed by the British themselves.

First, Spain looks unlikely to go Republican.

The Republicans are indeed the largest opposition party in Portugal, and they are extremely keen on overthrowing the current monarchical government.

But the problem is that Spain is also a monarchy. The republic established by the Republicans is in conflict with Spain, and there is no hope for the two countries to merge. It is even more impossible for the Republicans to abandon their party constitution and support the monarchy of Spain.

From this perspective, Spain is most likely not a supporter behind the Republican Party.

More importantly, can’t everyone see clearly the Portuguese government’s outrageous actions?
Originally, the Republicans did not have the ability to launch such a large-scale rebellion. It was the Portuguese government that pushed some people who originally supported the country to the Republican side.

It would be fine if he changed from a swing faction to a pro-Anglo faction, but when Britain is a constitutional monarchy, why did Carlos I want to establish a monarchy?

Although monarchical dictatorship itself does not have too many problems, if there is a monarch who has no ability but thinks he is very capable, it will only speed up the collapse of the country.

The UK's plan to shirk responsibility has not succeeded, and Spain will not tolerate the UK.

Spanish newspapers continuously reported on the conflict between Portugal and Britain caused by the Pink Map Project in order to remind the Portuguese of the scene when Britain destroyed Portugal's colonial plan.

It’s no wonder that such reports are indeed effective.

Just as much as the Portuguese looked forward to the Pink Map Project back then, they now hated Britain as much as they did now.

If Britain had not destroyed Portugal's colonial plan, Portugal would have been able to achieve rapid development like Spain through large, connected African colonies.

Portugal's eastern and western non-colonial areas are not small. If they could be integrated together, their value would be no less than Spain's Congo colony.

Such a thing is simply unimaginable. Once the Portuguese think of the original Pink Map Plan, their hearts will be filled with endless grief.

On June 1892, 6, Carlo, together with Italy and Austria-Hungary, publicly expressed his opinion on the Portuguese Civil War. Carlo said that whether it was internal rebellion or civil war, it was the internal affairs of each country, and external countries should not interfere.

Forced interference will only cause greater pain to countries in civil strife. Such forced interference is inhumane, brutal and violent.

The successive statements made by the three major powers were immediately reprinted by newspapers and media in European countries, which also aroused the British government's high vigilance.

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

What's more, the UK did not do a very authentic job in this matter.

In order to prevent Portugal from falling to Spain, Britain did not hesitate to use its army to forcibly help Portugal suppress the rebellion. However, the Portuguese government was completely in a hopeless situation, and helping such a Portuguese government actually meant standing against all Portuguese people.

The righteous have many supporters, while the unrighteous have few. The Portuguese government at this time was the unrighteous one. They could not get help from other countries except Britain. Even the people in the country maintained a very negative attitude, and some even directly joined the Republic.

The British government was in a dilemma. If they continued to help Portugal quell the rebellion, their international public opinion would inevitably become worse.

But if they don't help Portugal, the Republicans don't seem to be the loser.

Although Portugal still has a large number of troops in the colonies, will these troops obey the orders of the Portuguese government? Not necessarily.

If you look closely at the forces within Portugal, you will find that the Republican Party has the support of capitalists behind it.

Why do capitalists support the Republican Party? The reason is that the policies promulgated by Carlos I affect the interests of capitalists.

When Portugal and Spain were cooperating, these capitalists earned a lot of income through the trade of goods between the two sides.

They made a lot of money by importing large quantities of cheap industrial products from Spain, and their cooperation with Spain also multiplied their wealth several times in a short period of time.

Not long after, after Portugal severed its cooperation with Spain, these capitalists lost a large amount of income.

Although British industrial products soon flooded the Portuguese market, the problem was that the export of British industrial products was not something that Portuguese capital could decide.

Britain's exports to Portugal were all based on sea transport, which was completely different from Spain's original reliance on land transportation.

The time and transportation costs of sea transportation are much greater than those of land transportation. Even if the capitalists were able to transport materials from Britain by sea, they would earn much less money than if they had purchased materials from Spain.

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

The nobles would definitely stand on the king's side. If the throne was gone, their titles would certainly be lost too.

But these capitalists are different. Capitalists are profit-seeking, and they only consider the options that are most beneficial to themselves.

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

Portugal's capitalists would certainly prefer the Republican Party to the current monarchical government.

With the support of these capitalists and Republicans, it is hard to say who these colonial troops will obey.

When the British government was in a dilemma, Carlo also received a letter from his sister Maria Pia.

Princess Maria Pia is the second daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy and Carlo's elder sister.

She married King Louis I of Portugal, and the current King Carlos I of Portugal is her son and Carlo's nephew.

As the Queen Mother of Portugal, Princess Maria Pia is naturally aware of the current chaos in Portugal.

What Princess Maria Pia fears is that the Republicans have already gained the upper hand in some areas, and the Portuguese Republic they established has won the support of many Portuguese people, which also means that the foundation of Portugal's monarchy has been shaken.

If we look closely at the process of the overthrow of monarchies in European countries, France is definitely the most classic.

Princess Maria Pia was worried that the Portuguese royal family would be executed after the country was overthrown, so she asked her younger brother, King Carlo of Spain, for help.

Because of the international public opinion caused by Britain's interference in Portugal, Princess Maria Pia did not ask Carlo to interfere in Portugal's civil war, but asked 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 abilities between her son Carlos I and her husband Luis I.

Louis I's ability was definitely above the passing line. Although Portugal was also declining under his rule, it at least expanded a lot of its African colonies.

If it were not for Britain's forceful interference, Portugal would have actually had hope of integrating its colonies in East and West Africa and rapidly building up its domestic economy through the development of its colonies.

Precisely because the Pink Map Project was forcibly destroyed by the United Kingdom, the Portuguese people at that time did not have much dissatisfaction with the government. Their hatred and resentment were transferred to the British government. This is also the reason why the Portuguese were dissatisfied with Britain's forcible interference in their domestic affairs.

Because the Pink Map Project and the subsequent colonial conflicts happened a long time ago, Carlos I did not have a clear understanding of the impact they caused at the time.

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

But in fact, since Portugal's Pink Map Plan was forcibly destroyed by the United Kingdom, Portugal and the United Kingdom have lost the most basic basis for cooperation.

Without the threat from Spain, the alliance between Portugal and Britain would not have been possible to maintain.

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

Carlos I obviously did not understand the relationship between the primary and the secondary.

Portugal can only get good development opportunities if it swings back and forth between Spain and Britain. Once it firmly chooses one side, it will inevitably face strong suppression from the other side.

While Britain was certainly the more powerful party, Spain was closer to Portugal.

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

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

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

Carlo also suggested that if the situation in Portugal really reached an irreversible point, some members of the Portuguese royal family could come to Spain in the name of a diplomatic visit.

They will be well protected in Spain, and it will not be too late to return to Portugal after the incident is over.

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

Carlo wouldn't mind at all, let alone seeking refuge in Spain for a short period of time, even if he lived in Spain for a long time.

Anyway, the Spanish royal family has endless money, and a little more spending on their family will not have any impact on Carlo.

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(End of this chapter)