Lisbon Regicide - Prelude

Prelude

When King Carlos decided to become politically active, it had become difficult to form a non-coalition cabinet which could win a majority in Parliament. In May 1906 he appointed João Franco premier with a plan to combat the issues of the day, but the opposition was confrontational and progressively less manageable.

Franco tried to govern in a coalition with José Luciano de Castro but it, too, became unmanageable. Franco asked the king to dissolve the parliament to implement a series of political changes which included censoring the press, jailing reactionaries and establishing reforms to decentralize the government (a program stolen for the most part from the right wing and the republicans). These measures had been advocated by the mainstream parties but the monarch had refused to actively participate, stating that "the king reigns, but does not govern". Ostensibly, João Franco would govern by parliamentary dictatorship until order could be restored. This was the simplest method of government during a crisis and was first used in 1833, when the major parties at the time could not agree on a government. The king had given Franco the means of governing without them; elections would only be held when he and Franco thought it opportune, probably when “normality” had been restored.

However, this measure further increased political tension; the two major monarchist parties, Partido Regenerador and Partido Progressista (who were accustomed to sharing power in an informal rotation), were infuriated. In reaction to King Carlos' action (which favored Franco's faction), they joined forces with the Partido Republicano Português to resist Franco and his cohorts. The political strategy was "Machiavellian", as Brito Camacho (leader of the Partido Unionista) later attested. There were personal attacks on João Franco and the monarch from pro-republican sympathizers, progressive dissidents and academics. At one point, Afonso Costa (a leader in the Republican Party) criticized the government for permitting unauthorized transfers for expenses within the royal household without the Cortes' sanction. Declaring that the sums should be repaid, he then insisted that the King should leave the country or be imprisoned:

For less than Dom Carlos has done, the head of Louis XVI fell.

As the session became increasingly confrontational another republican mounted a desk, declaring:

The ship of exile shall convey Dom Carlos away, reviled, harassed and despised...that royal criminal, who has known neither how to honour nor love the country which has tolerated him.

Teofilo Braga (future President of the Provisional Government and Second President of the First Portuguese Republic) was forcibly removed for calling the King "a highwayman in mantle and crown". Costa and Braga were suspended for 30 days. Agitation and conflict continued in Lisbon, instigated in many cases by republican youth and their supporters; there were many arrests and the discovery of stockpiles of arms and bombs. These developments created an increasingly volatile situation. Franco then prohibited all public meetings, imposed stricter controls on press freedom and began to take judicial action against “all cases of offenses against the state”. The king became further embroiled in events when he replaced the elected municipal councils by nominated committees and gave himself the power to nominate an unlimited number of life peers to the upper house.

The republicans held him responsible for many of the problems in the country. Republican journalist João Chagas declared, " against all the Parties and men that served him..."

The king was becoming increasingly vulnerable. By then, members of the Republican Party had already decided to support direct (and indirect) dissident groups such as the Carbonária (organized by elements of Portuguese Freemasonry) to force regime change. On 28 January 1908, several republican leaders were imprisoned in an affair which became known as the Golpe do Elevador da Biblioteca (the Municipal Library Elevator Coup). Police found republican Afonso Costa and Francisco Correia Herédia (viscount of Ribeira Brava), both armed, at the Municipal Library elevator with others who had gathered to attempt a coup d'état. They were members of a faction known as the Grupo dos Dezoite (Group of 18), who were responsible for executing João Franco. António José de Almeida, Carbonária leader Luz de Almeida, journalist João Chagas, João Pinto dos Santos, França Borges and Álvaro Poppe were imprisoned with other conspirators. José Maria de Alpoim escaped to Spain. During the events 93 republican sympathizers were detained and their arms confiscated, but the party was only partially dismantled.

In response to these events (in which the monarch faced reactionary elements opposed to policies he believed were fair), his government presented King Carlos with the 30 January 1908 Decree. This law demanded deportation or colonial expulsion, without trial, to individuals convicted of attempting to subvert the public order. At the signing of the document the King declared, "I sign my sentence of death, but you gentlemen want it that way". Ironically, although the decree was signed on 30 January it was not made public before the 1 February assassination. Preparations for the King's assassination were made in advance, according to evidence obtained at the home of assassin Manuel Buíça on 28 January. At the end of 1907, during a conference at Café Brébant on Boulevard Poissonière in Paris, a group of Portuguese politicians and French revolutionaries had already planned the liquidation of the head of government. On the morning of 1 February in the Quinta do Ché (in the parish of Santa Maria dos Olivais) and the days preceding it, the conspirators confirmed their decision to proceed with the attempt.