| 1908 Lisbon Regicide | |
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The Lisbon Regicide as depicted in the French Press, incorrectly showing four attackers rather than two (February 1908) |
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| Participants |
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| Location | Terreiro do Paço, Lisbon, Portugal |
| Date | February 1, 1908 |
| Result | Monarchical Succession |
The Lisbon Regicide (Portuguese: O Regicídio) was the name given for the assassinations of King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Luis Filipe, the Prince Royal by assassins sympathetic to republican interests. It occurred on the 1st of February, 1908 in the Praça do Comércio, Lisbon, then referred to as the Terreiro do Paço.
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Jorge Morais has defended that: "the implantation of the [First] Republic in 1910 is not disassociated from the Regicide, which was cautiously and meticulously prepared, in contrast with the early thesis that it was the unplanned initiative of two anarchists."[1] In fact, there were many factors that influenced the actions of the assassins.
Some idealistic students, politicians, free-thinkers and dissidents were inspired by the founding of the French Third Republic in 1870, and hoped that a similar regime could be installed in Portugal. The intellectual style was heavily middle class and urban, and hardly concealed its cultural mimicry of the French Republic.[2] Most of the Republican leadership were from the same generation. Many were of the best educated in the country and were heavily influenced by the French positivist Comte and the socialist Proudhon, both democratic and nationalist.[3] The ideology after 1891 was peppered with municipal autonomy, political and economic democracy, universal male suffrage, direct elections for legislative assemblies, a national militia instead of a professional army, the secularization of education, and the separation of Church and State, which were all tenets copied from French revolutionaries.
By some, the writings of Léon Gambetta, a proponent of opportunistic republicanism, or the socialist leader, Jean Jaurès, were read and admired by students at the University of Coimbra.
After the period of monarchist revanchism in France had waned, and the daily Sud Express rail service between Lisbon and Paris was established in 1887, the leftist French Jacobin influence grew stronger in Portugal, especially because it counteracted the national humiliation caused by the British ultimatum of 1890. These liberal ideas were encouraged by the French Republic (in 1870) and the Brazilian Republic (in 1889), although the 1789 Revolution was considered an inspiration and model.[4]
Their ideology was very inclusive and "vague" enough to attract a variety of supporters, and the manner in which the Republican party developed, allowed it to avoid narrow partisan appearances;[5] it was an ideology easily promoted by revolutionary evangelists such as the journalist João Chagas, Magalhães Lima, Basílio Teles, Guerra Junqueiro or França Borges.
In the second year of the reign of King Carlos I, the British delivered what is known as the British Ultimatum—a rejection of the territorial claims defined by the Pink Map of Portuguese Africa. This breach of the Treaty of Windsor forced the King to abandon Portugal's claim to a large swath of territory between Angola and Mozambique (encompassing present-day Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi). This humiliating episode led to general public outrage in Portugal and was seized by nascent republicans and ideological Jacobins as an opportunity to attack the monarchy.
The crisis was not as a consequence of the King's actions; rather, it arose from the expansionist policies of the government under Prime Minister José Luciano de Castro. The Minister of the Navy and Overseas Territories, Henrique de Barros Gomes, conspired with German diplomats to expand colonial territory and create "a new Brazil in Africa". This was in conflict with British interests and Portugal was quickly forced to abandon these designs under threat of diplomatic sanction and perhaps even military action.[7] King Carlos attempted to mitigate the losses—through skillful diplomacy and leveraging blood relations with both British and German royalty—and was moderately successful, but Portuguese Africa was ultimately limited to territory in Angola and Mozambique. The Portuguese populace was outraged by the loss of territory, which they saw as a blow to their pride.
Ultimately, José Luciano de Castro's government fell not because of the ultimatum, but, instead, the opposition to the new tobacco monopoly contract, which had led to disorder; Luciano de Castro resigned.
Since its formation, the Republican Party of Portugal had wanted regime change. These republicans banded together after 1897, ostensibly to protest the British ultimatum, but progressively their appeals grew on nationalist appeals to fears of British colonialism, Spanish reoccupation or just to challenge the failed policies of the parties in government. Teachers, journalists, small-businessmen, clerks, and artisans were drawn to the Republicans, who appealed to nationalism, universal suffrage, separation of church and state, but most notably the abolition of the monarchy and privileges of the nobility. As a party of attraction and assimilation[9] it included in its membership, and as its allies, other groups that were not so idealistic: secret societies, socialists and anarchist-syndicalists, who supported republicanism as a means of achieving change and ending the monarchy. A significant number of Republicans were Masons, and some were members of the Portuguese Carbonária, a hard-core activist organ that virtually became "a state within the state".[10]
By 1907 there was a strong, and growing, republican presence in the cities of Lisbon and Porto, where the Portuguese Republican Party had already won local elections and intended to promote a republican government at the national level. But, in 1906 elections the Party only received 2.7% of the votes, equivalent to 4 seats in the National Assembly and all within the city of Lisbon, where their supporters were concentrated, although their leader Bernardino Machado would later declare, "we are the majority", to the Times in Paris.
Problems within the political system had arisen during the Portuguese Regeneration Era as a consequence of an inefficient system of rotating governments, that saw the Progressive Party and Regenerator Party alternating as government. The British Ambassador in Portugal at the time, Sir Francis Villiers explained the confusion and inefficiency of the Cortes (Parliament) in these terms:
The transfer of government was an undemocratic process,[12] decided between the leaders, rubber-stamped by the monarch, and legalized through fixed elections.[13] The other sectors of the nation were also corrupted by serious economic and social issues: the judiciary was corrupt, illiteracy was between 70-80%, the nation's finances were crippled by high taxation, the monopolies on tobacco and other commodities, by the numerous sinecures and high customs duties on imported goods.[14]
This system was aggravated at the beginning of the 20th Century by new groups that formed from factions from within the two main parties. In 1901 João Franco, supported by 25 deputies abandoned the Regenerator Party to form the Liberal Regenerator Party, with a radical programme of social and economic policies within the framework of the constitutional monarchy. In 1905, the Dissidência Progressista (English: Progressive Dissidence) was formed by José Maria de Alpoim, who also split from the Progressive Party with six other deputies. The intense rivalry between the new parties, aggravated by personal animosities, were regularly critiqued by members of the nascent Republican Party. Despite King Carlos's intent to execute meaningful reform, the efforts were largely undermined by monarchist inefficiency, incompetence, factionalism, and Republican propaganda.[15]
When King Carlos decided to become politically active, it had become difficult to form a non-coalition cabinet that could win a majority in Parliament. In May 1906, he appointed João Franco as premier, with an admirable plan to combat the issues of the day,[16] but the opposition was confrontational and progressively less unmanageable.
João Franco tried to govern in a coalition with José Luciano de Castro, but it, too, became unmanageable. Franco eventually solicited the King to discontinue Parliament in order to implement a series of political changes. They included censoring the press, jailing reactionaries and establishing reforms to decentralize the government (a program stolen, for the most part, from the Right and from Republicans). These same measures had always been advocated by the traditional parties, but the monarch had refused to take an active participation 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 governing during periods of crisis. It was first used in 1833, when the major parties at the time could not agree on establishing a government. The King had given Franco the means of governing without them and elections would only be held when he and Franco thought it was opportune and when “normality” had been restored.[17]
However, this measure further increased political tension. Even 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's 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 equal personal attacks aimed at João Franco and the monarch from pro-republican sympathizers, progressive dissidents and academics.[18] 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 put in prison, exhorting that:
As the session became increasingly confrontational, another Republican mounted a desk declaring:
Even 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". Both Costa and Braga were suspended for thirty days. Agitation and conflict continued in the city of Lisbon, instigated in many cases by Republican youth and their supporters; there were many police arrests and discoveries of stockpiles of arms and some bombs. These developments created an increasingly volatile situation. Franco then prohibited all public meetings, imposed stricter controls on the press freedom and began to take judicial action against “all cases of offenses against the state”.[20] The King became further embroiled in the 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 deemed him responsible for many of the problems in the country. João Chagas, the republican journalist, declared:
The King was growing increasingly vulnerable. By then, members of the Republican Party had already decided to support direct or indirect dissident groups such as the Carbonária, organized by elements of Portuguese masonry, in order to force regime change. On 28 January 1908, various republican leaders were imprisoned in an affair that came to be known as the Golpe do Elevador da Biblioteca (English: The Municipal Library Elevator Coup). Police caught Afonso Costa (the Republican) and Francisco Correia Herédia (Viscount of Ribeira Brava) armed at the Municipal Library Elevator, along with others who had gathered to attempt a coup d'état. They were members of a faction referred to as the Grupo dos Dezoite (English: Group of 18), who were responsible for executing João Franco.[22] António José de Almeida, Carbonária leader Luz de Almeida, journalist João Chagas, João Pinto dos Santos, França Borges and Álvaro Poppe were imprisoned along with other conspirators. José Maria de Alpoim was able to escape to Spain. During the course of the events 93 Republican sympathizers were detained and arms confiscated, but the Party was only partially dismantled.[23]
In response to these events, in which the monarch faced reactionary elements opposed to policies he believed were fair, his government presented King Carlos the January 30, 1908 Decree. This law demanded the foreign deportation or colonial expulsion, without trial, to individuals condemned of attempting to subvert public order.[24] 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 January 30, it was not made public before the assassination on February 1. Preparations for the King's assassination were made in advance: from evidence obtained from the home of the assassin Buíça (on January 28). At the end of 1907, during a Press Congress in Paris, a group of Portuguese politicians and French revolutionaries had already planned the liquidation of the head of government in the Café Brébant, along the Boulevard Poissonière. On the morning of February 1, in the Quinta do Ché (in Olivais) and in the days preceding it, the conspirators confirmed the final decision to go ahead with attempt.[25]
The King, Queen and Prince Royal had been on a month-long[26] retreat in the Vila Viçosa, in the Alentejo, where they routinely spent time hunting during the winter. The Infante D. Manuel, the youngest son, had returned to Lisbon days earlier, in order to complete his studies. The previous political events noted had forced King Carlos to cut his retreat short and to return to Lisbon: the Royal Family catching the train from Vila Viçosa on the morning of February 1. During their trip, the train was temporarily derailed at the loop near Casa Branca, resulting in a delay of an hour. The royal carriage arrived in Barreiro at the end of the afternoon, from where the Royal Family sailed on the D. Luís to the Terreiro do Paço in the center of Lisbon. On disembarking at the Estação Fluvial Sul e Sueste, around 5:00pm, they were met by various members of the government, including Prime Minister João Franco, the Prince D. Manuel, and the King's brother, Afonso, Duke of Oporto. Even in a climate of tension, the monarch opted to travel in an open carriage, wearing his service uniform as Generalíssimo of the Army, in order to present an air of normality. The two princes were in civilian clothes. According to usual practice, the carriage was accompanied by armed police and a mounted cavalry officer (Francisco Figueira Freire).
There were only a few people in the Terreiro do Paço as the carriage rounded the eastern part of the square and the first shot rang out. As reported later, a bearded man had walked out into the road after the carriage had passed, removed a Winchester carbine rifle hidden under his overcoat, knelt on one knee and fired at the King from a distance of about 8 metres. The shot hit the King's neck, killing him immediately, while another gunman in the square opened fire at the carriage and onlookers ran in panic. The first assassin: later identified as Manuel Buíça, a teacher and former sergeant dismissed from the army; continued to fire. His second shot clipped the shoulder of the monarch, who slumped to the right with his back lying to the left-side of the carriage. Taking advantage of this, the second assassin, Alfredo Costa (a clerk and editor), jumped onto the carriage step and, standing at the height of the passengers, fired at the slumped body of the King. The Queen, then stood and attempted to strike back at him with the only available weapon, a bouquet of flowers, yelling: "Infames! Infames!"(English: Infamous! Infamous!].
The assassins then turned their attentions on the Prince Royal, Luís Filipe, who had stood to draw and fire a hidden revolver, but was quickly hit in the chest. The bullet, from a small-caliber revolver, did not exit his sternum nor was it fatal, and the Prince reportedly fired four rapid-shots at his attacker, who fell from the carriage-step. However as Luís Filipe stood, he became more visible to the attacker with the rifle and was hit by a large-caliber shot that exited from the top of his skull. The young Prince D. Manuel, protected by his mother during the events, tried to stop the bleeding using a handkerchief, but it quickly became soaked with his brother's blood.
As shots continued across the square, Queen Amélia returned to her feet to call for assistance. The Countess Figueiró, Viscount Asseca and Marquis Lavradio jumped on the landau to support the Crown Prince. The young Prince Manuel was hit in the arm, while the coach-man was hit in the hand. The assassin Buíça then attempted to fire another round, although it is unclear whether he was aiming at the Queen, at Prince Manuel or at other officials of the government. He was stopped by the intervention of Henrique da Silva Valente, a soldier of the 12th Infantry, who had appeared in the square during the commotion. During his brief confrontation with Buíça, Silva Valente was shot in the leg, but was able to distract the assassin. The cavalry-officer, Francisco Figueira, remounted his horse and fired on Costa who was then seized by police officers. Buíça, wounded in the leg, attempted to escape but was also taken.
During the confusion that followed, both Alfredo Costa and Manuel Buíça were killed by police, to the detriment of any further investigation. Reportedly Buíça, although already wounded, had continued to struggle. Their bodies were taken to the near-by police station near the city hall, along with other persons captured and/or wounded from the square who were suspected of being sympathizers or additional assassins. Sabino Costa, a worker at a local jewellery store (and monarchist), was mistaken for a third assassin in the crowd and summarily shot twice in the head in the presence of other prisoners.[27]
The coachman, Bento Caparica, was able to direct the carriage to the Arsenal das Marinhas (English: Royal Naval Arsenal) where the King and heir to the throne were officially declared dead in the infirmary (the Prince expiring shortly after his arrival). When D. Afonso finally reached the Arsenal, he instinctively accused João Franco of being responsible for the tragedy. The Queen Mother, Maria Pia of Savoy was called to the Arsenal, where she met with Queen Amélia, and desolately cried in French "On a tué mon fils!", to which Queen Amélia replied "Et le mien aussi!"
Believing that the events were part of another coup d'état, the population of Lisbon locked themselves in their homes and the city became deserted. However the troops were confined to their barracks and the situation remained calm.
In the evening the Queen, the Queen Mother and new King, Manuel II of Portugal remained under guard in the Palácio das Necessidades in fear of a further attempt on their lives. In a macabre follow-up, the bodies of the deceased were transported to the Palace in two carriages, as if they were still alive (the head of King Carlos was slumped on the shoulder of his uncle, Infante D. Afonso, now the new Prince Royal). No autopsies were completed, and the bodies were embalmed under the supervision of the Royal physician D. Thomaz de Mello Breyner, a task that was made more difficult by the nature of their wounds.
The great States and Kingdoms of Europe were revolted, partly due to King Carlos's popularity, as much as the manner in which the assassination was planned and orchestrated. Newspapers around the world published images, some based on false descriptions and exaggerations, but all with the defiant Queen Amélia wielding a bouquet of flowers. In London, the newspapers exhibited photographs of the coffins covered in flowers, with the headline: "Lisbon’s shame!"[28] The English monarch, Edward VII, a friend of the assassinated monarch and heir was known to have uttered:
The new monarch requested the resignation of João Franco's government for not safeguarding the Royal Family, in context of the previous elevator conspiracy and the unpopular policies of his government. Although the Prime Minister had realized that his policies had made him a target, he was never aware the monarch was also targeted by dissidents. Presiding over the Council of State on the afternoon of January 2, with his hand on his chest and in wearing his military uniform, the young monarch confessed his inexperience and lack of preparation requesting aid from his loyal ministers.
The young King voted from the resignation of the João Franco and the formation of coalition government, later referred to as the Acclamation Government, presided by the independent Ferreira do Amaral. The new Prime Minister included in his cabinet members of the Regenerator and Progressive Parties, that formally ended the administrative dictatorship and reverted parliament to normalacy. In fact, Ferreira do Amaral completely abandoned the positions of the former-King: he annulled the dictatorial measures published earlier, liberated political prisoners, provided an amnesty for marines involved in the 1906 revolt, but also going as far as consenting to some Republican demands, including permission for pilgrimages to the tombs of the assassins (at one point about 22,000 people), an event organized by the Associação do Registo Civil (English: Association of the Civil Registry).[29]
The King was also present at the Council Minister's meeting that enacted these measures, and which acclaimed the Marquês de Soveral as Ambassador to England. Close to the Royal Family, the marques also voted for the resignation of João Franco's government. But later, resuming his functions in England, he encountered the British monarch Edward VII in London, to which he stated:
Later, the Marques would note: "It was then that I understood the error that we had committed."[30]
Ironically, at his resignation João Franco gave the Republicans the argument that only they were responsible for the collapse of the administrative dictatorship. Initially hesitant, the Republicans proposed a cooperation pact between themselves and the regime, but later at their national Congress in Setúbal (April 24–25, 1909) they quickly decided on forcibly taking power.[31] The initial hesitation was due to the party's structure; the Republican Party was a collection of disenfranchised interests, political movements and dissident groups. Some Republicans were sincerely shocked by the regicide, even if it meant regime change. Rural conservatives were afraid of the effects that such actions would have with their English allies. But the Republican party could not turn their backs on their supporters, the youth of Lisbon, already indoctrinated by the party's propaganda. Consequently, although the Party condemned the act publicly (as if obligated to), its leadership continued to support its base. Magalhães Lima would later declare to the public press in Paris: "I am pleased; yes, very well pleased, for my country, to which a little calm will be restored," repudiating any responsibility for the assassinations on the part of the Republican Party.
An extensive enquiry was held on the events in 1908, initially presided by judge Alves Ferreira, but later by José da Silva Monteiro and Almeida de Azevedo, that lasted two years. During this period evidence was provided to indict members of the Carbonária, who were intent on weakening the monarchy. The investigation was concluded on October 5, and the trial was scheduled to begin on October 25. In the meantime, new suspects were discovered: Alberto Costa, Aquilino Ribeiro, Virgílio de Sá, Domingos Fernandes, among others who were in refuge in Brazil or France, while two were killed by the Carbonária to silence them.
The process itself was in vain: after the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic, judges Juiz Almeida and Azevedo delivered their report to José Barbosa (their superior) who, in turn, sent it to Afonso Costa (Minister of Justice for the Provisional Government) where it was lost. It is known that the exiled King Manuel II received a copy of the report from the judges, but these were stolen from his residence during the course of a robbery, close to his death in 1932.
Authors of the period, many Republican, brought light on the responsible actors and their motivations, although many details remain unclear. Raul Brandão talked to various peoples close to the events, and extracted from the leader of the dissidents, José Maria Alpoim, the confession:
António da Albuquerque, who was exiled in Spain by the Royal Family after his defamatory romance O Marquês da Bacalhoa, wrote the testimony of Fabrício de Lemos (one of the other assassins present in the Terreiro do Paço), which he recounted in his book A Execução do Rei Carlos (English: The Execution of King Carlos).[33] Aquilino Ribeiro, who did not partiicpate directly, but was involved, knew the plan and the assassins, also wrote of the events in his work Um escritor confessa-se (English: A Writer Confesses).[34] José Maria Nunes, one of the assassins in the Terreiro do Paço, also left his descriptions of the events, often autobiographical and self-aggrandizing, but generally credible in his interpretation: E para quê?[35]
Of these four analyses, only Aquilino referred to the possible kidnapping of the Royal Family, and planned assassination of the Prime Minister João Franco. The plan, it is presumed, was developed at the end of 1907. At that time, José Maria Alpoim developed associations within the Carbonária, established a plan to acquire arms, assassinate the Prime Minister and later a plan to assassinate the King. These plans, as stated by José Maria Nunes, were elaborated in Paris, at the Hotel Brébant, on the Boulevard Poissóniere, between two politicians and some French revolutionaries. Maria Nunes did not indicate who the politicians were, nor was he willing to identify them, but the French revolutionaries likely pertained to the international anarchist movement; the Portuguese ambassador in Paris had heard of plans to assassinate the Royal Family from elements of the anarchist movement living in France.
The Portuguese dissidents were the principal financiers and the Carbonária provided the men. It was also discovered that the weapons used in assassinations were acquired by Gonçalo Heitor Freire (a Republican and Mason) through the Viscont of Ribeira Brava, one of principal conspirators. The arms, used in the Library Elevator Coup plot, originally guarded in the Armazéns Leal, were transported to Viscount's home, where they remained hidden. After the plot failed, a group of 18 men met in a mansion in Xabregas[36] on either December 30 or 31, where they plotted the deaths of the Royal Family.[37] Eight of the 18 men have been identified; of this group five or eight constituted the first group, positioned in the Terreiro do Paço: Alfredo Costa, Manuel Buíça, José Maria Nunes, Fabrício de Lemos, Ximenes, Joaquim Monteiro, Adelino Marques e Domingos Ribeiro. The second group took-up positions in Santos, while a third group waited in Alcântara, covering the road until the Palácio das Necessidades. The attackers did not believe they would survive the attempt: Manuel Buíça had a will written and Alfredo Costa made a point of paying a debt to a friend. Still, as is known, the majority of the first group was able to escape into the crowd and the other groups never intervened in the assassinations.
The plan to kill the King was part of the revolt's main plot. But still, a curious story was later recounted: provoked by the derailment of the Royal carriage on the return to Lisbon. On the day of the plot, just a little after 4:00 in the afternoon, and 300 kilometeres from the capital in Pìnzio, near Guarda, two servants of José Maria Alpoim, returning to the capital after sending their master into exile in Salamanca, ran out of gas and were forced to stop in the village. In a local tavern, and witnessed by various people, the servants affirmed that at that hour there was no King in Portugal, because he was dead.[38] But, since the plot had occurred around 5:00 p.m., how had the servants become aware of the events? It is likely that the timing of the events would have occurred, if the train had not derailed earlier in the day. At what level of planning had the plot progressed, and how involved was the dissident José Maria Alpoim in the plot? These questions continued to persist, and although the two assassins (Buíça and Costa) were blamed for the attacks the remaining plotters were never forgotten. After the October 5 Revolution, José Maria Alpoim and the former Viscount of Ribeira Brava were not able to fully participate in the hierarchy of the new regime: Apoim never advanced beyond adjunct to the Attorney General and the former Viscount did not survive his tenure as Civil Governor of Lisbon (he was a victim of a October 1918 revolt).
The assassination of King Carlos and the Prince Royal was the effective end of the constitutional monarchy in Portugal, later confirmed in the October 5, 1910 revolution. The regime continued to function for another 33 months, with growing agitation and demands for reform, although considerably less than in the future First Republic. It can not be denied that the weak and permissive attitude in the Government of Acclamation was an incentive for the Republican Party to attempt another coup. Although the assassinations did not change the system of government, it did delay it.
The assassinations remain controversial in Portugal. In 2008, the socialist government of the Portuguese Third Republic refused to participate in ceremonies destined to honor the memory of the slain royals on the centenary of the Lisbon regicide, forbidding any official participation by military personnel or government officials. The head of the House of Braganza, Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, led the ceremonies by placing flowers on the site where the royals were assassinated, and by celebrating a mass in their memory at the Church of São Vicente de Fora, where they are buried. During the centenary year, many artistic, cultural, and historic events took place in honor of King Carlos I and the royal family, and several books were published.
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