Португалия в эпоху перемен: от абсолютизма к конституционной монархии (1777-1834)

none

The history of the kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves, from the First Treaty of San Ildefonso and the beginning of the reign of Queen Maria I in 1777, to the end of the Liberal Wars in 1834, spans a complex historical period in which several important political and military events led to the end of the absolutist regime and to the installation of a constitutional monarchy in the country. In 1807, Napoleon ordered the invasion of Portugal and subsequently the royal family and its entire court migrated to Brazil, Maria I declaring the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in 1815. This would be one of the causes for the declaration of Brazilian independence by Pedro I of Brazil in 1822, following a liberal revolution in Portugal. The liberal period was stormy and short as Miguel of Portugal (Pedro's brother) supported an absolutist revolution endeavoring to restore all power to the monarchy. Pedro eventually returned to Portugal and fought and defeated his brother in the Liberal Wars in which liberalism prevailed and Portugal became a constitutional monarchy.

The death of King Joseph in 1777 forced the accession of Princess Maria Francisca, his eldest daughter, to the throne of Portugal; she succeeded her father as the first Queen regnant of the 650 year old country, which was still recovering from the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Before becoming queen, Princess Maria and her husband, the Infante Pedro, lived on the sidelines of politics, but were clearly unsympathetic to her father's former Prime Minister, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the Marquis of Pombal, who had been the de facto ruler of the kingdom for the past 27 years. During her father's last few years, she had been the Marquis' fiercest detractor; once in power, she eagerly dismissed him and then exiled him to Pombal. Although the queen retained many of the Marquis' other ministers, she restored most of the privileges of the nobility and clergy, and released many of Pombal's political prisoners. The economy was reorganized and Pombaline monopolies were abandoned. However, international conditions favored the economic situation in Portugal as the balance of trade was positive, helped by wine exports and a decrease of British imports. The period was, while tainted by political instability, a time of cultural renovation, marked by the completion of the Palace at Queluz, the beginnings of the Ajuda Palace, the São Carlos Theatre, the Estrela Basilica and the immense Convent of Santa Clara in Vila do Conde. In 1789, the French Revolution caused great social upheaval in Europe. The eventual Portuguese reaction was to land forces in Catalonia, and together with the Spanish forces attack the French in the Pyrenees in the War of Roussillon (1794). The war did not go well, and by 1795, Spain had privately sued for peace, signed an alliance and aligned its external politics against Great Britain. Even as Portugal was politically divided between continuing its old alliance with Britain, its people were also divided. The French Revolution, as seen by intellectuals and progressives, was romanticized: Bocage and the Partido Francês (French Party) believed the French could usher in a liberal revolution in Europe. The French represented a threat to the traditionalist nobility who were returning to prominence and were very willing to fight them externally or internally. When after 1799 she became incapable of handling state affairs, her son, Infante John of Braganza, began to use the title of Prince Regent. The traditionalist adversaries of France, however, did not look to John, but rather to his wife Carlota Joaquina for support, and at one point attempted a coup against the prince.

In 1806, after Napoleon's victory over the Prussians, he considered the problem of the resistance of the English, who had broken the peace in 1803 to challenge the Continental system imposed by the French, and realized that the situation in Portugal impeded his plan for reform in Europe. Again, Portuguese ports were ordered closed to British shipping;

On 27 October 1807, France and Spain signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau which would partition Portugal. In this pact, Northern Lusitania, a territory between the Minho and Douro rivers, would be a principality governed by the sovereign of the extinct Kingdom of Etruria (then Maria Luisa, daughter of Charles IV of Spain). The Algarve and all Portuguese territory located south of the Tagus would be governed by Manuel de Godoy, in compensation for his role in bringing the Spanish to align with France. The rest of Portugal, the area between the Douro and the Tagus, a strategic region because of its ports, would be administered by the central government in France until a general peace. Its colonial possessions, including Brazil, would be divided between Spain and France. On either 19 or 20 November 1807, a French battalion commanded by General Jean Andoche Junot entered Portugal. as planned the year before when the British ambassador advised the prince that the Portuguese Crown should be transferred to Brazil. Approximately 10,000 people, including the entire governmental administration and the judiciary, joined the royal family as they moved to Brazil, a possession of Portugal, and established the capital of the Portuguese Empire in Rio de Janeiro.

General Jean Andoche Junot and his troops had entered Spain on 18 October 1807 and crossed the peninsula to reach the Portuguese border. Junot encountered no resistance and reached Abrantes by 24 November, Santarém on 28 November, and the Portuguese capital at the end of the month, arriving a day after the Court had fled to Brazil. Before the Prince Regent departed, he left orders with the Regency Junta to greet the French in peace. Once he arrived, Junot promoted himself as a reformer come to liberate the oppressed people of Portugal, promising progress, the construction of roads and canals, efficient administration, clean finances, assistance and schools for the poor. Instead, he set about removing vestiges of the Portuguese monarchy, declared that the House of Braganza had ceased to reign in Portugal, suspended the Council of Regency, suppressed the Portuguese militia, billeted officers in the finest houses of the rich, and plundered the Portuguese treasury for continuing reparations to the French. Meanwhile, 50,000 Spanish and French troops roamed the countryside arresting, killing, plundering and raping the citizenry. By 1808, as Junot was busy redesigning Portuguese society, Napoleon decided to revise his alliance with Spain; he forced the abdication of Charles IV of Spain and his son Ferdinand, and installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as King. A popular uprising in Spain immediately spread to Junot's forces, which were accompanied by Spanish troops, and further instigated a popular uprising by the Portuguese that was brutally put down after some minor successes. The following year, a British force commanded by Arthur Wellesley (future Duke of Wellington) disembarked in Galiza with the intent of supporting the Spanish, but later advanced on Porto and landed at Figueira da Foz on 1 August. The British Portuguese forces advanced quickly on the French, defeating them at the Battle of Roliça (17 August) and later the Battle of Vimeiro (21 August). A two day armistice was observed as negotiations proceeded and the belligerents formally signed the Convention of Sintra (30 August), without Portuguese representation. As part of the accord, the British transported the French troops to France, with the product of sacks made in Portugal. The Convention benefited both sides: Junot's armies, incapable of communicating with France, could make a safe withdrawal; and the Anglo Portuguese forces gained control over Lisbon. The Portuguese populace was free to avenge itself on francophile compatriots for the brutality and depredations of the French. The French immediately occupied northern Portugal and advanced on Oporto by 24 March. Unlike the first invasion, there was a popular revolt against French occupation by farmers, conservative nobility and the poor. But Soult occupied Chaves on 12 March, a defense of Braga was unsuccessful and the French troops stormed and captured Porto by 29 March. Soult forces encountered a popular resistance in Porto, that included militia and local residents who barricaded the streets. But Francisco da Silveira recovered Chaves and ultimately, it was Wellesley, again, at the head of the British Portuguese forces who expelled the French from the north of the country. He was aided by William Carr Beresford and supported by a stronger Portuguese contingent, trained, equipped and commanded by British officers. The Anglo Portuguese Army defeated Soult at the Second Battle of Porto, re conquering the city of Porto on 29 May, and forcing the French retreat to Galicia. Wellesley intended to pursue the French, but with French forces crossing from the Spanish Extremadura, he moved his base to Abrantes. From here his forces then marched up the Tagus valley, entered Spain and won the victory at Talavera, after which he was made Duke of Wellington. He could not penetrate further, owing to Soult's forces joining Victor, to bar the way to Madrid, and so withdrew to Torres Vedras to plan for the defense against a third invasion by the French. then marched in the direction of Lisbon. Against the wishes of his council, Messena attacked the Anglo Portuguese Army on 26 September in Buçaco, losing 4500 troops. Yet, Wellesley's forces withdrew in front of the oncoming French, until his troops entered the prepared positions in Torres Vedras. But the French were impeded along the Lines of Torres Vedras, a system of 152 fortifications north of Lisbon, planned by Wellington, supervised by Lieutenant Colonel Richard Fletcher constructed by Portuguese laborers, manned by 40,000 Portuguese troops and members of the local population. Marshal Massena and his forces reached the lines by 14 October, but were unable to penetrate the defenses, and he was forced to retreat in April 1811. Supplies were running low, and Massena sent a request to Bonaparte for new instructions, but was compelled to withdraw before the instructions arrived, and he retreated to Santarém. Although Napoleon finally sent Soult, it was too late for Massena, who could not hold Santarém and withdrew towards Coimbra by March 6. At the end of the Peninsular War, Portugal returned French Guiana (which had been seized in 1809) to France on 30 May 1814. With the declaration by King John of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in December 1815, Brazil's new importance worsened the situation in continental Portugal: politically, it became the Portuguese capital (shedding the pretense of being a colony), and economically, was now able to trade directly with other European powers.

John VI had no pretensions to the throne until his older brother Joseph, Prince of Beira, died from smallpox at the age of 27. John, then 21 years old, lived for hunting and had little interest in public affairs. However, four years later he became prince regent because of Queen Maria I's mental illness, and in 1816, he became King John VI after her death while the royal family was residing in Rio de Janeiro. In 1821 he was forced to return to a country economically and politically unstable, to preside over a recently installed constitutional monarchy. There were deep divisions between the returning Royal Court and the Portuguese Cortes that governed the nation. While the free thinking Vintistas of the upper class governed, the new "modern era" was such in name only: the former condition of the poor still prevailed, they remaining pro monarchist and ultra religious, but without the power to change their circumstances.

The situation in continental Europe changed in 1823. Once again influenced by events in Spain, where the anti liberal Santa Aliança had restored the absolute monarchy, pro monarchist forces gravitated towards Queen Carlota Joaquina de Borbón. The queen was very conservative, ambitious and violent, and at the same time despised her husband's politics, manners and personality. While in Brazil, she had attempted to obtain administration of Spanish dominions in Latin America and was involved in various obscure conspiracies regarding the independence of Brazil. The return of the king and the royal court had emboldened the clergy and nobles who were hostile to the Constitution and parliamentary government. Prince Miguel, who shared the queen's views, served as her instrument to subvert the revolution. On 27 May 1823, the prince organized an insurgency against the liberal constitution; a garrison from Lisbon joined Miguel in Vila Franca de Xira, and there absolutism was proclaimed. The king responded by suspending the 1822 Constitution and promising the promulgation of a new law to guarantee "personal security, property and jobs". The revolt was referred to as the Vilafrancada (events that occurred in Vila Franca). One of the objectives of Queen Carlota and Miguel was the abdication of King John, who, although he accepted absolutism, was yet loyal to the liberal Constitution. Ultimately the king accepted absolutism when a movement of army officers and citizens surrounded the Palace of Bemposta to urge him to renounce liberal ideals.

In Portugal, as in Spain, the adversaries of constitutionalism were divided into two factions: a radical and a more moderate group. King John depended on the moderate faction; the ministers he selected after the Vilafrancada oscillated between conciliatory paternal absolutism and a timidly moderate liberalism. This second attempt to depose King John became known as the Abrilada, (after "Abril", the Portuguese word for "April"). During the course of his actions Miguel had offended the sensibilities of the British and French ambassadors, who managed to get John to the British battleship Windsor Castle in Caxias. There he was made aware of the situation, summoned Miguel, dismissed him from the post of commander in chief of the army, and sent him into exile. On 14 May, John returned to the Palace of Bemposta and re established the liberal government. However, a new conspiracy was discovered on October 26 of the same year. The queen accused the liberals of attempting to poison the king, while they suspected her of having done it herself: this time, she was exiled to Queluz. During his reign as king, John promoted the arts (mainly literature), commerce and agriculture, but being forced to return to Europe and to keep track of the court intrigues that arose following the independence of Brazil made him an unhappy man, and he died soon after the Abrilada in 1826. It was also at the end of his life that he recognized the independence of Brazil (15 November 1825) and restored his son Pedro's right of succession to the Portuguese throne. Before his death, he named a regency council presided over by the Infanta Isabel Maria to govern the country between his death and the acclamation of the future king.

The death of King John VI sparked a constitutional crisis, as his rightful successor, Prince Pedro, was the Emperor of Brazil. To absolutists, the proclamation of Brazilian independence created a foreign nation, thus revoking Pedro's citizenship and his right of succession to the throne. John had left his daughter Princess Isabel Maria as regent. Prince Miguel was also an undesirable option for the liberals; he had been exiled due to several attempts he made to overthrow his own father, and supported the traditionalist politics of his mother, Queen Carlota, whom most of the liberals and moderates feared. In Brazil, Pedro faced other challenges to his newborn country; the people clearly did not wish to return to colonial status and subservience to the politics and economy of the much smaller kingdom of Portugal. The Brazilian constitution prohibited the Emperor from subsuming another crown; this fact obliged Pedro to choose between Portugal or Brazil. The acclamation was followed by demonstrations in support of absolutism and failed revolutions to reinstate liberalism. The sequence of events inevitably triggered the Liberal Wars between the supporters of absolutism, led by Miguel, and those of liberalism. Miguel tried to obtain international support for his cause, but failed due to British pressure, although the United States and Mexico did recognize his authority. Between 1828 and 1834, forces loyal to progressive liberalism battled the power of Miguel's absolute monarchy. A liberal uprising in Porto led by exiles Pedro de Sousa Holstein (later 1st Duke of Palmela), João Carlos Saldanha de Oliveira Daun (later 1st Duke of Saldanha) and António José Severim de Noronha (later Duke of Terceira), was quickly defeated by Miguel's forces while similar revolts in the Azores and Madeira were similarly defeated (the liberal forces were able to hold onto territory only in Terceira).

The political climate began to change in 1830. Popular opposition to Pedro's reign in the aftermath of the dismissal of several of his ministers during a growing economic crisis forced him to abdicate his throne in Brazil in favor of his son, Pedro II, on 7 April 1831. In June 1833, the liberals, still encircled at Porto, sent out a force commanded by the Duke of Terceira to Algarve, supported by a naval squadron commanded by Charles Napier, using the alias Carlos de Ponza. The Duke of Terceira landed in Faro and marched north through Alentejo to conquer Lisbon on 24 July 1833. Meanwhile, Napier's squadron encountered the absolutist fleet near Cape Saint Vincent and decisively defeated it at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. The liberals were able to occupy Lisbon, making it possible for them to repel the Miguelite siege in Porto. A stalemate of nine months ensued. Towards the end of 1833, Maria da Glória was proclaimed Queen regnant, and Pedro was made regent. His first act was to confiscate the property of all who had supported Miguel. He also suppressed all religious orders and confiscated their property, an act that suspended friendly relations with the Papal States for nearly eight years, until mid 1841. The liberals occupied Portugal's major cities, Lisbon and Porto, where they commanded a sizable following among the middle classes. Meanwhile, the absolutists controlled the rural areas, where they were supported by the aristocracy and the peasantry. Operations against the Miguelists recommenced in early 1834, and they were defeated at the Battle of Asseiceira. The Miguelite army, however, was still a force (about 18,000 men) to be reckoned with, but on May 24, 1834, at the Concession of Evoramonte, peace was declared under a convention by which Miguel formally consented to renounce all claims to the throne of Portugal, was guaranteed an annual pension, and was banished from Portugal, never to return. Pedro restored the Constitutional Charter and died soon after, on 24 September 1834, while his daughter assumed the throne as Maria II of Portugal

Fernandes, Paulo Jorge; Menses, Filipe Ribeiro de; Baioâ, Manuel. "The Political History of Nineteenth Century Portugal," e Journal of Portuguese History (e JPH) (2003) 1#1 online