⁉️ WHY IT HAPPENED Portugal was in deep crisis by 1908. Corrupt governments rotated between two parties (Progressives and Regenerators) in a sham democracy. The economy was bankrupt after the humiliating British Ultimatum of 1890 forced Portugal to abandon African colonies. King Carlos backed Prime Minister João Franco's dictatorship, which dissolved parliament and ruled by decree. Republicans, inspired by France and Brazil, believed only violence could create change. They plotted in Paris and struck on 1 February. ⚰️ THE SHOOTING 5pm, Praça do Comércio (Terreiro do Paço). The royal family returned from Vila Viçosa in an open carriage to show strength. Teacher Manuel Buíça fired first with a hidden rifle, hitting King Carlos in the neck. He died instantly, blood soaking his blue uniform. Prince Luís Filipe stood, drew his pistol, fired back but was shot through the skull. Queen Amélie beat attackers with flowers, shouting "Infamous!" Youngest son Manuel, 18, was wounded in the arm but survived. 👑 THE AFTERMATH Manuel II became king overnight, unprepared. He dismissed Franco and freed prisoners, but trust was gone. Portugal had 7 governments in 2 years. Republicans won seats in 1910 elections. On 5 October 1910, they stormed Lisbon. Manuel fled by yacht to exile in England. 800 years of monarchy ended. 🏛️ VISIT TODAY • Praça do Comércio, Lisbon - exact location with plaque • Monastery of São Vicente de Fora - tombs of Carlos & Luís Filipe • Vila Viçosa Palace - where family came from that day 💡 KEY LESSONS • Political violence becomes normal once it works • Even ancient institutions fall without public trust • Economic failure + humiliation = revolution 🔥 YOUR CHALLENGE If you lived in 1908 Portugal, which side would you choose and why? • Poor worker desperate for change • Monarchist fearing mob rule • Republican believing in progress • Merchant scared of instability Write 3-4 sentences from their perspective. Share below! 👇

╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗║ 💔 PEDRO I OF PORTUGAL: THE KING WHO LOVED BEYOND DEATH 💔 ║╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ 👑 EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY: CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO KINGS 👑 Imagine the moonlit whispers of a forbidden love affair that would shake a kingdom to its core. Picture a prince consumed by passion, a father's iron will, and a king's vengeance so raw it echoed through centuries. This is the unforgettable saga of PEDRO I OF PORTUGAL (1320-1367)—a man torn between duty and desire, between the crown's demands and his heart's defiant rebellion. Pedro Afonso entered the world on April 8, 1320, in Coimbra, during the waning years of his grandfather King Dinis I's remarkable reign. Dinis, known as the Poet-King, had reformed Portugal's administration and secured the Knights Templar as the Order of Christ. Young Pedro inherited his grandfather's intellectual curiosity and fierce independence. But the real tension came from his father, King Afonso IV (reigned 1325-1357). Afonso was a warrior-king who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Castilian rulers against Moroccan invaders at the victorious Battle of the Salado in 1340. Yet with his own son, Afonso proved inflexible and controlling. ⚔️ This generational tension would soon explode into open warfare. ⚔️ Pedro's first marriage produced a son—the future King Ferdinand I. But when his wife Constança died in 1345, she took with her the marital obligation that had constrained Pedro. And with her passing, a young Galician noblewoman named Inês de Castro entered his world. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💕 THE FULL ROMANCE WITH INÊS DE CASTRO: A FORBIDDEN PASSION THAT DEFIED A CROWN 💕 THE SECRET YEARS (1340-1345) Imagine 1340: Inês de Castro arrives at the Portuguese court, assigned as a lady-in-waiting. She is well-born, beautiful, and tragically connected to the Castilian political world—a detail that would ultimately seal her fate.

Olá, amigos! This is the story of national humiliation that still echoes in fado songs of loss and resilience. hear how the Portuguese's oldest ally, Britain, crushed their African dreams overnight. 📜 Ready for the drama? Let's dive in! THE PINK MAP DREAM 🌍💭 Portugal dreamed big during the Scramble for Africa. Explorers like Alexandre de Serpa Pinto had mapped a rosy corridor, the "Pink Map" or Mapa Cor-de-Rosa, linking Angola on the Atlantic to Mozambique on the Indian Ocean. - This strip included chunks of modern day Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi! - Backed by treaties with Germany and France in 1886. - Portugal's claim? Centuries of discovery, from Vasco da Gama's voyages. ❤️ But Britain, eyeing Cecil Rhodes' Cape-to-Cairo railway, saw red. Rivalries boiled as Berlin Conference rules demanded real occupation, not just maps. Tension built like a storm over the Tagus! THE ULTIMATUM STRIKES - JANUARY 1890! ⚡📄 January 11, 1890: British PM Lord Salisbury sends a icy memo to Foreign Minister Júlio de Vilhena Fontes. Demanding withdrawal of troops from Mashonaland, Matabeleland, Shire-Nyasa NOW, or face consequences. - Portugal's forces under Major Serpa Pinto dug in. - Britain mobilizes navy, threatens blockade. - January 14: King Carlos I's government caves, orders retreat. NATIONAL HUMILIATION! 😡​ Salisbury's words? "Telegraphic instructions shall be sent... ALL Portuguese forces withdrawn." Brutal😢 Britain flexed muscle; Portugal blinked. The world watched in shock. NATIONAL FURY ERUPTS IN LISBON! 🔥😡 News hits: Riots rock streets! British consulate stoned, effigies burned. Castro's government collapses days later; António de Serpa Pimentel takes over. - August 1890: London Treaty tries borders, but parliament rejects it in fury. - 1891 Treaty gives Britain Manicaland, Portugal Zambezi scraps as "consolation." - Republicans roar: Monarchy weak! This humiliation fuels 1910 revolution seeds. Imagine the outrage in Alfama taverns, fado singers wailing betrayal by "perfidious Albion." Portugal's pride? Shattered, but spirit unbroken.✊

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔥 Highlight of the Week: 3 January 1960 ​One of the boldest acts of resistance against the Estado Novo dictatorship, the famous Peniche Fortress escape (Fuga de Peniche), took place on this date. Ten communist political prisoners, including Álvaro Cunhal, historic leader of the PCP, broke out of Portugal’s high security political prison at Peniche Fortress. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🏃‍♂️ How the Escape Worked 🚗 Around 4:00 PM, actor Rogério Paulo arrived in front of the fortress with his car boot open, the agreed signal that everything was ready outside. 🧪 Inside, prisoners overpowered a guard using chloroform, then, with the help of sympathetic GNR officer Jorge Alves, moved across the prison grounds without being detected. 🛏️ They climbed down using a rope made from tied bed sheets, crossed exposed areas, scaled the outer wall, then ran to waiting cars that took them to safe houses. ☕ Across the street, people at a café watched it all happen and no one informed the authorities, showing how unpopular Salazar’s regime had become.​ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚖️ Why It Matters 😡 The escape humiliated and enraged dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, triggering a massive search that included torture of suspects, but the regime never uncovered the full support network.​ 🌍 Authorities even claimed, almost certainly falsely, that a Soviet submarine helped the operation, trying to frame it as an international conspiracy.​ ✈️ Álvaro Cunhal left for Moscow in 1962, lived there until the Carnation Revolution in 1974, then returned to help lead Portugal’s transition to democracy through the PCP.onu.missaoportugal.mne+1​ ✊ This escape remains a powerful symbol of resistance to political repression and a key moment in the story that leads toward democratic Portugal.​ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✊ Honoring Portugal's Brave Heroes From the daring Peniche escapees led by Álvaro Cunhal, to the carnation-wielding revolutionaries of '74, to countless unsung resisters who defied tyranny across centuries...

Following the Romans, the Suebian kingdom in what is now northern Portugal collapsed after defeat in 456; its king Rechiar was captured at Porto and executed in December 456, a reminder that this season already saw power struggles on the Atlantic edge of Iberia. ================================ 🗺️ The Suebi in Iberia: Rise, Expansion, and FallIn the mid-5th century, long before there was a Portugal or even a clearly defined "Spain," the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by a Germanic people: the Suebi. They had settled in Gallaecia (roughly modern northern Portugal and Galicia) after the collapse of Roman power, building one of the earliest post-Roman kingdoms in Western Europe. ================================ ⏰ Timeline of Suebian Occupation (409-585) --------------------------------------------------------------- 409 AD: 🚀 The Suebi, along with the Vandals and Alans, cross into Hispania from Gaul as Roman imperial authority crumbles. They initially settle in the far northwest, beginning their foothold on the peninsula. --------------------------------------------------------------- 411 AD: ⚖️ The Treaty of Carthage formally assigns the Suebi control of Gallaecia (modern Galicia and northern Portugal), where they establish their primary kingdom and create the first Germanic state on the Atlantic edge of Europe. --------------------------------------------------------------- 438-448 AD: 👑 King Rechila (Rechiar's father) expands Suebian power southward with ambition and military strength. The Suebi push beyond Gallaecia into Lusitania (central-western Iberia), raiding as far south as Betica (modern Andalusia), challenging Visigothic and Roman authority. --------------------------------------------------------------- 448-456 AD: 💪 King Rechiar inherits the throne and continues aggressive expansion. He converts to Catholic (Nicene) Christianity, distinguishing himself from the Arian-Christian Visigoths. At its height, Suebian territory includes: