The First Portuguese Republic ( pt, Primeira República Portuguesa; officially: ''República Portuguesa'', Portuguese Republic) spans a complex 16-year period in the history of Portugal, between the end of the period of constitutional monarchy marked by the

5 October 1910 revolution The 5 October 1910 revolution was the overthrow of the centuries-old List of Portuguese monarchs, Portuguese monarchy and its replacement by the First Portuguese Republic. It was the result of a ''coup d'état'' organized by the Portuguese Repub ...

and the 28 May 1926 ''coup d'état''. The latter movement instituted a military dictatorship known as '' Ditadura Nacional'' (national dictatorship) that would be followed by the

corporatist Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

'' Estado Novo'' (new state) regime of

António de Oliveira Salazar António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the re ...

. The sixteen years of the First Republic saw nine presidents and 44 ministries, and were altogether more of a transition between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Estado Novo than they were a coherent period of governance.

Religion

The First Republic was intensely anti-clerical. Historian Stanley Payne points out, "The majority of Republicans took the position that

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

was the number one enemy of individualist middle-class radicalism and must be completely broken as a source of influence in Portugal." Under the leadership of Afonso Costa, the Minister of Justice, the revolution immediately targeted the Catholic Church; the provisional government began devoting its entire attention to an anti-religious policy, in spite of the disastrous economic situation. On 8th October the religious orders in Portugal were expelled, and their property was confiscated. On 10 October – five days after the inauguration of the Republic – the new government decreed that all convents, monasteries and religious orders were to be suppressed. All residents of religious institutions were expelled and their goods confiscated. The

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

were forced to forfeit their Portuguese citizenship. A series of anti-Catholic laws and decrees followed each other in rapid succession. On 3 November, a law legalizing divorce was passed and then there were laws to recognize the legitimacy of children born outside wedlock, authorize cremation, secularize cemeteries, suppress religious teaching in the schools and prohibit the wearing of the

cassock The cassock or soutane is a Christian clerical clothing coat used by the clergy and male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in certain Protestant denom ...

. In addition, the ringing of church bells to signal times of worship was subjected to certain restraints, and the public celebration of religious feasts was suppressed. The government also interfered in the running of seminaries, reserving the right to appoint professors and determine curricula. This whole series of laws authored by Afonso Costa culminated in the law of Separation of Church and State, which was passed on 20 April 1911. The republicans were anticlerical and had a "hostile" approach to the issue of church and state separation, like that of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, and the future Mexican Constitution of 1917 and Spanish Constitution of 1931. On 24 May 1911, Pope Pius X issued the encyclical ''

Iamdudum ''Iamdudum (on the law of separation in Portugal)'' is an encyclical of Pope Pius X, promulgated on May 24, 1911, which condemned Portuguese anticlericals for their deprivation of religious civil liberties in the wake of the 5 October 1910 revolu ...

'' which condemned the anticlericalism of the new republic for its deprivation of religious civil liberties and the "incredible series of excesses and crimes which has been enacted in Portugal for the oppression of the Church."IAMDUDUM: ON THE LAW OF SEPARATION IN PORTUGAL
Papal Encyclicals Online The Republic repelled a royalist attack on Chaves in 1912.

Heads of state and government

The First Portuguese Republic was an unstable period in the History of Portugal. In a period of 16 years (1910–1926) Portugal had 8 Presidents of the Republic, 1 Provisional Government, 38 Prime Ministers and 1 Constitutional ''Junta'': File:Manuel de Arriaga (1911) - Ringelke.png, File:Teófilo Braga - Ilustração Portugueza (7JUN1915).png, File:BernardinoMachado.png, File:Sidónio Pais.png, File:João de Canto e Castro da Silva Antunes (Arquivo Histórico Parlamentar).png, File:António José de Almeida (c. 1900-1909).png, File:Manuel Teixeira Gomes.png,

Evaluation of the republican experiment and legacy

Most historians have emphasized the failure and collapse of the republican dream by the 1920s. José Miguel Sardica in 2011 summarized the consensus of historians: Algarve - Silves - Portuguese flag at the castle (25803263426)

Algarve - Silves - Portuguese flag at the castle (25803263426)

Sardica, however, also points up the lasting effects of the republican experiment:

Religion

Heads of state and government

Evaluation of the republican experiment and legacy

References

Further reading