The Municipal Library Elevator Coup ( pt, Golpe do Elevador da Biblioteca), also known as The Elevator Coup (') or 28 January 1908 Coup ('), was the name given for the attempted ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

'' by members of the

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...

of Prime Minister

João Franco João Franco Ferreira Pinto Castelo-Branco, GCTE (; (14 February 1855 in Alcaide, Fundão – 4 April 1929 in Anadia) was a Portuguese politician, minister, 43rd Minister for Treasury Affairs (14 January 1890) and 47th Prime Minister (19 ...

(and the political ascendancy of the Liberal Regenerator Party). The event was not confined to the Municipal Library Elevator, but was so named for the arrest of many conspirators at the structure on the afternoon of January 28, 1908. Although the coup was prevented by government forces, it failed to capture all the conspirators, which contributed to the assassination of the monarch

Carlos I of Portugal ''Dom'' Carlos I (; English: King Charles of Portugal; 28 September 1863 – 1 February 1908), known as the Diplomat ( pt, o Diplomata), the Martyr ( pt, o Martirizado), and the Oceanographer ( pt, o Oceanógrafo), among many other names, was ...

and the heir to the throne, the Prince Royal, Luís Filipe. These events would continue legislative instability and lead to the

Portuguese First Republic 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 ...

, the ''raison d'être'' of the ''coup'' conspirators.

Background

Since King

had decided to support the Liberal-Regenerator leader

and allow him to run the government as an administrative dictatorship (without parliament, but maintaining civil liberties), the parties in the Cortes had vocally rebelled. The traditional parties (the Regenerator and Progressive Parties) were the most critical, since they were fearful of losing their political clout within the rotativist system that existed (an inefficient system of rotating governments in which the main parties alternated via ''gentlemen's agreements''). The ''Progressive Dissidency'', which had been created exclusively by José Maria de Alpoim to obtain power, was likewise positioned in a way to remain on the fringes of power. Although it was officially monarchist, the Party was willing to abandon its platform in order to align itself with the

Portuguese Republican Party The Portuguese Republican Party (, ) was a Portuguese political party formed during the late years of the constitutional monarchy that proposed and conducted the substitution of the monarchy with the Portuguese First Republic.Carbonária The Carbonária was originally an anti-clerical, revolutionary, conspiratorial society, originally established in Portugal in 1822 and soon disbanded. It was allied with the Italian Carbonari. A new organization of the same name and claiming to be i ...

and Freemasons) would provide the men.

Plans

Originally, the conspirators hoped to force the abdication of the King

Carlos I Carlos I may refer to: *Carlos I of Spain (1500–1558), also Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire *Carlos I of Portugal (1863–1908), King of Portugal *Juan Carlos I of Spain Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, ...

, but decided on proclaiming a republic as the better goal. Various versions of the plan existed, although they all shared the same goal of removing the ''dictator'' João Franco without forcing the intervention of the military, and thus escalating the conflict into a civil war. In its final version, brigades of Carbonária would neutralize the lines of communication, the mounted cavalry in the Largo do Carmo, the Municipal Guard in the Largo dos Lóios, the barracks in the Cabeço de Bola and the naval officers in the Vale de Zebo, while the remaining conspirators would take the municipal office buildings and eliminate João Franco. On January 27, 1908 the plan to remove the dictator was approved by

Afonso Costa Afonso Augusto da Costa, GCTE, GCL (; born in Seia, 6 March 1871; died in Paris, 11 May 1937) was a Portuguese lawyer, professor and republican politician. Political career Costa was the leader of the Portuguese Republican Party and he was ...

and Francisco Correia Herédia (Viscount of Ribeira Brava) for both groups of dissidents. Meanwhile, other conspirators were not only interested in removing João Franco, but also eliminating the King. This change in plans is harder to pinpoint, but a recent study points to the end of 1907. José Maria Alpoim, who associated with members of the Carbonária, was responsible for a plan to acquire arms, promulgate a revolution, and two plans to execute the Prime Minister and the monarch. Whether republican leaders were aware of these plans is unclear; the relationships that existed between the conspirators and instigators of the coupe were later suppressed. But, these competing motivations likely played a part in the disorganization on the eve of the coupe, which was planned for either January 31 or February 1. Regardless, the confidence of the conspirators was so high that a shop-owner, Vitor dos Santos, attempted to bribe a police officer to join the conspiracy. The officer, after seeing a box of explosives (which the proprietor presented him) reported of the conspiracy to his superiors. Informed of the possible conspiracy in the works, João Franco ordered the imprisonment of Republican leader

António José de Almeida António José de Almeida, GCTE, GCA, GCC, GCSE (; 27 July 1866 – 31 October 1929), was a Portuguese politician who served as the sixth president of Portugal from 1919 to 1923. Early career Born in Penacova to José António de Almeida ...

, the Carbonária head Luz de Almeida, the republican journalist João Chagas and other suspects, as well as ordering the reinforcement of strategic points throughout Lisbon.

Attempted coup

With the leadership of the movement almost decapitated, it fell to

to salvage the group's plans. The government had placed many sites under observation and the military was supported by government forces. A few, still belligerent conspirators, attempted to attack these forces in the bairro of Rato, in the civil parish of Alcântara, at the Campo de Santana and along the ''Rua da Escola Politécnica'': one policeman was killed.

Alfredo Luís da Costa Alfredo Luís da Costa (24 November 1883 – 1 February 1908) was a Portuguese publicist, editor, journalist, shop assistant and salesman who was part of the Portuguese Carbonária and a Mason, best remembered for being one of the two assassins (w ...

, supported by members of the Progressive Dissidency, took their positions under the conspirator's plan, at the Municipal Library Elevator. The Municipal Elevator, also known as the Library Elevator or Elevator of São Julião, was the seventh public elevator to be constructed in Lisbon. It was inaugurated on January 12, 1897 under the supervision of its designer, Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, and operated until 1915 when it was permanently taken out of service. It connected the ''Largo da Biblioteca'' near the Municipal Library (today, the Academy of Fine Arts) with the municipal square, ''Largo de São Julião'' (today, the ''Praça do Município''), through the buildings at ''13 Largo de S. Julião'' and the terrace of the ''Palácio do Visconde de Coruche''. Waiting for confirmation from the leadership to execute their plans, and hopeful of a turn in the events, many of the remaining conspirators begin to congregate at the Elevator. Their appearance was scrutinized by a policeman, who became suspicious because the Elevator was ostensibly out of service. Calling for reinforcements, a group of officers detained and arrest the group of men, which included Afonso Costa,

António Egas Moniz António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz (29 November 1874 – 13 December 1955), known as Egas Moniz (), was a Portuguese neurologist and the developer of cerebral angiography. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern psychosurgery, ...

, Álvaro Poppe, Francisco Correia de Herédia (the Viscount of Ribeira Brava) and others. While José Maria de Alpoim was able to escape to Spain, in all 100 people arrested during the crackdown, including the Viscounts of Pedralva and Ameal, João Pinto dos Santos, Cassiano Neves and Batalha de Freitas. The coup was crushed.

Aftermath

With the coup conspirators imprisoned, the King signed a decree (written by João Franco) to establish sentences of exile or expulsion to the colonies for those individuals caught for countervening regulations of ''public order'' (signed at the palace of

Vila Viçosa Vila Viçosa () is a town and a municipality in the District of Évora, Alentejo in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 8,319, in an area of 194.86 km². The municipal holiday is August 16. Parishes Administratively, the municipality is ...

on January 30)Rui Ramos, 2006, p. 313 In order to perpetuate the semblance of order, the King and Royal Family, returned to the capital on February 1, 1908, following a route through the Terreiro do Paço until the Palácio das Necessidades. But, even with leadership imprisoned, the square was circled by gunmen of the Carbonária who assassinated the King and Prince Royal in what became known as the

Lisbon Regicide The Lisbon Regicide or Regicide of 1908 ( pt, Regicídio de 1908) was the assassination of King Carlos I of Portugal and the Algarves and his heir-apparent, Luís Filipe, Prince Royal of Portugal, by assassins sympathetic to Republican interests ...

. Although João Franco was physically spared (the assassins had ignored his carriage), he was held responsible for lack of police security and a naive over-confidence that allowed the monarch to travel in an uncovered

landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990) ...

. Although the coup failed, the death of the King and heir apparent was responsible for continuing instability which was ultimately a success for the republicans. The traditional parties were able to impose an acclamation solution, with the establishment of a unity government presided by an independent ( Francisco Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral), the ostracising of João Franco's supporters, and the repeal of Francist decrees. In fact, the acclamation policies was a rendition: many of the conspirators were liberated from prison, the assassins (who were killed in the square) were eulogized as martyrs and the criminal investigation was rendered ineffective. These events only encouraged the republicans to attempt another coup d'état 33 months later, led by the same people, that would succeed in establishing the

. The events that gave rise to the attempted coup on January 28 were the last attempts to reform the constitutional monarchy.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{Portuguese Monarchy Topics 1900s coups d'état and coup attempts Republicanism in Portugal 1908 in Portugal January 1908 events Conflicts in 1908