The Portuguese Maximalist Federation ( or ) was a revolutionary movement founded on April 27, 1919 in Lisbon. The organization was inspired by the most radical factions involved in the

Russian revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

, and was mostly composed by

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

syndicalists Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of prod ...

and the revolutionary left of the

Portuguese Socialist Party The Portuguese Socialist Party ( pt, Partido Socialista Português) was a political party in Portugal. The party was founded in 1875. During its initial phase the party was heavily influenced by Proudhonism, and rejected revolutionary Marxism. T ...

History

Towards the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Portugal fell into a serious economic crisis, in part due to the Portuguese military intervention in the war. The Portuguese working classes responded to the deterioration in their living standards with a wave of strikes. Supported by an emerging

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

, the workers achieved some of their objectives, such as an eight-hour working day. But a feeling of political powerlessness, the lack of a coherent political strategy among the Portuguese working class and the growing popularity of the Russian Revolution, led to the foundation of the Portuguese Maximalist Federation (FMP) on April 27, 1919. The goal of FMP was to promote

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

and revolutionary ideas and to organize and develop the worker movement. One of the main figures of the organization was Manuel Ribeiro, director of the federation's weekly newspaper ''Bandeira Vermelha''. At the beginning of the 20th century, revolutionary syndicalists were opposed to purist anarchism, and defended

Georges Sorel Georges Eugène Sorel (; ; 2 November 1847 – 29 August 1922) was a French social thinker, political theorist, historian, and later journalist. He has inspired theories and movements grouped under the name of Sorelianism. His social and ...

's position that only the trade union held the capacity to achieve a revolution. However, the Maximalists never failed to assert themselves as anarchists. For the maximalists the "proletarian army of conscientious men" was the only weapon against the bourgeoisie, one that could bring anarchism to operate in the masses and syndicalism to organize the economy. In issue number 2 of ''Red Flag'', the maximalists launched a program for social reorganization, in which they outlined a future maximalist society. The first step to be taken would be the abolition of private property and the right of

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

and

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

for all. Its other proposals included "the abolition of inheritances, the abolition of

taxes A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...

, the suppression of

public debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...

, the extinction of prostitution, free medical care, the

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

of the sale of

alcoholic beverages An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The cons ...

, the abolition of

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

and the implementation of

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

." On October 5, 1919, the ''FMP'' launched its weekly publication, the ''Bandeira Vermelha'' (''Red Flag''), a newspaper that became very popular with the Portuguese working classes, eventually reaching a circulation of 6,000 newspapers. Although it is not possible to specify an exact number of militants in the federation, maximalist nuclei were found throughout much of the country: After some time, members of the FMP began to feel the need for a "

revolutionary vanguard Revolutionary Vanguard (in Spanish: ''Vanguardia Revolucionaria'') was a political party in Peru founded in 1965 by various Marxist groups. Leaders included Ricardo Napurí (who created it after participating to the MIR trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

offices, and with the aid of the Comintern, the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português, , PCP) is a communist, Marxist–Leninist political party in Portugal based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself patriotic and internationalist,Portu ...

(PCP) was founded on March 6, 1921.

References

{{Authority control 20th century in Portugal Portuguese Communist Party Organizations established in 1918 1918 establishments in Portugal Anarchist political parties Anarcho-syndicalism Syndicalist political parties