The Democratic Party (, ), officially known as the Portuguese Republican Party ( ), was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

during 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 ...

. It was also the self-proclaimed successor to the original

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.revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

that established the Portuguese First Republic in 1910. The name "Democratic Party" was never the official name of the party, as the Portuguese Republican Party never ceased to exist. However, the party was ''de facto'' different and thus the other parties (that belonged to the PRP before 1910) used the new expression to assert their opposition to the claim of continuation of the PRP 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 ...

, the first leader of the Democratic Party. Other names were given to the members of the Democratic Party, like the Afonsists, named after

History

When the

Evolutionists Evolutionism is a term used (often derogatorily) to denote the theory of evolution. Its exact meaning has changed over time as the study of evolution has progressed. In the 19th century, it was used to describe the belief that organisms deliberate ...

and Unionists seceded from the Portuguese Republican Party in February 1912, the Democratic Party declared itself the latter party's heir. It soon controlled its electoral and propagandistic structure, a fact that would influence the dominance of the Democratic Party during the First Republic. During the First Republic, the Democratic Party, led by

, managed to hold power despite suffering several revolutionary attempts, both

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

and

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. Although some of the coups partially succeeded ( Monarchy of the North, Pimenta de Castro,

Sidónio Pais Sidónio Bernardino Cardoso da Silva Pais (; 1 May 1872 – 14 December 1918) was a Portuguese politician, military officer, and diplomat, who served as the fourth president of the First Portuguese Republic in 1918. One of the most di ...

) the Democratic Party always managed to retain power. During

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 ...

, in which Portugal participated, the party entered a coalition government with the Evolutionist Party called " Sacred Union", to face the problems of the war. Following the war, discontent grew and the union was eventually dissolved. Sidónio took advantage of this and established a dictatorial government of his National Republican Party. Sidónio Pais was assassinated 14 December 1918. By 1919 the Democratic Party was again in power. After 1919, with Afonso Costa in Paris, the party was led by

António Maria da Silva António Maria da Silva, GCTE (; 26 May 1872 in Lisbon – 14 October 1950 in Lisbon) was a Portuguese politician. An engineer, he was a prominent member of the Portuguese Republican Party. He was Prime Minister (President of the Council of ...

. In the next phase of the party's existence, political, popular and syndicalist opposition created a climate of constant revolt. Groups also seceded from the party, with the creation of the Democratic Leftwing Republican Party and the Reformist Party, both on the Left.

Relations with the Republic

The identification of the First Republic with the Democratic Party was so close, as the party dominated all political life between 1911 and 1926, that

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic. He is the 20th and current president of Portugal, since 9 March 2016. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, though he suspended hi ...

described it as a "

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...

with a dominant party" and historian Fernando Rosas called it a "political monopoly" and a "democratic dictatorship".

Prime ministers

* Augusto de Vasconcelos (1911–1912) * Duarte Leite (1912–1913) *

(1913–1914; 1915–1916; 1917 — in coalition with the Evolutionists acred Union *

Bernardino Machado Bernardino Luís Machado Guimarães, GCTE, GCL (; 28 March 1851, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 29 April 1944, Porto, Portugal), was a Portuguese political figure, the third and eighth president of Portugal (1915–17, 1925–26). In 191 ...

(1914; 1921) * Victor Hugo de Azevedo Coutinho (1914–1915) * António José de Almeida — Evolutionists in coalition ( acred Union — (1916–1917) * José Relvas (1919) * Domingos Pereira (1919; 1920; 1925) * Alfredo de Sá Cardoso (1919–1920; 1920) * António Maria Baptista (1920) * José Ramos Preto (1920) *

(1920; 1922–1923; 1925; 1925–1926) * Liberato Pinto (1920–1921) * Alfredo Rodrigues Gaspar (1924) * Vitorino Guimarães (1925)

Presidents of the Republic

* Manuel de Arriaga (1911–1915) * Teófilo Braga (1915) *

(1915–1918; 1925–1926) * Manuel Teixeira Gomes (1923–1925)

History

Relations with the Republic

Prime ministers

Presidents of the Republic

See also