Basic Information
Short Name: Portugal
Medium name: The Kingdom of Portugal (Reino de Portugal)
Full Name: The Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves (Reino de Portugal e dos Algarves)
Capital: Lisbon (Lisboa)
Color: #1760AD
Provinces:
The Pink provinces are claimed.
Description
The Kingdom of Portugal had, during the 19th century, largely sunk away into the position of a small, hardly even regional power as other larger empires surpassed it. The glory days of when Portugal ruled the waves had certainly been long gone. Pressure had been mounting for quite some time on the Kingdom at the turn of the century. Its attempts to acquire the Pink Map, a hypothetical cross continental African colony, had been denied by the British, harming the people’s faith in the monarchy. This, and a heap of other issues, resulted in King Carlos’s instatement of a dictatorship headed by João Franco to ensure the continuation of the Kingdom.
The regime had little success, as Portugal, already a bit of a technological backwater, had fallen woefully behind their contemporaries, and while attempts were made to improve the situation, it was all for nought when in 1908, the King was assassinated by the Republicans. The eighteen year old Manuel II succeeded to the throne, and managed to hold on for two more years, promising to the population to institute some of the reforms that they had been clamouring for, while at the same time going through different governments at a high rate, caused by a fractured Monarchist front and an increasingly powerful Republican bloc.
While a majority of Republicans ended up being elected, militant members of the Republican groups went ahead with a revolution either way, when in 1910, an uprising occurred in the ranks of the navy, allegedly because of the revolutionary Carbonária organisation having several members within the Navy’s ranks. The government’s response was slow, and the military refused to act, resulting in a swift exile for King Manuel and the royal family, and the proclamation of the First Portuguese Republic.
The young Republic wished to radically change the way Portugal carried itself, but the first government lasted only a few weeks, a sign of the things that were to come. Rabidly anti-clerical measures were implemented, leading to religious persecution against the priesthood and the monasteries of the country, pursued by Freemasons. The economy spiralled downward as the world situation deteriorated too, and driven by Portugal’s allegiances, the country entered the Great War in 1916, a move that was hoped by those in charge to regain some governmental popularity. It was not to be so.
German troops laid waste to British troops and the Portuguese allies in southern Africa. Disruption of valuable resources from Mozambique as Germany’s Von Lettow-Vorbeck ran rampant through the colony while German submarines harrowed Portugal’s trade with no way to be stopped caused a huge embarrassment to the government.
Then, in 1920, the war against the machines rocked the world. The international economy took a hit, pushing the fragile Portuguese economy into dire straits and sending people onto the streets to protest the pitiful inaction of the government, though all counted their blessings as the tide of machines never passed into Portugal, leaving the countryside and the population unscathed. Portugal’s woes were institutional instead, and even after the official end of the War to end all Wars, the anarchy continued as revolutions and governments followed each other in rapid succession. Resentment against the Republicans continued to build up unabated, with the Monarchists, though still somewhat divided, becoming a growing movement again. The tensionreached a boiling point, and the careful balance was rocked only a few years after the war ended.
In 1924, Manuel II, exiled in the United Kingdom, decided to pack up and depart back to Portugal. A Catholic man like his family, and generally considered to be sane, he had become uncomfortable with the changes occurring in the United Kingdom, and attempted to land in Porto on a civilian ship on the 24th of April. The Republican government ordered the military to expel the exiled monarch, but by that point their situation mirrored that of the 1910 declaration of the Republic. Units supportive of Manuel joined him in Porto, while Republican units took their position in the countryside to prevent the King from reaching Lisbon.
While nowhere near as destructive as the Spanish Civil War next door, as it was between only two forces and civilians were mostly not involved in the conflict, the fighting was nonetheless vicious. Over time though, the monarchist forces under Henrique de Paiva Couceiro won out over their Republican counterparts, coming to a decisive head in the Battle of Coimbra, in which mech units played a decisive role when the lion’s share of them sided with the monarchists. The Republican forces were left reeling from this battle, and within the next month the victorious Manuel II was restored as King of Portugal on the 4th of September 1924, which is still a National Holiday to this day.
The Kingdom of Portugal had been reborn, but it was not going to be the same as the constitutional monarchy that it was before the Republic took over. The military took a leading role, with high ranking officers often serving in governmental offices. The democratic process, while present, was not considered to be very fair, as the various parties that formed after the instability of the Republic was ended took a rightward bend to their politics.
The most successful of these parties was António de Oliveira Salazar’s ‘National Union’ (União Nacional) party, which took a majority of seats in the 1929 elections, though opposition from the Integralismo Lusitano party and other rightwing parties was and is still fierce, as well as parliamentary and not-so-parliamentary opposition from the remaining leftwing and centre republican parties, many of which have been forced underground, but still plot their return...
Civil Aspects
Politics: Portugal in 1930 is a constitutional monarchy on, but an authoritarian one. Salazar’s National Union rules with an iron fist, though one tempered by King Manuel II, who at heart is a more moderate man then the regime that acts in his name. The Prime Minister and the King regularly clash over policy, as the King still retains some say over governance. While Salazar and Manuel came to an agreement over the social measures that were instated to satisfy the lower classes of the population, more recent disagreements have been more heated. Outside of their disagreements are other political movements eager to get elected, or to seize power, whichever is easier.
Chief among the rightwing parties is António Sardinha’s Lusitanian Integralism (Integralismo Lusitano) movement. Their platform is to alter the way the state works by implementing a policy of national syndicalism, remove democracy and instead decentralise the country and make the King’s word absolute. Popular among extreme rightwing intellectuals and chunks of the middle class, the success of Sandinho’s movement was a surprise to everyone. Still, it is Sandinho around whom the movement revolves. His death could result in the end of the Integralist dream...
On the other side of the spectrum, aside from a cadre of generic centre parties that cannot hope to stand a chance against Salazar or even the Integralists, are the remaining republican parties and leftwing parties. Though many have been driven underground, some still operate in the parliament, proving to be an eternal nail in the establishment’s side. Most, though, operate in the shadows, plotting their return. Secret societies like the Freemasons and Carbonária still exist, engaging in organized crime to gather men, experience and funds to make their comeback, although of course some of their leaders are more than happy to remain crimelords...
For now, the military remains loyal to the King and the government and executes its wishes, and on that the government heavily relies. However, were this to ever change, surely the government would find itself at the bayonet of an unruly general’s gambit. And Salazar and the King both are eager to rely less on the army to maintain the regime...
Economy: Portugal’s economy was ailing for many years, even when entering the 20th century completely unprepared for what was to come. Decidedly agrarian with industrialization happening at a far slower rate than the rest of Europe, it stood no chance at the havoc the war and the machine crisis would cause. The Republic’s anarchy and inability to fix the tanking economy was one of the main reasons for its collapse.
After the restoration of the monarchy and the Kingdom of Portugal, the situation gradually stabilised, though the country certainly isn’t out of rough water yet. Portugal relies on an export economy based on the natural resources it pulls out of Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea and the other colonial possessions the Kingdom boasts. This, coupled with an increased industrialisation effort pursued by the Salazar regime, is hoped to be the driving factors in making Portugal rich once again. Still, there are many issues facing the government that will need to be addressed before this can be accomplished.
Diplomacy: Despite its economical and political troubles, Portugal remains engaged in international affairs, as any civilized nation would.
Portugal’s Catholic and relatively conservative nature leads it to distrust advances in AI and mechanics. While it didn’t directly experience the horror caused by the machines, it certainly received enough news to know their danger. It currently awaits a definite statement from the Papacy on the Church’s opinion on machines. Until then, Portugal’s relations with machine nations are, well, strained.
Relations with their ally of several centuries, England, have been on the decline for several years now, culminating in outrage among the Portuguese when Victoria was declared to be the Second Coming. To suggest such a thing was, well, unthinkable.
Most pressing to Portugal is the presence of the Spanish exiles and the remainder of the army, under the leadership (at least in part) of General Francisco Franco. Eagerly they plan their return to Spain, and are a cause of much tension between Portugal and its neighbor.
Other than that, trade is Portugal's lifeblood, and most who are willing to trade are welcome in Portugal’s ports.
Research: Portugal’s sluggish economy and slow adaptation to modern ways of industry led to it being spared the true terror of machine invasion, but also meant that innovation was not what you would call commonplace.
Although the country boasts several well-established universities, it is the belief of most that the danger of meddling in things that are not adequately understood is unwise and overly risky. As such, progress is, while safe, relatively slow at the moment.
Military Aspects
Army: The Portuguese Army has remained mostly true to what it was prior to the Great War, although this has been starting to change under the influence of the Spanish exiles. Among their ranks are experienced officers, who have taken it upon themselves to train the Portuguese army into something more worthy of the modern age.
While the army does utilise a not unsizeable amount of mechs and tanks, they are mostly of old design, with the man on the ground expected to do most of the legwork. Doctrinal changes were deemed to be necessary, however. The recent introduction of ‘Cavaleiros’ (Knights) well armed and armoured soldiers meant to destroy enemy armoured targets and defensive positions, similar to their counterparts the ‘Matadors’ in Spain, has been the largest change.
Navy: The Portuguese Navy suffered during the Great War, but has since recovered. It boasts several cruisers of varying age and armaments, as well as an assortment of destroyers, frigates and submarines. Submarines and destroyers are seen as mandatory to maintain the globe-spanning Portuguese realm, and as such Portugal attempts to produce more of these ship types, and tries to remain aware of changes in the world of naval innovation.
Air Force: The Portuguese airforce remains underdeveloped, consisting of a few squadrons of biplane fighters and bombers. As of now there is not much interest to improve this state of affairs, the army and navy taking precedent.
Intel: The prime tool used by Salazar in combating republicans, criminals and other enemies of the state, aside from the police force, is the Instituto Real de Segurança do Estado (Royal Institute of State Security). A new institution founded in 1926, this internal police force is tasked to protect the state from its enemies.
The Agência Real de Inteligência de Portugal (Portuguese Royal Intelligence Agency) is tasked with foreign intelligence, though they lack funding, as aside from keeping tabs on Spain, their services have not been needed as of late.
