By 1910, the Kingdom of Portugal was in deep crisis: national anger over the 1890 British Ultimatum,[1] the royal family's expenses,[2] the assassination of the King and his heir in 1908, changing religious and social views, instability of the two political parties (Progressive and Regenerator), the dictatorship of João Franco,[3] and the regime's apparent inability to adapt to modern times all led to widespread resentment against the Monarchy.

On 1 April 1890, the explorer Silva Porto self-immolated wrapped in a Portuguese flag in Kuito, Angola, after failed negotiations with the locals, under orders of Paiva Couceiro, which he attributed to the ultimatum.

[19] The rebels, who used the nationalist anthem A Portuguesa as their marching song, took the Paços do Concelho, from whose balcony, the republican journalist and politician Augusto Manuel Alves da Veiga proclaimed the establishment of the republic in Portugal and hoisted a red and green flag belonging to the Federal Democratic Centre.

The revolutionary movement of 5 October 1910 occurred following the ideological and political action that, since its creation in 1876, the Portuguese Republican Party (PRP) had been developing with the objective of overthrowing the monarchic regime.

The ideological direction of the Portuguese republicanism had been traced much earlier by the works of José Félix Henriques Nogueira, little changed through the years, except in terms of later adaptation to the everyday realities of the country.

From this combination came the final desertion of Iberian Federalism, patent in the first republican theses by José Félix Henriques Nogueira,[26] identifying the monarchy as antipatriotism and the yielding to foreign interests.

[28] Ideological issues were not, ultimately, fundamental to the republican strategy: for the majority of sympathisers, who didn't even know the texts of the main manifestos, it was enough to be against the monarchy, against the Church and against the political corruption of traditional parties.

The most effective action of dissemination was the propaganda made through its rallies and popular demonstrations and bulletins such as A Voz Pública (The Public Voice) in Porto, O Século (The Age, from 1880) O Mundo (The World, from 1900) and A Luta (The Struggle, from 1906) in Lisbon.

The celebrations of the third centenary of the death of Luís de Camões (Portugal's Shakespeare) in 1580, and the British ultimatum in 1890, for example, were capitalised on to present the republicans as the true representatives of the purest national sentiments and popular aspirations.

The idea of the Camões commemorations came from the Lisbon Geographic Society, but the execution was entrusted to a commission constituted by, amongst others, Teófilo Braga, Ramalho Ortigão, Jaime Batalha Reis, Magalhães Lima and Pinheiro Chagas, leading figures of the Republican Party.

The events were aggravated by the issues of the advanced payments to the Royal House and the signing of the decree of 30 January 1908 that foresaw the banishment to the colonies, without judgement, those involved in a failed republican coup two days prior.

[44] Meanwhile, in spite of the evident electoral success of the republican movement, the most revolutionary sector of the party called for armed struggle as the best means to achieve power in a short amount of time.

[50] Although many of those involved in the republican cause avoided participation in the uprising, making it seem like the revolt had failed, it eventually succeeded thanks to the government's inability to gather enough troops to control the nearly two hundred armed revolutionaries that resisted in the Rotunda.

After a dinner offered in honour of D. Manuel II by Brazilian president Hermes da Fonseca, then on a state visit to Portugal,[54] the monarch retreated to the Palace of Necessidades while his uncle and sworn heir to the throne, prince D. Afonso, went on to the Citadel of Cascais.

[57] Some officials were against the meeting due to the strong military presence, but Admiral Cândido dos Reis insisted for it to take place, saying "A Revolução não será adiada: sigam-me, se quiserem.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Ladislau Parreira and some officers and civilians entered the barracks of the Naval Corps of Alcântara at 1am, managing to take arms, provoke a revolt and capture the commanders, one of whom was wounded.

At about 7am Ladislau Parreira, having been informed by civilians of the situation, sent the Second-Lieutenant Tito de Morais to take command of the São Rafael, with orders for both ships to support the garrison of the barracks.

However, in practice, there were other useful units in military outposts used for lookout and general police duties, especially in the industrial district of Barreiro due to the bout of strikes and syndicalist activity that had been ongoing since September.

As for the police force and municipal guards, they were distributed through the city as set out in the plan, intended to protect strategic points such as Rossio Railway Station, the gas factory, the Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda (the Portuguese mint), the postal building, the Carmo barracks, the ammunition depot in Beirolas and the residence of the President of the Council of Ministers, where the government had assembled.

[67] The fact that some units of the monarchical side sympathised with the republicans, combined with the abandonment by the rebels of the original plan of action, opting instead for entrenchment in Rotunda and Alcântara, led to a situation of impasse throughout 4 October, with all manner of rumours about victories and defeats spreading through the city.

At around midday the cruisers Adamastor and São Rafael, which had anchored in front of the sailors' quarters, started the bombardment of the Palace of Necessidades, an action which served to demoralise the present monarchical forces.

The escort arrived in Mafra at around four o'clock in the afternoon, but then discovered a problem: due to the holidays, the Infantry School contained only 100 soldiers, as opposed to the 800 that were expected, and the person in charge, Colonel Pinto da Rocha, admitted to not having the means to protect the king.

On the night of 4 October morale was low amongst the monarchical troops stationed in Rossio Square, due to the constant danger of being bombarded by the naval forces and not even Couceiro's batteries, strategically placed there, could bring them comfort.

[78] Meanwhile, in Rossio, after Paiva de Couceiro's departure with the battery, the morale of the monarchical troops, which considered themselves helpless, deteriorated even more due to the threats of bombardment by the naval forces.

[83] In Mafra, on the morning of 5 October, the king was looking for a way to reach Porto, an action that would be very difficult to carry out due to the almost non-existence of an escort and the innumerable revolutionary hubs spread throughout the country.

[90] The ministers [of the Provisional Government], inspired by a high sense of patriotism, always sought to reflect in their actions the highest and most pressing aspirations of the old Republican Party, in terms of reconciling the permanent interests of society with the new order of things, inevitably derived from the revolution.

[109] Because of its patriotic character, it had been used, with slight modifications, by the rebels of the 1891 uprising[110] in a failed attempt at a coup d'état to establish a republic in Portugal, an event which caused the anthem to be forbidden by the monarchic authorities.

[119][120] According to journalist António Valdemar, who, when he became president of the National Academy of Art asked the sculptor João Duarte to restore the original bust: Simões found the face of the girl funny and invited her to be a model.

[133] On 24 May 1911, Pope Pius X issued the encyclical Iamdudum which condemned the anticlericals for their 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.

[140] Less than a month after the revolution, on 10 November 1910, the British government recognised de facto the Portuguese Republic, manifesting "the liveliest wish of His Britannic Majesty to maintain friendly relations" with Portugal.