Monarchy of The North
Some monarchists continued unsuccessful counter-revolutionary activities during the War, while the former King continued to condemn their actions and to exhort them to restore the monarchy at the ballot-box. This option seemed viable after the dictatorship of General Pimenta de Castro (January 1915) broke the momentum of the Democratic Party, who attempted to garner sympathies from the conservative right, by removing restrictions imposed on monarchist groups on 5 October. Between April and May 1915, 55 monarchist centres opened (33 in the north and 12 in the centre of the country), causing many republicans to close ranks and on 14 May 1915 the revolution returned to the streets, when 15,000 armed-civilians and the soldiers from the Navy tried to maintain the loyalty of the Army to the government. After three days of combat 500 deaths and more than 1,000 wounded, the Democratic Party retained control and the monarchist groups were once again declared illegal. During the Sidónio Pais government, Pais cultivated support from conservative factions and incorporated a reestablishment of a regime based on universal masculine suffrage. His assassination allowed moderate republicans to reestablish control, but the creation of military juntas in the provinces of the north, with monarchist tendencies, created expectations of a possible monarchist restoration through a military coup d'etat.
Manuel continued to plead for calm at the end of the War; while not abandoning the possibility of taking action in the future, he insisted on waiting to the end of peace negotiations in Paris: he was fearful that continued anarchy in Portugal would prejudice its negotiating possession. But, for Paiva Couceiro and the other Integralists, this was the moment: they awaited the royal authorization of the King's adjunct Aires de Ornelas. Receiving a memorandum that requested this authorization, and convinced that this action would not occur immediately, Ornelas wrote on the margin, Go on. Palavras de El-Rei and signed the document. On 19 January 1919 a thousand soldiers and some artillery, under the command of Paiva Couceiro occupied Oporto, in order to restore the Constitutional Monarchy, and its King Manuel II. A provisional government was established that abridged Minho, Trás-os-Montes (with the exception of Chaves), Mirandela and Vila Real), as well as part of the district of Aveiro, but contrary to Couceiro's expectations, the rest of the country did not rise.
In Lisbon, Aires de Ornelas was caught completely by surprise, but he could not escape with other monarchists to the safety of the 2nd Regimental Lancers, in Ajuda. There the number of refugees, who suffered republican reprisals increased, and the commander removed his forces and those civilians, marching them to Monsanto, where the 4th, 7th and 9th Cavalry and the 30th Infantry Battery from Belém were entrenched. Aires de Ornelas wavered in his support, which risked the possibility that Integralists would transfer their loyalty to Miguel's supporters, or assume the leadership of the monarchist movement. In a small area, and circled by Republican forces, the monarchists surrendered on 24 January. With the failure of the Restoration in the centre and south of the country, luck turned on Paiva Couceiro. On 13 February a part of the Republican National Guard deserted and restored the Republic in Oporto. Those monarchists who did not escape were imprisoned and sentenced to long-term imprisonment. The King, in exile, did not hear of the failure and was informed only after reading the reports in the newspapers.
Read more about this topic: Manuel II Of Portugal
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