Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Initially struggling to retain its independence in the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal emerged as a global power during the European Age of Discovery. Dynastic difficulties and a faltering system led to the demise of the monarchy. During the 1900s Portugal had three main forces of protest and revolution. First, the general population compelled the king to abdicate in 1910. However, the first attempt to run a republic failed rather quickly, and an authoritarian government took over in 1928. Second, following a long dictatorship of almost fifty years, the Portuguese, led by a worker's movement, toppled fascism with a massive populist revolution. Third, one of the largest sources of economic and political tension for Portugal in the late 1900s was the effectiveness of retaining its overseas colonies in Africa and Asia. The constant revolts in the colonies contributed to the overall coup d'état to overthrow the dictatorship in 1974.Portugal became an independent nation in 1143, when the king of Leon and Castille, Alfonso VII, recognized the country of Portugal's independence under King Afonso I. Afonso I and his successors, with the assistance of military monastic Orders, worked to expel the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula to expand Portuguese territory. The Portuguese Reconquista ended in 1249, when forces reached the southern coast of the Algarve. In 1383, when Ferdinand I, king of Portugal, ... log in or subscribe to read full text