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

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

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

during the

Portuguese First Republic The First Portuguese Republic (; 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 marked by the 5 October 1910 revol ...

. 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 later brought about the replacement of the monarchy with the Portuguese First Republic. ...

, which had been behind the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

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 (; 6 March 1871 – 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 one of the major figures ...

, 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 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. C ...

and republican. Although some of the coups partially succeeded (

Monarchy of the North The Monarchy of the North (), officially the Kingdom of Portugal (), was a short-lived counter-revolution against the First Portuguese Republic and a monarchist government that was established in Northern Portugal in early 1919. It was based i ...

Pimenta de Castro Joaquim Pereira Pimenta de Castro (5 November 1846, in Pias, Monção – 14 May 1918, in Lisbon; ) was a Portuguese army officer and politician. He was a career military officer reaching the position of General, also graduated in mathematics b ...

Sidónio Pais Sidónio Bernardino Cardoso da Silva Pais (1 May 1872 – 14 December 1918) nicknamed "the President-King" (), was the 4th president of Portugal, serving in 1918. A Portuguese people, Portuguese politician, Officer (armed forces), militar ...

) the Democratic Party always managed to retain power. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, in which Portugal participated, the party entered a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

with the

Evolutionist Party The Republican Evolutionist Party (, PRE), commonly known as the Evolutionist Party, was a political party in Portugal led by António José de Almeida. History The party was established on 24 February 1912 as the result of a split in the Port ...

called "

Sacred Union The Sacred Union (, ) was a political truce in the French Third Republic in which the left-wing agreed during World War I not to oppose the government or call any strikes. Made in the name of patriotism, it stood in opposition to the pledge made ...

", 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 The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States which evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John ...

. 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 Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goal of gainin ...

opposition created a climate of constant revolt. Groups also seceded from the party, with the creation of the

Democratic Leftwing Republican Party The Democratic Leftwing Republican Party (, PRED) was a political party in Portugal, led by José Domingues dos Santos (a former Prime Minister). It was founded in 1925 by leftwing dissidents of the Portuguese Republican Party The Portuguese ...

and the Reformist Party, both on the Left. After the May 28th Coup of 1926, the party was banned on the 3rd of June 1926. Some factions lead by

later founded the League for the Defense of the Republic

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 who is the president of Portugal since 2016. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, though he suspended his party membership for the ...

described it as a "

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...

with a

dominant party A dominant-party system, or one-party dominant system, is a political occurrence in which a single political party continuously dominates election results over running opposition groups or parties. Any ruling party staying in power for more tha ...

" and historian

Fernando Rosas Fernando José Mendes Rosas (born 18 April 1946) is a Portuguese historian, professor and politician, being one of the founders of the Left Bloc. Biography Early life and education Rosas was born on 18 April 1946. He studied at Pedro Nu ...

called it a "political monopoly" and a "democratic dictatorship".

Prime ministers

Augusto de Vasconcelos Augusto César de Almeida de Vasconcelos Correia, Order of Saint James of the Sword, GCSE (24 September 1867 – 27 September 1951), better known as Augusto de Vasconcelos () was a Portuguese people, Portuguese surgeon, politician and diplomat, ...

(1911–1912) *

Duarte Leite Duarte Leite Pereira da Silva, GCC (11 August 1864 in Porto – 29 September 1950 in Porto; ), was a Portuguese historian, mathematician, journalist, diplomat and politician. He graduated in Mathematics at the University of Coimbra, in 1885. H ...

(1912–1913) *

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

Bernardino Machado Bernardino Luíz Machado Guimarães (March 28, 1851April 29, 1944) was the 3th and 8th president of Portugal, serving from 1915 to 1917 and again from 1925 to 1926. In 1917, Sidónio Pais, who was at the head of a military junta, dissolved Co ...

(1914; 1921) *

Victor Hugo de Azevedo Coutinho Victor Hugo de Azevedo Coutinho, 18th Count of Azevedo GCC, GCA (12 November 1871–27 June 1955), was a Portuguese naval officer, politician and professor, at the University of Coimbra and later the Escola Naval (Naval School). He was a member ...

(1914–1915) *

António José de Almeida António José de Almeida (July 27, 1866October 31, 1929) was a Portuguese politician who served as the 6th president of Portugal from 1919 to 1923. António José de Almeida also served as prime minister from 1916 to 1917. He was the only pr ...

— Evolutionists in coalition ( acred Union — (1916–1917) *

José Relvas José Maria de Mascarenhas Relvas de Campos ( Golegã, Golegã, 5 March 1858 – Alpiarça, Casa dos Patudos, 31 October 1929; , was a Portuguese politician and Prime Minister of Portugal. Personal life Jose was married to Eugénia de Lourei ...

(1919) *

Domingos Pereira Domingos Leite Pereira (; 19 September 1880 – 27 October 1956) was a Portuguese politician of the Portuguese First Republic. He had degrees in theology and literature of the University of Coimbra. He helped to improve the relationships between ...

(1919; 1920; 1925) *

Alfredo de Sá Cardoso Alfredo Ernesto de Sá Cardoso (6 June 1864 – 24 April 1950), commonly known as Alfredo de Sá Cardoso (), or just Sá Cardoso, was a Portuguese republican politician of the Portuguese First Republic who served twice as Prime Minister of Port ...

(1919–1920; 1920) *

António Maria Baptista António Maria Baptista (; 5 January 1866 – 6 June 1920) was a Portuguese military officer and politician. When he was lieutenant, he fought in Portuguese Mozambique, during the wars of pacification against the Vátuas, led by Gungunhana. ...

(1920) *

José Ramos Preto José Ramos Preto (23 October 1870 – 7 January 1949) was a Portuguese jurist and politician during the Portuguese First Republic. Among other posts, he served as civil governor, senator, minister and president of the Ministry (Prime Minister) ...

(1920) *

(1920; 1922–1923; 1925; 1925–1926) *

Liberato Pinto Liberato Damião Ribeiro Pinto ComTE, ComC, ComA, ComSE, (Lisbon, 29 September 1880 – Lisbon, 4 August 1949) was a Portuguese Lieutenant Colonel of the Republican National Guard (''Guarda Nacional Republicana'', GNR), politician and ...

(1920–1921) *

Alfredo Rodrigues Gaspar Alfredo Rodrigues Gaspar (8 December 1865 – 1 December 1938) was a Portuguese military officer and politician. Rodrigues Gaspar was President of the Ministry (Prime Minister) of one of the many governments of the Portuguese First Republic. ...

(1924) *

Vitorino Guimarães Vitorino Máximo de Carvalho Guimarães (Penafiel, 13 November 1876 – 18 October 1957) was a Portuguese economist and politician. He was the son of João Antunes de Sousa Guimarães and Amélia Augusta de Carvalho. He entered the School of t ...

(1925)

Presidents of the Republic

Manuel de Arriaga Manuel José de Arriaga Brum da Silveira e Peyrelongue (8 July 1840 – 5 March 1917) was a Portuguese lawyer who served as the first president of Portugal from 1911 to 1915. Manuel de Arriaga also served as the first attorney-general, following ...

(1911–1915) *

Teófilo Braga Joaquim Teófilo Fernandes Braga (February 24, 1843January 28, 1924) was the 2nd president of Portugal, serving in 1915. A Portuguese writer, playwright, politician he became the leader of the Republican Provisional Government after the overthro ...

(1915) *

(1915–1918; 1925–1926) *

Manuel Teixeira Gomes Manuel Teixeira Gomes (27 May 1860 – 18 October 1941) was a Portuguese politician who served as the 7th president of Portugal from 1923 to 1925. Personal life Manuel Teixeira Gomes was born in Vila Nova de Portimão, the son of José Líba ...

(1923–1925)

References

{{Defunct political parties in Portugal Defunct political parties in Portugal Liberal parties in Portugal Radical parties Republicanism in Portugal Republican parties Political parties established in 1910 Political parties disestablished in 1926 1910 establishments in Portugal 1926 disestablishments in Portugal

History

Relations with the Republic

Prime ministers

Presidents of the Republic

See also

References