Bernardino Machado's government resigns

A British chronology of the war records under 11 December 1914 the resignation of the Portuguese prime minister, Dr Bernardino Machado Guimarães, and adds that he had been in office since 23 June. Both dates need explaining. Bernardino Machado had headed the government since 9 February 1914, and on 23 June he merely reshuffled his cabinet, which is why some works speak of two governments of his. According to Portuguese historians he had already asked to resign on 4 December. His cabinet nevertheless remained in power until 12 December, when a new government replaced it.

A government of conciliation

Machado, a Coimbra professor and a former minister under the monarchy, had returned to Lisbon in 1914 from his post as minister in Rio de Janeiro. President Manuel de Arriaga entrusted him with the task of calming the political life of the First Republic, shaken by the struggle between the radical Democratic Party of Afonso Costa and the moderate republicans. Machado formed a non-party cabinet in which a few Democrats sat alongside non-party experts. The government proclaimed an amnesty covering more than two thousand prisoners and émigrés, mostly monarchists. In June the Democratic ministers left, and Machado filled the cabinet with people of no party affiliation.

This conciliatory manner was mocked. The writer Raul Brandão recalled that the prime minister promised everything to everyone and that his courtesy wore out his colleagues. Guerra Junqueiro said that Machado was made not of iron but of rubber: you could run a steamroller over him and he would get straight up and raise his hat.

The war divides the republicans

The outbreak of war set the government a problem that could not be solved by compromise. On 7 August Machado assured parliament that Portugal would remain true to the alliance with England, but at London’s request it declared neither neutrality nor entry into the war. Costa’s Democrats wanted war on the side of the Entente, hoping that it would strengthen the republic and protect the colonies. Brito Camacho’s Unionists would at most agree to fighting in Africa, and the monarchists were opposed. In the autumn there were clashes with the Germans in Angola, and on 23 November Congress, on Machado’s motion, authorised the government to take part in the war when it judged it necessary.

At the same time a dispute over elections was growing. The parliamentary elections planned for 1 November had been postponed because of the war. So on 2 December the old Congress met, although according to critics its mandate had already expired. The parties were preparing for a struggle for power, and Machado had managed neither to define Portugal’s position on the war clearly nor to present a new electoral law.

Departure

The resignation surprised many politicians. There was speculation that Machado had his eye on the presidency. The 1911 constitution barred from election as president any ministers who had not left the government at least six months before the vote. Arriaga’s term was due to end in 1915. President Arriaga, whose plan to reconcile the republicans had just collapsed, reportedly considered resigning himself, but in the end began looking for a new prime minister.

Machado returned to high politics sooner than might have been expected. In August 1915 parliament elected him president of the republic. It was during his presidency, in March 1916, that Germany declared war on Portugal.