The history of
Portugal can be divided into seven broad periods. The first
begins in the Paleolithic period and extends to the
formation of Portugal as an independent monarchy. During
this period, Lusitania, that portion of the western Iberian
Peninsula known today as Portugal, experienced many waves of
conquest and settlement by Iberos, Phoenicians, Greeks,
Romans, Swabians, Visigoths, and Muslims. Of these
successive waves of people, the Romans left the greatest
imprint on present Portuguese society. The second broad
period of Portuguese history runs from the founding of the
monarchy in 1128 until the disappearance of the House of
Burgundy, Portugal's first dynasty, in 1383. During this
period, the monarchy was established and expanded by
reconquering territory from the Muslims and populating those
lands with Christian settlers. Consolidation and economic
development were furthered by policies designed to increase
agricultural productivity. The third period
begins with the founding of the House of Avis, Portugal's
second ruling dynasty. During this period, Portugal
experienced a dynastic struggle that brought the House of
Avis to the throne, a series of wars with Castile that
threatened the independence of the new kingdom, a social
revolution, a second dynastic struggle, and the assertion of
royal supremacy over the nobility. The fourth period
begins in 1415 when the Portuguese seized Ceuta in Morocco,
thus beginning Portugal's maritime expansion. During this
period, Portugal explored the west coast of Africa,
discovered and colonized Madeira and the Azores, opened the
passage to India around Africa, built an empire in Asia, and
colonized Brazil. The fifth period,
that of imperial decline, begins with the dynastic crisis of
1580, which saw the demise of the House of Avis. During this
period, Portugal was part of the Iberian Union until 1640,
when the monarchy was restored and a new dynasty, the House
of Bragança, was established. This period includes
the advent of absolutism in Portugal and ends with the
Napoleonic invasions in the early 1800s. The sixth, the
period of constitutional monarchy, begins with the liberal
revolution of 1820, which established in Portugal for the
first time a written constitution. This period includes a
civil war in which constitutionalists triumphed over
absolutists, the winning of independence by Brazil, and the
exploration of Portugal's African possessions. It ends with
the collapse of rotativismo1 in the
early twentieth century. The final period
begins in 1910 with the downfall of the monarchy and the
establishment of the First Republic. This period includes
the corporative republic of António de Oliveira
Salazar; the collapse of that regime on April 25, 1974; and
the establishment of Portugal's present democratic regime,
the Second Republic. 1
The rotativismo was the alternation of
political factions at regular intervals with little or no
change to the political system as a whole.
Library of Congress Country StudyNote
Library of Congress Country Study
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