Year XXXVIII, Number 1, March 2025

Adeline Morais Afonso
PhD candidate in HIstory and International Relations

Portugal has traditionally been a centralised and bureaucratic state. Since the founding of the Portuguese nation in 1143, the State has been the agent of political and territorial definition. It is mainly for this reason that federalism is still seen as innovative thinking in Portugal. However, federalist ideas have been present in Portugal's contemporary political history since the emergence of the Portuguese republican movement in the second half of the 19^th century. The first federalists defended the decentralisation of the State based on municipalism and regionalism. Some even advocated the creation of an Iberian federation. However, their ideas were abandoned in favour of unitarianism with the establishment of the First Republic (1910-1926). ‘Federalist projects’ for the Portuguese colonial empire also emerged but never came to fruition. It was not until the transition to democracy that Portugal questioned its membership of the European continent and envisaged European integration. From the early 90s onwards, Portugal adopted a Europeanist stance and subsequently distinguished itself as one of the great defenders of the contributions of the European Union.

A comprehensive study of the history of federalist ideas in Portugal has not yet been produced. Moreover, the subject has not been widely treated by the research community and does not seem to generate much interest in Portugal. The last major studies date back to the 90s and early 2000. Yet it is vital to highlight the emergence of federalist ideas in Portugal at key moments in its political history, especially when a change of regime was required and the internal organisation and/or Iberian and European membership were called into question. A brief history of federalist ideas in Portugal helps to qualify and even refute the idea that the country was never susceptible to this current of political thought.

Portuguese republicanism: federalists versus unitarists

Federalist ideas emerged in Portugal during the constitutional monarchy (1820-1910) with the gradual emergence of the republican movement. José Félix Henriques Nogueira (1823-1858) was one of the central figures who stood out for his federalist ideas. In 1851, he published Estudos sobre a Reforma de Portugal (‘Studies on the Reform of Portugal’), considered to be a doctrinal reference for the republican movement. Henriques Nogueira defended municipalism as the main form of administrative decentralisation. In his view, the basic and only unit for dividing up the territory should be the municipality, that is the only link between local government and central government. The latter, made up of representatives of the communities, would have the task of drafting laws and overseeing their implementation. Henriques Nogueira therefore considered the territorial division into provinces or districts to be ‘absurd’, as it would lead to a spendthrift state, where excessive public structures would be the cause of the country's backwardness and underdevelopment[i].

The influence of Henriques Nogueira's thinking on the republican ideal was profound and lasting. In 1869, the first federalist weekly, A República Federal, was created, and in 1873, federalist activists got together and founded the Centro Republicano Federal de Lisboa. They published the newspaper O Rebate, which served as the main instrument for disseminating their ideas. From the very first issue, they set out their programme, advocating universal suffrage for men and women over the age of 18 and sharing their desire to create a democratic and federal Portuguese Republic. Among its members was the writer Teófilo Braga (1843-1924), who later became President of the Portuguese Republic (1910-1911 and 1915).

The Portuguese republican movement formed a political party in 1876: the Partido Republicano Português (PRP), which subsequently experienced several internal splits due to disagreements between ‘unitarists’ and ‘federalists’. The former feared that a federal republic based on municipalism would jeopardise national unity. The PRI's 1981 manifesto enabled a consensus to be reached between the two factions: the creation of a federation of municipalities and a federation of provinces. Nevertheless, when the Republic was established in 1910, federalist ideas were abandoned in favour of the ‘parliamentary unitary republicanism’ enshrined in the 1911 Constitution. The Constituent Assembly rejected the creation of an upper chamber based on representation of the municipalities on the grounds that the disproportion between the population and the territory - many localities did not have a significant economic life - would make it difficult to achieve a balanced administrative division of the country. Similarly, representation based on the provinces was not accepted because they had no political tradition and were merely a territorial expression, with no collective conscience[ii]. The young Portuguese Republic was still too marked by a centralised political organisation, a legacy of the absolute monarchy of the ancient regime, despite almost a century of constitutional monarchy inspired by liberal ideas. 

Iberian union and federalism

Iberian union has been a recurring political project in the history of the peninsula since the Reconquista period (8^th-15^th centuries). From the 15^th century onwards, the Spanish monarchy made no secret of its desire to unite the two dynasties. This happened in 1580 following a dynastic crisis caused by the untimely death of the Portuguese king D. Sebastião I (1554-1578), whose heir was his uncle, Cardinal Henrique, who also had no legitimate descendants. In the end, it was his cousin D. Felipe II, King of Spain (1527-1598), who became King of Portugal. Despite a common sovereign, the two nations were distinct and had not merged. Portugal regained its independence in 1640, and in the 19^th century the union of the two crowns could have been repeated to Portugal's advantage. During the Sexenio Democrático (1868-1874) in Spain, the Spanish crown was first offered to D. Ferdinand II, King Consort of Portugal (1816-1885) and father of D. Luis I, King of Portugal (1838-1889). But D. Ferdinand II refused the Spanish throne for fear of becoming involved in a troubled political situation.

Among the Portuguese federalist republicans of the 19^th century, some defended an Iberian union based on republicanism and federalism. These included Henriques Nogueira and Teófilo Braga, as well as Count Casal Ribeiro (1825-1896) and Latino Coelho (1835-1891). The latter even translated into Portuguese the work La Iberia: Memoria Sobre Las Ventajas de la Unión de Portugal Y España (1853) by the Spanish diplomat D. Sinibaldo de Mas (1809-1868). Although the latter argued in favour of an Iberian national union within a monarchical system, the work helped to spread the idea of Iberianism in Portugal and influenced many federalists. In his Estudos sobre a Reforma de Portugal, Henriques Nogueira explained that the republican federation would be the result of a union of various independent peoples into a national body. For this reason, Iberian federation could only be achieved with the dismantling of Spain. Castile had to stop imposing excessive centralisation on the Iberian peoples of Spain, and only then would Portugal be able to join them[iii].   

Nevertheless, Henriques Nogueira's idea of a ‘federation of nations’ did not find a way to be implemented, as did his project for internal federalism based on municipalism. Indeed, the ‘Spanish danger’ threatened Portugal's independence and national unity when the First Republic was proclaimed. The incompatibility of the political regimes of Portugal and Spain represented a real threat. Many Portuguese monarchists went into exile in Spain and found support from the Spanish monarchy to organise military incursions into Portugal at the start of the republican regime. Portuguese-Spanish relations only stabilised when the dictators António de Oliveira Salazar (1889-1970) and Francisco Franco (1892-1975) signed the ‘Iberian Pact’ in 1939, following the Spanish Civil War. This peace and non-aggression treaty mutually recognised the independence and sovereignty of the two states.

After this period, Iberianism no longer enjoyed the same success in Portugal as it had during the period of Republican militancy. It was not until the second half of the twentieth century that a Portuguese writer, José Saramago, the only winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1998) from the Portuguese-speaking world, once again defended an Iberian union, notably in his book A Jangada de Pedra (in English, ‘The Stone Raft’), published in 1986.

Federalist projects associated with the Portuguese colonial empire

In the history of the Portuguese colonial empire, several ‘federalist projects’ were proposed but never implemented as such. The first came at the beginning of the 19^th century, when the Portuguese royal family moved to Brazil to escape the Napoleonic invasions (1801-1814). After becoming the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in 1815, the revolts in Portugal, in 1820, enabled the Liberals to seize power and launch a constitutional process. The Constituent Assembly was made up of Portuguese and Brazilian representatives. A group of Brazilian deputies proposed a Luso-Brazilian federation in which each kingdom would have its own parliament and its own judicial, executive and administrative system. The Portuguese colonies would be able to choose to which of the two kingdoms of the federation they wished to be directly attached. Finally, the project presented provided for equal representation of the two kingdoms in an imperial parliament. The proposal was widely rejected because it was interpreted as a quasi-request for independence. In the end, independence was proclaimed by Brazil in 1822, and the new constitution voted on would only apply to Portugal[iv]. Several decades later, the Portuguese republican activist José de Macedo (1976-1948) defended a second project for a colonial federation, this time with Angola. In his view, a federal link was the best way of maintaining lasting ties with the colonies.

‘Federalist projects’ for the Portuguese colonies were to reappear in the second half of the 20^th  century. The successor to the dictator Salazar, Marcelo Caetano (1906-1980), presented a paper in 1962 in which he advocated a federalist solution for the African colonies. From the 1960s onwards, the authoritarian regime's foreign policy was dominated by the colonial wars in Africa (1961-1974). Portugal was increasingly criticised by the international community and had been condemned several times by United Nations resolutions for its categorical refusal to initiate a decolonisation process. As a result, Portugal found itself progressively isolated on the international stage. Marcelo Caetano's communication in 1962 had been strongly criticised and, as a result, many leading figures in the regime distrusted him when he came to power in 1969.

The protracted colonial wars in Africa and the gradual liberalisation of the regime under Marcelo Caetano prompted a number of political and military figures to express their views on potential solutions to put an end to the conflict that was gradually ruining the country. The most popular idea was based on colonial federalism. On 24 February 1974, General António de Spínola (1910-1996) signed the book Portugal and the Future, in which he described the aim of integrating the colonies into Portugal through the creation of a federation. This project was never to see the light of day, however, as two months later the Carnation Revolution broke out and the provisional government set up favoured decolonisation as the most acceptable solution in the circumstances. In the aftermath of the Revolution, a political party was created, the Movimento federalista português (MFP), to defend General Spínola's project, although after a few months he backed down and accepted the independence of the Portuguese colonies in Africa. The MFP changed its name to the Progress Party, which lost all federalist substance. 

With the end of the Portuguese colonial empire, plans for Portuguese-speaking federalism did not reappear, even among the most nostalgic. The only remaining ambition is to safeguard the special links between the countries of the Portuguese-speaking world, notably through the creation in 1996 of an international organisation, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), or through the initiative of civil society in creating cultural and civic associations such as the International Lusophone Movement (MIL), founded in 2010.  

Portugal and European federalism

The transition to democracy (1974-1976) marked a major transformation in Portugal's relationship with Europe. For five centuries, the alliance with England had represented the only lasting and peaceful link with the old continent. It was the perpetual tensions with Spain that had limited contacts with other European countries, leading Portugal in particular to seek what was known as ‘maritime compensation’ with the colonial empire and to establish an alliance with the great maritime power.

From 1974 onwards, democratisation put an end to the country's colonial vocation and led to the pacification of relations with Spain. Gradually, relations with the European continent became a priority. In 1986, the country succeeded in joining the European Communities, with the main aim of catching up economically and socially and modernising the country. However, it was only during the first few years of membership, between 1986 and 1992, that Portugal's moderately sceptical stance towards the deepening of European integration evolved into an assertive Europeanism. Despite the fact that Portugal is still one of the most ‘pro-European’ Member States according to Eurobarometer results, this does not mean that Portuguese citizens are federalists. Portugal is still influenced by a long political history of centralisation, patrimonialism and bureaucracy. The authoritarian Estado Novo regime (1933-1974) further entrenched the culture of unitarianism in the collective mind. At present, no political or intellectual figure stands out in Portuguese public opinion in favour of European federalism. Only the political party Volt Portugal openly defends it, but it does not have a high profile in the media. The centrist party Iniciativa Liberal advocates decentralisation and de-bureaucratisation, but never mentions the term ‘federalism’, even though some of its activists are convinced federalists. In the voluntary sector, there are the Young European Federalists - Portugal and the Union of European Federalists - Portugal. However, they are few in number and have even experienced periods of inactivity.

Federalist ideas in Portugal have met with great resistance as a result of a political tradition marked by unitarianism and reinforced by the country's lack of regionalisation. Prior to 1986, Portugal did not have a coherent regional policy. As a result, there were difficulties in applying the first European structural funds allocated for regional development. The process of European integration has enabled a slow process of decentralisation and de-bureaucratisation to begin, as well as the delimitation of regions. But this recent regionalisation does not allow for the recognition of a strong regional identity. Even today, Portuguese citizens identify themselves primarily with their nationality and/or their locality. As far as Iberianism is concerned, there are more thinkers today on the Spanish side than in Portugal. An Iberian union could make sense today if it were achieved within the framework of a European federation, and the question of the compatibility of political systems can be raised. Should Portugal adopt the monarchy or should Spain abdicate its own? Many questions remain to be resolved. Moreover, federalist political figures and organisations are still forgotten by history, which confirms the importance of the work to be done by historians and others interested in dealing with the gaps in historiography.

[i] Cavaco Monteiro, José Luís, Federalismo, regionalismo e municipalismo em Portugal (1920-1922), Dissertação

de mestrado, Universidade de Lisboa, 2009.

[ii] Leal, Ernesto Castro, « A ideia federal no Republicanismo português (1910-1926) », Revista de Historia das

Ideias, Vol. 27 (2006).

[iii] Catarino, Manuela, « Henriques Nogueira: defensor do Iberismo », Jornal Badaladas, Bicentenário do

nascimento de José Félix Henriques Nogueira (1823-2023), 2 junho 2023, p. 20.

[iv] Martins, Hermínio, « O federalismo no pensamento português », Penélope, 1998, p. 16-17.