The Legacy of the Glorious (Milarqui's Cut)

[Linense]

I agree with most of your opinion, except in one aspect: Because Portugal has been an independent state for a long time (except the 1580-1640 period), and in this TL, the Portuguese Civil War was ended with a victory for the monarchists, the Portuguese should choose a new monarch from the two contenders for the throne, Queen Antonia and Princess Isabel of Braganza-Borbon dos Sicilias (daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil). (I personally think Queen Antonia could actually refuse the offer, just for the sake of the nation of her birth.)

The Brazilian Constitution of 1824 specifically stated the impossibility of gather under the same person the thrones of Brazil and Portugal, to prevent that in that hypothetical dynastic union, Brazil returned to be considered as a colony of Portugal.

Furthermore, the dynastic lines were separated when Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal decides that his eldest daughter, Maria II, was his successor in the Portugal's throne, while his only son to be the new emperor of Brazil by the name of Pedro II.

Therefore, for the succession rights about Portuguese Crown fall on the descendants of Pedro II of Brazil, it should exhaust all lines of succession from Mary II; and Infanta Antonia of Braganza was her second oldest daughter who survived infancy (his eldest daughter who survived infancy was the Infanta Maria Anna of Braganza, who renounced his dynastic rights when he married a prince of Saxony and died in 1884; and in the hypothetical case that she had not explicitly renounced her rights to the Portugal's throne, it would not surprise me that their relatives and German royal family forced her heirs -who were obtained subsequently the dynastic rights to the throne of Saxony- to abandon their claims with so that their aunt Antonia was crowned as Antonia I of Portugal and she could fulfill the dream of Iberian unification, and thus obtain a stronger ally for the German Empire).

 

[Razgriz 2K9]

It is more than just a simple "Prince of Saxony." Maria Anna de Braganza married Prince George von Wettin, who at this point of the TL was the Heir Apparent to the Saxon throne currently held (at this point of the timeline) by his brother, King Albert. Had the Portuguese chose her descendents over Antonia, then there would run the risk of a Personal Union between Saxony and Portugal (if it went through, chances are that would come in the person of Frederick Augustus III von Wettin/hypothetically Frederico Augusto I de Wettin), and we've already seen the issues of a fief within an established higher power become monarch of a kingdom outside said higher power's vicinity (I'm referring to France and the various English fiefs in Gaul during the Middle Ages).

Personally, I think that it was the right decision, no matter the case.

 

[Archangel]

Good updates, Milarqui!

Chapter VII – The End Of A Century​

Part I – Brother Against Brother

A line that ran between Figueira da Foz in the west to Monte Fidalgo in the east was the line that separated Monarchist Portugal from Republican Portugal.

The provisional line would be very irregular in the eastern half.

The First Royal Army, meanwhile, did one of the most daring attacks when they boarded several ships and landed in the south, taking Marinha Grande and Leiria.

You can say that they landed at São Pedro de Moel.

When they finally reached the Palácio de Ajuda, which had become the headquarters for the Republican leadership

I suggest you correct it to Palácio da Ajuda.

King Afonso VII of Portugal, the man who had led the country through one of its most trying times – probably near the level of the Napoleonic invasion at the beginning of the century – died at 5 PM on November 12th 1891, leaving the Kingdom of Portugal in great sadness over such a great loss, and the government with the problem of finding a new King for the second time in a year. Or, rather, a new Queen. Because, right now, the eldest heir to the throne of Portugal was none but Queen Antonia of Spain, wife of Leopoldo I, King of Spain.

Queen Antonia was, legally, the heir to the throne, leaving her and Portugal in a thorny situation. There were three possibilities about what could be done now, possibilities that depended on what the Queen chose and the people wanted.

• In the first place, the Queen could abdicate her rights to the Portuguese Crown to her sons. Prince Guillermo would then become the King of Portugal unless he chose to cede his rights to either the Spanish or the Portuguese Crown to his brother Fernando, who could do the same.
• There was also the possibility of Antonia becoming Queen of Portugal, while King Leopoldo became King Consort of Portugal. This situation was quite similar to what the Catholic Monarchs had done in their time, but there would be problems unless Guillermo and Fernando made a deal.
• Lastly, there was a possibility, which was to have Leopoldo and Antonia become King and Queen of both nations, and Portugal and Spain would unify into one nation.

It was a difficult thing to choose, for each option had its advantages and disadvantages, both in local and international terms. The international part, they did not care much, but it was still potentially problematic, so, after consulting with the Spanish monarchs, the Spanish and Portuguese governments decided to leave the choice to the people.

Legally, the monarch had to be a Portuguese citizen by birth, of legitimate birth, and related to the Braganças.
But support for pan-iberism would be little.

The idea of Pan-Iberism was as old as the Romans. The Kingdom of the Visigoths had ruled over the entire Peninsula, as well as parts of northern Africa and southern France, and the Moors had managed to unify nearly all of the Peninsula save for the Christian redoubts in Asturias and the Pyrenees, the germ of the Reconquista. Portugal's independence in 1139 broke the Christian kingdoms even further than they had been, and further attempts to unify Iberia under one crown failed, such as the 1383 Crisis or Felipe II's inheritance of Portugal through his mother. The last one had happened twenty-two years before, when one of the potential candidates to the Spanish crown was former King Fernando II of Portugal.

The last years of successful policies carried out by the successive Spanish governments, the fortification of democracy in the country, as well as the friendship between both Iberian nations thanks to the efforts of Queen Antonia and the recent support for the Monarchists in the Civil War made it likelier that unification might not only be peaceful, but also lasting.

The voting started at 7 AM on March 27th under heavy security measures, which proved correct when people tried to spark riots in some cities, as well as attempts by people to vote twice that were caught by sharp-eyed workers. After the urns were closed at 10 PM, the votes were counted and the results were sent by secret courier or codified telegram to Madrid and Lisbon, to ensure no one would learn the results before it was the correct time. About 91.03% of the Portuguese people and 87.02 % of the Spanish people that could vote made use of that right.

The results were the following:

• Unification: 82.27% in Spain, 81.65% in Portugal.
• Personal union and later separation: 11.45% in Spain, 6.22% in Portugal.
• Independence: 6.18% in Spain, 13.13 % in Portugal.

The results were made public on the Boletín Oficial del Estado (which had replaced the Gaceta de Madrid as the vehicle of publication of all laws and government proclamations) on April 1st 1892, and it was that same day when, in front of a feverish crowd of people carrying Spanish and Portuguese flags, that President Segismundo Moret went to the balcony of the Governance Ministry to the Puerta del Sol, and said, full of pride, ¡Queda proclamada, por mayoría absoluta, la unificación de España y Portugal!

Soon, the streets became full, with much of the population joining the celebrations and enthusiastic about the fact that now all Iberian people (save for Gibraltar) would live under the same flag, and could put their weight around in the new world!

Only part of the left was pan-iberista.
If you're thinking of increased pro-iberist feelings as the result of the Ultimatum, it would be more present in the students and urban upper-middle classes.
Option 3 of the choices would be the most likely.
Option 2 would require a very strong effort of good will from Spain, but still difficult.

You might want to change Fernão Pereira to Fernando Pereira (IIRC, Fernão was no longer used)

Considering this specific scenario, the political changes and the new name for both nations sound good to me.
Some useful resources:

http://www.parlamento.pt/Parlamento/Paginas/AMonarquiaConstitucional.aspx
http://purl.pt/5854/1/documentos/Legislacao Eleitoral - MONARQUIA CONSTITUCIONAL.pdf
http://purl.pt/5854/1/resultados-eleitorais.html
http://www.iscsp.utl.pt/~cepp/eleicoes_portuguesas/

 

[Archangel]

The law of return for Sephardim could have a major impact. I believe there is such a law in force today in Spain, but it was enacted only in the 1990s, and by then most Sephardim lived in France or Israel. In the 19th century, with no Israel, there will be many more Sephardim who might take the chance to emigrate to a liberal and tolerant country. And since many of them had married into local Arab-Jewish families after being exiled from Iberia, there may be hundreds of thousands who have enough Sephardic ancestry to qualify.

In Portugal, many Sephardim families returned in the second half of the XIX century.

It will not be a chapter like the others, but, as I said before, a "Where Are They Now", but not only for people, but for nations, culture, science, etcetera. I suggest you that you tell me which people you would like to read about. So far, I have planned to write about Winston Churchill, Bismarck, Alfonso de Borbón (would-be Alfonso XII), Tsar Aleksandr II and his heir, Napoleon IV, Cánovas, Theodore Roosevelt, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov...

I hope that, in spite of the missing things, you like this chapter!
​

I would like to know where is Pavel Miliukov, Jean Jaurès, Clemenceau, Francisco Ferreira do Amaral, Henrique Paiva Cabral Couceiro, Prince Lvov, David Lloyd George and Nikola Tesla.

Well, there are already Spanish settlers (if you consider the previous Portuguese settlers as Spanish), so that's one thing answered. They are likely to become Foral Regions in the future, following the example of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, but first it would be required to improve the infrastructure. The indigenous population is considered Spanish in the wide sense of the word, but it will be some time until they do have all rights.

During the monarchy there were MPs elected from the colonies (the "deputies from the ultramarine circles" present in one of the links I provided).

I agree with most of your opinion, except in one aspect: Because Portugal has been an independent state for a long time (except the 1580-1640 period), and in this TL, the Portuguese Civil War was ended with a victory for the monarchists, the Portuguese should choose a new monarch from the two contenders for the throne, Queen Antonia and Princess Isabel of Braganza-Borbon dos Sicilias (daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil). (I personally think Queen Antonia could actually refuse the offer, just for the sake of the nation of her birth.)

The Brazilian Constitution of 1824 specifically stated the impossibility of gather under the same person the thrones of Brazil and Portugal, to prevent that in that hypothetical dynastic union, Brazil returned to be considered as a colony of Portugal.

Furthermore, the dynastic lines were separated when Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal decides that his eldest daughter, Maria II, was his successor in the Portugal's throne, while his only son to be the new emperor of Brazil by the name of Pedro II.

Therefore, for the succession rights about Portuguese Crown fall on the descendants of Pedro II of Brazil, it should exhaust all lines of succession from Mary II; and Infanta Antonia of Braganza was her second oldest daughter who survived infancy (his eldest daughter who survived infancy was the Infanta Maria Anna of Braganza, who renounced his dynastic rights when he married a prince of Saxony and died in 1884; and in the hypothetical case that she had not explicitly renounced her rights to the Portugal's throne, it would not surprise me that their relatives and German royal family forced her heirs -who were obtained subsequently the dynastic rights to the throne of Saxony- to abandon their claims with so that their aunt Antonia was crowned as Antonia I of Portugal and she could fulfill the dream of Iberian unification, and thus obtain a stronger ally for the German Empire).

Besides Portuguese-born members of the Bragança, there are other families like the Dukes of Cadaval, Dukes of Lafões, and the Dukes of Loulé (and any offshots of them).

 

[ingemann]

They do have great potential. While I wouldn't bet on Niels Bohr leaving Denmark, there are many other possibilities. For example, Emilio Segrè, one of the discoverers of the anti-proton, could actually be born in Spain if his parents emigrate from Italy. Of course, I'm not saying that just by being there, they would make the United Empire of the Spains implode in awesomeness, but having so many people come to Spain would be quite a boon, especially taking into account that they would probably still have contacts with their origin countries.

That's a good judgement as Niels Bohr was babtised Lutheran (his father was very devout member of the Danish State Church) and member of the Danish social elite, Bohr later left Christianity behind, but he never identified with his mother's former faith or Sephadin heritage, even through he was not hostile to his heritage either.

 

[Milarqui]

Hi, I'm back! And I am going to explain a couple of things.

- On the unification between Spain and Portugal: many have wondered about how it happened so successfully, but you have to realize how much Portugal has changed because of it all. First, Spain has been a more prosperous nation, and trade with Portugal has been bigger. The Queen is Portuguese, so that's a biggie. Then, during the Berlin Conference, Spain supported Portugal's claim to the territory between Angola and Moçambique (yes, a minor thing, but in the light of the Treaty of London, it is quite influential). When the crisis over the Treaty of London took place, Spain was supportive of Portugal, especially after the Portuguese told the UK to stuff it. During the Portuguese Civil War, Spain's support for the Monarchists, the winning team, was unwavering. And, in the end, Spain aided in the post-war reconstruction, serving as a role model to Portugal. This would have easily helped given raise to the pan-Iberist feeling. Also, to answer Archangel's well thought point-out that, legitimately, the king has to be a Portuguese... well, in this instance, we can consider that the Portuguese chose to throw that off (and the Queen is a Portuguese). After all, us Spaniards chose to accept an Italian as our king, and a Greek as our Queen.
- About Morocco: as some of you may have noticed, the reason why Spain hasn't forced Morocco into a protectorate is because the politicians have decided to take the "long term" on the relationship with Morocco. Sure, sucking them dry is interesting for Spain's economy, but the people in charge are not as short-sighted, figuring that, if the Moroccan people like Spain, they are less likely to protest their potential inclusion as part of the metropoli in the future. In the 36 Stratagems, it is referred as "sacrificing the plum tree to preserve the peach tree".
- About Angola and Moçambique's future status: it is expecte that they will become Foral Regions in the future, but it is not as immediate as some would think. I'd say that they are likely to acquire said status in 1905, as their infrastructure and control of the locals improves.
- About the Sephardim: as I previously stated, it's not as if Spain is going to become a superpower just because of them. They are going to be quite influential, though.

 

[ramones1986]

What will be the official languages of Morocco in this timeline? Will Darija give some recognition, as well as the Berber languages?

(Hmmm.... What do you think about Darija in neo-Tifinagh script?)

 

[mfarah]

Besides, the dual system between Austria and Hungary degenerated into continuous discrimination against other minorities, and seeing the beginnings of those conflicts, the Spanish and the Portuguese would want to avoid repeating these same mistakes.

First, great update, Milarqui!

Portuguese integration into United Spain(s) could be appeased by giving them some quotas of power. Hell, if I were the King, I'd make sure to spend time in the Lisbon Castle.

Which makes me think of the other side... Catalonia and Valencia could resent unification a bit, by feeling relegated. Barcelona would probably take very hard being demoted from #2 city to #3.

Perhaps the king should pull a "moving court" and rotate its residency between Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona. And Cádiz as well, considering Milarqui likes it so much (hey, I did notice the coat of arms' escutcheon has eight points...).

 

[mfarah]

More questions...

- Where is Isaac Peral now? I would have expected Spanish submarines to be mentioned as a part of the naval blockade.

- About the hymn: the one thing that I like from the Carlista version of the Spanish hymn is the rather potent line "Viva España, que es madre de Naciones". I wonder if that could be worked into the new hymn.

- Will Olivenza/Olivença, as a gesture of good will, be moved back to Portugal? (I'm guessing to the Lusitania region)

- Obviously, Norte's capital would be Porto; Lusitania's, Lisbon. Algarve's ... Faro, perhaps?

- I keep hearing about this plague decimating the Barbary Macaques in Gibraltar. What's up with that? ;-)

- “¡Viva el Imperio Unido de las Españas!” - Say, how many Spains are there? I'd expect catalan irredentists to say "Three". :-D

- Perú and Bolivia seem happy. Chile is irked. What do Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico say?

- Since the Oranesado is still a part of Spain, I'd expect most North-African sephardi jews to go to Orán, rather than Spain proper (at least at first). Just how big is the Oranesado, and can it accomodate such migrant influx?

- Will Queen Antonia insist on being called Antônia?

- By this time, Spanish language had gotten rid of the cedilla ('Ç'), which is still present in Portuguese (and Catalan). Will it make a comeback?

- I'd expect Spanish and Portuguese to drift together (absorbing Galician while at it). How long until the "new" Spanish language is acknowledged? If nothing else, the Portuguese ortography reform shall be rather interesting.

- How ARE the Philippines doing?

- Imperio Unido de las Españas. --> United Empire of the Spains. Or "Spains", for short, in English. Will people in the UK still talk about "Spain"? I'd guess so.

- We definitely need a couple maps. One showing the political division of the peninsula, and another one of the world, showing all the extrepeninsular foral regions, colonies and other posesions.


Did I say "Great update!"?

 

[ramones1986]

- How ARE the Philippines doing?

Still the same, at least in this timeline

 

[ramones1986]

- By this time, Spanish language had gotten rid of the cedilla ('Ç'), which is still present in Portuguese (and Catalan). Will it make a comeback?

No comeback for cedilla in Spanish.

 

[Milarqui]

First, great update, Milarqui!

Portuguese integration into United Spain(s) could be appeased by giving them some quotas of power. Hell, if I were the King, I'd make sure to spend time in the Lisbon Castle.

Which makes me think of the other side... Catalonia and Valencia could resent unification a bit, by feeling relegated. Barcelona would probably take very hard being demoted from #2 city to #3.

Perhaps the king should pull a "moving court" and rotate its residency between Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona. And Cádiz as well, considering Milarqui likes it so much (hey, I did notice the coat of arms' escutcheon has eight points...).

It is a possibility. Also, the escutcheon has eight points as a reference to what many consider the first kingdom that stood in Spain, Tartessos. Let's see if I remember to show you the coat of arms and the flag any time soon...

- Where is Isaac Peral now? I would have expected Spanish submarines to be mentioned as a part of the naval blockade.

Dead. His destiny will be mentioned in the Where are they now? in the next update.

- About the hymn: the one thing that I like from the Carlista version of the Spanish hymn is the rather potent line "Viva España, que es madre de Naciones". I wonder if that could be worked into the new hymn.

The hymn's eighth line makes a mention to that.

- Will Olivenza/Olivença, as a gesture of good will, be moved back to Portugal? (I'm guessing to the Lusitania region)

They are still part of Badajoz.

- Obviously, Norte's capital would be Porto; Lusitania's, Lisbon. Algarve's ... Faro, perhaps?

Correct.

- I keep hearing about this plague decimating the Barbary Macaques in Gibraltar. What's up with that? ;-)

Wot?

- “¡Viva el Imperio Unido de las Españas!” - Say, how many Spains are there? I'd expect catalan irredentists to say "Three". :-D

It is an archaic form to refer to all the kingdoms that once formed part of the Visigothic kingdom of Hispania. And, yes, Portugal was once considered one of the Spains (reportedly, they got rather angry when the Catholic Monarchs chose to call their nation Spain).

- Perú and Bolivia seem happy. Chile is irked. What do Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico say?

They don't care a lot about that. Tops, they are interested in how unification might affect their trading with Spain.

- Since the Oranesado is still a part of Spain, I'd expect most North-African sephardi jews to go to Orán, rather than Spain proper (at least at first). Just how big is the Oranesado, and can it accomodate such migrant influx?

I can see many Sephardim using Orán as a bridge to reach Spain proper, but I can't see that many settling in Orán.

- Will Queen Antonia insist on being called Antônia?

While in Portugal, yes.

- By this time, Spanish language had gotten rid of the cedilla ('Ç'), which is still present in Portuguese (and Catalan). Will it make a comeback?

No. Though, I can see that happening in the far future as Spanish and Portuguese mingle.

- I'd expect Spanish and Portuguese to drift together (absorbing Galician while at it). How long until the "new" Spanish language is acknowledged? If nothing else, the Portuguese ortography reform shall be rather interesting

.

Woooh, boy. It's gonna take at least a century. But, yeah, I can see a mix of Spanish and Portuguese happening in the future.

- How ARE the Philippines doing?

A whole lot better than in RL, what with the lack of a war, and no hypocritical, ungrateful Americans in there.

- Imperio Unido de las Españas. --> United Empire of the Spains. Or "Spains", for short, in English. Will people in the UK still talk about "Spain"? I'd guess so.

Yes.

- We definitely need a couple maps. One showing the political division of the peninsula, and another one of the world, showing all the extrepeninsular foral regions, colonies and other posesions.

I'll see when I can come up with something (won't be soon, because my other computer is not working well...)

Did I say "Great update!"?

Yes, you did. And thank you.

By the way, if you want to make sure all cliches and tropes appearing in this story can be reflected, you can go here.

 

[ramones1986]

Woooh, boy. It's gonna take at least a century. But, yeah, I can see a mix of Spanish and Portuguese happening in the future..

Why not keep Portuguese as it is in RL. After all, it is co-official with Castillan Spanish, right? And regarding the Sephardim, how about Tetuan?

 

[Archangel]

While in Portugal, yes.

No. Though, I can see that happening in the far future as Spanish and Portuguese mingle.

Woooh, boy. It's gonna take at least a century. But, yeah, I can see a mix of Spanish and Portuguese happening in the future.

IIRC, the spelling in European Portuguese at the time should be Antónia (Antônia is Brazilian Portuguese).

Keep up with the excellent work, Milarqui!

 

[Archangel]

Why not keep Portuguese as it is in RL. After all, it is co-official with Castillan Spanish, right? And regarding the Sephardim, how about Tetuan?

This brings the question of what happens to the orthographic reform of 1911.
Is it completely butterflied?

 

[ramones1986]

This brings the question of what happens to the orthographic reform of 1911.
Is it completely butterflied?

I don't know. But I sensed that the orthographic reform will be implemented 10 to 15 years earlier than OTL (with the possibility of establishing a language regulator inspired by the RAE)

 

[Milarqui]

Well, it turns out I had accidentally (and fortunately) saved the map of the Portuguese Civil War, so you can see it. Archangel, I hope the descriptions I made make sense after checking this map. I'm also sending the Flag and Coat of arms of the United Empire of the Spains.

First, the Portuguese Civil War:

The order of the lines is: Dark Blue, Orange, Green, Cyan, Brown, Dark Green, Purple, Olive.

Then, the Coat of Arms

And, finally, the Flag.

 

[Zealot]

I'm so sorry, but I must say I find this coat-of-arms awful

 

[Archangel]

Well, it turns out I had accidentally (and fortunately) saved the map of the Portuguese Civil War, so you can see it. Archangel, I hope the descriptions I made make sense after checking this map. I'm also sending the Flag and Coat of arms of the United Empire of the Spains.

First, the Portuguese Civil War:


The order of the lines is: Dark Blue, Orange, Green, Cyan, Brown, Dark Green, Purple, Olive.

I'm slightly colour-blind, but the map is easy to follow.

Then, the Coat of Arms

And, finally, the Flag.

I like them.

 

[ramones1986]

In this timeline, the time zone in Spain is the same as in Great Britain, just like in OTL before World War II.

Am I right?