La Lys, 1918: A Humilhação Militar na Gênese do Golpe de Estado de 28 de maio de 1926 em Portugal

La Lys, 1918: The Military Humiliation in the Genesis of the May 28, 1926 Coup d'État in Portugal

Abstract

Abstract: This investigation, a case study, analyzes Portugal's participation in the First World War alongside the Triple Entente. The Great War was a particularly traumatic wartime experience for the country, which was poor, deindustrialized, governed by a young and unstable republican regime, and situated on the European periphery. Following Germany's declaration of war, motivated by Portugal's cooperation with the United Kingdom, the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps was sent to the front lines. Despite some initial successes, Portugal suffered heavy human casualties and did not achieve its military objectives. The humiliation suffered, in conjunction with other sources of weakness in the Portuguese First Republic, fueled a series of conspiracies that, in 1926, would result in a coup d'état and a dictatorship - led by António de Oliveira Salazar starting in 1932 - which lasted until 1974.

Keywords: Portugal; Battle of the Lys; Military Revanchism; First World War.