Marshal Saldanha’s Final Intervention: The 1870 Dictatorship

By 1870, Portugal was gripped by insurmountable financial difficulties, political turmoil, and street unrest, exacerbated by a succession of weak and ineffective governments. In response to the mounting crisis, the elderly Marshal João Carlos de Saldanha, a veteran of multiple political upheavals, once again asserted his authority over the nation.

Supported by the army, Saldanha established a supra-party dictatorship, intending to enforce political reforms and stabilize the government. His intervention, however, was a last, desperate attempt to impose order on an increasingly fractured political landscape.

Despite his efforts, Saldanha did not live to see the failure of his reforms, as his regime quickly unraveled under the weight of the same economic instability and political divisions that had necessitated his coup. His final bid to reshape Portugal’s political system ultimately proved fleeting, as the country remained mired in instability and governmental paralysis in the years that followed.