The Delagoa Bay Arbitration and the Reign of Luís I (1872–1889)

In 1872, the longstanding dispute between Great Britain and Portugal over Delagoa Bay, located on the coast of Mozambique, was submitted to the arbitration of French President Adolphe Thiers. On April 19, 1875, Thiers’s successor, Marshal Patrice de MacMahon, ruled in favor of Portugal, reaffirming its sovereignty over the strategically significant bay. This ruling secured Portugal’s foothold in southeastern Africa, though the broader decline of the Portuguese empire continued.

King Luís I: A Monarch Overshadowed by Stagnation

Luís I of Portugal was an intellectual and a poet, but he lacked the political acumen necessary for effective governance. Thrust onto the throne following the deaths of his brothers Pedro V and Fernando in 1861, he presided over a tedious and ineffective domestic reign, dominated by the system of rotativismo—the alternating rule of the Progressistas (Liberals) and Regeneradores (Conservatives). While Luís personally favored the Regeneradores, granting them an extended period in power after 1881, his rule did little to advance the country’s fortunes.

Despite a brief flirtation with the Spanish succession before the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), Luís’s reign was largely one of domestic stagnation. During his rule, Portugal continued to fall behind western European nations in key areas such as public education, political stability, technological progress, and economic development. As a result, the Portuguese monarchy became increasingly detached from the country’s pressing challenges, setting the stage for the growing unrest that would culminate in the 20th-century republican movement.