Manuel de Arriaga

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Manuel de Arriaga : biography

July 8, 1840 – March 5, 1917

Following the establishment of the Republic (October 5, 1910), young Republican students in Coimbra entered the installations of the Senate, and vandalized the Hall and furniture used in Doctoral ceremonies and damaged paintings of the last Portuguese kings. In order "to impede other depravities Dr. António José de Almeida (Republican from the first hour) invited Dr. Manuel de Arriaga to be rector of the old University and gave him leave on 17 October of 1910 in a ceremony without academic ceremonies, which was enough to curb student enthusiasm".Joaquim Veríssimo Serrão, 2007, p.320

During the period of the Provisional Government, he became the Attorney-General of the Republic premièring in that way a paladin of Republican propaganda and as one of the more caustic Portuguese.Joaquim Veríssimo Serrão, 2007, p.l46

As one of the older figures of the Republican regime (he was 71), he was elected President on August 24, 1911; he did not campaign for the position, and noted that it was a heavy burden, which he believed he was personally incapable of fulfilling its duties, but accepted it "for the good of the Republic".Fernando Faria Ribeiro, 2007, pp.67 The other candidate was Dr. Bernardino Machado (who would also become President later), but it was António José de Almeida who had suggested Manuel Arriaga at the end of Teófilo Braga’s Provisional Government. As Almeida had believed Arriaga "was one of the few if not the only man in the Party who worked well with everyone and whom the Lord Christ didn’t speak ill".Maria Luísa V. de Paiva Boléo, 2006

The Presidency was itself not an enviable or prestigious position; although the elected person, for a time, occupied a large home in Horta Seca, they were required to furnish the home at their own cost, pay rent and had no transport budget, nor personal secretary (Arriaga would ask his own son to help him in this role). Later, the first President lived in the Palace of Belém, but not in the main building, but rather an annex off of the Pátio das Damas. This occurred in a period when personal divisions between different factions had splintered the Republican cause; António José de Almeida would form the Evolutionist Party, Brito Camacho the Republican Union, while Afonso Costa would continue to front the main Republican Party (renamed the Democratic Party). Manuel de Arriaga, for his part, would select the politician and journalist João Chagas to head his first government. In his personal autobiography, Arriaga recounted how he hoped that he would not be another factor to divide Republicans, especially in a time where there existed a need to work together; it was a difficult period historically, due to the exasperation of the "religious question", constant social agitation and political party instability (associated with "Machiavellian strategies" of some politicians) that fermented during the infancy of the First Republic. Frequently, Arriaga was unable to contain these tensions and often had to deal with counter-revolutionary revolts, such as the Royalist attack on Chaves led by Captain Paiva Couceiro. During his mandate, several governments fell; there were eight changes in the Prime Minister’s office, disorder in the streets, violent reactions against the church, as well as counter-revolutionary monarchist movements. Finally, he invited Dr. António José de Almeida to lead the government, but he refused, and opted for the Republican Afonso Costa, who would govern off-and-on until 1917. Hated, but feared, he governed and even sought to restore some order and economy to the public accounts.João Ameal, 1942, p.746 Although Afonso Costa was able to reduce the deficit, the instability and conflict between Parties persisted, made more critical by internal politics and growing international tensions in 1914 (that would eventually begin the Great War).

Arriaga deplored the circumstances, going so far as to announcing his intent to resign unless a coalition or non-party government could be installed that resolved the outstanding issues of amnesty and separation of church and state.History of Portugal: Pamphlets, p.454 But, subsequent governments would not resolve the issue immediately; on February 22, 1914 an amnesty was conceded for those not accused of violent actions, and eleven leaders of subversive groups were released, but the Law of Separation remained unrevised.History of Portugal: Pamphlets, p.454