{{Short description|Military overthrow of the First Portuguese Republic, establishing the Estado Novo regime}}
{{Distinguish|May Coup (Poland)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict   = 28 May 1926 coup d'état
| image      = Desfile de tropas 28 de Maio 1926.jpg
| caption    = Military procession of General [[Gomes da Costa]] and his troops after the 28 May 1926 Revolution
| image_size = 300px
| combatant1 = {{flag|First Portuguese Republic}}
* [[Government of Portugal]]
| combatant2 = {{tree list}}
*{{flagicon|Portugal}} [[Portuguese Armed Forces]]
** {{army|Portugal}}
** {{navy|Portugal}}
{{tree list/end}}
| commander1 = {{flagicon|POR}} [[Bernardino Machado]]<br>{{flagicon|POR}} [[António Maria da Silva]] <br>{{flagicon|POR}} General Peres<br>{{flagicon|POR}} David Rodrigues
| commander2 = {{flagicon|POR|army}} [[Mendes Cabeçadas]]<br>{{flagicon|POR|army}} [[Gomes da Costa]]<br>{{flagicon|POR|army}} [[Sinel de Cordes]]<br>{{flagicon|POR|army}} Filomeno da Câmara<br>{{flagicon|POR|army}} Passos e Sousa<br>{{flagicon|POR|army}} Raul Esteves
| date       = 28 May 1926
| location   = [[Portugal]]
| result     = * Collapse of the [[Portuguese First Republic|First Republic]]
* Beginning of the [[Ditadura Nacional]]
}}

The '''28 May 1926 coup d'état''', sometimes called '''28 May Revolution''' or, during the period of the [[Corporatism|corporatist]] ''[[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]]'' ({{langx|en|New State}}), the '''National Revolution''' ({{langx|pt|Revolução Nacional}}), was a [[military coup]] of a [[nationalist]] origin, that put an end to the unstable [[Portuguese First Republic]] and initiated 48 years of corporatist and nationalist rule within Portugal. The regime that immediately resulted from the coup, the ''[[Ditadura Nacional]]'' (National Dictatorship), would be later refashioned into the ''Estado Novo'', which in turn lasted until the [[Carnation Revolution]] in 1974.

== Background ==
The chronic political instability and government's neglect of the army created opportunities for military plots.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} Historians have considered that the coup had wide support, including all political parties at the time except for the [[Democratic Party (Portugal)|Democratic Party]], [[Portuguese Communist Party]], the [[Portuguese Socialist Party]], the ''Seara Nova'' group, [[General Confederation of Labour (Portugal)|General Confederation of Labour]], and the [[Democratic Leftwing Republican Party]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baiôa |first=Manuel |date=1994 |title=A ditadura militar na historiografia recente |journal=Penélope: Revista de história e ciências sociais |language=pt |volume=14 |pages=201–220 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10174/24021}}</ref>

In 1925 there were three failed coup attempts: on 5 March (led by Filomeno da Câmara); 18 April (inspired by [[Sinel de Cordes]] and led by Raul Esteves and Filomeno da Câmara); and 19 July (led by [[Mendes Cabeçadas]]).<ref name="Rosas 2007">{{Cite book |last=Rosas |first=Fernando |title=Lisboa revolucionária: 1908-1975 |date=2007 |publisher=Tinta da China Edições |isbn=978-989-671-025-5 |location=Lisboa |language=pt}}</ref> The plotters were mostly acquitted by a military court.<ref name="Rosas 2007" /><ref name="RTP Ensina">{{Cite web |title=Golpe de 28 de Maio de 1926 |url=https://ensina.rtp.pt/artigo/golpe-28-de-maio-1926/ |access-date=2020-09-21 |website=RTP Ensina |language=pt}}</ref> [[Óscar Carmona]], acting as military prosecutor of the 18 April plot, asked that the plotters be absolved.<ref name="Rosas 2007" /> During the trial, Óscar Carmona famously asked:<ref name="RTP Ensina" /><blockquote>"Why do these men sit in the defendant bench? Because their homeland is sick and orders its best sons to be judged and tried."</blockquote>The leaders of the 18 April plot were sent to the [[Nossa Senhora da Graça Fort]], where they recruited the fort's commander, Passos e Sousa, to the rebel forces.<ref name="RTP Ensina" /> The officers of the April 18 plot renewed in 1926 their planning to seize power and decided on General [[Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa]] to lead the movement, who agreed to join the plotters on 25 May, 1926.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gallagher |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xu8AAAAIAAJ&dq=salazar%2520estado%2520novo&pg=PA62 |title=Portugal: A Twentieth-Century Interpretation |date=1983 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=0-7190-0876-X |location=Manchester |page=62}}</ref>

On 27 May, 1926, General Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa arrived at [[Braga]] to launch a [[coup d'état]]. The First Portuguese Republic and Prime Minister [[António Maria da Silva]], aware of the planned coup, tried to organize resistance.

== Coup ==
[[File:Gomes da Costa é aclamado por populares na varanda do Governo Civil de Coimbra (Junho de 1926).png|thumb|upright|[[Manuel Gomes da Costa|Gomes da Costa]] on the balcony of the [[Coimbra]] Civil Government, acclaimed by people, June 1926]]
The revolution started in [[Braga]], commanded by General Manuel Gomes da Costa, followed immediately in [[Porto]], [[Lisbon]], [[Évora]], [[Coimbra]] and [[Santarém, Portugal|Santarém]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}} Generals [[Sinel de Cordes]], Filomeno da Câmara, Passos e Sousa, and Raul Esteves also took part in the coup, leading the provincial military forces.<ref name="Rosas 2007" />

==Aftermath==
On 30 May, President [[Bernardino Machado]] appointed [[José Mendes Cabeçadas]] as head of government and minister of every ministry and on the following day transferred his powers, as president, to Cabeçadas.<ref name="Rosas 2007" />

On 6 June, General Gomes da Costa marched on [[Lisbon]]'s [[Avenida da Liberdade]] along with 15,000 men, being acclaimed by the people of the city.<ref name="Rosas 2007" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Laidlar |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x8wUAQAAIAAJ&q=28+May+1926+coup+d'%C3%A9tat+braga |title=Portugal |last2=Unwin |first2=P. T. H. |date=2000 |publisher=Clio |isbn=978-1-85109-331-1}}</ref> Five days later, on 11 June, Cabeçadas' units in Santarém demobilized.<ref name="Rosas 2007" /> On 17 June, Gomes da Costa mobilized his units and demanded Cabeçadas' resignation.<ref name="Rosas 2007" /> Cabeçadas resigned and transferred his powers to Gomes da Costa.<ref name="Rosas 2007" /> Gomes da Costa then tried to get the ministers associated with [[Sinel de Cordes]] to resign.<ref name="Rosas 2007" /> Yet, on 8 June a group of generals and colonels tried to get Gomes da Costa to accept a formal position of President, but he declined and was imprisoned on the following day.<ref name="Rosas 2007" /> Two days later he was deported to the [[Azores]].<ref name="Rosas 2007" /> General [[Óscar Carmona]] was appointed head of government and the [[Ditadura Nacional]] began.<ref name="Rosas 2007" />

== Timeline ==
*29 May:
**The [[Portuguese Communist Party]] interrupted its Second Congress due to the political and military situation in the country.
**The [[Confederação Geral do Trabalho (Portugal)|Confederação Geral do Trabalho]] (General Confederation of Labour) declared its neutrality in all military confrontations.
**The 28.5.26 coup d'état spread to the rest of the country—influenced [[José Mendes Cabeçadas Júnior|Mendes Cabeçadas]], [[Sinel de Cordes]] and [[António Óscar Carmona|Óscar Carmona]]—and established the Ditadura Militar (National Military Dictatorship) against the democratic but unstable First Portuguese Republic.
**The Government of Prime Minister [[António Maria da Silva]] resigned.
*30 May:
**The General Gomes da Costa was acclaimed in [[Porto]].
**The president of the republic, [[Bernardino Machado]], resigned.
**[[José Mendes Cabeçadas Júnior]] became [[List of Prime Ministers of Portugal|Prime Minister]] and [[List of Presidents of Portugal|President of the Republic]].
*3 June:  [[António de Oliveira Salazar]] became Minister of Finance; however, he resigned 16 days after.
*3 June:  A dictatorial decree dissolved the [[Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)|Congress of the Republic of Portugal]] (National Assembly).
*In addition, by dictatorial decree, the leaders of all the [[Municipalities of Portugal|Municipalities]] were sacked.
*The Ditadura Militar banned the [[Carbonária]].
*The Ditadura Militar banned all [[Political party|Political parties]].
*17 June: General Gomes da Costa provoked a second coup d'état.
*19 June: General Gomes da Costa became [[List of Prime Ministers of Portugal|Prime Minister]].
*22 June: The Ditadura Militar instituted [[Censorship]].
*29 June: General Gomes da Costa became [[List of Presidents of Portugal|President of the Republic]].
*9 July:  
**The Ditadura Militar forced General Gomes da Costa to resign—allowing him to go into exile.
**General [[António Óscar Carmona|António Óscar de Fragoso Carmona]], of the conservative military wing of the Ditadura Militar, became [[List of Prime Ministers of Portugal|Prime Minister]].
*15 September: A military coup d'état failed.
*18 September: Another military coup d'état failed.
*29 November: General António [[Óscar Carmona]] became [[List of Presidents of Portugal|President of the Republic]].
*16 December: The Ditadura Militar created a [[Secret police|political police]] called ''Police of Information'' of Lisbon.

==References==
{{Portal|Portugal|1920s}}
{{Reflist|26em}}

{{Portugal topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:28 May 1926 Coup D Etat}}
[[Category:Coups d'état in Portugal|1926 Coup D Etat]]
[[Category:1926 in Portugal]]
[[Category:1926 conflicts]]
[[Category:Estado Novo (Portugal)|Coup d'état 1926]]
[[Category:First Portuguese Republic|Coup d'état 1926]]
[[Category:Revolutions in Portugal|1926 Coup d'état]]
[[Category:20th-century revolutions|1926 Coup d'état]]
[[Category:1920s in Portugal|Coup d'état 1926]]
[[Category:May 1926 in Europe]]
[[Category:1920s coups d'état]]