1919

January, 10-13
Uprising of Santarém; failed coup attempt of the ‘Old Republic’.

January, 18
Beginning of the Versailles Treaty in Paris.

January, 19
Implantation of the Monarchy of the North in Oporto. Implantation of the Kingdom’s Governing Council, led by Paiva Couceiro. The North quickly joined the monarchist cause, right up to the Vouga line.

January, 22
Paiva Couceiro (historical figure) leaves Oporto with an armed column, intending to take Coimbra. Taking of Monsanto; monarchist uprising in Lisbon. Paiva Couceiro takes over Ovar.

January, 24
Climb of Monsanto; victorious counter-attack (led by António Machado Santos, the Hero of the Rotunda, illustrious Carbonary) by the Republican forces annihilates monarchist aspirations in Lisbon. Paiva Couceiro takes over Estarreja.

January, 26
Fall of the Republican Government of Tamagnini Barbosa.

January, 27
The monarchic troops are stopped at the Battle das Barreiras (Águeda), but (historical divergence) a quick intervention from a monarchic column from Guarda/Covilhã, commanded by Francisco Rolão Preto (historical figure), comprising the soldiers that escaped Lisbon (fictional) through a forced march across Serra da Estrela, destroys the Republican aspiration to victory. This action would become known as “The March of the Elephants”.

January, 28
Despite the victory, Paiva Couceiro recognises that he had stretched too far his supply lines, as well as his men’s fatigue, and retreates to Albergaria-a-Velha.

February, 4
Along the line Aveiro-Albergaria-Viseu-Covilhã, fortifications and trenches are built on both sides, as the enemies reassemble and review tactics.

February, 13
The representatives of the Northern Monarchy in the border areas are arrested by the Spanish monarchist authorities, at the request of the Lisbon government (namely António Sardinha, in Badajoz) (historical fact).

February, 16
Although the monarchists managed to extinguish some of the Republican centres still in the North, the situation became untenable, with news of strong military preparations in the South. The ‘Paladin’ sends an urgent message to King Manuel II (historical figure), who remains unyielding in his condemnation of the insurrectionary behaviour. ‘We will have a King, even if it’s another King,’ writes Paiva Couceiro, veiledly threatening to support the Legitimist branch. The message is entrusted to the first agent of the Monarchy’s newly-created Intelligence Service, known only as the Department, whom, despite the Republican naval blockade, set sail on an English steamer returning from the Gibraltar mail service.

February, 18
The Moldavian-Ukrainian ascendency scientist Ilya Mechnikoff (historical figure), a guest at the Pasteur Institute of Oporto since the beginning of the year (fiction), offers his help to the Monarchy of the North. Taking into account his experience in warfare at the Pasteur Institute of Paris during World War I (historical fact), the offer is accepted.

February, 22
The Real answer arrives, encoded, by TSF (wireless telephony). The King agrees to return, but fears that he will be prevented by the hesitation of the English. Meanwhile, the Department puts into practice a plan for the monarch’s escape.

February, 24
Paiva Couceiro and Mechnikoff inspect the Monarchy’s defences on the Vouga Line. A first major Republican offensive is repulsed in Covilhã.

February, 25
D. Manuel II arrives at Corunna, benefiting from Galician monarchic contacts. The Department’s plan is to make the King’s arrival as noticeable as possible. As the entourage moves towards the new realm, news of the arrival spreads quickly.

February, 27
The Spanish government’s orders to detain the Portuguese monarch (reports of his passing appear everywhere, most of them fanciful), and the aggressiveness of the troops trying to uncover his hiding place, are a fuse that sets off Galician nationalism. Bewildered by the reaction, a demonstration in Santiago de Compostela, triggered by the arrest of a look-alike of D. Manuel II in the city, results in a bloodbath. The real monarch sets sail again at Cape Finisterre.

March, 1
When the King arrives at Vigo, Galiza has already declared its union with the Monarchy of the North.

March, 3
Faced with the news of the King’s imminent entry into Portuguese territory, the fighting on the Vouga Line intensifies, with several Republican offensives. The monarchist line of defence helds out, largely due to the countermeasures implemented on Mechnikoff’s orders.

March, 6
Foundation of the Comintern, the Communist International.

March, 8
Triumphal arrival of Dom Manuel II in Oporto. The Department deploys two attempts on the monarch’s life from its Republican counterpart, the Prevention Police (historical fact). At the entrance of the Cathedral, the King is met by the guerrilla priest Domingos Pereira.

March, 11
Temporarily relieved of the blockade of arms, food and raw materials by the union of Galicia, the Northern Monarchy is nevertheless condemned to wither away. To make matters worse, Manuel II, under pressure from his advisors, refuses to renounce Galicia’s support, leading Spain to officially declare war on the Northern Monarchy.

March, 12
Mechnikoff presents the production of biofuel based on a new strain of yeast, which he baptises Saccharomyces monarchica, and which will make the Monarchy less vulnerable to the Republican naval blockade. The royal government approves his plans and the order is given to start work immediately.

March, 26
Oporto is affected by the second wave of the Spanish Flu epidemic (historic fact), worsened by the lack proper sanitary conditions. Queen Augusta Vitória led the medical assistance, until she herself fell victim to the disease, dying from it.

May, 1
The rainy season is finally over, Spring has arrived. Oporto is a bustle. The Winepunk Civil War is reaching new peaks.

June, 12
Successive assaults by the Republican troops along the Vouga, all of which were repulsed, end with the mutiny of the besieging troops, due to the high number of casualties. It will take time for the Republic to be able to organise such a campaign again, due to the risk of the South joining the Monarchy.

June, 23
Spanish attempt to take Bragança (Battle of Bottelon), foiled by the joint action of Portuguese forces coming from the city and Galician militias hidden in the Serra de Eixe, where Paiva Couceiro once again distinguishes himself, although ending wounded. Throughout the Summer, the Galician resistance tries to consolidate the mountainous border line, while the Spanish armed forces attempts several incursions.

July, 3
The construction on the Royal Armoury begins, on the outskirts of Oporto. The Royal Institute of Applied Sciences is being built next to the complex.

September, 11
Begins the Rebellion of Catalunha, after confrontations in front of the monument of Rafael Casanova (historical figure) in Barcelona. Foreign press designates the war in the Iberian Peninsula as the Iberian Cauldron.

October
The Rebellion of Catalunha degenerates into a guerrilla movement, as a large-scale action seems impossible. Meanwhile, in the frontier mountains of Galicia, a second line of trenches is built to support the Monarchy of the North.

November, 9
Spanish officers are unable to stop the defeats, one after another, and a coup d’état led by General Primo de Rivera, and sanctioned by King Afonso XIII, establishes a dictatorship (historical fact, althoug antecipated by two years).