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| Capital | Beja (1984-2018) Évora (2018-) | ||||||
| Largest city | Évora | ||||||
| Other cities | Alcåcer do Sal, Reguengos de Monsaras, Sines, Troia | ||||||
| Language | Portuguese (Official) | ||||||
| Religion | secular (official) Roman Catholic (majority) | ||||||
| Government | Presidential Republic | ||||||
| Prime Minister | Alvaro Pato Azedo | ||||||
| Population | 600,000 approx. (2015) 486,000 (2025) | ||||||
| Currency | Escudo | ||||||
The Socialist Republic of Portugal, occasionally referred to as South Portugal is a partially-recognized state that occupies most of the southern third Portugese nation in between the city of Evola and north of Faro. Following strong anti-NATO sentiments across Iberia following the destruction of its largest cities, the national Portuguese government was progressively banished from the majority of the mainland until retreating to the Azores and three fortified coastal bastions. Leftist parties and student groups affiliated with theUnited People Alliance (Portuguese: Aliança Povo Unido) succeeded in forming an alternative government in the south in wake of this power vacuum, while far-right nationalist forces in the northeast coalesced around the city of Braganza.
Although the Socialist Republic has lost over half of its original territory and three of its most important cities to the internationally-recognized government of Portugal, it has managed to limp into the 2020s, with the conflict that threatened its existence now "frozen" due to mutual fatigue.
History[]
The three provinces that had voted for the Aliança Povo Unido in the 1983 general election formed the nucleus of the socialist uprising against the emergency government.
Doomsday[]
An airfield in Beja was struck on Doomsday, with the site having been a long-term lease for the training of West German airmen. The incompetent emergency government which followed the destruction of Lisbon was soon met with near-universal disdain across Portugal. The central-south of the nation, having leaned significantly to the left of the northern and western strongholds of the military administration, soon erupted into rioting and civil disobedience. With the surviving smaller cities of Portugal disgusted by Lisbon wrapping their nation into nuclear destruction, the declaration of an 'anti-imerpailist republic' at the University of Évora was soon met by similar uprisings from youth and civil authorities alike in towns across the south. The military was pushed as far west as Vendas Novas by the winter of 1984, with leftist civilian militias controlling almost all of Portugal between Evola and Faro by 1985, although a stubborn pocket of NATO holdouts (predominantly West Germans and Americans) refused to surrender the western outskirts of the city of Beja and its airstrip until the fall of 1987.
Post-Doomsday[]
With the withdrawal and fragmentation of remaining Portuguese forces to just three outposts on the mainland, the nascent Socialist Republic filled the void across all of Portugal south of Evora, barring the rump government's outpost in the fringes of the southwestern coast.
Wars of Dignity[]
The Socialist Portuguese state had used the distraction of the war to procure arms from various states in Latin America as well as a sensitive shipment of anti-aerial personnel Socialist Siberia. As the unlikely persistence of the Évora government prevented the ADC from being able to claim one hundred percent control over the northern Atlantic. Fresh off the victory of the Second Sicily War, many Portuguese naval forces relieved from the Atlantic Defense Community were re-deployed to impose a naval blockade off the coast of Sines.
The chapter of the conflict fought between 2015 and 2018 would see the besieged Southern Portugese lose its capitol of Beja, as well as the cities of Faro, and the Azores-regime's capture of the majority of Beja led to a mass exodus from the longtime capitol, with the government reconvening in its last remaining city of Evora. The city's location near the border of Extremadura and the Azores' weak posture in north-central Portugal would act a buffer discouraging further invasion, although the Socialists' would lead to several other towns voluntarily defecting to the Ponta Delgada-government's southern enclave, now leaving Southern Portugal sandwiched between two Azores-held provinces and a naval blockade on its last port, the former resort town of Troia.
The remaining members of the government sued for peace in 2018. Concessions from the Azores were minimal. The Treaty of Cáceres declared an 'indefinite ceasefire', although the Socialist Republic was forced to drop its claim on the remainder of Portugal, and recognize the Azores administration while the same was not reciprocated. The Azores delegation agreed to adopt vague language recognizing the "Provincial government of Evora" as being the "acknowledged administration of the territories which have remained under its control as of August 5th, 2018". Although the Socialist delegation refused to send representatives to the legislature at Ponta Delgada, the Azores took the liberty of appointing several Socialist defectors to fill these positions regardless.
Present Day[]
The Socialist government has refused to hold talks regarding the re-unification of Portugal so long as the internationally-recognized government remains based out of Ponta Delgada. Several treaties have forced the socialist state to make concessions on the global stage regarding its legitimacy as the government of Portugal in return for easing the blockade. The government at Evora has been unable to replicate the earlier period of prosperity enjoyed out of Beja, and has doubly been unable to halt a steep trend of emigration and population decline. However, the loyal core of the republic still stands, and it seems unlikely another war will break out in the near future.
In 2023, the League of Nations declared the Portuguese Civil War (a term used internationally yet rejected by both sides) to be a "frozen conflict". This came following statements made by both sides regarding a desire for peace and an end to the destruction that ruined cities Doomsday itself spared.
The city center of Evora, the birthplace of the Socialist Republic of Portugal.
Economy[]
In spite of the blockade drastically reducing the availability of crude oil, aerial reconnaissance by ADC forces revealed that the oil refinery north of Sines has remained operating in a minimal capacity. The loss of the city in 2018 dealt a crippling blow to the Socialist Republic's economy, effectively ending its petroleum production capabilities and forcing the return of the horse-drawn carriage. The industrial sites north of Sines were not captured by the Azores, and the majority of its factories have been broken down and relocated deeper into the nation.
Evora maintains a strong industrial output. Stonecutting and metalworking remain profitable trades for what remains of the state. As the airports at Evora and the "Free Beja Zone" remain operational, jobs pertaining to air travel are a high priority for government planning.
Education[]
The University of Evora was the birthplace of the Socialist Republic. Given the state's unlikely story - a socialist state arising from the ruins of a NATO nation - it has become a destination of pilgrimage of sorts for students from countries with a Socialist International; since 2022 the SI has sponsored student exchange programs bringing students from as far as Siberia, Superior and the Republic of Greater Patnos.
Military[]
The modern military forces of Socialist-held Portugal are descended from both student militias and the large numbers of defectors from the Portuguese armed forces. Although the draft was "legally" abolished, it still exists in practice as an 'unavoidable social pressure' for newly minted young adults to enlist in patrolling the 'borders'. Socialist forces have succeeded in preventing the enemy from capturing the cities of Vendas Novas and Moura, although the latter two have been increasingly abandoned as their outskirts are now just hundreds of meters away from the frontlines.
The Portuguese garrison at Vendas Novas was one of the first to defect to the Socialist Republic after Doomsday, and has remained a bulwark against the Azores-regime's central enclave encompassing the remaining towns and cities of the Greater Lisbon area.
The Naval Support station south of Troia remains in operation, although due to the ADC blockade its zone of operation has been limited to the Sado Estuary itself.
The Beja Airfield had been used for training by the West German Luftwaffe, and in the chaos of Doomsday, the base was left derelict. It soon fell into the hands of the socialists after the emergency government was ousted. Several of the craft inherited from the Luftwaffe have been maintained (or cannibalized) into the present day, although the airfield itself is now almost exclusively used for outbound migration and cargo craft.
Foreign Relations[]
Unlike the ostracized regime to the northeast in Braganza, the Socialist Portuguese enjoy diplomatic recognition from a handful of legitimate states such as Cuba, Eritrea and an 'interest office' from Siberia, an embassy in all but name. Since 2013 the Socialist Republic has chafed under a naval blockade, with only small fishing boats permitted up to 10km out from the coastline. The Spaniard-Azores campaign to reclaim Southern Iberia has thus boxed it in along all four of its borders, with a Spanish lease even allowing Azores troops to entrench themselves along the Spanish side of the border. However, the nation's two airports were not affected by this blockade, allowing it a lifeline to the outside world.
Although there are serious ideological differences between the Socialist Portuguese and the Iberian Confederation's member states, they are two of the only states to mutually recognize each other on the peninsula. As of 2024, the Republic of Spain no longer allows overland trade via the Beja-Andalusia border crossing.
Although they have refused to formally recognize the Socialist Republic for fear of upsetting the Azores, the Morau border crossing with Extremadura is the only open to imports and exports as of 2025, being the south's only overland relief from the siege.
The Portuguese Communist Party is a member of Socialist International. The Ecologist Party was also a member until its dissolution.
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