Municipal Library Elevator Coup

The Municipal Library Elevator Coup, The Elevator Coup or 28 January 1908 Coup (Portuguese: Golpe do Elevador da Biblioteca, Intentona do Elevador or simply the Golpe de 28 de Janeiro de 1908), was the name given for the attempted coup d'état by members of the Portuguese Republican Party (Portuguese: Partido Republicano Português) and Progressive Dissidency (Portuguese: Dissidência Progressista), against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco (and the political ascendancy of the Liberal Regenerator Party). The event was not confined to the Municipal Library Elevator, but was so named for the arrest of many conspirators at the structure on the afternoon of January 28, 1908. Although the coup was prevented by government forces, it failed to capture all the conspirators, which contributed to the assassination of the monarch Carlos I of Portugal and the heir to the throne, the Prince Royal, Luís Filipe. These events would continue legislative instability and lead to the Portuguese First Republic, the raison d'être of the coup conspirators.