AHC: Portugal partitioned into North and South

There's an interesting thread here about how the political division in modern Portugal (right-wing north, left-wing south) can be traced to the Reconquista: https://twitter.com/alexandreafonso...3k0KAK5VrLVCu6OjTk1hrtyB3l6-Wm43uiZMq9n0GSdrg

Question: Was there any time in modern Portuguese history when this political division could have led to the actual partition of Portugal? There does seem to have been a brief period after the Carnation Revolution when it was talked about:

"The country moved towards an open geographical partition between the two sides. With order apparently unenforceable in the streets of Lisbon, with the left on the ascendant in the south and in the capital, the north seemed to be the last bastion of democracy. In Oporto that same night, eleven people were injured as anti-Communist crowds sacked Communist buildings. In Lisbon the Communists called a mass demonstration on 15 November to celebrate their victory. Most of the moderate military men and the democratic political leaders absented themselves discreetly from the capital for the weekend. Leaders of all three democratic parties met in secret session in Oporto. And on 17 November, 253 non-Communist members of the constituent assembly met in Oporto to discuss transferring their sessions there permanently. As one member put it: 'The mob rules Lisbon. Nobody governs it.'" https://books.google.com/books?id=aa6uCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88

The Communists and their allies, as we know, were defeated--but what if they hadn't been? Could the north have successfully separated (presumably with US support, covert or otherwise)? I suppose that if that happened the US would argue that north Portugal was the legitimate Portuguese state and as such had the rights to the Azores, strategically important to the US...
 
There's an interesting thread here about how the political division in modern Portugal (right-wing north, left-wing south) can be traced to the Reconquista: https://twitter.com/alexandreafonso...3k0KAK5VrLVCu6OjTk1hrtyB3l6-Wm43uiZMq9n0GSdrg

Question: Was there any time in modern Portuguese history when this political division could have led to the actual partition of Portugal? There does seem to have been a brief period after the Carnation Revolution when it was talked about:

"The country moved towards an open geographical partition between the two sides. With order apparently unenforceable in the streets of Lisbon, with the left on the ascendant in the south and in the capital, the north seemed to be the last bastion of democracy. In Oporto that same night, eleven people were injured as anti-Communist crowds sacked Communist buildings. In Lisbon the Communists called a mass demonstration on 15 November to celebrate their victory. Most of the moderate military men and the democratic political leaders absented themselves discreetly from the capital for the weekend. Leaders of all three democratic parties met in secret session in Oporto. And on 17 November, 253 non-Communist members of the constituent assembly met in Oporto to discuss transferring their sessions there permanently. As one member put it: 'The mob rules Lisbon. Nobody governs it.'" https://books.google.com/books?id=aa6uCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88

The Communists and their allies, as we know, were defeated--but what if they hadn't been? Could the north have successfully separated (presumably with US support, covert or otherwise)? I suppose that if that happened the US would argue that north Portugal was the legitimate Portuguese state and as such had the rights to the Azores, strategically important to the US...

I'm Portuguese and I don't think that this could have happened. IMO, even in the South, the Communists were never strong enough to take over. In addition, the industry is concentrated in the North, the South is largely agricultural. I don't think that an independent South would be viable. If you want a partition of Portugal between North and South, IMO, the Monarchy of the North in 1919 is a much better possibility, read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_the_North
 
I doubt anyone is going separate given the long standing history of a United Portugal and lack of support for separatism. Its more likely that anti-communist forces regroup in the North and try to take over the country with American support.
 
I doubt anyone is going separate given the long standing history of a United Portugal and lack of support for separatism. Its more likely that anti-communist forces regroup in the North and try to take over the country with American support.

I agree, I don't think that anyone would ever want separation. Both sides would seek to take over the other.
 
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I think you'd maybe need a Republican victory, or at least stalemate, in the Spanish Civil War, to get a People's Republic of Portugal established in the south
 
It strikes me that a Korea, Germany or Vietnam situation makes the most sense

So maybe a red Spain invades Portugal but they are able to hold on in the south and the country ends up divided
 
It strikes me that a Korea, Germany or Vietnam situation makes the most sense

So maybe a red Spain invades Portugal but they are able to hold on in the south and the country ends up divided
In a scenario like that, it would likely be the opposite, because traditionally the south is more left-wing* than the north, and this is even more true at the time of the Spanish Civil War.
*Left-wing in this context meaning the many currents of the left.
 
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