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.