Portuguese history: 19th-century Carnival and early socialist movements

Historical research highlights significant cultural and political shifts in 19th-century Portugal. King D. Miguel is identified as a figure who both promoted and was targeted by the evolving Carnival traditions. While the traditional Entrudo allowed for the temporary inversion of social orders, the 19th century saw the rise of an urban, theatrical Carnival involving masquerade balls and the social elite, exemplified by the first public Carnival ball in Lisbon in 1823.

Simultaneously, documentation reveals the early development of socialist thought in Portugal. Through the correspondence of activist José Fontana with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels during the 1870s and 1880s, it is evident that international socialist ideas reached the country through a complex network of newspapers, translations, and direct political contact rather than a pre-established political organization.