Which of the following statements concerning the 1755 Lisbon earthquake or its many impacts on society is TRUE?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake significantly strengthened the prime minister’s power and reshaped Portuguese politics, so the first option is correct.

1) Relevant knowledge points and concepts
- The earthquake (1 November 1755) devastated Lisbon by combining strong ground shaking, fire, and a tsunami.  
- Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, later the Marquis of Pombal and the king’s prime minister, led the emergency response and reconstruction.  
- Large disasters create opportunities for central authorities to consolidate power, implement reforms, and weaken rival institutions (e.g., Church, local elites).

2) Step-by-step reasoning process
- Immediate catastrophe overwhelmed municipal and ecclesiastical structures; the king relied on his minister to manage relief.  
- Pombal organized rescue, food distribution, quarantine measures, clearing of rubble, and the reconstruction of the city with new regulations and an urban plan.  
- Using emergency authority, he curtailed the traditional privileges of the nobility and the Jesuits, advanced state control over education and administration, and issued building codes (the “gaiola” anti-seismic design).  
- Over the following years Pombal enacted broad administrative, economic, and colonial reforms that increased centralized ministerial power.

3) Calculations
- None required.

4) Why the correct answer is correct
- Historical records show Pombal’s decisive role after the quake made him the effective ruler under King Joseph I, allowing him to centralize authority and implement reforms that shifted Portugal’s political balance toward stronger prime-ministerial control.

5) Why the other options are incorrect
- Option 2: False — the region sits near active tectonic structures (e.g., the Azores–Gibraltar fault); geological/tsunami records show past large events.  
- Option 3: False — many masonry buildings collapsed during shaking and fires; masonry was not uniformly resistant. The later wooden-infilled “gaiola” system was introduced as a response.  
- Option 4: Misleading — although disease and deprivation followed, immediate deaths from shaking, fire, and tsunami were enormous; the primary acute mortality was not dominated by later disease/starvation.  
- Option 5: False — the quake and tsunami caused fatalities in many places (Portugal’s south coast, Spain, Morocco, and elsewhere), not only in Lisbon.

6) Conclusion
The correct answer is: "The earthquake tipped the balance of power in Portugal, allowing the prime minister to gain more control over the country’s politics." This matches the provided answer.

Which of the following statements concerning the 1755 Lisbon earthquake or its many impacts on society is TRUE?单项选择题

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