labeled the "Constitution of 1918", profoundly altered the Portuguese Constitution of 1911 and lent the regime a clear presidential character, revamped electoral law, and changed the laws on the separation of Church and State and the very distribution of power among the organs of state. However, in April 1918, the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps was slaughtered at the Battle of the Lys, and the Portuguese government was unable to bring in necessary reinforcements or even maintain a regular supply of troops. The situation reached such an extreme that, even after the end of the war, Portugal was unable to transport its troops back to the country. Social conflict had increased to the point of creating a permanent state of insurrection. This situation marked the end of the regime's charmed existence. Between alternating strikes, conflicts, and conspiracies, from the summer of 1918 onwards attempts to end the "Sidonist" regime escalated in severity and violence, which led the President to declare a state of emergency on 13 October 1918. With that act, and the harsh repression of opposing movements, he was able to regain momentary control of the political situation, but his regime was clearly mortally wounded. As the year came to an end, the political situation did not improve, despite the end of fighting with the Armistice of 11 November 1918, an event accompanied by an affectionate message from King George V of the United Kingdom, who attempted to play down Sidónio Pais' previous, and well-known, pro-German attitudes. Assassination Pais escaped a first assassination attempt on 5 December 1918, during the award ceremony for survivors of the navy trawler Augusto de Castilho. Nine days later, however, he fell victim to the second. The president made his way to the Lisboa-Rossio Railway Station on the evening of 14 December 1918, after having enjoyed dinner at the restaurant Silva, located in the Chiado. He was accompanied by his brother and his son, planning to take the train to Porto in order to confer with the Northern Military Juntas. When he entered the station at around 11 PM, he was received by a Republican Guard ordered to protect the President. The earlier, failed assassination attempt on the President had led to an increase in security. However, this couldn't ruin the mood as a band played a popular song when the President entered the station. Inside the station, the left-wing activist José Júlio da Costa was