António de Oliveira Salazar

Come to power

Resulting from an agricultural medium, Antonio Salazar makes his studies with the seminar, but gives up entering the orders to direct itself towards the right. He begins his career as political professor of economy to the Université of Coimbra in 1916.

Its opinions and links with the Catholic Jeunesse make it to elect in 1921 for a short mandate of Député Catholique with the Parlement but detesting the parliamentary policy, it decides not to sit there.

In 1926, a Dictatorship military fine met with the Republic. The Portugal saw an economic crisis and soldier then. In 1928, Salazar is named at the station of Minister for Finance with the budgetary matter full powerss. In one year, it carries out a spectacular economic recovery: re-establishment of the balance in the budget and stabilization of the currency, the Escudo.

In 1932 it is named President of the Council by the President of the Republic, the Général Óscar Carmona. Salazar consolidates the authoritarian regime. It introduces a news Constitution which confers to him the full powerss and the total control of the State: it is the Estado Novo (State Nouveau).

The New State, a Portuguese Fascism

It is a nationalist political regime , near to the fascistic ideology of Benito Mussolini but nevertheless distinct because from different and less totalitarian inspiration. The new State is thus especially founded on the Catholicisme and the Anti-communisme and does not claim to develop the power of the State with the same degree as a fascistic mode. Moreover, recognized for its simple and ascetic lifestyle, Salazar does not introduce the Culte of the personality, specific to other dictatorships of the same time. The currency of the mode is then the Triple F for Fado, Fátima, Football .

Consequently, Salazar maintains its hegemony personal with the banker and industrialist, rich person owners support. The Trade union S and the independent press are abolished like any political opposition, dissidence or another hostile institution. It creates the sole party, the National union, on which it is based and supported the Catholic church and the corporations to take the control of the Portuguese company.

In economy, Salazar imposes, especially starting from 1933, a mode supporter of corporatism, inspired by the pontifical encyclicals. Portuguese corporatism is distinguished from the Italian system by leaving a true autonomy with the trade associations and the Catholic church, which is worth to him to be voted by plebiscite in France by the Extreme-right-hand side and the part the line tried by the solution supporter of corporatism. It is particularly Net for the agricultural questions.

It introduces in 1933 an political police, the PVDE (Police force of Vigilance and Defense of the State) later called PIDE (International Police force of Defense of the State) and still later after its death DGS (Head office of Safety). The army and the political police are the base of the mode.

It succeeds in stabilizing finances thanks to a restrictive monetary policy.

During the War of Spain, it gives its support for Francisco Franco in her fight against the Republicans. It opens its ports with the transit of materials of armaments (weapons, planes) provided by the Nazi Germany and fascistic Italy to the profit of the Spanish nationalists. The help of Salazar, in the first six months of the conflict, appears absolutely decisive for the victory of Free in 1939. The personal relations between the two men will be however never friendly.

Second world war

During the Second world war, it succeeds in maintaining a neutrality apparent (to preserve alliance with the the United Kingdom) although initially its ideological affinities make him prefer a victory of the forces of the Axe. Salazar is also being wary towards Hitler, which in a chart of the Lebensraum, envisaged the annexation of the Portugal (because in particular of the interest of the country and its colonies). It signs with Franco a pact of neutrality with respect to the conflict.

It also maintains commercial relations with the two forces, which profits with Portuguese industry. It provides some rare Métaux (Tungstène) to the mode Nazi and lets a few hundreds of Portuguese fascistic militants engage in the Division Azul, but, feeling to come the defeat from the Third Reich, it allows in August 1943 the Alliés to install a military base in the the Azores to supervise the Atlantique and to fight against the U-Boot S. the May 4th 1945, at the time of the advertisement of died of Hitler, it makes put the flags in Bern: one half-day of national mourning is issued.

In parallel, approximately: 100000 Jews took refuge in Portugal during the war.

Salazar gives explicit instructions to its ambassadors so that they limit the concession of visa to the people claiming to flee the France, when this one is invaded by the Germany. During the summer 1940, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Portuguese consul with Bordeaux concedes visas in great number and saves much Jews of the Holocauste. Salazar dislocates it its functions but after the end of the war, he is pleased publicly that Portugal saved as many Jews. Aristides de Sousa Mendes, died in 1954, is rehabilitated only in the Années 1980 after the Révolution of the eyelets.

In 1949, Portugal integrates NATO because of the strong feeling anticommunist of Salazar.

Colonial war

Defender of a policy colonialist, Salazar wishes to maintain the unit territorial of the continental, insular and ultramarine Portugal , whereas the remainder of the European nations decolonizes gradually the Africa. The colonial war was completed only after the Révolution of the eyelets and will lead in particular to the drama of the Timor Oriental.

It practices an isolationist policy under the slogan “proudly only”. Insulated, the Portugal saw one time of economic recession and cultural.

The presidential elections of 1958, to which the opposition introduces like candidate the general Humberto Delgado, mark the beginning of an internal political crisis. Salazar introduces some reforms plus symbolic systems that really effective. But the methods of government do not change. Repression is accentuated and reached its culminating point in 1965, with the assassination in Spain of Humberto Delgado, become the symbol of the anti-salazariste opposition and its secretary, made by the Portuguese political police.

Its capacity is with its apogee when it must give up it in 1968, because of a brain hemorrhage. Having been named " President of the Council with vie" , nobody dares to announce to him that it does not have any more the reins of the capacity.

Professor Salazar dies in 1970.

In March 2007, it was indicated " Larger Portuguese of all temps" by 41% of the televiewers of television channel RTP, preceding its former opponent Alvaro Cunhal (19%) and the diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes (13%) while the navigator Vasco de Gama was relegated to the tenth place. The aforementioned vote is disputed and disparaged by high historians of the country which raises the assumption of a handling of the results of the vote by the director of the program.

Revolution of the eyelets

Its successor is Marcelo Caetano, which will remain with the capacity until in 1974 in a weakened country. He will be reversed at the time of the Révolution of the eyelets by the " Captains of April ".

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