Hey guys, Baruch here. In the previous episode of History With Baruch, you know how I said that Portugal is a close ally of South Africa? Well you're in luck, because this post will talk about the Estado Novo, which ran Portugal since 1933 up until its decline following the Portuguese Colonial War. So anyway, here we go.
Overview
The Estado Novo (it literally means "New State" in Portuguese) was an authoritarian regimed formed in Portugal in 1933, which succeeded the Ditadura Nacional regime formed after the 1926 coup d'etat that overthrew the unstable First Republic. Following a period of political instability as a result of the Portuguese Colonial War, it was finally overthrown in 1973, by which Portuguese democracy was finally restored after the Carnation Revolution that happened.
History of Portugal before the rise of the Estado Novo
Before the Estado Novo took control of Portugal, the country used to be run by a monarchy, and its current monarch was King Carlos I of the House of Braganza. During the 19th century, Carlos was mostly focused in taking some African colonies for Portugal, and in the Berlin Conference of 1883, managed to secure control of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and Cape Verde. At home, many Portuguese were dissatisfied with the agreements that King Carlos signed because they saw it as detrimental to the Portuguese economy.
During this period of economic and political turmoil, Portugal saw the rise of several illegal republican groups, who have tried several times in setting up a republic while their movements for a republican Portugal were suppressed. Things changed in 1908 when King Carlos and his son and heir apparent, Prince Luis Filipe, were assassinated by republican sympathizers in Lisbon. Carlos's youngest son, Manuel II, took the throne and became the last king of Portugal before he was forced to abdicate in 1910 following a revolution that proclaimed Portugal as a republic. He would live in exile in the UK until his death in 1932.
Portuguese First Republic and the rise of the Estado Novo
To put it mildly, the republican government, known as the Portuguese First Republic, was relatively unstable during its history. Several counter-coups were launched in an attempt to restore the monarchy, though most of them ended in failure and were brutally suppressed by the government. The First Republic wouldn't last long though, because a military coup finally overthrew the ineffective government and replaced it with a right-wing dictatorship called the Dictadura Nacional (later renamed to Estado Novo in 1933), and the regime was to be led by a certain Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. During his early years in office civil order was eventually restored after years of turmoil.
Estado Novo in the 1930s
The Estado Novo was based throughout a close (though not fundamental) interpretation of Catholic social doctrine. It also had their own economic system called corporatism, a political ideology that advocates the organization of society of various corporate groups, regardless of their differences. Corporatism was also paired by several political ideologies, primarily fascism, authoritarianism, and socialism.
Even though Portugal was ruled by a right-wing dictatorship, Salazar had no qualms in making Portugal a one-party state, unlike Hitler and Mussolini, who had banned opposition political parties that they deemed a threat to their leadership. The National Union, which was the sole major party that dominated Portuguese politics since the beginning of Salazar's rule, was created as a single party, although it was classified as a non-party. The National Union was only formed to control public opinion and it also followed conservative principles by preserving traditional values instead of reforming it.
1933 was a big year for Portugal because it was when the Estado Novo drafted a new corporatist contistution for the public to vote in the constitutional referendum that followed. The new constitution was very popular among the public, and with a 98% voter turnout, it was passed in a major landslide victory with only 0.48% voting against the new constitution. With the new constitution, Portuguese women were given full suffrage and were also given a voice in the National Assembly, although women needed to finish secondary education in order to vote in future elections.
The next year saw the rise of the National Syndicalist Movement (Movimento Nacional-Sindicalista), founded in 1932, and was led by a man called Francisco Rolão Preto. The MNS was particularly inspired by Italian fascism as they both have a few things in common: One, the MNS had their own militia called the Blueshirts, inspired by the Blackshirts formed by Mussolini; and two, they used the Roman salute to greet each other. The Falange party at Spain also shared many of the MNS's principles, but Preto and the Falange leader, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, were consistently at odds with each other. The MNS would take part in street battles until, in 1935, Salazar managed to crush the MNS after a failed revolution, where Preto was soon captured and exiled to Spain, thus ending the National Syndicalist Movement once and for all.
Portugal during World War 2
As the onset of another world war became imminent, the Spanish Civil War was going on since 1936, which saw the Republicans fighting against the Nationalists under a certain Francisco Franco. Although Portugal wished to remain neutral Salazar gave (unofficial) help to the Nationalists but didn't send any soldiers to fight in Spain.
During World War 2, Portugal opted to declare neutrality as since it was a close ally of Great Britain at the time, declaring war against the Axis may result in potential invasion by the Nazis. Portugal, at that point, was sympathetic towards the Axis cause, particularly when Salazar approved of Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, although this could be the result of Salazar's distrust against the communists rather than his support for Hitler or the Nazi party as a whole.
As the war turned against Germany, Portugal began leaning towards the Allies, and even leased air bases in the Azores for American pilots to land in case they suffered from significant damage, although please be aware that Portugal only did it simply because they were being pressured by the Allies to lease them the Azores, and refusing to appease the Allies could result in direct invasion. Throughout the war, Portugal would trade supplies for both sides.
Post-war Portugal, the Portuguese Colonial War, and the fall of the Estado Novo
Following the end of World War 2, corporatism became less important in the years to come. Salazar wanted to continue corporatism as much as he liked, which certainly hindered Portugal's long-term economic development after World War 2. During this period the Estado Novo began making some reforms in politics by allowing some press freedom so that the regime could adapt. Also, opposition parties were also tolerated as well, but they were controlled by the regime that these parties never coalesced to form a united opposition party against the Estado Novo. Portugal also became a founding member of NATO after its founding in 1949. During the 1950s, Portugal succeeded in eradicating its illiteracy crisis that the Estado Novo had worked hard to eliminate.
In 1951, Oscar Carmona died after ruling Portugal as president for the past 25 years, and Francisco Lopes succeeded him as President of Portugal. Under Lopes, he was not keen in giving Salazar the right to rule Portugal at the latter's volition. He resigned in 1958 before the end of his term.
1958 Portuguese presidential elections
1958 was a big year for Portugal as it saw Americo Tomas, Portugal's naval minister and an outspoken conservative, running for president in the 1958 presidential elections, with General Humberto Delgado opposing him. When Delgado was asked about what to do with Salazar had he won, he replied, "Obviously, I'll sack him!" He was quite aware that the corporatist constution allowed the president to dismiss the prime minister, and that said constitution was the only sure-fire way to check Salazar's power.
When the official tally came, Delgado only won 24% of the vote, with Tomas receiving the rest. It was then the Portuguese public realized that the PIDE, Estado Novo's secret police force, had took part in electoral fraud by stuffing votes on ballots so that Tomas could win the elections. Delgado was stripped off his rank in the Portuguese Army after the elections and was exiled to Brazil and then Algeria and his supporters harassed by the PIDE. Americo Tomas was proclaimed as President of Portugal soon after the elections, and he would hold this post until 1974, but it's important to note though, that Delgado could've won the elections had Salazar tolerated a fair election.
The Santa Maria hijacking and the Academic Crisis
Aside from the electoral fraud incident that resulted in Delgado being expelled from the Portuguese Army and forced into exile, the political turmoil didn't stop there. In 1961, a Portuguese passenger ship known as the Santa Maria (which had a capacity of 900 people on board; 600 passengers and 300 crew members, to be exact) was hijacked by Portuguese and Spanish political rebels and was led by a man called Henrique Galvao. His main intention for hijacking the Santa Maria was to divert it to Angola, which was still a Portuguese colony at the time, in the hopes of forming a renegade government in opposition to Salazar. But after the Santa Maria was surrounded by American naval ships, Galvao and his activists were forced to surrender on Febuary 2, 1961, after it was taken to the harbor of Recife. Galvao was soon granted political asylum by the Brazilian government and would remain in Brazil until his death in 1970.
After the hijacking, 1962 saw the beginning of the Academic Crisis in which several student organizations were boycotted and banned by the Estado Novo because they feared that the students' desire for a democratic (and to a smaller extent communism) Portugal would be a huge threat to the regime. Several hundred students of said organizations were persecuted by the PIDE, and many of them were hauled off to jail, and a student demonstration that occurred in March 24, 1962 was brutally suppressed by the police as well.
The Portuguese Colonial War and the decline of the Estado Novo
Salazar's actions have brought about immense political and social unrest among the Portuguese public. However, to make matters even worse, one certain war that saw Portugal's African colonies vying for independence would ultimately contribute to the downfall of the Estado Novo: the Portuguese Colonial War that lasted from 1961 all the way until 1974.
You see, unlike other European countries that withdrew from their African colonies in the 1950s, Portugal refused to let go of their colonies, most notably Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Angola, and Mozambique. Many Africans living in these colonies were dissatisfied with Portugal refusing to withdraw from its colonies, and the 1960s saw the rise of several independence movements throughout Portugal's African colonies. These were: for Angola, the MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA (led by Agostinho Neto, Jonas Savimbi, and Holden Roberto respectively); for Portuguese Guinea, the PAIGC (led by Amilcar and Luis Cabral and Joao Viera); and for Mozambique, the FRELIMO (led by Eduardo Mondlane and Samora Machel). Throughout this thirteen-year long war, both sides committed brutal atrocities, the most infamous of which was the 1972 Wiriyamu massacre that saw the deaths of several hundred Mozambiquan civilians at the hands of the Portuguese army.
Amidst the ongoing political unrest Portugal had been experiencing throughout the 1960s as well as being the subject of economic embargo from the international community, many young men weren't willing to be conscripted into the Portuguese armed forces to fight in the African colonies. Because many of them refused to be sent to Africa to fight against the ongoing independence movements, several Portuguese citizens began leaving Portugal to other neighboring countries in search of better life and also that young men could evade conscription. Many opposition parties that were consistently harassed by the regime were formed in exile, with the Portuguese Communist Party being the only opposition group to continue operation in Portugal, albeit illegally. Meanwhile, Humberto Delgado, who was still in exile, was assassinated in 1965 in Spain by PIDE agents.
Things changed in 1968 when Salazar suffered a stroke in the same year. He was replaced with long-time Estado Novo politician and former rector of the University of Lisbon Marcelo Caetano, though Salazar was uninformed about this and died a couple of years later. Caetano was very much unlike his predecessor and during his term that lasted until 1974, he began making a few social reforms to appease the public. The Portuguese economy started to recover initially until the 1973 oil crisis caused serious problems for Portugal.
The Carnation Revolution and the end of the Estado Novo and the Portuguese Colonial War
With every single piece of turmoil and unrest happening at the same time, and the Portuguese Colonial War becoming even more unpopular, many left-wing officers were already planning an uprising to fully end the Estado Novo once and for all. In Mozambique, the failure of Operation Gordian Knot in 1970-71 in which Portugal desperately launched an expensive campaign in destroying FRELIMO bases fueled even more tension among the public. Fed up with the increasing unpopularity of the Portuguese Colonial War and subsequent diplomatic isolation, the officers led by Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho decided it was now or never, and on the 25th of April 1974, the Carnation Revolution began, with thousands of Portuguese citizens joining in the coup as well.
Due to the fact that there were no shots fired during the coup (except for four people who were killed by the PIDE) and that carnations were offered to soldiers and civilians by a certain Celeste Caeiro to celebrate the end of the Estado Novo, the coup would earn its name, Carnation Revolution, and with that, the Estado Novo and the Portuguese Empire finally came to an end. Caetano was forced to flee to Brazil in exile, together with several other politicians who served under the regime.
The end of the Estado Novo in 1974 also marked the end of the Portuguese Colonial War too. Several of its colonies gained their independece after the Carnation Revolution and Portuguese troops began leaving the former colonies after years of fighting in Africa. Portugal's first democratic elections were held after 50 years, and the country would experience a transition of democracy in the years to come.
Conclusion
The legacy of Salazar and the Estado Novo is relatively complex. Historians currently debate whether Salazar did a good job in leading Portugal or not, with conservatives claiming that his early reforms allowed a period of economic and political stability, in contrast to the Portuguese First Republic, which was consistently affected by political and financial unrest. Conversely, left-wing historians dispute that Salazar's policies during his first years in office led to economic stagnation and political instability, therefore making Portugal one of the poorest countries in Europe, during and after the Estado Novo period, not to mention the fact that Portugal was also suffering from high illiteracy rates as well.
Meanwhile, while the Portuguese Colonial War certainly caused the deaths of thousands of soldiers and civilians, Portuguese and African alike, Portugal's colonies managed to secure their independence after the end of the Estado Novo in 1974. Unfortunately though, the lasting effects of the Portuguese Colonial War would contribute to the subsequent civil wars in Angola and Mozambique that resulted in dozens of civilian deaths and mass refugee migration to different countries. East Timor was occupied by Indonesia soon after the end of the Estado Novo, and Macau would remain a part of Portugal until 1999.
Today, many of Portugal's former colonies, mainly Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau, continue to suffer from serious problems like corruption, economic and political instability, and poverty because the ramifications of civil war certainly left their mark on them in the years to come.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estado_Novo_(Portugal)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/António_de_Oliveira_Salazar
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Colonial_War
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnation_Revolution
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Portuguese_presidential_election
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_hijacking
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcelo_Caetano
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal_during_World_War_II
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Syndicalists_(Portugal)
