History Of The Estado Novo

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The Estado Novo, also referred to as the Second Republic, is a key part to Portuguese history in the 20th Century. It was a right leaning, conservative regime, led by the corporatist, authoritarian dictator António de Oliviera Salazar; established in 1933 and lasting until 1974. The First Republic had been and unsuccessful, unstable, Republican democracy, and had been overthrown by a coup d’état in May 1926, which led to the evolution of the ‘Ditadura Nacional’ which eventually progressed to become the Estado Novo. The incorporation of the significance of the role of the Catholic Church and fascism is difficult to evaluate as Salazar’s regime ‘continued about equal blends of Roman Catholic principles and Mussolini-like fascism’ .
Salazar’s Catholic background is truly crucial to understanding his ruling and dictatorship; this was mainly why the Catholic Church experienced a revitalisation through his ruling and the Estado Novo era in Portugal from 1933-1974. Salazar himself was deeply religious and was completely infused with Roman Catholic principles and beliefs, being an avud member of the Centro Católico Português (CCP) hence why ‘the family, the parish and Christianity’ were said to be the foundations of the Estado Novo. His intentions were to cleanse and regenerate the nation through ‘a significant re-evaluation of the nature of relations between the State and the Catholic Church’ A significant connection he had to the Christian Church started through his friendship and close relationship with Maunel Gonçalves Cerejeira during his time at the University of Coimbra, as he was to become the de facto cardinal patriarch of Lisbon, as Salazar would come to use the Church in order to forward his regime, as his constitution was in...

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...een the New State and the Church was not valued.
The other aspect of the question is regarding the Fascist side to Salazar’s regime, which is difficult to explore, as Salazar did embrace certain aspects of previous fascist regimes such as an imitation of the Hitler Youth, the Italian Blackshirts and the Gestapo . Salazar’s was a ‘fascism devoid of a fascist movement’ as in fact it was developed as an authoritarian regime, which is very right wing, like fascism. And through the introduction of concentration camps, the expulsion or execution of opposition to the regime and censorship being introduced, Portugal very much started to mirror the beginnings of Nazi Germany under Hitler’s power. The difference though was that the Estado Novo lacked a sense of expansionism, lacked a charismatic leader, a party structure and there was very limited use of terror and violence.

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