Ditadura Nacional
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The ''Ditadura Nacional'' (, National Dictatorship) was the name given to the regime that governed
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
from 1926, after the re-election of General
Óscar Carmona António Óscar de Fragoso Carmona (; 24 November 1869 – 18 April 1951) was a Portuguese Army officer and politician who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1926 to 1928 and as the 11th president of Portugal from 1926 until his death i ...
to the post of President, until 1933. The preceding period of military dictatorship that started after the
28 May 1926 coup d'état The 28 May 1926 coup d'état, sometimes called 28 May Revolution or, during the period of the authoritarian Estado Novo ( en, New State), the National Revolution ( pt, Revolução Nacional), was a military coup of a nationalist origin, that put ...
is known as ' (Military Dictatorship). After adopting a new constitution in 1933, the regime changed its name to '' Estado Novo'' (New State). The ''Ditadura Nacional'', together with the ''Estado Novo'', forms the historical period of the Portuguese Second Republic (1926–1974).


Ditadura Militar, 1926–1928

The military coup of 28 May seized power easily. Soon afterward, the dictatorship dissolved parliament, banned all political parties and instituted censorship. This process was plagued by instability as hardline military officers purged liberals and democrats from the institutions of the Republic. During this time no one clear leader emerged, as the dictatorship was led by a coalition of lower-rank military officers, some of whom were Integralists.Portugal: A Twentieth-century Interpretation
/ref> After the republican Prime Minister and President of the Republic resigned on 30 May, naval officer
José Mendes Cabeçadas Júnior José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...
assumed both posts, but after conflicts with other coup leaders, he was forced to resign on 17 June. He was replaced by General Gomes da Costa, the leader of the 28 May coup, who assumed the posts of both Prime Minister and President of the Republic. Gomes da Costa was not devoted to the establishment of a permanent military dictatorship, and as a result he was forced out on 9 July in a coup led by the unshakably authoritarian General António Óscar de Fragoso Carmona who assumed both of the highest offices of the state and seized dictatorial powers. Carmona continued as Prime Minister until 18 April 1928 but retained the post of President of the Republic until his death on 18 April 1951. In 1927 there were several failed coup attempts from both left- and right-wing movements. On 12 August 1927 junior officers forced their way into a cabinet meeting and started shooting. The Carmona government regained control of the government and imposed stronger military discipline. However, the attackers were not severely punished and were sent to posts in
Portuguese Angola Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...
.


Ditadura Nacional, 1928–1933

In February 1928, the
Commission for the Propaganda of the Dictatorship Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anothe ...
( pt, Comissão de Propaganda da Ditadura) was created. The Police of Information of Porto and Lisbon were merged on 17 March. Carmona organized a Presidential election on 25 March 1928, in which he was the only candidate. He was duly "elected" for a five-year term as president. On 18 April he appointed
José Vicente de Freitas José Vicente de Freitas, 2nd Baron of Freitas GCTE (; 22 January 1869 – 6 September 1952) was a Portuguese military officer and politician. De Freitas was born in Calheta, Madeira. He fought in Flanders during Portuguese participation ...
as the new
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
.
Antonio de Oliveira Salazar Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...
was appointed Minister of Finance for the second time on 26 April. The new government came to an agreement with the Catholic Church, known as the ''Acordo Missionário'' (Missionary Agreement), giving the church special status in Portugal's colonies. The government also closed the main offices of the
Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português, , PCP) is a communist, Marxist–Leninist political party in Portugal based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself patriotic and internationalist,Portugue ...
, which was reorganised the following year under Bento Gonçalves, with the creation of a net of clandestine cells to avoid the wave of detentions, reflecting the party's new illegal status. Later that year there was another failed Republican revolutionary attempt against the government. The conflicts between the military officers and the National Catholic wing represented by Salazar increased to a point where the entire Freitas government resigned on 8 July 1929, with only Salazar keeping his ministerial post in the new cabinet of
Artur Ivens Ferraz General Artur Ivens Ferraz (; 1 December 1870, in Lisbon – 16 January 1933, in Lisbon), was a Portuguese military officer and politician. He served in the Portuguese Expeditionary Force during the Portuguese participation in World War I, ...
. Salazar's influence began to grow at the expense of military officers who gradually lost their political power, with
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrate ...
s again permitted in Portugal. On 21 January 1930, after a conflict with Salazar, Ferraz was replaced by General
Domingos Oliveira Domingos Augusto Alves da Costa Oliveira (; 31 July 1873, Lisbon – 24 December 1957, Lisbon) was a Portuguese general and politician. He was nominated, on 21 January 1930, Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Council of Minis ...
, who allowed Salazar to play an ever increasing role in the nation's finances and politics. The ''Acto Colonial'' (Colonial Act) was published, defining the status of Portuguese colonies (
Portuguese Angola Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...
, Cabinda,
Portuguese Cape Verde Cape Verde was a colony of the Portuguese Empire from the initial settlement of the Cape Verde Islands in 1462 until the independence of Cape Verde in 1975. History 15th century The islands of Cape Verde was discovered in 1444 by Dom Prin ...
,
Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Gu ...
,
Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe islands were a colony of the Portuguese Empire from its discovery in 1470 until 1975, when independence was granted by Portugal. History The Portuguese explorers João de Santarém and Pêro Escobar discovered the is ...
,
Portuguese Mozambique Portuguese Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique) or Portuguese East Africa (''África Oriental Portuguesa'') were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony. Portuguese Moz ...
,
Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...
,
Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the ...
and
Portuguese Macau Portuguese Macau (officially the Province of Macau until 1976, and then the Autonomous Region of Macau from 1976 to 1999) was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony that existed from the first official Portuguese settlement in 1557 to the ...
), and the fundamental principles of the new regime were presented by Salazar on the 4th anniversary of the ''May 28 Revolution''. By 1930 the military dictatorship had stabilized Portugal and the national leadership and state functionaries began to think about the future. The overarching question was "In what form was the dictatorship to continue?". The answer was provided by Salazar, who became Prime Minister on 5 July 1932 and in 1933 reorganized the regime as the Estado Novo. A new
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
was approved in a referendum, defining Portugal as a
Corporative Corporatism is a Collectivism and individualism, collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by Corporate group (sociology), corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guil ...
,
Single Party A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
and Multi-continental country (in Europe, Africa, Asia and
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). The single party was the
União Nacional The National Union ( pt, União Nacional) was the sole legal party of the Estado Novo regime in Portugal, founded in July 1930 and dominated by António de Oliveira Salazar during most of its existence. Unlike in most single-party regimes, ...
(National Union), and a new labour code, the ''Estatuto do Trabalho Nacional'' (Code of National Labour), prohibited all free trade unions. Salazar's new regime brought in a system of censorship, and also created a political police force, the
PVDE The International and State Defense Police ( pt, Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of th ...
(''Polícia de Vigilância e de Defesa do Estado''; State Defense and Vigilance Police).


Opposition

After 28 May 1926, there were four coup attempts against the ''Ditadura Nacional'' by Republican forces. On 3 February 1927, there was a large coup attempt that started in
Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
, involving military and civil forces from the
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
,
Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...
,
Évora Évora ( , ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. It is the historic capital of the Alentejo and serves as the seat of the Évora District. Due to its well-preserved old to ...
,
Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...
, and would end four days later on 7 February. On that same day, a coup attempt started in Lisbon, led by Mendes dos Reis, Agatão Lança, Câmara Lente, and Filipe Mendes, with navy, GNR, and civil forces, as well as the decaying NRP '' Carvalho Araújo'' and ''Canhoeira Ibo''. The government forces in Lisbon greatly outnumbered the rebel forces, and were supported by some units that had already reached the capital after putting down the coup attempt in Porto and this second coup attempt ended at 7:30 p.m. on 9 February 1926. About 90 people died, 400 people were wounded and 700 buildings were damaged. Over a thousand people were exiled after these two revolts and from then on, the Republican rebels mostly organised in exile, through an association known as the ''Liga de Paris''. On 20 July 1928, a coup attempt was planned by the ''Liga de Paris'',
Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Sarmento Beires, and military leaders of the Portuguese mainland interior, which were supported by various
syndicalists Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of prod ...
(namely railroad syndicalist workers). But the negotiations were hard and the government's forces learned about the plot and preemptively bombed
São Jorge Castle Saint George's Castle ( pt, Castelo de São Jorge; ) is a historic castle in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, located in the ''freguesia'' of Santa Maria Maior. Human occupation of the castle hill dates to at least the 8th century BC while th ...
, where the rebels were located. This caused the rebel forces within Castelo de São Jorge to start the plot, hours before the provincial rebel forces arrived in Lisbon. The rebel forces in Lisbon surrendered on the morning of 21 July 1928 and the forces outside the capital at 22 July the latest. About 1100 military members and 200 civilians were imprisoned, many of which were later exiled. Between 4 April and 2 May 1931, there was an uprising which started in
Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
, and spread to the
Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
and
Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
. It was badly prepared and received little support from mainland Portugal, so it failed. On 26 August 1931, the Ditadura Nacional would see its last coup attempt, this time with the support of the
Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...
. It was led by Hélder Ribeiro, Utra Machado, Jaime Batista, Dias Antunes, Sarmento Beires. Yet, again due to bad planning, the hostilities would begin at 26 August at 6:45 a.m., while a significant amount of rebel forces was still unprepared, - forces in the North,
Tomar Tomar (), also known in English as Thomar (the ancient name of Tomar), is a city and a municipality in the Santarém district of Portugal. The town proper has a population of about 20,000. The municipality population in 2011 was 40,677, in an a ...
,
Abrantes Abrantes () is a concelho, municipality in the Centro Region, Portugal, central Médio Tejo Subregion, Médio Tejo subregion of Portugal. The population was 39,325, in an area of . The municipality includes several parishes divided by the Tagus ...
, Santarém, and Castelo Branco are still being armed by the Spanish forces when the coup attempt begins. The coup would fail before 27 August, with 40 dead and 300 wounded. About 300 civilians and 100 military rebels are deported.


References

{{Portugal topics, state=collapsed . History of Portugal by polity Military dictatorships Political history of Portugal Former countries on the Iberian Peninsula Former countries of the interwar period 1920s in Portugal 1930s in Portugal States and territories established in 1928 States and territories disestablished in 1933 . . 20th century in Portugal ca:Estat Nou (Portugal)#Ditadura Nacional