Salazar: A long dictatorship defeated by colonialism

Abstract

The dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar, which lasted thirty six years, was one ofEurope’s longest and was based on the motto knowing how to endure. Thus, Salazar controlledhis ministers with an iron fist and maintained Portugal at the margins of industrialization,avoiding the rise of a working class and consequently the class struggle. He defended thestrategy of a Portugal that was the garden and orchard of Europe. The maintenance of colonialism,principally in Africa, gave him force to continue his fascist regime, since those overseasmarkets helped to alleviate domestic pressures. It was colonialism itself that overthrew himby politicizing the armed forces.