Salazarism

   Supposedly the ideology or ideologies characteristic of the Estado Novo developed and directed by Prime Minister An- tónio de Oliveira Salazar (1889-1970), who governed Portugal as premier from 1932 to 1968, and his ruling group of associates and colleagues. Scholars debate why this regime endured so long and the extent to which it was or was not fascist. As to ideologies, Salazar's own education and beliefs were strongly influenced by his Catholic education for nine years in the Seminary at Viseu, by the decrees of Popes Leo X and Pius IX, and by conservative, rural customs. Rather than one ideology, the former Coimbra University economics professor reflected various creeds including Portuguese nationalism, integralism, corporativism doctrines, and various Catholic beliefs that were derived from Thomist teachings, as well as from the writings of the French ideologue Charles Maurras and his disciples. The spirit of Salazarism, if there is any truth to the notion of there being one typical ideology, is founded on a reaction against basic ideas from the French Revolution of individual liberty, fraternity, and equality; against the revolutionary collectivist doctrines including socialism and communism; and against the excesses of politics and government during the ill-fated First Republic (1910-26). Salazar, nevertheless, was not only a man of thought but also a man of action.

   See also Catholic church.