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    Portuguese history (20th century)

    Anyone on here know much about it? Question prompted by idle curiosity, sparked by the references to Franco on the "fascism/cool" thread.

    My vague understanding is that Portugal was a fascist dictatorship for a period broadly approximating to that of Franco's rule in Spain. Yet I have no clue who their leader was, without googling/checking Wiki. How come there is no Portuguese name to be mentioned alongside Mussolini, Franco etc?

    And is it right that Portuguese fascism collapsed almost simultaneously with the collapse of fascism in Spain? Coincidence or far from it?

    #2
    Portuguese history (20th century)

    Franco does have a Portuguese equivalent - General Salazar, who was in power (I think) from about '32 to '70.

    And the fascist regime in Portugal was both established and destroyed *before* its Spanish equivalent. I'm not sure the extent to which the two are related - the Iberians were hardly alone in turning to murderous authoritarian right-wing regimes in the 30s.

    Comment


      #3
      Portuguese history (20th century)

      Cheers, AG. His regime seems to have been carried on by others after his death until the Carnation Revolution of Feb 74.

      Seems kind of weird, given how Spain and Portugal are seemingly inevitable parts of our big happy open and converging EC, to think of them being fascist states as recently as Wigwam Bam and My Mama weer all crazee now.

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        #4
        Portuguese history (20th century)

        The same is true of Greece.

        One of Salazar's biggest fans, incidentally, is Jose Mourinho.

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          #5
          Portuguese history (20th century)

          In Portugal's case, a fascist state with a serious overseas colonial project. It wasn't until '74 that Angola and Mozambique became independent, and that not through a war of liberation but rather the Portuguese saying "right, we're off", thus kicking off decades-lon civil wars in both places. But there were hundreds of thousands of Portuguese who had settled in these countries who had to scarper and ended up effectively as refugees back in their own country.

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            #6
            Portuguese history (20th century)

            including jose mourinho's wife. but thousands of them stayed throughout the civil war, which only ended six years ago. relations between angola and portugal are surprisingly warm.

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              #7
              Portuguese history (20th century)

              I stand to be corrected on this, but I believe the distinguishing feature of Salazar's regime was deliberately under-educating the people to keep them docile, to an extent not seen in other fascist states.

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                #8
                Portuguese history (20th century)

                It wasn't until '74 that Angola and Mozambique became independent, and that not through a war of liberation but rather the Portuguese saying "right, we're off"
                Oh, it wasn't just "right, we're off". It was more "right, we're off" with a bit of scorched earth policy and a gild-edged invitation to BJ Vorster to do as he saw fit.

                Fucking Salazar. Rot in hell, you fucker.

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                  #9
                  Portuguese history (20th century)

                  I'll try to answer some of the questions.

                  Salazar was in charge from '32 to '68 - fell from a chair and never recovered from it (yes, really). He had been the Finance Minister from '26 (not an army guy). The Estado Novo ('new state') was by many standards a fascist dictatorship comparable to those arising at the same time in Europe. His was radically catholic, agrarian, and relying in a closed marked corporatist economy where the colonies - considered by Salazar as part of Portugal - played a major role; add violent secret police, censorship, propaganda and manipulated elections. He did forbid and prevent the creation of fascist union movements, though probably to protect his own regime.

                  Although a relatively vast number of public schools were created during the Estado Novo, the fact is Portugal had long been (and still is) the country with the poorest education in Western Europe; not nearly enough effort was put in it, and in fact the dictatorship emphasized the simple, earnest character of the Portuguese people as a great virtue.

                  From the early 60s the Estado Novo fought independence movements in African colonies, which intensified in the late 60s, as more organized and politicized guerrillas where created and supported in each colony (most notably Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Angola) by each side of the cold war belligerents. From 1968, Américo Tomaz opened the economy somewhat, but as war ensued the regime was eventually shut down by the extreme left 1974 Carnation Revolution, which was rather close to a direct transition to a communist regime. Spain's case was that of a progressive transition towards democracy from 1975 onwards.

                  The havoc of the following years (ruling military junta, complete nationalization of the economy, extreme left vs moderate left vs extreme right almost-coups) forced the rush of independence in the ex-colonies. That in turn resulted in decades-long cold war fueled civil wars in all of them except Timor, promptly invaded by Indonesia, and more than a million people with nothing in their hands coming to Portugal, which then had a population of around 6,5 million or so. Many more, black and white, would come in the following years.

                  In my opinion, the fact that the opposition to the war in Africa was a major cause of the revolution and independence being officially granted shortly after it is the reason why relations between Portugal and its former colonies are warmer than it could be expected: the current regime is seen as the good guys who granted independence (and hence unending richness to the emerging autocrats) and the war is seen as something the Estado Novo did singlehandedly and which the Portuguese people opposed (mostly true).

                  Understandable as it may be given the complete chaos the empire was in, with no one effectively taking charge of anything, Portugal leaving the colonies the way it did was a incommensurable crime which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths due to war and malnutrition.

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                    #10
                    Portuguese history (20th century)

                    Salazar also ordered a scorched Earth policy, not carried out, as the Portuguese were being chased out of Goa by India in 1961.

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                      #11
                      Portuguese history (20th century)

                      I know very little about the Goa process. Salazar stubbornly tried to hold the colonies as long as possible, even after all the other WE countries had long handed most oversees 'possessions', as his entire notion of Portugal was based on keeping the empire intact. There were some individual scorched earth episodes in 74-75 in Africa as well, but apparently they were the exception. Just noticed I forgot the Mourinho and Estado Novo nostalgics question in the previous message.

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                        #12
                        Portuguese history (20th century)

                        Re the Mourinho thing. A lot of people in his generation doesn't remember Salazar's time, but rather Américo Tomaz. Tomaz somewhat liberalized the economy and some pacy growth years followed, enriching a small, emerging middle-high class. Some of that relatively well-off, educated minority lost everything with the nationalizations and colonies' independence. Many fled the country shortly after the coup, fearing to be associated with the regime by the communist minded mobs, justifiably so or not, depleting the country of many of its qualified and technologically able people, the lack of which was already its biggest handicap.

                        The chaotic years after the revolution hampered the economy greatly. Many of the huge amount of people coming from Africa had never set foot in Portugal and were left with nothing after having been brought up under ruling class mentality. The democratic regime changed all the street names and monuments related to the Estado Novo and imposed a revisionist view of the revolution and everything before it happened.

                        For these reasons, some of the people disadvantaged by the revolution hold negative views of the current establishment and sometimes of the left in general, portraying the Estado Novo years they lived under as a better period. I guess it could be the case of Mourinho, but I'd dismiss him as simply a righteous, clueless cunt - great manager, still. His hometown of Setúbal is strongly left leaning, though, as is the entire south (local councils administered either by the communist or the socialist party).

                        Other sympathizers of Salazar are in general not people who ideologically believe in the virtues of dictatorships or his dictatorship in particular. Unhappy with the torrent of bad news pouring from the media every day, they would be keen to go back to times when the radio and TV said Portugal was the best in the world and almost no bad news came to public. I guess the same is likely to happen in any poorly educated country that suddenly comes out of censorship to a media driven society: from filtered fait divers with seemingly little relevance to continuous political and social ignominies that seem to put the country constantly on the verge of collapse and among the worst in the EU.

                        They are the exception, though. Fascist parties or demonstrations are forbidden by the constitution, but the local nationalist party (PNR) never had more than 0,2%, and even the right as a whole accounts for less than 5% of the votes (not counting the center right, which has roughly 20-25%).

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                          #13
                          Portuguese history (20th century)

                          Can someone confirm that the 'Carnation Revolution' was kicked off by the Portuguese entry in that years Eurovision Song Contest?

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                            #14
                            Portuguese history (20th century)

                            Thanks, aavv. Are you new here, or are you a poster from the old board? Do you live in Portgual?

                            One the question of whether Portugal had a *uniquely* bad education system, I think the Greeks would run them awfully close. The Spanish didn't do exceptionally well, either, but they at least had a network of fairly old universities that kept certain traditions of learning alive during the Franco years.

                            And I think aavv's right about the current state of education, too. I don't know about their secondary school system, but in higher education, the Portuguese government doesn't spend nearly enough, has a half-assed attitude to allowing private-sector alternatives to meet excess demand, a weak student aid system and an utterly punitive attitude to students trying to work while studying to make ends meet. It's a little bit beyond me how they expect to make a go of it in a modern economy.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Portuguese history (20th century)

                              gerontophile wrote:
                              Can someone confirm that the 'Carnation Revolution' was kicked off by the Portuguese entry in that years Eurovision Song Contest?
                              Yes. E Depois do Adeus by Paulo de Carvalho. Probably my favourite Eurovision song ever.

                              http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=89LBNSX_vig

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                                #16
                                Portuguese history (20th century)

                                It is indeed what they say. Me, I could never understand that part of the story.

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                                  #17
                                  Portuguese history (20th century)

                                  Antonio Gramsci wrote:
                                  And I think aavv's right about the current state of education, too. I don't know about their secondary school system, but in higher education, the Portuguese government doesn't spend nearly enough, has a half-assed attitude to allowing private-sector alternatives to meet excess demand, a weak student aid system and an utterly punitive attitude to students trying to work while studying to make ends meet. It's a little bit beyond me how they expect to make a go of it in a modern economy.
                                  Not so sure about that Antonio, the two state universities I know well in Lisbon (Nova and Técnico) stand up to, if not above, the British equivalents I could compare them to. Student fees are incredibly low compared to the UK (about €800 a year) and although students aren't grant funded, they are cared for far better than those in the UK. But like you say, the majority of private universities here are a joke, they regularly go out of business leaving students in limbo half way through their courses.

                                  Quick question for aavv (welcome back by the way). Why do Portuguese poeple who returned from Angola and Mozambique hate Mário Soares so much? They seem to blame him for having to flee the colonies at such short notice, as if he gave the order to cut all ties. But when you look at the dates they just don't add up, he was Prime Minister from 1976, way after such decisions would've been made and most Portuguese emigrants were returning in 1974/5.

                                  Is it just a case that he was/is the most visible and vociferous left-wing figure for people to blame whilst living in denial that their existence in the colonies was always a tenuous one, made to seem less so by the propaganda fed by the Estado Novo?

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                                    #18
                                    Portuguese history (20th century)

                                    AG, I have been a long time reader and occasional contributor, though not in recent months.

                                    What I meant was that the starting point in the 30's was way lower than in most, if not all, WE countries. In the early 20th century illiteracy in Portugal was as high as 70%. In 74 it had been shed down to 25-30%, so something was done during the dictatorship years. It wasn't nearly enough, nor did Salazar put a particular emphasis on education beyond primary school, which he instead used as one of his strongest propaganda institutions. School rooms had to have a picture of the dictator and a crucifix, praying and praising the government daily was part of the program in school manuals, and participating in the highly religious, para-military Mocidade Portuguesa (a fascist-like youth union) was mandatory for youths. Generally people outside big cities (most of the population back then) had to move to seminaries to get education after the 4th grade. I think Salazar perceived primary school as a way to mould people into the regime and a very basic instruction level as enough to fulfill the role that the highly agrarian economy required from them.

                                    During the post-revolution period (from 74 to 77 or so), a great number of teachers and professors of all levels were expelled from schools and universities, which were understandably by then in a semi-anarchic state and taken by different, opposing factions of extreme-left student unions. Many were coerced to grant good grades or they would be deemed dictatorship collaborators, for which they would be expelled. Also understandably, for some years student union general meetings rivaled with actual classes for attendance on a weekly basis.

                                    This generation of what are mostly poorly trained, revolution-educated people came to be the new professors, flooding the ever-expanding educational systems over the next decade or so. They are now between 50 and 55 years old, taking most of the available teaching positions and fiercely fighting any renovation attempt (some of the biggest demonstrations over the last 30 years have been done by teachers or over education reforms). Every generation since the 70's has been educated by this one, under mostly poor conditions and having to go through a huge number of educational reforms (at a rate sometimes superior to one per government). Which means actual improvements in education come very, very slowly.

                                    In large stretches of the country an anti-school sentiment still prevails, as entire generations of newly graduated people failed to get a job in an economy relying mostly on the public sector, which is flooded by the generation that created and greatly enlarged it after the revolution. Levels of literacy over 95% percent were only achieved over the last couple of years or so.

                                    Steveee is right, though. Albeit of poor quality, terribly old-fashioned, and done mostly in antiquated facilities, the education here is indeed very cheap and accessible to all, on all levels. Public institutions are unquestionably better than the private ones, especially at university level, and accessible to all. Demand is met in most areas. As you say, some universities make it extremely hard for working students to even exist and not nearly enough effort is put in research, though it has slowly been getting a bit better.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Portuguese history (20th century)

                                      Is it just a case that he was/is the most visible and vociferous left-wing figure for people to blame whilst living in denial that their existence in the colonies was always a tenuous one, made to seem less so by the propaganda fed by the Estado Novo?

                                      Yes. It was the comparatively moderate left that got the power after the revolution, and Soares has always been the most visible face of the democratic alternative and transition. The socialist historical leader Almeida Santos was directly involved in the transition governments, the PREC (stands for "Ongoing Revolutionary Process", which is a great name) and was personally responsible for the ex-colonies independence process. They are loathed in equal measures by the extreme-left and the right in general to this day.

                                      There are also suspicions among certain sectors that Soares had arrangements with UNITA's Jonas Savimbi in a diamond smuggling scheme which involved the CIA. I have no idea if the accusations have any factual basis or are just gossip thrown at Soares by his opposers for his part in the PREC and post-PREC periods.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Portuguese history (20th century)

                                        E depois do Adeus: it had been the Portuguese entry to the Eurovision song contest earlier that month, so no suspicions were raised when it aired in the national radio late at night. It was the code for the revolution to start. The code used to announce there was no going back and that the operations were going as expected was Grândola Vila Morena by Zeca Afonso, whose records were forbidden during the Estado Novo.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Portuguese history (20th century)

                                          Good to hear about those unis, guys. I was at Universidade de Lisboa in June (sorry I never called, btw, Steveee, but my hosts kind of took over my schedule as soon as I landed and I never really had a spare minute) and it didn't strike me as being as well resourced as what I understood its Spanish equivalents to be. I also understood from the discussions I was in that the government has no intention at all of increasing its spending in the area because - basically - the country's demographics require them to spend more elsewhere, which struck me as being a bit short-sighted.

                                          (btw, cheap =/= accessible where higher ed is concerned, but this discussion gets me too far into my day job for my liking...)

                                          When you say there is an anti-school sentiment in much of the country, aavv, what do you mean? Is it the kind of traditional "we can get by better with our hands" kind of mentality, or is oit actually a reaction to some kind of perceived excess in the education system in the post-revolution period?

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Portuguese history (20th century)

                                            The British Council and the Goethe Institut were both launched in Portugal (in Coimbra) at more or less the same time in order to ensure that Portugal remained neutral in the second world war. (Well, I assume they were there to try and ensure that Portugal joined one side or other, but the net effect was that Portugal remained neutral). A few decades later, the USA's USIA set up a language school in Portugal (after the revolution) as a CIA front in order to attempt to ensure that the country didn't turn Communist.

                                            I'm not sure if that was the first of the USIA's language schools, but I was once told it was. Anyway, that's Portugal's unwitting role in language teaching/cultural outreach/espionage in education.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Portuguese history (20th century)

                                              This is a very interesting thread, from which I've learned a great deal. Particular thanks to aavv.

                                              Ad hoc, were the USIA language schools you are referring to separate from the "usual" USIA activities run out of embassies, consulates and fora like the "Amerika Hauser" in Germany?

                                              At least in the 80s and 90s, the guiding idea was to integrate USIA activity into that of the "real" State Department as much as possible.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Portuguese history (20th century)

                                                I think they were modelled on the British Council ursus - that is that they had an information arm (library, place to sit and watch CNN, stuff about studying in the US, etc), and a language teaching arm which made money and pissed off the rest of the language teaching sector by taking advantage of the favourable tax and other regulations offered them by virtue of being a de facto branch of the Embassy.

                                                However, unlike the BC, they stopped doing that in the middle/end of the 90s and closed/sold off the language schools. I am pretty sure that the US no longer runs any language schools, though they do still have some form of information service (no longer called the USIA/USIS) which in many places occupies a different building to the embassy.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Portuguese history (20th century)

                                                  At least some of the closures were officially attributed to security concerns (especially after 9/11), as it was thought to be too expensive (and counterproductive) to "secure" the facilities (anyone who has visited a US embassy or consultate recently will be aware of the Fort Knox-type constraints now in place). That was what happened to the Amerika Haus in Frankfurt and to a number of the other branches elsewhere in Germany.

                                                  Since we are on the subject, did the British Council essentially invent this role? I had always thought that the Alliance Francaise was first, but that could very well be an artifact of French being my first foreign language (and the British Council being rather low key in the US).

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