António de Oliveira Salazar

António de Oliveira Salazar (1889-1970), Portuguese economist and statesman, who ruled Portugal as a dictator from 1932 to 1968.

Salazar was born near the town of Santa Comba Dão, and was educated at the University of Coimbra. He became a lecturer in economics at the University of Coimbra in 1914 and attained the rank of professor in 1918. In 1926 when a military junta headed by General António de Fragoso Carmona seized control of Portugal's government, Salazar was offered the post of finance minister to reform the nation's chaotic economy. He turned down the post when his demands for extraordinary powers were refused. In 1928, however, upon being promised extra powers, he accepted the appointment. Within a year he balanced the national budget and soon thereafter liquidated the entire foreign debt. He was appointed prime minister in 1932; during the next 36 years he was the virtual dictator of Portugal. In 1933 he promulgated a constitution for his “New State,” which established Portugal as a corporative state with a one-party government. In addition to holding the portfolio of finance minister until 1940, he served variously as minister of war, of foreign affairs, and of defense.

Salazar maintained his position by obtaining the support of wealthy landowners, bankers, and industrialists and by suppressing trade unions, the press, and all political opposition with the aid of his security police. In addition to resisting social and political change at home, he sent large numbers of troops to the Portuguese possessions in Africa to stem rising nationalism. Salazar held the national economy stable, however, and under his rule Portugal enjoyed moderate prosperity although it was still poor compared to the rest of Western Europe. He supported General Francisco Franco, later dictator of Spain, in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), and after the war the two leaders often met to discuss political questions. Salazar kept Portugal neutral during World War II (1939-1945). He was a strong supporter of the Roman Catholic church, and in 1940 he signed a concordat with the Vatican that restored property confiscated from the church by a previous government. He suffered a stroke in 1968 and was replaced as prime minister, although this fact was withheld from him during the two years that he survived.