Salazar, Antonio de Oliveira, << `sal` uh ZAHR, an TAW nyoo duh `aw` lee VAY ruh >> (1889-1970), served as prime minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968. He ruled as a virtual dictator after proclaiming a new constitution in 1933. He called his government the Estado Novo (New State).
Salazar, a professor of economics at the University of Coimbra, became Portugal’s finance minister in 1928. The military dictatorship gave him broad powers to overhaul the nation’s weak economy. Salazar’s powers gradually increased until, by 1929, he had emerged as the most powerful figure in the government.
Salazar’s policies quickly turned the debt created by previous governments into budget surpluses. His government invested the extra money in an ambitious plan to improve Portugal’s industries and services. The plan brought electric power and new schools to rural areas, built new roads, and created a national airline. It had little effect, however, on the low standard of living of most Portuguese people. Salazar kept Portugal neutral in World War II (1939-1945). But he yielded to pressure to grant the Allies bases in the Azores, a Portuguese island group in the North Atlantic Ocean.
After the war, Salazar’s policies brought economic stagnation and political repression to Portugal. Many Portuguese left the country. Salazar’s refusal to grant freedom to Portugal’s colonies led to military confrontations. In 1961, Indian forces captured the last of three small Portuguese colonies in India. Fighting also occurred in Portugal’s African colonies—Angola, Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau), and Mozambique. It killed many people and severely strained Portugal’s economy.
Salazar left office after suffering a stroke in 1968 and was replaced as prime minister by Marcello Caetano. By that time, Portugal was considered one of the most backward nations in Europe. Salazar was born on April 28, 1889, in Santa Comba Dao, in the Viseu district in northern Portugal. He died on July 27, 1970.
