Portugal ROLE OF THE MILITARY IN PORTUGUESE POLITICAL LIFE
Portuguese marines practicing an assault landing
Courtesy Embassy of Portugal, Washington
Portuguese infantry during an air assault exercise
Courtesy Embassy of Portugal, Washington
Throughout the nineteenth century, the Portuguese
military
played a prominent role in national life. Although the
army was
itself divided ideologically, it often acted as a liberal
influence among the political groupings striving for
power.
During the events leading up to the revolution of 1910,
the
military remained on the sidelines, lending strong backing
neither to the monarchy nor to the republican politicians.
When
the revolt broke out, loyalist units were of little help
to the
monarchy because of the republican sympathies of junior
officers
and sergeants.
During the highly unstable First Republic (1910-26),
military
power seekers frequently dominated the political scene.
The army
itself became severely factionalized as a result of its
involvement in domestic political disputes. The junior
officers
who carried out the coup of May 28, 1926, were united in
little
more than their disdain for the civilian politicians.
Their
actions were also inspired by the government's failure to
deal
with their grievances over pay, equipment, discipline, and
professional status. Political turmoil continued unabated;
a
countercoup in 1927 was put down with much bloodshed and
harsh
punishment of the troops involved. Salazar, then a
civilian
university professor, was appointed minister of finance by
the
military government and given sweeping powers to curb
loose
spending policies.
Although military dissent surfaced several times after
Salazar's elevation to prime minister in 1932, he was able
to
keep rebellious officers under control without depriving
the many
officers with liberal convictions of their careers.
Nevertheless,
political reliability rather than professional competence
was
likely to determine the rate of promotion. Disillusioned
senior
officers entered hopeless presidential contests against
the
official candidates, who were also high military figures.
In
1958, a previous solid supporter of the regime, General
Humberto
Delgado, defied Salazar by running against the official
candidate, Admiral Américo Tomás. Delgado was easily
defeated,
but he received a quarter of the vote, considered a
credible
showing. In 1961 Salazar's unyielding colonial policy
touched off
a major conspiracy in the senior ranks of the military.
Salazar
succeeded, however, in rallying the army and paramilitary
forces
loyal to him to bring about a rapid collapse of the coup
attempt.
Dissent within the military did not vanish, however, and
the
regime remained wary. In 1965, for example, it felt
sufficiently
threatened by the presence of Delgado in neighboring Spain
that
its intelligence agents assassinated him.
Data as of January 1993
|