The
Estado Novo (, "New State"), or the
Second Republic, was the
corporatist authoritarian regime installed in
Portugal in 1933, often considered to be a
dictatorship. It evolved from the
Ditadura Nacional formed after the
coup d'état of 28 May 1926 against the
democratic and unstable
First Republic. Together, the
Ditadura Nacional and
Estado Novo are recognised as the Second Portuguese Republic. The
Estado Novo, greatly inspired by
conservative and authoritarian ideologies, was developed by
António de Oliveira Salazar, ruler of Portugal from 1932 to 1968, when he fell ill and was replaced by
Marcelo Caetano. Opposed to
communism,
socialism,
anarchism,
liberalism and
anti-colonialism, the regime was
corporatist,
conservative, and
nationalist in nature, defending Portugal as
Catholic. Its policy envisaged the perpetuation of Portugal as a
pluricontinental nation under the doctrine of
lusotropicalism, with
Angola,
Mozambique, and other
Portuguese territories as extensions of Portugal itself, and it being a supposed
source of civilization and stability to the overseas societies in the African and Asian possessions. Under
Estado Novo Portugal tried to
perpetuate a vast, centuries-old empire with a total area of as other former colonial powers had largely already acceded to global calls for self-determination and independence.