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97-682: At the time of its inauguration in 1966, the bridge was named Salazar Bridge ( Ponte Salazar ), after Portuguese Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar , who ordered its construction. After the Carnation Revolution in 1974, which overthrew the remnants of Salazar's Estado Novo regime , the bridge was renamed for April 25, the date of the revolution. It is also commonly called the Tagus River Bridge (in Portuguese: Ponte sobre o Tejo = "bridge over

194-508: A half-marathon that starts on the south bank and finishes in the north bank (Belem). In September 2017, an observation deck was built allowing people to go to the platform. Using the bridge has always incurred a toll, first in both directions and then, from 1993, while travelling northbound only. The toll plaza situated on the south bank of the Tagus River. The tolls have become a source of political dispute in recent years. The bridge

291-683: A bridge across the Tagus. In 1929, the idea advanced when the Portuguese engineer and entrepreneur, António Bello, requested a government concession for a railway crossing between Lisbon and Montijo (where the Vasco da Gama Bridge , the second bridge serving Lisbon, was later built in 1998). As a result, the Minister of Public Works, Duarte Pacheco , created a commission in 1933 to analyse the request. The commission reported in 1934, and proposed building

388-558: A free hand to veto expenditure in all government departments, not just his own. Salazar was the financial czar virtually from the day he took office. Within one year, armed with special powers, Salazar balanced the budget and stabilised Portugal's currency. Salazar produced the first of many budgetary surpluses in Portugal. In July 1929, Salazar again presented his resignation. His friend Mário de Figueiredo  [ pt ] , Minister of Justice, passed new legislation that facilitated

485-531: A materialistic conception of life, and might over right. Scholars such as Stanley G. Payne , Thomas Gerard Gallagher , Juan José Linz , António Costa Pinto , Roger Griffin , Robert Paxton and Howard J. Wiarda, prefer to consider the Portuguese Estado Novo as conservative authoritarian rather than fascist. On the other hand, some Portuguese scholars like Fernando Rosas , Manuel Villaverde Cabral, Manuel de Lucena and Manuel Loff think that

582-634: A modern sense, but also to monitor the population, apply censorship, and suppress the regime's political opponents, especially those associated with the international communist movement or the Soviet Union . Political prisoners were incarcerated in detention centers, such as the Caxias prison, near Lisbon, or the Tarrafal camp , on the Cabo Verde islands, and tortured. The political police used

679-734: A naval revolt took place in Lisbon. The crews of two naval Portuguese vessels, The NRP Afonso de Albuquerque and the Dão , mutinied. The sailors, who were affiliated with the Communist Party, confined their officers and attempted to sail the ships out of Lisbon to join the Spanish Republican forces fighting in Spain. Salazar ordered the ships to be destroyed by gunfire. The following day, loyalty oaths became mandatory for all members of

776-468: A net of civilian informants, in popular parlance " bufos ", who were found in practically all sectors of society. In the PIDE headquarters in Lisbon, a five-storey building on António Maria Cardoso Street, a Salazar's phrase was written: "We will mourn the dead, if the living don't deserve it". Until 1971, when interrogations took place in the southern stronghold of Caxias, it was there that many opponents of

873-671: A new phase in Iberian relations. Meetings between Franco and Salazar played a fundamental role in this new political arrangement. The pact proved to be a decisive instrument in keeping the Iberian Peninsula out of Hitler's continental system. The decisive conservatism of the regime naturally drew opposition. Emídio Santana  [ pt ] , founder of the Sindicato Nacional dos Metalúrgicos ("National Syndicate of Metallurgists") and an anarcho-syndicalist who

970-478: A pagan Caesarist political system that recognised neither legal nor moral limits. Salazar also viewed German Nazism as espousing pagan elements that he considered repugnant. Just before World War II, Salazar made this declaration: We are opposed to all forms of Internationalism, Communism, Socialism, Syndicalism and everything that may divide or minimise, or break up the family. We are against class warfare, irreligion and disloyalty to one's country; against serfdom,

1067-557: A political party. The National Union became an ancillary body, not a source of political power. The National Union was set up to control and restrain public opinion rather than to mobilize it, the goal was to strengthen and preserve traditional values rather than to induce a new social order. At no stage did it appear that Salazar wished it to fulfill the central role the Fascist Party had acquired in Mussolini's Italy, in fact it

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1164-425: A registered electorate of 1,330,258) counting as "yes". Hugh Kay points out that the large number of abstentions might be attributable to the fact that voters were presented with a package deal to which they had to say "yes" or "no" with no opportunity to accept one clause and reject another. In this referendum, women were allowed to vote for the first time in Portugal. Their right to vote had not been obtained during

1261-465: A road and rail bridge. Bids were obtained, but the proposal was subsequently put aside in favor of a bridge crossing the river at Vila Franca de Xira , 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Lisbon. In 1953, a new government commission started work and, in 1958, recommended building the bridge, choosing the southern anchor point adjacent to the recently-built Christ the King monument ( Cristo-Rei ). In 1959,

1358-450: A small group of officers drove from Lisbon to Santa Comba Dão to persuade him to be Minister of Finance. Salazar spent five days in Lisbon. The conditions he proposed to control spending were refused, he quickly resigned, and in two hours he was on a train back to Coimbra University, explaining that because of the frequent disputes and general disorder in the government, he could not do his work properly. Portugal's overriding problem in 1926

1455-437: A total of 3,000 who worked on the site. Construction took a total of 2,185,000 man-hours of work. The total cost of the bridge came to 2.2 billion Portuguese escudos , or US$ 32 million (US$ 225 million in 2011 adjusted for inflation). Soon after the Carnation Revolution in 1974, the bridge was renamed the 25 de Abril Bridge, the day the revolution had occurred. A symbol of those times was captured on film, with citizens removing

1552-446: A true monarchist, Salazar nevertheless gained most of the monarchists' support, as Manuel II of Portugal , the exiled and deposed last king of Portugal, always endorsed Salazar. Later, in 1932, it was due to Salazar's actions that the deposed king was given a state funeral. The National Syndicalists were torn between supporting the regime and denouncing it as bourgeois. They were granted enough symbolic concessions for Salazar to win over

1649-625: Is a heavy/civil construction firm that specializes in building and renovating bridges and other large, complex structures. Founded in 1900, the company is headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania , a suburb of Pittsburgh . The firm has built many bridges in the U.S. and elsewhere; the Historic American Engineering Record notes at least 81. American Bridge has also built or helped build the Willis Tower ,

1746-559: Is important to note that even in the enthusiastic early years, corporatist agencies were not at the centre of power and therefore corporatism was not the true base of the whole system. In 1934, Salazar exiled Francisco Rolão Preto as a part of a purge of the leadership of the Portuguese National Syndicalists , also known as the Camisas-azuis  [ pt ] ("Blue Shirts"). Salazar denounced

1843-452: Is that stability was bought and maintained at the expense of suppression of human rights and liberties. The corporatist state had some similarities to Italian fascism and the original corporativismo of Benito Mussolini , but considerable differences in its moral approach to governing. Although Salazar admired Mussolini and was influenced by his Labour Charter of 1927 , he distanced himself from fascist dictatorship, which he considered

1940-533: The Estado Novo enabling him to exercise vast political powers, Salazar used censorship and the PIDE secret police to quell opposition. One opposition leader, Humberto Delgado , who openly challenged Salazar's regime in the 1958 presidential election , was first exiled and became involved in several violent actions aimed at overthrowing the regime, including the Portuguese cruise liner Santa Maria hijacking and

2037-407: The 28 May 1926 coup d'état , which was welcomed by most civilian classes. At the time, the prevailing view in Portugal was that political parties were elements of division and that parliamentarianism was in crisis. This led to general support, or at least tolerance, of an authoritarian regime. As a young man, Salazar's involvement in politics stemmed from his Catholic views, which were aroused by

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2134-705: The Empire State Building , the Chrysler Building , launch pads, resorts, and more. During World War II , it produced tank landing ships (LSTs) for the United States Navy . In 2020, American Bridge Company was acquired by Southland Holdings LLC. American Bridge Company was founded in April 1900, when J.P. Morgan & Co. led a consolidation of 28 of the largest U.S. steel fabricators and constructors. The company's roots extend to

2231-540: The Estado Novo should be considered fascist. Stanley G. Payne wrote that, "Salazar's system might best be described as one of Authoritarian Corporatism or even authoritarian corporative liberalism", rather than fascism. Historian Juan José Linz says that fascism never took roots in Salazar' Portugal The Estado Novo of Portugal differed from fascism even more profoundly than Franco's Spain. Salazar was, in effect,

2328-678: The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1961 and began the Portuguese Colonial War . The years between the conclusion of World War II and 1973 represented the best period of economic expansion for Portugal in the 20th century. During this era, growth rates reached unprecedented levels and sustained this momentum over an extended period. Following over a century of either economic stagnation or divergence from wealthier global economies, Portugal's economy began to consistently converge, particularly accelerating during

2425-471: The National Union , was formed as a subservient umbrella organisation to support the regime itself, and therefore did not have its own philosophy. At the time, according to Kay, many European countries feared what he described as "the destructive potential of communism". Salazar not only forbade Marxist parties, but also revolutionary fascist-syndicalist parties. One overriding criticism of his regime

2522-560: The University of Coimbra , Salazar entered public life as finance minister with the support of President Óscar Carmona after the 28 May 1926 coup d'état . The military of 1926 saw themselves as the guardians of the nation in the wake of the instability and perceived failure of the First Republic , but they had no idea how to address the critical challenges of the hour. Within one year, armed with special powers, Salazar balanced

2619-542: The 1960s. Portugal's GDP per capita in relation to the EU reached 66% in 1973, falling afterwards to below 65% in 2022. The doctrine of pluricontinentalism was the basis of Salazar's territorial policy, a conception of the Portuguese Empire as a unified state that spanned multiple continents. After Salazar fell into a coma in 1968, President Américo Tomás dismissed him from the position of prime minister. With

2716-426: The 4th and asked Salazar to change his mind. Prime Minister José Vicente de Freitas , who took issue with Carmona's policies, left the cabinet. Salazar remained in the cabinet as Minister of Finance, but with additional powers. Salazar stayed on as finance minister while military prime ministers came and went. From his first successful year in office, he gradually came to embody the financial and political solution to

2813-772: The Bay Bridge and the 25 de Abril Bridge were built by the same company. The American Society of Civil Engineers says: "Like its sister bridge, the SFOBB in San Francisco, the Tagus River Bridge is located in an area with a long history of earthquakes" and seismic data had to be taken into account in its construction. Another sister bridge is the Forth Road Bridge in Edinburgh . Upon completion,

2910-462: The Beja Revolt ultimately leading to his assassination by the regime's secret police, the PIDE, in 1965. The Estado Novo collapsed during the Carnation Revolution of 1974, four years after Salazar's death. In recent decades, "new sources and methods are being employed by Portuguese historians in an attempt to come to grips with the dictatorship, which lasted forty-eight years." Salazar

3007-562: The First Republic, despite feminist efforts, and even in the referendum vote, secondary education was a requirement for female voters, whereas males only needed to be able to read and write. The year 1933 marked a watershed in Portuguese history. Under Salazar's supervision, Teotónio Pereira , the Sub-Secretary of State of Corporations and Social Welfare, reporting directly to Salazar, enacted extensive legislation that shaped

25 de Abril Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue

3104-559: The National Syndicalists as "inspired by certain foreign models" (meaning German Nazism ) and condemned their "exaltation of youth, the cult of force through direct action, the principle of the superiority of state political power in social life, [and] the propensity for organising masses behind a single leader" as fundamental differences between fascism and the Catholic corporatism of the Estado Novo . Salazar's own party,

3201-527: The Nationalists called Lisbon "the port of Castile". Later, Franco spoke of Salazar in glowing terms in an interview in the Le Figaro newspaper: The most complete statesman, the one most worthy of respect, that I have known is Salazar. I regard him as an extraordinary personality for his intelligence, his political sense and his humility. His only defect is probably his modesty. On 8 September 1936,

3298-542: The Portuguese government to Franco's government, where he achieved great prestige and influence. In April 1938, Pereira officially become a full-rank Portuguese ambassador to Spain, and he remained in this post throughout World War II. Just a few days before the end of the Spanish Civil War, on 17 March 1939, Portugal and Spain signed the Iberian Pact , a non-aggression treaty that marked the beginning of

3395-517: The Republic lasted less than 10 weeks and the longest-ruling government lasted little over a year. Revolution in Portugal became a byword in Europe. The cost of living increased twenty-fivefold, while the currency fell to a 1 ⁄ 33 part of its gold value. Portugal's public finances entered a critical phase, having been under imminent threat of default since at least the 1890s. The gaps between

3492-426: The Tagus"). Later changes had to be made due to the rapid increase in population. In the 1990s, a fifth car lane was added, and in 1999, a lower deck, used as a railway track , which was planned since the beginning, was finally built. Today, the upper deck carries six car lanes while the lower deck carries a double track railway, electrified at 25 kV AC . From the late 19th century, there had been proposals to build

3589-454: The aid of censorship and repression directed against those outside of it. Those perceived to be genuine fascists were jailed or exiled. Conservative Catholics were Salazar's earliest and most loyal supporters, whereas conservative republicans who could not be co-opted became his most dangerous opponents during the early period. They attempted several coups, but never presented a united front, consequently these attempts were easily repressed. Never

3686-495: The auspices of the League of Nations , but the conditions were considered unacceptable. With Portugal under the threat of an imminent financial collapse, Salazar finally agreed to become its 81st Finance Minister on 26 April 1928 after the republican and Freemason Óscar Carmona was elected president. However, before accepting the position, he personally secured from Carmona a categorical assurance that as finance minister he would have

3783-804: The beginning of the Spanish Civil War, Salazar took up additional portfolios as minister of war and minister of foreign affairs, while retaining direction of the ministry of finance, thus concentrating even more power in his hands. Salazar supported Francisco Franco and the Nationalists in their war against the Second Republic forces , as well as the anarchists and the communists. The Nationalists lacked access to seaports early on, so Salazar's Portugal helped them receive armaments shipments from abroad, including ordnance when certain Nationalist forces virtually ran out of ammunition. Consequently,

3880-419: The bishops of the country argued in a collective letter that it was an "act of God" that had preserved Salazar's life. The official car was replaced by an armoured Chrysler Imperial . Sought by the PIDE , Emídio Santana fled to Britain, where he was arrested by British police and returned to Portugal. He was then sentenced to 16 years in prison. American Bridge Company The American Bridge Company

3977-533: The bridge and consequent police charges, an event which made the right-wing Government highly unpopular and which many believe led to a centre-left win in the 1995 general elections. The toll is set at €2.10 for passenger cars (as of January 2024), northbound (into Lisbon). There is no toll southbound, and until 2010, no tolls were collected during the month of August. From 2011 on, the Portuguese Government abolished that exception, in order to help

25 de Abril Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue

4074-529: The bridge had the longest suspended span and the longest main span in Continental Europe, the world's longest continuous truss, and the world's deepest bridge foundation. It was the fifth-longest suspension bridge in the world, and the longest outside the US. Today it is the 48th longest suspension bridge in the world. As of 2006, a daily average of 150,000 cars cross the bridge, including 7,000 during

4171-647: The bridge was inaugurated on 6 August 1966. Presiding at the ceremony was the President of Portugal , Admiral Américo Thomaz . Also present were the Prime-Minister , António de Oliveira Salazar , and the Patriarch of Lisbon , Cardinal Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira . The bridge was named Salazar Bridge ( Ponte Salazar ), after Prime Minister Salazar. United States Steel International Inc., based in New York,

4268-452: The bridge, including some scenes in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service when James Bond is in a car driving across a bridge with Marc Ange Draco 's henchmen, and it is also featured near the end of the movie when Bond marries Tracy and drives across the bridge with her in Bond's Aston Martin. Normally, pedestrians cannot walk across the bridge, but every year there is

4365-426: The budget and stabilised Portugal's currency. Salazar produced the first of many budgetary surpluses. He promoted civilian administration in the authoritarian regime when the politics of more and more countries were becoming militarised. Salazar's aim was the de-politicisation of society, rather than the mobilisation of the populace. Opposed to communism , socialism , syndicalism and liberalism , Salazar's rule

4462-497: The chairs of economic policy and finance at the university by appointment of professor José Alberto dos Reis . In the following year, Salazar was awarded his doctorate. Salazar was twenty-one years old at the time of the revolution of 5 October 1910, which overthrew the Portuguese monarchy and instituted the First Portuguese Republic . The political institutions of the First Republic lasted until 1926, when it

4559-484: The chamber and never returned, struck by the disorder he witnessed and a feeling of futility. Salazar was convinced that liberal individualism had led to fragmentation of society and a perversion of the democratic process. After the coup d'état of 28 May 1926 which established the Ditadura Nacional regime, Salazar briefly joined the government of José Mendes Cabeçadas as Minister of Finance . On 11 June,

4656-482: The civil service and censorship was severely tightened. Every government functionary was forced to declare that he repudiated communism. This crusade aimed to root out not only communists but also the democratic opposition. The convicted sailors from the 1936 naval revolt were the first to be sent to the Tarrafal prison camp established by Salazar in the Cape Verde Islands to house political prisoners. It

4753-441: The corporatist structure and initiated a comprehensive social welfare system. This system was equally anti-capitalist and anti-socialist. The corporatisation of the working class was accompanied by strict legislation regulating business. Workers' organisations were subordinated to state control, but granted a legitimacy that they had never before enjoyed and were made beneficiaries of a variety of new social programs. Nevertheless, it

4850-656: The dictator of Portugal, but he preferred a passive public and a limited state where social power remained in the hands of the Church, the army, and the big landowners. Samuel Hoare , the British Ambassador in Madrid during the war, stated that Salazar detested Hitler and all his works. However, he said that "Europe owes him the great service of having pushed back the frontiers of communism with astonishing energy and exciting muscle. I only fear that he will go too far in

4947-725: The economic and social field." And talking to a Romanian diplomat: "... in spite of everything, Hitler was a political genius, who had realized a colossal work." Historian Robert Paxton observes that one of the main problems in defining fascism is that it was widely mimicked. He wrote, "In fascism's heyday, in the 1930s, many regimes that were not functionally fascist borrowed elements of fascist decor in order to lend themselves an aura of force, vitality, and mass mobilization." He went on to observe that Salazar "crushed Portuguese fascism after he had copied some of its techniques of popular mobilization". Political scientists Manuel Braga da Cruz and Philippe Schmitter argue that Salazar's regime

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5044-504: The efforts to reduce the budget deficit. Assuming that no legal changes happen , the concession will end on 24 March 2030, after which the bridge will again be state-managed. The 25 de Abril Bridge is based in part on two San Francisco Bay Area bridges. Its paint is the same International Orange color as the famous Golden Gate Bridge , and the design is similar as well to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge . Both

5141-470: The enlargement from four to six lanes, the addition of the railway, and the building of a second bridge serving Lisbon, the Vasco da Gama Bridge . A third bridge has been on and off government plans for some time, but in May 2024 the government announced to prioritize building this new bridge as part of the new Lisbon-Madrid high-speed rail line , to be finalized in 2034. Several movies have been filmed on

5238-485: The fact that they were contrary to his actions. He was a frequent contributor to journals concerned with social studies, especially the weekly O Imparcial , which was directed by his friend (and later Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon) Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira . Local press described him as "one of the most powerful minds of the new generation". In 1921, Salazar was persuaded to stand as a candidate for election to parliament, though he did so reluctantly. He appeared once in

5335-617: The first years of the Portuguese First Republic to study law at the University of Coimbra . During these student years in Coimbra, he developed a particular interest in finance and graduated in law with distinction, specialising in finance and economic policy. He graduated in 1914, with 19 points out of 20, and in the meantime, became an assistant professor of economic policy at the Law School. In 1917, he assumed

5432-751: The founding of some international organisations. The country was one of the 12 founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949, joined the European Payments Union in 1950 and was one of the founding members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960; it was also a founding member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1961. Under Salazar's rule, Portugal also joined

5529-418: The government, which ran the bridge at the time, raised the toll by 50%, from 100 to 150 escudos, to prepare to give the bridge into private concession for 40 years from 1 January 1996. The concessionaire was Lusoponte, a private consortium formed to build the Vasco da Gama Bridge at no cost to the public finances in exchange for tolls from both bridges. As a result, a popular uprising led to road blockades of

5626-623: The international invitation to tender for the project received four bids. In 1960, the winner was announced as a consortium headed by the United States Steel Export Company, which had also submitted a bid in 1935. The American School of Lisbon was founded largely to educate the children of the American engineers brought to Portugal to work on the construction of the bridge. Construction began on 5 November 1962. Forty-five months later, six months ahead of schedule,

5723-446: The large brass letters spelling "Salazar" from one of the main pillars of the bridge and painting a provisional "25 de Abril" in its place. The upper platform, running 70 m (230 ft) above water, had four car lanes, two in each direction, with a dividing guardrail. On 23 July 1990, the guardrail was removed and a fifth, reversible lane was created. On 6 November 1998, the side walls were extended and reinforced to make space for

5820-743: The late 1860s, when one of the consolidated firms, Keystone Bridge Company , built the Eads Bridge at St. Louis , the first steel bridge over the Mississippi River and still in use. In 1902, the company became a subsidiary of United States Steel as part of the Steel Trust consolidation. The company pioneered the use of steel as a construction material; developing the means and methods for fabrication and construction that allowed it to be widely used in buildings, bridges, vessels, and other plate applications. It went on to do work across

5917-722: The moderates, but the rest were repressed by the political police. Salazar based his political philosophy on a close interpretation of the Catholic social doctrine , much like the contemporary regime of Engelbert Dollfuss in Austria. The economic system, known as corporatism , was alleged to be based on similar interpretations of the papal encyclicals Rerum novarum ( Leo XIII , 1891) and Quadragesimo anno ( Pius XI , 1931), which were meant to prevent class struggle and transform economic concerns secondary to social values. Rerum novarum argued that labor associations were part of

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6014-612: The mother's surname first, Salazar's name would have been "António Salazar de Oliveira" – a pattern followed by his four sisters – but, for reasons that remain unclear, the order of his surnames was reversed, and he thus became "António de Oliveira Salazar". His four older sisters were Maria do Resgate Salazar de Oliveira, an elementary school teacher; Elisa Salazar de Oliveira; Maria Leopoldina Salazar de Oliveira; and Laura Salazar de Oliveira, who in 1887 married Abel Pais de Sousa, brother of Mário Pais de Sousa  [ pt ] , who served as Salazar's Interior Minister. Salazar attended

6111-560: The mottos of the Salazar regime was Deus, Pátria e Família ("God, Fatherland and Family"), although he never turned Portugal into a confessional state . Salazar supported Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War and played a key role in keeping Portugal and Spain neutral during World War II while still providing aid and assistance to the Allies . Despite being a dictatorship , Portugal under his rule took part in

6208-461: The name "Ambridge"), and is near their current headquarters of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania . Both municipalities are on the Ohio River near Pittsburgh, with access to many steel suppliers, as well as to waterborne and rail transport, to allow shipment of components and subassemblies. This is a representative list, not an exhaustive one. Built the longest concrete segmental cable stay bridge in

6305-441: The nation and around the world. During World War II, the company built warships for the U.S. Navy. In 1944, American painter Thomas Hart Benton recorded the construction and launch of LST 768, producing numerous drawings and a painting, Cut the Line . The company went private in 1987 and was sold to Continental Engineering Corporation in 1988. The town of Ambridge, Pennsylvania , was an American Bridge company town (thus

6402-417: The natural order, like the family. The right of men to organise into trade unions and to engage in collective bargaining , was thus inherent and could not be denied by employers or the state. Quadragesimo anno provided the blue print for the erection of the corporatist system. But the practice was that stability of the regime was maintained by suppressing human rights and liberties. A new constitution

6499-407: The new anti-clerical stance of the First Republic. He became a member of the non-politically affiliated Catholic movement Centro Académico de Democracia Cristã  [ pt ] (Academic Centre for Christian Democracy). Salazar rejected the monarchists because he felt that they were opposed to the social doctrines espoused by Pope Leo XIII to which it is said he was very sympathetic, despite

6596-425: The official workers' syndicates that replaced free trade unions. The new constitution introduced by Salazar established an anti-parliamentarian and authoritarian government that would last until 1974. The president was to be elected by popular vote for a period of seven years. On paper, the new document vested sweeping, almost dictatorial powers in the hands of the president, including the power to appoint and dismiss

6693-399: The organisation of religious processions. The new law outraged the republicans, triggered a cabinet crisis, and Figueiredo threatened to resign. Salazar advised Figueiredo against resigning, but told his friend he would join him in his decision. Figueiredo did resign, and Salazar – at that time hospitalised due to a broken leg – followed suit on 3 July. Carmona went personally to the hospital on

6790-469: The original set, and the main towers were increased in height. The railway had been part of the initial design, but was eliminated for economy, so the initial structure was lightened. The original builder American Bridge Company was called again for the job, performing the first aerial spinning of additional main cables on a loaded, fully operational suspension bridge. Traffic soon increased well beyond predictions, and has remained at maximum capacity despite

6887-456: The peak hour. Rail traffic is also heavy, with a daily average of 157 trains. In all, around 380,000 people cross the bridge daily. Other numbers: RODRIGUES, Luís Ferreira (2016). A ponte inevitável: a história da Ponte 25 de Abril. Lisboa: Guerra e Paz Ant%C3%B3nio de Oliveira Salazar Prime Minister of Portugal Government Other António de Oliveira Salazar GCTE GCSE GColIH GCIC (28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970)

6984-583: The policies he wished to implement. The Polícia de Vigilância e Defesa do Estado (" State Surveillance and Defense Police ") was established in 1933. It was replaced in 1945 by the remodeled Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado (PIDE) ("International and State Defence Police"), which lasted until 1969 (and from that year to 1974 under Marcelo Caetano , it was the Direção-Geral de Segurança (DGS) (" General Security Directorate "). The secret police existed not only to protect national security in

7081-437: The present six lanes. Cars crossing the bridge make a peculiar hum - listen (59s) - because the two inner lanes are made of metallic grating rather than asphalt to minimize aerodynamic forces by means of pressure equalization. Since 30 June 1999, the lower platform has carried a double track railway. To accommodate that, the bridge underwent extensive structural reinforcements, including a second set of main cables, placed above

7178-450: The primary school in his small village and later went to another primary school in Viseu . At age 11, he won a free place at Viseu's seminary , where he studied for eight years, from 1900 to 1908. Salazar considered becoming a priest, but like many who entered the seminary very young, he decided not to proceed to the priesthood after receiving holy orders. He went to Coimbra in 1910 during

7275-641: The prime minister. The president was elevated to a position of preeminence as the "balance wheel", the defender and ultimate arbiter of national politics. President Carmona, however, had allowed Salazar more or less a free hand since appointing him prime minister and continued to do so; Carmona and his successors would largely be figureheads as he wielded the true power. Howard J. Wiarda argues that Salazar achieved his position of power not just because of constitutional stipulations, but also because of his character: domineering, absolutist, ambitious, hardworking and intellectually brilliant. The corporatist constitution

7372-526: The regime were subjected to beatings and torture. It was a city area, in the middle of Lisbon's downtown, and the screams could be heard in the street. On August 1, 1958, the Brazilian ambassador herself ( Álvaro Lins ' wife) witnessed a detainee fall from the third floor of the political police headquarters. The Spanish Civil War , which began in July 1936, was the ostensible reason for the radicalisation of

7469-400: The regime. Internally, the regime had to face a monarchist revolt in 1935, a threatened leftist coup in 1936 and several bombs and conspiracies in 1936 and 1937, including an attempt to assassinate Salazar in 1937. At the same time, Spanish Republican agents were active in Lisbon and Spanish troops were deployed on Portugal's vulnerable border, severely threatening Portuguese sovereignty. At

7566-473: The rich and the poor continued to widen. The regime led Portugal to enter World War I in 1916, a move that only aggravated the perilous state of affairs in the country. Concurrently, the Catholic Church was hounded by the anti-clerical Freemasons of the Republic and political assassination and terrorism became commonplace. Between 1920 and 1925, according to official police figures, 325 bombs burst in

7663-407: The streets of Lisbon. The British diplomat Sir George Rendel said that he could not describe the "political background as anything but deplorable ... very different from the orderly, prosperous and well-managed country that it later became under the government of Senhor Salazar". Salazar would keep in mind the political chaos of this time when he later ruled Portugal. Public discontent led to

7760-416: The turmoil of the military dictatorship, which had not produced a clear leader. Finally, on 5 July 1932, President Carmona appointed Salazar as the 100th prime minister of Portugal, after which he began to operate closer to the mainstream of political sentiment in his country. The authoritarian government consisted of a right-wing coalition, and he was able to co-opt the moderates of each political current with

7857-557: Was Christian corporatism and social corporatism as well as his inclusion of both reformist and traditionalist currents. The legislature, called the Assembleia Nacional  [ pt ] , was restricted to members of the National Union . It could initiate legislation, but only concerning matters that did not require government expenditures. The parallel Corporative Chamber included representatives of municipalities, religious, cultural and professional groups and of

7954-419: Was conservative , corporatist and nationalist in nature; it was also capitalist to some extent although in a very conditioned way until the beginning of the final stage of his rule, in the 1960s. Salazar distanced himself from Nazism and fascism, which he described as a "pagan Caesarism " that did not recognise legal, religious or moral limits. Throughout his life Salazar avoided populist rhetoric. He

8051-521: Was a Portuguese statesman, academic, and economist who served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the Ditadura Nacional ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the regime as the corporatist Estado Novo ("New State"), with himself as a dictator . The regime he created lasted until 1974, making it one of the longest-lived authoritarian regimes in modern Europe. A political economy professor at

8148-423: Was approved in the national Portuguese constitutional referendum of 19 March 1933. A draft had been published one year before, and the public was invited to state any objections in the press. These tended to stay in the realm of generalities and only a handful of people, less than 6,000, voted against the new constitution. The new constitution was approved with 99.5% of the vote, but with 488,840 abstentions (in

8245-685: Was born in Vimieiro , near Santa Comba Dão ( Viseu District ), to a family of modest income on 28 April 1889. His father, a small landowner, had started as an agricultural labourer and became the manager for the Perestrelos, a wealthy family of rural landowners of the region of Santa Comba Dão who possessed lands and other assets scattered between Viseu and Coimbra . He was the only male child of two fifth cousins, António de Oliveira (1839–1932) and his wife Maria do Resgate Salazar (1845–1926). According to Portuguese naming customs , which place

8342-515: Was drafted by a group of lawyers, businessmen, clerics and university professors, with Salazar the leading spirit and Marcelo Caetano also playing a major role. The constitution created the Estado Novo ("New State"), in theory a corporatist state representing interest groups rather than individuals. He wanted a system in which the people would be represented through corporations, rather than through political parties, and where national interest

8439-546: Was generally opposed to the concept of political parties when, in 1930, he created the National Union . Salazar described and promoted the party as a "non-party", and announced that the National Union would be the antithesis of a political party. He promoted Catholicism but argued that the role of the Church was social, not political, and negotiated the Concordat of 1940 that kept the church at arm's length. One of

8536-408: Was given priority over sectional claims. Salazar thought that the party system had failed irrevocably in Portugal. Unlike Mussolini or Hitler , Salazar never had the intention to create a party-state. Salazar was against the whole-party concept and in 1930 he created the National Union a single-party, which he marketed as a "non-party", announcing that the National Union would be the antithesis of

8633-524: Was involved in clandestine activities against the dictatorship, attempted to assassinate Salazar on 4 July 1937. Salazar was on his way to Mass at a private chapel in a friend's house on Barbosa du Bocage Avenue in Lisbon. As he stepped out of his Buick limousine, a bomb hidden in an iron case exploded only 3 metres (10 ft) away. The blast left Salazar untouched, but his chauffeur was rendered deaf. An inept secret police made several arrests and beat five innocent people till they confessed. A year later,

8730-416: Was its enormous public debt, much of which was owed to foreign entities. Several times between 1926 and 1928, Salazar turned down appointment to the finance ministry. He pleaded ill-health, devotion to his aged parents and a preference for the academic cloisters. In 1927, under the ministry of Sinel de Cordes , the public deficit kept on growing. The government tried to obtain loans from Baring Brothers under

8827-411: Was labeled the "slow death camp" where dozens of political prisoners (mostly communists, but also adherents of other ideologies), were imprisoned under inhumane unhealthy conditions in exceedingly hot weather and died. Historians say that 60 people died in jails for political reasons during Salazar's nearly 40-year regime. In January 1938, Salazar appointed Pedro Teotónio Pereira as special liaison of

8924-457: Was marked by political repression, it gradually "became less repressive and eventually opened up somewhat, not to liberalism, but to greater pluralism and less strict controls". According to Juan José Linz , Salazar's Portugal was "an authoritarian regime with its own distinctive politics and dynamics" that was neither fascist nor totalitarian. In his analysis of the regime, he makes following points: Salazar relied on secret police to enforce

9021-458: Was meant to be a platform of conservatism, not a revolutionary vanguard. Ministers, diplomats and civil servants were never compelled to join the National Union. Portuguese historian Ernesto C. Leal described Salazar's ideology as eclectic and syncretic , and primarily representing a combination of authoritarian nationalist, conservative and anti-liberal tendencies. According to Leal, the most unique characteristic of Salazar's political thinking

9118-598: Was not fascist as it lacked most aspects of fascism – unlike fascism, Salazarism had no anti-bourgeois or anti-capitalist motivations, there was no determination of the state apparatus by an armed party, and loyalty to Salazar "was more a case of condescending obedience than enthusiastic support on the part of subordinates". Da Cruz and Schmitter also note that Salazarism was marked by nationalist and conservative policies rather than expansionist ambitions. Additionally, Howard J. Wiarda observes that Salazar did not pursue genocidal policies, and while Salazar's Portugal

9215-540: Was prime contractor for the bridge. Morrison-Knudsen of Portugal Ltd., an American firm based in Boise, Idaho, was U.S. Steel's principal associate. Morrison-Knudsen had previously worked on the San Francisco Bay Bridge. The bridge was designed by Steinman, Boynton, Gronquist and London of New York, and Tudor Engineering Company of San Francisco. The steel was imported from the US. Four workers died, out of

9312-460: Was projected to have paid all debt in 20 years, and to become toll-free (or have a reduced toll) after that period. However, the Government kept charging tolls well beyond the 20-year period, until it gave the concession to Lusoponte , creating a monopoly of the Tagus crossing in Lisbon. When opened, people had to park their car and walk to buy a toll ticket costing 20 escudos. On 14 June 1994,

9409-504: Was replaced by a military dictatorship. This was first known as the "Ditadura Militar" (Military Dictatorship) and then, from 1928, as the " Ditadura Nacional " (National Dictatorship). The era of the First Republic has been described as one of "continual anarchy, government corruption, rioting and pillage, assassinations, arbitrary imprisonment and religious persecution". It witnessed the inauguration of eight presidents, 44 cabinet re-organisations and 21 revolutions. The first government of

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