Comparison of the Colonial Policy of the Portuguese New State During 1926-1945 and 1945-1961: An Ideological and Legislative Perspective

The Portuguese New State (1926-1974), as the longest lasting authoritarian regime of its kind in Europe, was making efforts in maintaining its sovereignty on the global scale. Especially the view of the international community on colonialism underwent significant transformation in the course of the examined period and the Portuguese regime had to reflect the changing order in its stances as well. The thesis conducts a comparison of the particular features of the colonial rule during time periods 1926-1945 and 1945-1961. Firstly, the emphasis is placed on the comparison of laws which adjusted colonial administration and status of the natives in overseas dominions. Secondly, the colonial ideologies the Imperial Mystique and Lusotropicalism are described and compared as they provided grounds for the advocation of Portuguese presence in its colonies. The main objective of the thesis is to confirm whether the regime in the postwar period, through the reformulation of the legislative documents at least legally got on the road to the progressive administration in the colonies. By means of analysis of the documents, the thesis concludes that from the legislative point of view, the regime after World War II made steps towards modern colonial administration. However, the thesis takes into accounts that the..