National Union (Portugal)

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The National Union (Portuguese: União Nacional, UN) was the sole legal party of the Estado Novo regime in Portugal, founded in July 1930 and dominated by António de Oliveira Salazar during most of its existence. Unlike most single-party regimes, the National Union was more of a political arm of the government than a body with actual power over it. The National Union membership was mostly drawn from local notables: landowners, professionals, businessmen, Catholics, monarchists, or conservative republicans. The National Union was never a militant or very active organization. Once Salazar assumed the premiership, the National Union became the only party legally allowed to function under the Estado Novo. Salazar announced that the National Union would be the antithesis of a political party. The NU became an ancillary body, not a source of political power. 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...

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