Antonio de Oliveira Salazar was born on April 28, 1889. He was born to a innkeeper who resided in a small village north of Lisbon; but, his destiny was greater than his fathers. He reigned over Portugal from 1932 to 1968, easily one of longest rules of the 20th century. At an early age he trained to be a priest, until leaving the seminary in 1910. From there he went to the University of Coimbra where he did not go unnoticed. Six years later he was designated the chair of Political Economy at that school. In 1926, Antonio Oscarde Fargoso Carmosa was leading a junta controlling Portugal. Faced with financial difficulties; the new government enlisted the renown economic professor Salazar. He resigned that year feeling he should have veto rights over all expenditures. In 1928, Carmosa submitted the power to Salazar who didn't officially give up his economic post until 1940. In July 1932 he became premier with dictatorial powers. He drafted a constitution called the Estado Novo (New State) which showed fascist, Catholic and corporatist influence. As a leader he was shy and didn't foster a cult of personality around him like so many other dictators. He was also careful to keep the church separated from the state. He gave himself a strict budget. However his fascist principals were made clear when he strengthened the military and formed a secret police group. While he was constantly funding massive public projects, it didn't seem to affect his people who remained the most uneducated and poorest in Europe. During WWII he allowed the Allies bases on the Azore Islands. By the 1960's his power was slipping away, Portugal began losing colony after colony. In 1968 he suffered a stroke and was replaced. He died two years later on July 27, 1970.
I'm open to ANY info but; here's what I got:
*As one would expect the British got the colonies involved: Indians
were sent to fight here and in Italy. After Gallipoli half of the ANZAC
force was sent to the trenches. Vimy Ridge one of the more successful offensives
was conducted by Canadians.
* The British defensive treaty with Portugal stems all the way back
to 1348 the oldest international treaty in the world. Thus Portugal sent
a token battalion(?) to help her British allies. A British history of the
war contained the diary of a British officer incharge of the "gese" as
he called them. I a sure you he had less than appreciative views of their
intelligence and soldiering abilities. Which is to be expected from a country
that had not been in a war with another European nation for who knows how
long.
* Japan probably the least supportive of all the allies, a Battalion
of them were sent to France. The Japanese government spoke often and frequently
of Germany's eventual victory. Meanwhile they captured Germany's Asian
colonies and served the allied war effort in a Merchant Marine capacity.
* One of the few color photos I've seen of the war shows Senegalese
troops enjoying a smoke. Many people are quite aware France used the men
of her African colonies, however I think few know they also used 100,000
Vietnamese on the Western France.
PT BOAT 109
The story of JFK and PT boat
109 has and will mesmerize people for years. I know when I read an account
of it way back in 5th grade I was spellbound. One of the first individuals
to have his number drawn and hipped the heroics and skill of Lt. Kennedy
are unquestionnable. Kennedy's "Green Dragon" (as the Japanese called the
PT Boats) was ran over by their destroyer Amagari on the 3rd of
August, 1943 in the Blacket Strait of the Solomon Islands. Kennedy and
the surviovors were forced to grin and bear until their eventual rescue.
Kennedy personally braved dangerous waters to search the islands neigbouring
the one he and his crew was marooned on.
One question still bugs me was how a
does a nimble fast moving boat get ran over by a larger lumbering ship
like the Amagari? Well at night the Japanese crew had have had a
distinct advantage. Japanese sailors were well prepared for night
warfare in the pre-WWII years Japanese sailors had been drilled in the
subject time and time again. The Japanese officers in the pre-war years
assumed correctly that the US forces would with their technologically advanced
force be weary of risking a night battle. At the Battle of Savo Island
with little more than lantern signals they pulled off one of the war's
most dazzling naval victories in the still of the night. Of interesting
note; after Kennedy was elected president a curious apology was sent to
him, from the Japanese captain who had smashed his vessel!