The Movement of Democratic Unity ( pt, Movimento de Unidade Democrática or MUD) was a quasi-legal platform of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

democratic organizations that opposed the

authoritarian regime Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...

António de Oliveira Salazar António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the ...

and was founded in October 1945. The defeat of the Fascist regimes in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

put the clerico-fascist Estado Novo regime in a troublesome position. In hopes of improving the image of the regime in Western circles, the government authorized some limited democratic openings, such as the creation of the MUD, in October 1945. The opposition groups were already organized in the Movement of National Antifascist Unity (MUNAF), which was quickly replaced by the MUD. The MUD quickly developed a strong structure, based on local committees at district, parish and neighborhood level. Initially, MUD was dominated by the moderate elements of the opposition, but soon the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português, , PCP) is a communist, Marxist–Leninist political party in Portugal based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself patriotic and internationalist,Portug ...

became the main force inside the Movement. The growing influence of the MUD in the Portuguese society, combined with the strong anti-communist action of the government, led to the banning of MUD in January 1948. In 1946, the MUD created a youth wing, the Juvenile MUD (Portuguese: MUD Juvenil or MUDJ). This wing was the most influenced by the Communist Party.

References

* * 20th century in Portugal Portuguese Communist Party Portuguese anti-fascists 1945 establishments in Portugal {{Portugal-poli-stub