Francisco Rolão Preto | |
|---|---|
 Francisco Rolão Preto in the uniform of theNational Syndicalist Blueshirts | |
| Leader of theNational Syndicalist Movement | |
| In office 15 February 1932 – 29 July 1934 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1893-02-12)12 February 1893 |
| Died | 18 December 1977(1977-12-18) (aged 84) Lisbon, Portugal |
| Political party | National Syndicalists (1932–1934) People's Monarchist Party (1974–1977) |
| Spouse | Amália Boavida Godinho |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Toulouse |
| Signature |  |
Francisco de Barcelos Rolão Preto,GCIH (12 February[1] 1893,Gavião – 18 December 1977, Hospital do Desterro,Lisbon) was aPortuguese politician, journalist, and leader of thePortuguese National Syndicalist Movement (MNS), afascist organization. When in 1934 Salazar decided to ban the National Syndicalist Movement, Preto was briefly detained and later exiled. While in exiled and inMadrid, he was a guest in the house ofJosé Antonio Primo de Rivera, with whom he collaborated in formulating a program for theFalange. In the eve of the Second World War he published a new editions of his work on Italian Fascism with high hopes on the Berlin-Rome axis.[2]
AfterWorld War II, Rolão Preto abandoned fascism[3] and joined the left-wing forumMovement of Democratic Unity.[4] In 1949 he participated inGeneral Norton de Matos’s 1949 presidential election campaign. He also backed moreliberal candidates for the Presidency, such asQuintão Meireles,Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes, and, ultimately, had a particularly important role in the 1958 campaign of another Salazar's opponent, GeneralHumberto Delgado.[4]
After theRevolution of April 25, withGonçalo Ribeiro Telles, Henrique Barrilaro Ruas, João Camossa de Saldanha, Augusto Ferreira do Amaral, Luís Coimbra, among others, he founded thePeople's Monarchist Party. In 1994, the Portuguese PresidentMário Soares granted him, posthumously, the Great Cross of theOrder of Prince Henry the Navigator.[5]
Cutting short hislyceum studies, Rolão Preto left forGalicia inSpain, where he joined themonarchistarmy officer,Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro, in his 1911–1912 failed attempts to topple thePortuguese First Republic. He then left forBelgium and worked for the integralist magazine,Alma Portuguesa, while completing secondary studies at theLiceu português inLouvain and then attending theUniversité Catholique there.
Rolão Preto had to flee Belgium whenWorld War I began, and he took refuge inFrance; he finished his studies at theUniversity of Toulouse, where he earned a degree inlaw before returning to Portugal. He replaced the jailedHipólito Raposo as editor of the journal,A Monarquia. A member of theJunta Central de Integralismo Lusitano from 1922 onward, he began a close collaboration with thePresident of Portugal,Gomes da Costa, even before the28 May 1926 coup d'état which established theDitadura Nacional, and edited the12 points the coup leaders published inBraga.
TheNational Syndicalists, also called the "Blue Shirts" (camisas azuis), following the tradition of uniformedright-wing paramilitary groups, was an organisation advocatingsyndicalism andunionism, inspired byBenito Mussolini's brand ofItalian fascism. As Rolão Preto wrote in July 1922, "our organic syndicalism is essentially the basis of current syndicalist thought among Mussolini’s friends".[6] MNS was also built on previous allegiances toIntegralismo Lusitano, but it was not inspired by theAction Française as alleged by their adversaries.[7]
He advocated especially thepersonalism ofEmmanuel Mounier and some of the aspects ofunionism. His unionist platform was based onleftist ideas ofsocial justice, such as "aminimumfamily wage", "paid holidays", "working class education", and a world in which workers are "guaranteed the right to happiness".
In 1930, he approachedDavid Neto and othersidonista (conservatives, initially members of thePartido Republicano Nacionalista), with whom he created theLiga Nacional 28 de maio, self-proclaimed defender of the "national revolution". Rolão Preto gained notoriety as an advocate ofnational syndicalism and as editor of theDiário Académico Nacionalista da Tarde, first published in 1932, which soon changed its name to theDiário Nacional-Sindicalista da Tarde. He founded the Blue Shirts, which used theOrder of Christ Cross, displayed theRoman salute, and became very popular in universities and among the youngest officers of thePortuguese Army.
The Preto personality cult grew in 1933 as the movement took to the streets and Preto engaged himself in a national propaganda tour. Preto became a regular presence at Italian Embassy receptions.[8] The movement’s newspapers began to call Preto the Chief (Chefe), and internal party correspondence reveals that he was revered by his followers.[3] Delegation from the ItalianNational Fascist Party andGerman Nazi Party became regularly attended at the rallies of Preto´s movement.[8] In the summer of 1933, the Civil Governors were instructed to prohibit public National Syndicalist demonstrations but Preto's followers managed to organize demonstrations, hiring a tugboat to greet the Italian Fascist leaderItalo Balbo when he visited Lisbon.[9] Preto also started to organize militias (Shock Brigades). According to Police reports the Lisbon Brigade, known as the Black Brigade (Brigada Negra), composed of about 60 men, became quite active on the streets.[10]
After a long meeting with the chief of the political police, Salazar decided to dissolve the National Syndicalist Movement. On 4 July 1934 Preto was briefly detained and later exiled as part of purge of the leadership of the National Syndicalist Movement. Salazar denounced the National Syndicalists as "inspired by certain foreign models" and their "exaltation of youth, and the cult of force through direct action, the principle of the superiority of state political power in social life, [and] the propensity for organizing masses behind a single leader" as fundamental differences between fascism and the Catholic corporatism of the New State.[10] The British Embassy informed London with some satisfaction stating that the Portuguese National Syndicalist Movement took "its inspiration from the Italian Embassy" and described Preto as a "vain man with a strong sense of intrigue".[10]
Preto ended up opposing the Salazar's regime for being too moderate and due to Salazar's refusal to turn the emerging corporative state into a truly fascist regime.[11] Preto resided, for a while, inValencia de Alcántara, near the border withCastelo de Vide, and then inMadrid, as a guest in the house ofJosé Antonio Primo de Rivera, with whom he collaborated in formulating a program for theFalange.
Preto returned to Portugal in February 1935, and was once more detained after instigating a Septemberrebellion with the crew of theBartolomeu Dias and thegarrison in theLisbon-areaPenha de França. Again exiled, he fought in theSpanish Civil War onFrancisco Franco's side.
Preto returned, once more, to Portugal in the eve of the Second World War and published new editions of his work on Italian Fascism originally written in 1922. Preto placed high hopes on the Berlin-Rome axis, and in his introduction to Fascism (O Fascismo), he attacked the Salazar regime and exalted Italian and German Fascism.[2] With the rise of Nazism in Germany and Fascism in Italy, Rolao Preto was optimistic about the future of European fascism, he pinned all of his hopes on an Axis victory, and confronted those who were not "real fascists" but wished to adopt aspects of fascism.[3]
AfterWorld War II, Rolão Preto abandoned fascism[3] and joined the left-wing forumMovement of Democratic Unity, and he published a volume entitledA Traição Burguesa ("TheBourgeois Betrayal"). The book criticised fascist regimes for becoming victims of social and political compromises with the bourgeoisie.[4] In 1945 he thought that "neither the glorious clarions of nationalist mysticism nor the powerful social projections of Nazi efforts can make us forget what Nazism represented — the deception of the revolutionary hopes that gave birth to National Socialism".[4]
In 1949 participated inGeneral Norton de Matos’s 1949 presidential election campaign. He also backed moreliberal candidates for the Presidency, such asQuintão Meireles,Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes, and, ultimately, had a particularly important role (campaign press manager) in the 1958 campaign of another New State dissident, GeneralHumberto Delgado.[4]
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After the fall of theEstado Novo regime Preto attempted to unite the monarchist movement behindGonçalo Ribeiro Telles'sMovimento Popular Monárquico. Preto was one of the leaders of theMovimento (People's Monarchist Party) in the period between theCarnation Revolution (1974) and his death (1977).
In 1994, the Portuguese PresidentMário Soares granted him, posthumously, the Great Cross of theOrder of Prince Henry the Navigator.[12]
He married Amália de Brito Boavida Godinho (b.Fundão, Alpedrinha), and had two children:
