Civil-Military Relations and Policy Instruments

Abstract

The civil-military relations of Portugal and Spain have taken different trajectories during the twentieth century, in particular during the periods of authoritarian rule of Salazar and Franco and the transitions to democracy that followed. In Portugal, the military, which had overthrown the First Republic in 1926 and peacefully handed power over to a civilian dictator, António Oliveira Salazar, became a threat to the regime and ended up causing the downfall of the authoritarian Estado Novo with the Carnations revolution of 1974. In Spain, the military, which had helped Francisco Franco defeat the Republic in 1939, remained loyal to the dictator’s principles and continued to pose a threat to democracy, culminating in the 23-F coup attempt on 23 February 1981.