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| "The military played a critical role in the twentieth century history of the Iberian Peninsula. They triggered and conditioned political developments and became both an important source of support and concern for Portuguese and Spanish governments. This compelling study is a comparative historical analysis of the instruments that governments used to control the military throughout two stages of Iberian recent history: first, Salazar's and Franco's dictatorships and, second, the transitions and early democratic periods (until 1986). In Portugal, the military, which had handed power over to a civilian dictator, Salazar, became a threat for the regime and ended up causing the downfall of the authoritarian Estado Novo with the Carnations revolution in 1974. In Spain the military, which helped Franco to defeat the Republic in 1939 remained loyal to the dictator's principles and posed a threat to democracy, culminating in the 23F coup attempt in 1981. This book explores the discrepancy between the experiences of two countries that share such strong political, social and geographical similarities".. |
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