The historical singularity of anarchism in Portugal

Abstract

Due to particularities underlying the unique history of Portugal, it can be said that the social plasticity of anarchism in Portugal was particularly evident in the period between the end of the late 19th century and the beginning of the 1920s. The basic factors behind this potential lie in a demanding and revolutionary social worker movement, based on anarcho-syndicalism. With the Russian revolution of 1917 and the military coup of 1926, which later evolved into the Salazarist dictatorship in 1933, it can be said that the strength demonstrated by the anarcho-syndicalism CGT (General Confederation of Work) wrecks in prison and underground. On the other hand, it is necessary to keep in mind that the heuristic validity of the Russian revolution transformed many of these anarcho-syndicalist militants into heralds of the constitution of Communist Parties in their countries, obeying the imperatives of the 21 conditions of the Communist International based in Moscow. Submitted by the force of clandestinity and the prisons of the Salazarist dictatorship, anarchism in Portugal was limited to a process of total atomization and little social visibility. With the revolution of April 25th 1974 in Portugal, it reappeared with some strength in the editorial environment, with the resurgence of the newspaper “A Batalha” and dozens of different Publications. Anarcho-syndicalism did not emerge and many of the publications have already disappeared. Nowadays in Portugal, it is denoted that anarchism tends to develop fundamentally in cultural circuits and in environments where the use of analytical-symbolic virtual means predominates.