O estado português, a marinha mercante e as colónias, 1926-1939

Abstract

This article intends to analyse how the relations between the dictatorial Portuguese government and the Portuguese shipping companies (Companhia Nacional de Navegação and Companhia Colonial de Navegação) were defined in the context of the 1929 crisis and the Great Depression, as well as the social and political consolidation of the new regime. By declaring the Portuguese merchant fleet to be of national interest, the Estado Novo conceived and established a system of public service that was applied to the exclusive exploitation of its African colonies. From there, we will see how this system was adopted and how it was characterised. Secondly, we will identify the mechanisms that were used to guarantee the dictatorial interference of the state in the Portuguese shipping companies and its reception by these companies.

Keywords

• Portuguese dictatorship
• Great Depression
• maritime history
• colonial history
• business history