12axes-testTake the test
Plínio Salgado
Historical figureBrazil1895-1975

Plínio Salgado

Founder and national chief of Brazilian Integralist Action · Federal deputy (1959-1974)

Brazilian writer who founded the green-shirted Integralist movement in 1932, backed a corporatist state under one authoritarian head, and after exile sat in congress until 1974.

Compare yourself See the 12 scores
Profile on 12 axes9 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Plínio Salgado, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership+10
    PublicPrivate

    The movement attacked international financial capital but not private property or profit.

  2. 02Markets-30
    PlannedFree

    He wanted a corporatist state in which only producers would vote and class representation would replace parties. That is state-organized rather than free-market.

  3. 03WelfareNo clear record
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority+85
    DemocraticStrong leader

    He envisaged an integral state under a single authoritarian head, and the movement's statutes made his own leadership permanent. He later sat in an elected congress and ran for president in 1955. Reflects the movement years.

  5. 05Security+70
    LibertyOrder
  6. 06Structure+70
    LocalCentral
  7. 07Morality+80
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08Religion+70
    SecularReligious

    The motto was God, Fatherland and Family and the doctrine rested on a spiritualist, Catholic-influenced humanism.

  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution
  10. 10Culture+70
    MulticulturalNational identity

    Nationalism was the central idea and was cultural and romantic. The movement also carried antisemitism, which was not shared by all its thinkers.

  11. 11TradeNo clear record
    GlobalProtected
  12. 12Foreign policy+50
    CooperationStrength

    The doctrine imagined expansion across South America.

3 axes have no clear record, so matching leaves them out.

Who was Plínio Salgado?

Salgado was born on 22 January 1895 in São Bento do Sapucaí, in São Paulo state, and worked as a teacher, journalist and novelist. After a 1930 trip to Europe, where he met Mussolini, he turned to fascist-inspired politics. He founded Brazilian Integralist Action in 1932 and led it as national chief until Getúlio Vargas dissolved it in December 1937. He was involved in the failed integralist uprising of May 1938 and was exiled to Portugal from 1939 until August 1945. He then co-founded the Party of Popular Representation, won about 8 percent of the vote for president in 1955 and served in congress from 1959 to 1974. He died in São Paulo in 1975.

Political views

  • The Integralist founding manifesto appeared in October 1932, and Salgado became the movement's national chief in March 1934.Source: www18.fgv.br
  • The movement sought an integral corporatist state. Only producers would vote and class representation would replace parties. Salgado's version was family-corporatist.Source: www18.fgv.br
  • Nationalism was its central idea, mostly cultural and romantic, and the motto was God, Fatherland and Family. Its doctrine rested on a spiritualist humanism with a Catholic background.Source: www18.fgv.br
  • Its 1933 founding book declared war on liberal democracy. Its attacks on capitalism targeted international financial capital, not private property or profit.Source: www18.fgv.br
  • The statutes made Salgado's position as national chief permanent, and a personality cult grew built on his oratory and absolute authority.Source: www18.fgv.br
  • Antisemitism was present in the movement, though not shared by all its thinkers. Gustavo Barroso was its most radical antisemite.Source: www18.fgv.br
  • Estimates put the movement at 600,000 to one million adherents by 1936. After the Estado Novo coup, Vargas dissolved it in December 1937.Source: www18.fgv.br
  • He was involved in the failed May 1938 uprising and was exiled to Portugal from June 1939 until August 1945. He later won roughly 8 percent for president in 1955 and was a federal deputy from 1959 to 1974, joining ARENA in 1965.Source: www18.fgv.br

Legacy

A Brazilian university archive calls Integralism the most important fascist-inspired movement organized in Brazil, and Salgado was its unchallenged chief. Supporters saw a prolific writer and journalist who defended God, family and nation against communism. Critics point to its declared war on liberal democracy, its green-shirted street politics, a leader cult, antisemitism among its militants and the armed attack on the presidential palace in 1938. Salgado later worked inside elected institutions, but he never won the presidency, and his party took only about 8 percent in 1955.

How close are you to Plínio Salgado?

Take the 12 Axes test and see which historical figure is your political twin, axis by axis.

Take the test

Plínio Salgado: questions

Was Plínio Salgado a fascist?

A Brazilian university archive calls his Integralist movement fascist-inspired and the most important of its kind in Brazil. It wanted a corporatist state under one authoritarian head and declared war on liberal democracy.

What was Brazilian Integralist Action?

A movement founded in 1932 with the motto God, Fatherland and Family. Estimates put it at 600,000 to one million adherents by 1936, and Vargas dissolved it in December 1937.

What happened to Plínio Salgado after 1938?

He was exiled to Portugal from 1939 to August 1945. He then co-founded a new party, ran for president in 1955 and served in congress from 1959 to 1974.

Sources