Portuguese Legion (Estado Novo)

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Standard of the Portuguese Legion with the cross of the Order of Aviz.
Standard of the Portuguese Legion with the cross of the Order of Aviz.

The Portuguese Legion (Portuguese: Legião Portuguesa) was a Portuguese paramilitary state organization founded in 1936 and extinct in 1974, during the period of the right-wing regime of the Estado Novo, under dictator António de Oliveira Salazar.

Its stated objectives were to "defend the spiritual heritage" and to "fight the communist threat and the anarchism". During World War II, the Portuguese Legion was the only Portuguese state organization that openly adopted and defended Hitler's intentions towards Europe.

The Portuguese Legion was responsible for coordinating civil defense of Portuguese territory (including in the Portuguese Empire) and was highly envolved in multiple collaborations with the PIDE, the political police and main tool of repression used by the authoritarian regime.

The Legion was extinct after the Carnation Revolution in 1974, being considered as a Fascist organization.

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