The Movement of Democratic Unity (Portuguese: Movimento de Unidade Democrática or MUD) was a quasi-legal platform of Portuguese democratic organizations that opposed the dictatorial regime of António Oliveira Salazar and was founded in October 1945.
The defeat of the Fascist regimes in the World War II put the dictatorial regime of Oliveira Salazar in a troublesome position, so, in order to improve the image of the regime at the eyes of the Western allies, the government authorized some fake democratic openings, such as the creation of the MUD, in October 1945. The opposition groups were already organized in the Movement of National Antifascist Unity (MUNAF), and quickly organized themselves inside the newly-created MUD, that replaced the MUNAF.
The MUD quickly developed a strong structure, based on local committees at district, parish and neighborhood level. Initially, MUD's political stance was controlled by the moderate opposition, but soon, the Portuguese Communist Party became the main force inside the Movement. The growing influence of the MUD in the Portuguese society, combined with the strong anti-communist action of the government, led to the banning of MUD in January 1948.
In 1946, the MUD created a youth wing, the Juvenile MUD (Portuguese: MUD Juvenil or MUDJ). This wing was the most influenced by the Communist Party.