ABSTRACT
Marcello Jose das Neves Alves Caetano was born on August 17, 1906, to a primary school teacher. Unlike Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, Caetano came to realize that the New State could not survive in the post-World War II world unless it adapted to changing times. Also unlike Salazar, Caetano was a family man and had an engaging personality. The New State, unable to be changed from within and unable to bring the colonial wars to a close either by defeating the independence movements on the battlefield or negotiating a settlement, was moving rapidly toward a crisis. Capitalizing on its reputation for resistance to the repression of the New State, the Portuguese Communist Party quickly expanded its membership and established several hundred cells throughout Portugal. Antonio de Spinola was chosen as interim president of the republic and laid before the Portuguese people a political program based on that of the Armed Forces Movement.
