The Estado Novo, also called the Second Republic, is a key part of 20th century Portuguese history. It was a right-wing conservative regime, led by the corporatist and authoritarian dictator António de Oliviera Salazar; established in 1933 and which lasted until 1974. The First Republic had been an unstable and unsuccessful republican democracy, and had been overthrown by a coup d'état in May 1926, which led to the evolution of the "Ditadura Nacional” which eventually progressed to become the Estado Novo. The integration of the importance of the role of the Catholic Church and fascism is difficult to assess as Salazar's regime "continued to mix Roman Catholic principles and Mussolini-style fascism in equal measure." Salazar's Catholic background is truly crucial to understanding his power and dictatorship; this is primarily the reason why the Catholic Church experienced a revitalization through his reign and the Estado Novo era in Portugal from 1933 to 1974. Salazar himself was deeply religious and completely imbued with Catholic principles and beliefs Romans, being an avud member of the Centro Católico Português (CCP), hence why "family, parish and Christianity" were considered the foundations of the Estado Novo. His intentions were to cleanse and regenerate the nation through "a significant reassessment of the nature of relations between the state and the Catholic Church." An important connection he had with the Christian Church began with his friendship and close relationship with Maunel Gonçalves Cerejeira during his time at the University of Coimbra, as he would become the de facto Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, as Salazar in would come to use the Church to advance his regime, because his constitution was in the process of being drafted. The other side of the question concerns the fascist side of Salazar's regime, which is difficult to explore, as Salazar embraced aspects of previous fascist regimes, such as an imitation of the Hitler Youth, the Italian Blackshirts and the Gestapo. Salazar's fascism was a "fascism without a fascist movement", because in fact it developed as an authoritarian regime, very right-wing, like fascism. And with the introduction of concentration camps, the expulsion or execution of opponents of the regime, and the introduction of censorship, Portugal began to mirror the beginnings of Nazi Germany under Hitler's rule. The difference however was that the Estado Novo lacked an expansionist sense, a charismatic leader, a party structure and the use of terror and violence was very limited...