Though every great war begins with clear grievances, slights that, at the time, seem worthy of instigating conflict, they all evolve beyond their origins and into a fight to decide winners and losers. After all, each faction fighting the war has had to invest immense resources into its prosecution, sacrifices for which they will want compensation. And no one compensates losers. This is why morality is an inevitable casualty of war. Eventually, winning is all that matters. And this can have as devastating an impact on the countries outside a conflict as on those within it.
Great wars have no honorable neutrals. If you are not for one side then you are against it, a slight that will be remembered when it comes time to divvy up the spoils and to execute grievances. Neutrals must then choose the right side, but how? And on what terms? As a neutral, Portugal was forced to make such choices during the Second World War. This is Mr. Lochery's reconstruction of that tense and troubled time.
During World War II (1939-1945), Portugal was, politically, a dictatorship. Its ruler, Antonio Salazar, was a ruthless intellectual whose legendary discipline and work ethic helped to steer his country through the war's turbulent waters. Initially sympathetic to the Axis powers, Mr. Lochery describes how Salazar, a hater of Communism, eventually saw the Allies as the only force capable of repelling it from Europe, an understanding which helped sway his sympathies away from the fascist forces ravaging continental Europe. But as much as the pendulum of Salazar's allegiance swung back and forth,over those six, chaotic years, his desire to keep tiny but militarily vital Portugal out of the war never wavered. And in this, despite Lisbon being a neutral city frequented by enemy agents from both sides, despite the immense pressures from the Allies and the Axis powers alike, he succeeded, keeping the terrible cost of conflict from his sundrenched shores.
As much as this is a biography of Antonio Salazar, the man who was essentially the government of Portugal before, during and after the war, it is also the history of a neutral country attempting to sail through the storm of a global war. Mr. Lochery devotes as much time to the economic and social pressures troubling Portugal during this period as he does portraying the dictator who tried to manage them. Lisbon, a city of light, is described as a spy-laden, prostitute-filled tumult, a neutral marketplace for allies and Axis agents alike to comingle, to scheme and to agitate for the betterment of their side. In this, the author reveals war's impact on the innocent, its temptations for the avaricious, and its tendency to constrict the freedoms of the masses.
Lisbon is gripping work. Most histories of war center on its antagonists, not those who stand on its sidelines. rightfully so; for the action, and thus the events that shape war's outcome, are generally with war's prosecutors, not its onlookers. Neutral nations are scorned by both sides as weak and nervous, countries lacking conviction and courage. Mr. Lochery counters that view by pointing out the economic costs that befall small countries when they back the wrong side and are punished for their sins by the victors. For his courage and strength of will, to defy the greatest men of his era, Antonio Salazar should be complimented.
However, the sins of a dictator cannot be swept so cleanly under the poverbial rug. Mr. Lochery soft-sells Salazar's crimes, downplaying their importance in the context of the war. And perhaps he's right. Perhaps Salazar's personal crimes are nothing next to the ravages of war that would have tormented Portugal had he allowed it to enter WWII. But crimes are still crimes. Diminishing them in ones narrative gives the reader the impression that they've been overblown, or that they do not matter. Truth is truth.
To the extent that Mr. Lochery captures the unique pressures applied to neutrals in war, this is outstanding work. The author goes a long way to rightfully redeeming their honor. Neutrality is not, as many would suggest, synonymous with cowardice. But for all that, Lisbon reads like a Salazar apologia which is hard to swallow considering his crimes. Fascinating work... (4/5 Stars)
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