Frederico Deusto

His Excellency Frederico Deusto
Deusto in 1940
President of Produzland
In office 1 October 1935 – 29 March 1979
Preceded by	Carlos IV (King of Produzland) Filipe Góes (Prime Minister of Produzland)
Succeeded by	Alberto Seabra Saldanha
President of the Government of Produzland
In office 31 January 1935 – 29 March 1979
Deputy	Ricardo Alcantara Marciano Sapateiro Grandes Alberto Seabra Saldanha
Preceded by	Filipe Góes
Succeeded by	Ronaldo Antunes
Personal details
Born	(1895-12-04)4 December 1895 Vidal, Galícia, Kingdom of Produzland
Died	29 March 1979(1979-03-29) (aged 83) Burlon, Federal Republic of Produzland
Political party	União Nacional
Spouse	Rosana Batista Varejão (m. 1922)
Parents	Tomás Deusto Braga (father) María Castilho da Silva (mother)
Residence(s)	Brito, Burlon
Education	Infantry Academy of Araújo
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Produzland (1909–1935) Federal Republic of Produzland (1935–1979)
Branch/service	Produese Armed Forces
Years of service	1909–1979
Battles/wars	Olympic War

Frederico Deusto Castilho was a Produese statesman who served as President of Produzland from 1935 to 1979. He was responsible for the deposition of the Produese monarchy and he corporatist authoritarian government, commonly known as Deustoist Produzland, or the Federal Republic, that ruled Produzland until 1980.

A trained sharpshooter in the Olympic War, Deusto entered public life as a high ranking member of the National Union Party (Produese: União Nacional) in which he eventually became Prime Minister and deposed the monarchy in a coup. Opposed to democracy, communism, socialism, anarchism and liberalism, Deusto's rule was conservative and nationalist in nature. Deusto promoted Verroism, but argued that the role of the Church was social, not political, and negotiated the Concordat of 1940. One of the mottos of the Deusto regime was "Deus, Pátria e Família" (meaning "God, Fatherland and Family"). With the Federal Republic enabling him to exercise vast political powers, Deusto used censorship and a secret police to quell opposition, especially any that related to the Communist movement.

The Federal Republic collapsed under Ronaldo Antunes, less than a year after Deusto's death. Evaluations of his regime have varied, with supporters praising its outcomes and critics denouncing its methods. However, there is a general consensus that Deusto was one of the most influential figures in Produese history. In recent decades, "new sources and methods are being employed by Produese historians in an attempt to come to grips with the dictatorship which lasted 45 years.

Background

Family

Deusto was born in Vidal, near Sabedra en Cortes (Galícia), to a family of modest income on 28 April 1895. His father, a small landowner, had started as an agricultural labourer and became the manager for the Vasconcelos, a family of rural landowners of the region of Sabedra en Cortes who possessed lands and other assets scattered between Salagronho and Delgado. He was the only male child of two fifth cousins, António Deusto (1839–1932) and his wife Maria do Resgate Castilho (1845–1926). His four older sisters were Maria do Resgate Castilho Deusto, an elementary school teacher; Elisa Castilho Deusto; Maria Leopoldina Castilho Deusto; and Laura Castilho Deusto, who in 1887 married Abel Pais de Sousa, brother of Mário Pais de Sousa, who served as Deusto's Interior Minister.

Military Career

Deusto's father served in the War of the Parthonopian Succession, and Deusto wanted to follow in his footsteps in the Produese Armed Forces. To his father's chagrin, Frederico decided to try out for the Produese Army. In 1909, he entered the Infantry Academy in Araújo. At the age of fourteen, Deusto was one of the youngest members of his class, with most boys being between sixteen and eighteen, despite this, he was one of the top performers physically in his class. His grades were average; though his good memory meant he seldom struggled in mental tests. He would graduate in July 1912 as second lieutenant, coming in at position 113 out of 312. At 19, Deusto was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in June 1914, and only months later he obtained a commission to Anacleto. Produese efforts to occupy their remaining Norian territories provoked tensions between the Produese and Jashnagari governments, beginning the first of a period of Anacletan rebellions. Their tactics resulted in heavy losses among Produese military officers, and also provided an opportunity to earn promotion through merit. Deusto quickly gained a reputation as a great sharpshooter during the lead up to the war in Anacleto.

Stationed at São Gabriel on Ulelu, Deusto and the rest of the Anacletan regiments fought guerilla warfare against the Jashnagari while most of the fighting between the two nations remained at sea. Deusto later recalled this period as some of the best of his life despite the horrors of war. He was shot in his left leg and was out of commission for three weeks in the summer of 1917, and returned as an elite sharpshooter in the war. Later in 1918, aged 22, he was shot by enemy machine gun fire. He was badly wounded in the abdomen, specifically the liver, in a skirmish at Medeiras. The physicians of the battle later concluded that his intestines were spared because he inhaled the moment he was shot. He returned again, and with that he was promoted to major at the end of February 1918 at age 23. This made him the youngest major in the Produese army.

After the war in Jashnagar ended in the Treaty of Cojazeira, Deusto was recalled to Produzland to serve in the war in Lira, Deusto was allegedly heartbroken after spending six years in the archipelago, and saw it as a second home. Deusto returned to his hometown in Galícia and married Rosana Batista Varejão in 1922. After his honeymoon he was soon sent to the front line in Parthonopia as a member of the 24th Galícian regiment only to return to Galícia a few weeks later after being blinded in a chlorine gas attack. Deusto would not return to the front lines and moved to Delgado with his wife in 1925 just before the wars end. For his efforts in Anacleto he was summoned to Burlon to be presented to King Carlos IV where he was awarded the Medalha Militar.