Pombal: The Paradox of Enlightenment and Despotism.
The article written by Kenneth Maxwell deems to explain the rule of Pombal and .
the paradox under which he ran the country. He was a man that could adapt to change .
quite readily which was demonstrated through his political, social, and economic .
institutions. During his time of reign, Portugal was undergoing many problems that .
needed careful and direct leadership. Beginning from the earthquake that devastated .
many cities and business, Pombal wanted restoration and prosper of Portugal as a nation.
One of the main attributes of Pombal as a leader was that he ruled through fear, a .
tyrant. His crusade to eliminate the Jesuits in South Africa arrived from the need to show .
his power and wanted to create reform through the area. During this time Pombal created .
state-run propaganda which was being printed in 5 different languages, this lead to other .
European reforms instituting their own use of propaganda to control the masses. The .
successes of these reforms lead Pombal to believe that the country could progress at a .
higher rate through the intervention of the state. His interventions continued through to .
the secondary school program where his hired professors were to teach the elite the ways .
of government and polices that were contusive to his ruling. Although his reform to .
education may have seem revolutionary, he created the state run schools to ensure the .
students who would be the future of government would think and run the state as he did. .
Kenneth Maxwell shows the paradox through Pombal wanting to better the life of .
Portugal and the people, yet his concern is to ensure that ultimately he gets what he wants .
from the system and not the people. .
Pombal was a leader that ultimately achieved his goals by not allowing obstacles .
to get in his way. His obtaining of full state power and using this power to re-create the .
economic system of Portugal was one in the same.