Just as the Great Depression railroaded Antonio Salazar's economic efforts, the Spanish Civil War sent his diplomatic efforts into overdrive. Tiny Portugal spent the years of 1936-1939 trying to chart a pro-Portugal foreign policy while showing its longtime British ally that Salazar was able to punch above his weight. Between surviving assassination attempts, containing the civil war in Spain, and diplomatic hoola-hoops, Antonio Salazar was a man set on a mission.