Portugal and the Interwar System of Global Intellectual Cooperation (1922–1939)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide the first reconstruction of the role Portugal played in the two institutions set up by the League of Nations to promote intellectual cooperation with the aim of maintaining world peace – the International Commission for Intellectual Cooperation and the International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation – involving the establishment of the Portuguese National Commission for Intellectual Cooperation as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The lack of studies focusing on Portugal’s integration into the system of intellectual cooperation inspired this archival-based research project. The purpose is to provide an initial historiographical approach to and an overall assessment of Portugal’s role within the framework of intellectual cooperation established by the League of Nations.