Estado Novo Dictatorship Research Articles

The translation of Salazar’s speeches into English: a case-study on soft power practices in twentieth century Portugal

ABSTRACT The concept of soft power is visible in many forms. According to Nye, the use of rhetoric is the resource found at the basis of soft power, thus projecting the development of a specific kind of narrative in a given setting. Hence, this article will focus on the context of the twentieth century Estado Novo dictatorship in the period from 1933 to the aftermath of the second World War in Portugal. This regime employed soft power practices through the systematic publication of political texts, more concretely of the speeches written and delivered by dictator Oliveira Salazar, which were translated into several foreign languages. This work will provide insight into the case of the translation of Salazar’s speeches into English as a means to influence international relations with a specific target audience in mind. It will also exemplify the kind of message the regime wanted to disseminate according to a specific target audience. A close reading of two speeches will therefore provide further insight.

Histories of the Portuguese colonial war and its (other) images: a photo-text essay

In 1975, my parents-in-law met in Lourenço Marques (Maputo, Mozambique). The period preceding their engagement was marked by profoundly contrasting experiences. Because of his political activities against the Estado Novo dictatorship, he was conscripted into the Portuguese Commandos and participated in the conflict that unfolded in northern Mozambique. Conversely, she travelled from the Portuguese metropolis to Lourenço Marques as a child (following her grandfather’s promotion in public service), and had a happy childhood and adolescence, as documented in a collection of Super 8 films that were entrusted to me. How to reconcile such opposite experiences? And how to honour a legacy of images that do not cease to question me in the critical present? This photo-text essay focuses on a set of images that go beyond the commonly accepted depictions of Portuguese colonialism to problematize issues of resistance, indifference and complicity, showing how private and seemingly insignificant visual materials take part in collective forms of enunciation. It stresses the importance of landscape in conveying unassimilable and traumatic aspects of Portugal’s problematic history, examining how different discourses and imaginal references about war and colonialism reflect various perspectives, experiences and sensibilities, which may or may not align with each other. Ultimately, by drawing on an experimental, self-reflexive and visual approach to history, the essay encourages readers to actively engage in shaping alternative public memories, capable of encompassing the intricacies and diverse facets of history’s manifold manifestations.

Arriving from the revolution: International Women’s Year in the Portuguese ‘Hot Summer’

ABSTRACT In this article, I discuss reactions to International Women’s Year (IWY) in Portugal. Following the military coup of April 1974 that brought down the Estado Novo dictatorship and initiated the Carnation Revolution, Portugal underwent the ‘Hot Summer’ of 1975, a period of intense social conflict and the decolonisation processes of countries in Africa that had long fought for independence (1961–1974). I examine the composition of the Portuguese delegation and the socialist-oriented discourse they adopted, underlining how little the needs of either women in the former colonies or feminist movements were represented and addressed. While two Portuguese women’s organisations, the Democratic Movement of Women and the Commission for the Status of Woman, took advantage of IWY to promote initiatives within the country, the Movement for Liberation of Women took a more critical approach. Interweaving history, memory, and written, visual, and oral sources, I interpret the legacy of events during the summer of 1975, at both an individual level and from the perspective of women’s organisations.

The Future of Progressive Politics in a Post-Fordist World

The Future of Progressive Politics in a Post-Fordist World

Colonial landscapes in former portuguese southern africa a brief historiographical analysis based on the colonial transport networks

ABSTRACT This article is part of the research project ‘Coast to Coast– Late Portuguese Infrastructural Development in Continental Africa (Angola and Mozambique): Critical and Historical Analysis and Postcolonial Assessment’ funded by Foundation for Science and Technology. Its aims to contribute to expanding the historiographical debate on the repercussions of the decisions taken by the Portuguese through the perspective of transport and territorial mobility during the colonial period, considering the late Constitutional Monarchy; the First Republic; and the Estado Novo dictatorship. The main sources used are related to the Colonial Public Works reports released from the late 19th century onwards.

David Markus: From the Holocaust to the Cold War

David Markus:From the Holocaust to the Cold War Michael Rom (bio) Keywords Brazil, Cold War, Holocaust, Immigration, Yiddish press "Why do you dedicate so much space in your newspaper to the fight against communism?" asked a dedicated reader of the Rio de Janeiro Yiddish biweekly Idishe Prese (Jewish Press) in August 1951. "Do you lack other important problems that need to be addressed and elucidated, and which are no less important than the fight against communism?" continued the reader, who signed his letter "Ben Moshe, São Paulo." In a lengthy response to the letter, the Idishe Prese columnist dubbed "A Broker" did not mince words. "The struggle against communist expansion is a struggle for Jewish national existence," he wrote. "Jewish national life is impossible there, where the dictator of the Kremlin rules, or in the countries upon which Moscow exerts her influence."1 "A Broker" was the Idishe Prese's editor, a Polish Jewish Holocaust survivor named David Markus. Markus was only six months into his editorial duties, having arrived in Brazil the previous year, but this did not stop him from leading a determined campaign for the expulsion of communists from Brazilian Jewish institutions, along with another Polish Jewish survivor, the newspaper's São Paulo correspondent Konrad Charmatz. Through the lens of Markus's unique life story, this essay explores three overlooked aspects of Latin American Jewish cultural and political life: the renaissance of the Brazilian Yiddish press after World War II, the importance of Latin American Yiddish newspapers as arenas of communal conflict, and the vital role of Holocaust survivors in Brazilian Jewish politics during the Cold War. Born in Brok, Poland, in 1916, Markus was studying humanities at the University of Vilnius when the Nazis invaded Poland. Obtaining a transit [End Page 521] visa from Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese vice consul in Kaunas, Lithuania, Markus made his way across the USSR to Kobe, Japan, before ending up in Shanghai, which was then dominated by foreign powers and did not require a visa to enter. One of nearly twenty thousand European Jews who found refuge in the Chinese city, Markus subsisted by selling leather goods and cigarettes and also worked for a Yiddish radio program. In his spare time, he wrote sketches and musical numbers for the Jewish Literary Arts Cabaret, a Yiddish theatrical troupe led by the Polish Jewish actress Rose Shoshana Kahan, whose holiday revues included "Hamantaschen with Rice" and "Twelve Kneidlach." When the war ended, Markus returned to Poland but was unable to locate any surviving relatives, and in 1947, he immigrated to Uruguay, where two of his cousins lived. In Montevideo, he wrote for the Folksblat (People's Page), became the editor of the Poalei Zion (Labor Zionist)–affiliated newspaper Unzer Vort (Our Word), and married a Polish Jewish survivor named Lucia Weigler. He also found himself in the midst of the Cold War. In response to Soviet control over Eastern Europe, U.S. President Harry Truman pledged in March 1947 to combat the expansion of communism throughout the world. Meanwhile, the USSR launched a campaign of repression against Soviet Jewish cultural life, arresting prominent Jewish artists and intellectuals and closing Yiddish newspapers, theaters, and publishing houses. In Brazil, where Markus relocated in 1950, the Jewish Cold War was becoming particularly heated. The Brazilian Jewish community was largely the product of interwar migration from Europe and the Middle East, which occurred shortly before and partly during Getúlio Vargas's Estado Novo (New State) dictatorship (1937–45). Vargas repressed ethnic political organizations and foreign language periodicals, including shutting down Idishe Prese from 1941 to 1945. Freed of these restrictions by the return to democracy in 1945, Brazilian Jews reestablished Idishe Prese and created new Yiddish newspapers, while Zionists and communists worked together to found communal institutions such as the Jewish state federations of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which became arenas of conflict during the Cold War. After becoming the editor of Idishe Prese in February 1951, Markus added his voice to the fray. Following a contentious meeting of the Rio de Janeiro Jewish Federation in July 1951, in which Zionists and communists traded barbs over who was...

Women Architects in Portugal: Working in Colonial Africa before the Carnation Revolution (1950–1974)

How did women architects shape a modern world in the late period of Portuguese colonial Africa, just before the Carnation Revolution? The specific role of women in Portugal working in colonial African architectural culture has now started to be addressed by Portuguese and Lusophone-African historiography. During the 1950s, the presence of women in the metropolitan schools of architecture was reduced. Of those who could graduate, few actually worked as architects. Most were absorbed by the commonly feminine roles, resulting from marriage and from the ideal of family promoted by the Estado Novo dictatorship. To the ones that risked prosecution for working outside the family, the option of jobs associated with the feminine universe, such as teaching, was privileged. Among those who were emancipated from this pattern, the majority worked in familiar partnerships, regarded as an extension of marriage. The women architects that follow the husbands in their African emigration often ended up having the opportunities to work in their professional field partly due to the lack of qualified technicians, and to the high demand of commissions. This paper not only seeks to outline a perspective on these women, but also tries to understand the context of their work by presenting two case-studies in the late in the late period of Portuguese Colonisation: Maria Carlota Quintanilha and Maria Emilia Caria.

From hospital to hotel – urban heritage, adaptive reuse and sustainable tourism: the case of the S. Marcos Hospital in Braga, Portugal

Built heritage has been analysed concerning sustainable tourism, particularly regarding management and conservation as monuments in face of tourism massification. However, historic buildings can have other functions and be relevant for tourism, as adaptation practices since the mid-20 th century confirm. This paper addresses the issue of sustainable tourism in relation to adaptive reuse of built heritage through a case study that illustrates urban evolution and involvement with distinct stakeholders. It regards the adaptations of the former S. Marcos Hospital, in Braga, in the north of Portugal, since its origins in the 16 th century and throughout history, focusing on the recent transformation into a hotel. The hospital underwent a major reform in the 18 th century. In the 1960s, during the Estado Novo dictatorship, it was enlarged with a modern accoupled pavilion. These facilities functioned as the city’s main hospital until the opening of a new hospital in 2011, leading to dereliction of the historical building. Recently, part of the old S. Marcos Hospital was renovated as a 4-star hotel by Vila Gale , supported by European community funds. The restoration project enhanced the historical building, adapting it to present-day requirements and considering future sustainability. The section from the 20 th century is currently being refurbished as a hospital unit. Pondering an interdisciplinary approach to this subject, the research draws on conservation and management theories of heritage buildings and contemplates its significance for the discipline of Human Geography. The analysis regards the adaptation of a historical building that held particular healthcare functions and observes its “new life”, evaluating this practice in relation to official policies, within the scope of sustainable tourism, as well as addressing the phenomenon of Medical Tourism.

Nationalism, Immigration and Identity: The Gracies and the Making of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 1934–1943

This article analyzes the transformation of a modernized Japanese school of martial arts, jujutsu ( 柔術 ), also known as jiu-jitsu, jujitsu and/or Kodokan judo, into a Brazilian combat sport. In the 1930s, the Gracies, supported by a nationalist regime, launched a comprehensive process of jiu-jitsu reinvention that evolved into a local combat sport at the same time as the inauguration of the Estado Novo dictatorship in 1937. This study argues that the Brazilian jiu-jitsu is the direct outcome of clashes pitting the Gracies and Japanese immigrants that occurred against a background of radical nationalism, violence and ideological polarization. The creation of a local jiu-jitsu encompassed a wide range of changes in techniques, philosophy and rituals borne from the clash between tradition and modernity.

Membership Required: Juventude Brasileira and Fascist Education in Brazil’s Estado Novo Dictatorship

Brazil’s Estado Novo dictatorship (1938-1945) saw the establishment of a new national youth organization called Juventude Brasileira (Brazilian Youth). Founded by Hitler Youth-inspired bureaucrats, the organization’s operations show how profoundly fascism pervaded the inner-workings of this regime, and more generally, how much educational policy reflects the most foundational priorities of an authoritarian government. However, the persistent dissent against Juventude Brasileira, from within the Ministry of Education and ultimately by a dissatisfied public clamoring for democracy, also illustrates paths of resistance against authoritarianism.

A mobilização política dos marinheiros brasileiros no contexto da Guerra da Coreia (1950-1953)

This work aims to investigate the political mobilization of Brazilian Navy Marines who worked in the context of the Korean War (1950-1953), when Brazil was debating whether Brazil should participate in the Asian conflict. This approach has as its starting point the postwar and the unleashing of the Cold War, when this ideological and multifaceted confrontation politically gains contours of a conflict between capitalism and communism, and which at the time was close to a nuclear war. If the Communist danger had been the justification of President Getúlio Vargas to establish the Estado Novo dictatorship; in the Korean War the enemy remained the same, but now on the Korean peninsula in which the communist north and the capitalist south were confronted militarily. The main objective of this approach is to verify the hypothesis that a group of left-wing sailors and many of them belonging to the Antimil (Military Sector of the PCB) acted and developed their political action in order to prevent the Brazilian government from sending an expeditionary force to fight in the Korean War. In short, we will try to understand the process of struggle and mobilization, as well as the mechanism of institutional repression that attacked the sailors in the Brazilian Navy, as well as to analyze the serious violations of human rights inflicted on them as a result of their political positioning. non-participation of the Armed Forces in the Korean War.

Limites e alcances da propaganda do Estado Novo para mobilização nacional durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial

O artigo aponta alguns limites e alcances da propaganda de mobilização nacional, durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, como possibilidade de reflexão sobre as relações estabelecidas entre Estado e classe trabalhadora e também sobre as possíveis causas do enfraquecimento da ditadura do Estado Novo, a partir da análise dos processos trabalhistas impetrados nas Juntas de Conciliação e Julgamento de Belo Horizonte, entre 1939 e 1945, e dos textos publicados pela Revista do Trabalho e pelo jornal Estado de Minas, no mesmo período.

Horror on the Periphery of Modernity:The Invention of the Baixada Fluminense and the Legendary Tenório Cavalcanti

The 1950s stand out as the “Golden Years” in the collective memory of many Brazilians. Sandwiched between the authoritarian periods of the Estado Novo dictatorship led by Getúlio Vargas (1937–45) and a military dictatorship (1964–85), the decade was a time of great optimism for the country's future. Many hoped that the country would enjoy a lasting democratic system accompanied by the ever-increasing trappings of modernity. Indeed, a surge of economic growth and industrial development during Vargas's return as a democratically elected president (1951–54), followed by a massive industrialization program crowned by the construction of the ultramodern capital of Brasília under Juscelino Kubitschek (1956–61), gave true believers reason for optimism.

“Caçador” e “Bundão”: Dutra e os desenhos da imprensa comunista (1945-1951)

A pesquisa investiga a representação do presidente Eurico Gaspar Dutra nas caricaturas e charges publicadas pelos jornais do Partido Comunista Brasileiro (PCB) no período compreendido pelo fim do Estado Novo em 1945 até o termino do governo de Dutra em 1951. A frequência com que os desenhos aparecem e as escolhas feitas pelos artistas que os criaram têm relação direta com as opções ideológicas dos comunistas e têm papel importante na luta política do período. As imagens constroem um outro viés sobre o tradicionalmente chamado processo de “redemocratização” após a ditadura estadonovista (1937 – 1945).

Roads for the 1940 Portuguese Nationality Commemorations: Modernising by excess in a context of scarcity

The history of two roads projected and built for cars during the first phase of the Estado Novo dictatorship in Portugal (1933–1945) is reconstructed in the context of similar developments in interwar Europe, showing the particularities of a peripheral European country. It shows the importance of automobile infrastructure to this dictatorial regime, the political uses of this technological sublime, and the controversies triggered by the exceptionality and arbitrariness with which this road plan was carried out. The Lisbon–Cascais coastal road and the Lisbon–National Stadium motorway stretch were two small roads compared with the national network, for which the State concentrated substantial economic and technical resources because of political reasons, but also due to concerns about urban development and tourism. Their construction entailed the development of national engineering and the promotion of future car use.

O CÓDIGO ADMINISTRATIVO DO ESTADO NOVO: A DISTRIBUIÇÃO JURÍDICA DO PODER POLÍTICO NA DITADURA

Resumo O artigo discute as duas versões do Decreto-Lei 1.202/39 e suas alterações durante o Estado Novo (através do Decreto-Lei 5.511/43 e do Decreto-Lei 7.518/45). Analisamos os diferentes formatos da disposição jurídica que definiu tanto os poderes formais das oligarquias estaduais depois da Revolução de 1930, quanto a agenda político-burocrática dos Departamentos Administrativos dos estados. Trata-se de avaliar a capacidade legal desses aparelhos para formular políticas e tomar decisões, precondição para entender seu poder de agenda. A análise dessa legislação permite compreender como a divisão do trabalho político e burocrático operava no Estado ditatorial, as conexões entre os seus centros de poder e a distribuição do poder pelas oligarquias.

DIREITO, CIÊNCIA DO SOCIAL: O LUGAR DOS JURISTAS NOS DEBATES DO BRASIL DOS ANOS 1930 E 1940

Resumo Este artigo analisa o lugar dos juristas nos debates do Brasil dos anos 1930 e 1940. A partir do estudo das revistas Forense e Cultura Política, argumentamos que aproximações em torno de temas como a hostilidade ao parlamento, a busca por um conhecimento objetivo da sociedade, projetos de reformas legislativas e a chamada "socialização do direito" permitiram que o governo Vargas e os bacharéis em direito tecessem laços bastante estreitos. No início da década de 1940, entretanto, essas relações se tornaram mais tensas, e muitos juristas passaram a endossar a oposição liberal ao Estado Novo.

Reproducing Portuguese Villages in Africa: Agricultural Science, Ideology and Empire

This article examines the political and ideological uses of agronomic research, focusing on state-directed rural white settlements in Angola. Implemented ‘against the tide’, in the mid-1950s, with Angola’s African anti-colonial movement already under way, these schemes contained numerous contradictions. Under a modernising agenda, the Estado Novo dictatorship created the colonatos of Cela and Cunene, with the expressed purpose of reproducing Portuguese rural villages in Africa, settling poor Portuguese peasants and perpetuating colonial rule. Drawing on a range of primary sources from Portuguese colonial and scientific archives and the literature on Angola, I analyse the relationship between policymakers and the agricultural engineers mobilised to study the soils and its agricultural suitability in the regions chosen for the colonatos. I show that several experts criticised state-sponsored development of white rural settlements and exposed the policy’s drawbacks. I also place this particular example within the context of the existing literature on the history of science and development in post-war Africa. I will argue that the Portuguese version of the ‘developmentalist’ colonial state was burdened with an anti-progressive ideology that criticised industrialisation, urbanisation and proletarianisation, ignored technical and scientific conclusions, and despised settlers’ aspirations of upward mobility, seeing such aspirations as potentially politically disruptive. According to this model, the ideal type of white settler – modest, rooted in the land, earning only enough to get by – would be emulated by the African peasant, ensuring both social peace and colonial order. The failure of this experiment illustrates the (dis)connection between science and ideology in the last years of the Portuguese Empire, and the social and economic cost of their disengagement.

Lisbon, a Modern City

In the words of José-Augusto França, Lisbon is the last of the old European cities and the first of the modern cities, as confirmed by the 1758 Baixa Pombalina plan undertaken for the reconstruction of the city destroyed by the 1755 earthquake, as a pioneering example of modern urban planning. Following the avant-garde plan, modern architecture in Portugal may be envisaged through three main moments according to specific policies undertaken during the long Estado Novo dictatorship (1926-1974).

After Looking North and West: Portuguese Contemporary Dance and the European Crises

In the four decades that followed the April 1974 revolution, which ended the Estado Novo's dictatorship (1926–1974) and the Portuguese colonial empire, contemporary theater dance has witnessed an explosion in Portugal. After 1974, the African decolonization, the subsequent flow of immigrants, European Union accession (1986), and the opening to the contemporary Western world have substantially altered Portugal's political and demographic landscapes, social practices, and expressive cultures. Considering the current European crises, this article discusses how Portuguese contemporary dance is recently facing or reflecting the impact of Lusophone postcolonial cultural and demographic reconfigurations, and incorporating or dealing with its patrimonial expressive cultures.