Do Comandante Supremo das Forças Armadas

The President of the Portuguese Republic’s relation with the Armed Forces in the current political system is not confined to the vast legislative and constitutional set. As Chief of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the President holds different powers. We develop an approach through the main concepts and themes that regulate the Armed Forces and National Defense, focusing the relations that involve the President directly. The attribution by inherence of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces to the Chief of State, imposes a peculiar relation with the remainder sovereign institutions. The need to analyze the intermediate services as far as military and defense issues are concerned becomes necessary, in particular the role of the Military Cabinet – as a structure of direct support – and the High Council of National Defense – as an advisory body.

War and propaganda in the XXth Century

Propaganda represented the sacrifice of soldiers in war and praised the power of the country. It has been around these images that all over the world entire populations were mobilized on the expectation of victory. Through the static image of printed posters or the newspaper news projected in cinemas all over the globe, governments sought to promote a patriotic spirit, encouraging the effort of individual sacrifice by sending a clear set of messages that directly appealed to the voluntary enlistment in the armies, messages that explained the important of rationing essential goods, of the intensification of food production or the purchase of war bonds, exacerbating feelings, arousing emotions and projecting an image divided between the notion of superiority and the idea of fear of the opponent. From press, in the First World War, to radio in World War II, to television and cinema from the 1950s onwards, propaganda proved to be a weapon as deadly as those managed by soldiers in the battlefield. That’s why it is essential to analyse and discuss the topic of War and Propaganda in the Twentieth Century. This conference is organized by the IHC and the CEIS20 and is part of the Centennial Program of the Great War, organized by the IHC, and the International Centennial Program coordinated by the Imperial War Museum in London.