Political alignments and editorial discourses: the Portuguese press, the Iberian Peninsula and the European border crisis in the prelude to the Second World War

Abstract

This article analyzes the construction of the discursive universe in the Portuguese press in the face of the collapse of European borders and the international events of 1938, with the Iberian Peninsula as a projection area. Basing the analysis on a broad set of Portuguese periodicals, the research reveals divergent editorial approaches influenced by political alignments. Starting from the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland crisis, we will draw conceptual lines on how these representations reinforced Portugal's diplomatic neutrality and strengthened the internal cohesion of the Estado Novo, always taking into account the tumultuous peninsular context.