Mourning and cult of the fallen (Portugal)

Abstract

Portugal's participation in the First World War, first in Africa and then on the European front, was marked by profound discord. In light of the crisis that swept across the nation in the wake of the war, which would culminate in an authoritarian regime, the young First Republic struggled to capitalize on the Allied victory. Within the context of a broader culture of war, we seek to analyze the construction of the official memory of this conflict. We analyze processes of remembrance, attempting to grasp their nature and whether they correspond to interpretations that see the violent experience of conflict as heralding a cultural rupture, one inherently associated with the brutalization of society and politics in the postwar period.