Nationalist Interests in the Intellectual Cooperation Work of the League of Nations: The Case of Portugal

Abstract

How did Portugal confirm its national interests while integrated into an institution that promoted visions of an international community? This article addresses the central question of this peripheral country's response to two proposals put forward by the Organisation for Intellectual Cooperation in the 1930s inter-war period: the revision of textbooks and the use of broadcasting for peace. After a brief analysis of the institutional aspects and Portugal's integration into the system of intellectual cooperation, the article examines how Portugal addressed two issues of national relevance in a transnational context. Based on extensive archival research, this article starts from the premise of whether Portugal's nationalist stance prevented it from adhering to two resolutions that sought moral disarmament. More broadly, this article aims to contribute to the renewed interest in revisiting the history of the League of Nations by focusing on projects devised by the technical organs of intellectual cooperation.