Crónicas de guerra: la matanza de Badajoz y la batalla del Alcázar de Toledo en la prensa portuguesa

Abstract

Oliveira Salazar used the press so that the Francoist band would rise to victory in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). In this paper, the dispatches from the war correspondents of the Diário de Lisboa, Diário de Notícias, Diário da Manhã and O Século are analyzed, reporters who covered the massacre of Badajoz and the battle of Toledo. The investigation, using a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology, shows the propagandistic ends behind these news titles at the service of the foreign policy of the Estado Novo, and the way in which the censorship converted them into ideological weapons that demonized the Republic and offered a positive image of the rebels. The spectacular coverage given to the fall of the Alcázar de Toledo contributed to forging the myth of the historic site, which the journalist, Mário Neves (Diário de Lisboa), highlighted over and above all others in his report on the events at Badajoz.

Keywords

• Portugal
• press
• Alcázar de Toledo
• Badajoz
• Spanish Civil War