Introduction

The Salazar dictatorship period in Portugal lasted 41 years and is known as “Estado Novo”. It mirrored itself on other dictatorships in ascension on Europe and promoted the nationalist ideals based on religious and moral standards, saying that these were the original principles since the formation of the country as a unit.

We must agree with ^{Hobsbawm (1990}, p.22) when he states that the researcher of history of nations and nationalism is not a political compromised nationalist, since “it requires a lot of belief in something that obviously is not like this”. Along with the statement, we can understand this moment in history as being marked by a Portuguese nationalism based on declarations that did not necessarily express the feelings of the people, but a unifying speech that follows ideologies that people believed to oppose things which they also wanted to fight against.

The Portuguese State was not formed by ethnical or cultural affinity, it was mainly formed by the continuity of a strong and centralizer political power (^{Mattoso, 1998}). The elements of formation of the Portuguese people are extremely diverse thus making it impossible to confirm the existence of a cultural, ethnical or territorial unit. Here we would like to recall the occupation of the Celtic on the northern and Moors in the southern regions for many centuries. An example is on the meaning of the country’s name, it goes back to Porto, a region at the northern part of the nation without much cultural affinity with the other areas. It also goes to the names of the municipalities and counties of what is Portugal today.

In the dictatorship period as in others, we can infer a comeback of ‘national traditions’ in aims to engage a cultural and development model ongoing in other European countries with the premise of a common cultural collective. Scientific approaches towards a national identity in the country only started to exist in 1974 with the inclusion of this theme in universities. Prior to this and mainly during the Salazar period it was heavily opposed by intellectuals who defended the regime, under the allegation that it was a representation of Marxism (^{Mattoso, 1998}).

For this reason, a nationalist imagination based on depth and antiquity grew stronger in Portugal on the second half of 19th century and most of 20th century (^{Sobral, 2012}). Therefore, the pride of being Europe’s oldest nation, with frontiers delimited in 12th century was a predominant argument among speeches during Salazar’s Dictatorship.

The first party to label itself “[…] nationalist […]”is a catholic organization founded in 1903 with an ideology that exalts the identification between nation and Christianity, opposes secularism and proposes a political intervention that places conciliation among capital and work as a substitute of class struggle as the mean to handle the so called “[…] social issues […]”. This party disappeared with the growth of the Republic in 1910, but its legacy will prevail within the official nationalism of the “Estado Novo” (^{Sobral, 2012}, p. 64).

One of the reasons for the beginning of the dictatorship was the “[…] Bolshevik threat” (^{Menezes & Ferreira, 2012}, p. 53). Anticlericalism is presented as one of the main pleadings that led to the fall of the First Republic¹⁵ (Menezes & Ferreira, 2012). Despite that, the government faced resistance among members who contributed to the structuring of Salazar’s Dictatorship, such as military and conservative republicans (^{Loff, 2008}). The Catholic Church used their speech aiming to link Christianity to Democracy and use it as tool against the ‘Atheist Communism’. Under the same argument that links civilization to a construction of a national identity, the Church claims a position as guardian of Portuguese morality.

In the beginning of Salazar’s Dictatorship, Catholic Church also released guidance for education to be based on principles of Christian doctrine and moral, which are “[…] nation’s tradicions” (^{Loff, 2008}, p. 167). To consider Christianity as part of a country’s tradition means to consider a national identity based on the construction of a habitus that aims to assert itself in multiple devices of society¹⁶.

‘Nationalization of the masses’ is understood here as a popularization of the nationalism of the elite […], but mainly of the content disseminated by state institutions as well as mobilizing the masses to support them. The army and the public schools were the main institutions responsible to disseminate primary instructions along all the 20th century. Later, they were joined by nationalist organizations for formation and mobilization, developed under Estado Novo and designed as other totalitarian nationalisms such as Mocidade […] (^{Sobral, 2012}, p. 76-77, author’s emphasis).

How Mocidade Portuguesa (MP) and Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina (MPF) acted within and out of public teaching institutions in Portugal? And how did they influence the moral formation and construction of ideals of a national identity among Portuguese youngsters during Salazar’s Dictatorship?

Starting off with these questions, the present article intends to discuss the actions of Mocidade Portuguesa (MP) and Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina (MPF) on Portuguese education during the Salazar period. It is also within interest to comprehend how these institutions developed a pedagogical action, either formal or informal, looking forward to spreading specific moral values and ideals of national identity between 1936 and 1974.

This period corresponds to the creation and extinction of two entities, born from the efforts of Salazar’s Estado Novo to elaborate an education format aligned with the government (1933-1974). Thus, it deals with processes of formal and non-formal education practiced by MP and MPF during dictatorships of António de Oliveira Salazar and his 1968 successor Marcello Caetano.

The institutions had the goal to shape boys and girls who, later, would act on social and political life of Portugal, forged on models and thoughts of what would be the ideal Portuguese citizen during the Salazar Dictatorship. Hence, it is initially interesting the fact that they emerged from initiatives of the Ministério da Educação Nacional (MEN).

The main objective of the present study is to identify how Mocidade Portuguesa (MP) and Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina (MPF) acted on public teaching institutions of Portugal and how they influenced the moral formation and construction of ideals of national identity among youngsters in Salazar’s Dictatorship.

Therefore, it is necessary to present how they were formulated and organized by the government and then demonstrate that they served as means to shape the Portuguese citizenship and national identity. To do so, one must understand the construction of this public policy, how it works and its alignment with the interests of Salazar’s government.

To fulfill the objectives proposed here, we started with literature research. In this research we identified a book from ^{Pimentel (2008}), called Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina. The author presents results from her studies about Portuguese education for women during the Salazar period. Research from ^{Viana (2001}), which resulted in the book A Mocidade Portuguesa e o Liceu: lá vamos contando… (1936-1974), is another contribution for understanding the questions proposed in this article. The work of ^{Arriaga (1976}), Mocidade Portuguesa: breve história de uma organização salazarista, was written on the spur of the Carnation Revolution and published two years after it, providing important reflexive pathways to comprehend that era. ^{Loff’s 2008} work, O nosso século é facista! O mundo visto por Salazar e Franco (1936-1945) elucidates political and ideological matters of Salazar’s government. The thesis of ^{Correia (2002}), Récita do Liceu? Rodrigues de Freitas / D. Manuel II (1931-1973), found at Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto (FLUP), contributes with information about MP’s daily actions and how this entity used to see students and how they should behave.

In a second moment, documental research was made in the archives of the Biblioteca Pública Municipal do Porto and in the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal; at both libraries it was possible to access promotional material from MP and MPF, elaborated and distributed on the researched period. Official documents from this period were presented in this article are: Jornal da MP, suspended on 1940 and replaced by Boletim da MP; the Boletim para dirigentes da MPF and the monthly newspaper called Lusitas, which had mandatory signature for girls affiliated to MPF, and served as support for pedagogic work of women at Centros Primários, the MPF’s primary schools. Analysis of these documents will contribute to the perceptions and interests of the state on institution, organization and conduction of educational training institutions.

Jornal da MP was published once every two weeks, with first edition released on December 1st of 1937 on Lisboa, the same day in which was celebrated the restoration of Spanish independence of 1640. This newspaper was created to be mandatory reading material for members of the MP. Boletim da MP started out as a mere register of activities, being published once a year from 1937 to 1940. After this, its title was changed to Mocidade Portuguesa: Boletim do Comissário Nacional, now with monthly publications. Boletim para dirigentes da MPF publishing, and distribution began in October of 1952, with a first drawing of 5000 units and growing up to 11000 units in 1962. Four tomes, approaching years from 1952 until 1963 were found for reading and will be material for analysis and reflection in this article. The newspaper called Lusitas, which means children from 7 to 10 years old in Portugal, exerted similar functions to Jornal da MP, to instruct affiliated institutions on structuring themselves and instructing children educated by them. Copies from 1940 to 1951 were identified for the present article.

Considering the pedagogical characteristic as the main reason for MP and MPF, the major objective would be to inoculate a habitus, i.e., it intends to internalize principles of an arbitrary culture, as theorized by ^{Bourdieu and Passeron (2014}). Still, before getting to this concept, it is necessary to distinguish formal, informal and diffuse education.

According to ^{Brandão (2007}, p. 9), “[…] there is not a unique form or a unique model of education; a school is not the only place where it happens and maybe it is not even the best; schooling is not its only practice, and a professor is not its only practitioner”. So, education exists everywhere where there are networks and social structures for transferring knowledge between generations. There is a diffuse education among all social cosmos and practices, from family to community.

Diffuse education is described as any kind education that differs from family and institutionalized education. Therefore, it can be defined as a pedagogical action exerted “[…] by all the educated members of a social conformation or from a group” (^{Bourdieu and Passeron, 2014}, p. 53). For MP and MPF it is possible to observe two previously mentioned forms of education, one composed of members from different generations and the other one being a group of individuals with similar ages.

As any pedagogic action - that is, any imposition via arbitrary power or arbitrary culture, diffuse education also exerts the effect of a symbolic violence. This happens because the strength relations between groups or classes of society are the basis of arbitrary power.

In every pedagogic action the symbolic effect is exerted in communication relations. Beyond that, its result as effective learning is only produced when there are social conditions of imposition or inoculation. This occurs when relations of strength are implicated in a formally defined communication mean.

All the pedagogic actions imply pedagogic works as works of inoculation, which should last enough to produce a long-lasting training, rendered as habitus. Constituted as a product of internalization of principles of an ‘cultural arbitrary’, the habitus is able to perpetuate itself even after the ceasing of a pedagogic action. For this reason, it can continue the “[…] internalized arbitrary” through the practices and principles of every individual (^{Bourdieu & Passeron, 2014}, p. 53).

Education takes part in your external being as in your internal structuring, spiritual development, life and growth of a society. So, if social development depends on the consciousness and the values that dictate human life, the history of education is the history of transformations of values that are valid for each society. Therefore, one must keep in mind that education represents the meaning of all human efforts. Thus, the essence of education consists of shaping individuals according to the norms of a community.

The pedagogic action carried out by MP and MPF presented a properly symbolic effect and exerted itself by the relation of communication stablished among its partners and directors. Beyond that, its properly pedagogic effect is only produced according to social conditions of imposition or inoculation of a habitus.

The concept of habitus as translated by ^{Bourdieu (2007}) allows one to comprehend the structure of social practices, not as process made in a mechanical manner, from outside in, according to the objective conditions present in a determined space or social situation. On the contrary, social practices are structured and present typical properties of the social status of the ones who made them, with their preferences, tastes, ways to see and appreciate the world and their previously formed desires related to the moment of action (^{Bourdieu, 2007}).

Another important concept for understanding the pedagogical role of MP and MPF is the cultural capital. That is, a cultural heritage that is transmitted in an osmotic way and reinforces among cultured class members the conviction that the knowledge, aptitude and tastes are gifted to them and not a result from learning. But this heritage represents “[…] the most occult and socially determinant of educational investments, that being the domestic transmission of cultural capital” (^{Bourdieu, 1998}, p. 73).

Although, this is not the only form of appropriation of this kind of capital. Cultural capital can also be acquired through school experience, or even through personal contact with friends or other individuals or institutions. In this last case, social capital accumulated by an individual would work as support mean to accumulate more cultural capital.

The present article also aims to contribute for a better understanding of control and propagation of rules, behaviors, wisdom and values faced toward the production of national identity along childhood, during Salazar’s Dictatorship in Portugal.

This article will be organized in a brief history of two entities which represent the government on formal, informal and diffuse education; analysis of documents that guide these institutions; short discussion of Portuguese social context on the period and final thoughts about the presented objects. In the end, the intention is to contribute with the historical construction of western education about dictatorships, bringing to light a necessary debate about the importance of constant visit and evaluation of possible advances and setbacks occasioned by this governmental model.

Brief history of Mocidade Portuguesa (MP) and Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina (MPF)

Mocidade Portuguesa (MP) was an institution created by Salazarism in the year of 1936¹⁷, with the intent to promote government’s ideals on youth education. They emerged, then, from an initiative of the Ministério da Educação Nacional (MEN). According to a publication from Comissariado Nacional (^{MP, 1942}, p. 82), a youth full of generosity, Christianity, lusitanity, social order and cult to justice are MP’s ideals, “[…] but there will always be the rich and the poor”.

MEN was created in Portugal in 1936¹⁸, after the extinction of the MInistério da Instrução Pública (^{Braga, 2010}). There was a debate at the time, about the nomenclatures, in which the idea of instruction is understood as a matter that only concerns universities and intellectuals. On the other hand, the idea of education extended this sense and was comprehended as a way to ‘conduce’ to a specific training objective, with this being the reason why the term education was chosen to designate public policies of training and instructing Portuguese children and youngsters.

Most of the ministers were law graduates from Universidade de Coimbra¹⁹, the oldest in the country and deepen related to Portuguese history and traditions. The change of the name brought a very different meaning from the previous nomenclature; previously, education was perceived as a form of transmitting the knowledge produced by humanity, with an essentially intellectual context. Since 1936, education began to have other meanings, especially in primary schooling. From that point on it came to be a mechanism to ‘generate social confirmation’, leaving out the development of capacities and knowledge.

At individual level, education aims to create motivation to make a person dominate knowledges and capacities. For Salazar’s regime, this motivation is the nationalist patriotic feeling. From the acquisition, or lack of acquisition of this motivation by the students, the school can procced to segregate these students on a social level, according to selective and discriminatory criteria […] (^{Correia, 2002}, p. 73).

In that regard, Salazarism promoted an education in which the youngsters should have a catholic and nationalist consciousness, with no distinction from one another. It means that all of them should be trained to internalize a habitus considered as the only legitime and socially accepted during the whole period. In the year of 1938, MP had 2000 associates (^{MP, 1938}).

Carneiro Pacheco, Prime Minister of MEN, presented himself as someone who would solve the problems of the society through a formal education based on the ‘Liberal Democratic State’ and by a ‘State to individual’ relation, which discredited the Catholic Church as a standard of disciplinary moral. After leaving the ministry, Carneiro took on the role of Portuguese ambassador at the first Portuguese embassy at Vatican. On one side it shows a possible relation between Pacheco and religion. On the other side, it shows that the social capital accumulated throughout Salazar’s Dictatorship was strong enough to strengthen their ties with the Catholic Church, to a point where he was given this role in Vatican.

According to ^{Bourdieu (1998}, p. 69), the income of “[…] accumulation and maintenance works of social capital is as big as the importance of this capital”. Following this train of thought, the retainers of the social capital know lots of people but are known by much more people. Thus, their capacity to adapt and transform circumstantial connections into tight bonds is what makes them so valuable. In the case of António Faria Carneiro Pacheco, during his time working at MEN, he accumulated enough social capital to push his career up on different areas, therefore taking on a position in a strategic embassy for the Christian-Patriotic project of Salazar’s government.

Mocidade Portuguesa was conceived by Minister Carneiro Pacheco as an organization to indoctrinate and fight against liberalism and Marxism for the sake of the nation (^{Arriaga, 1976}). It justified itself as being a nationalist entity, based on the constitution²⁰. In this regard, the pedagogic actions carried out by this entity presented a properly symbolic effect, using informal education with strong traces of the formal education offered by the Portuguese state. Therefore, its properly symbolic effect was only produced according to social conditions and policies of imposition and inoculation, designed by the dominating ideologies during Salazar’s regime.

Since its creation, MP showed a clearly ideological character, positioning itself against liberalism and Marxism, two conceptions considered as social wounds that should by opposed. ‘Us against them’ is one of the typical strategies of fascist oriented regimes for politic mobilization, and even to this day it has adepts around the world.

When Salazar’s regime proposes itself to combat Marxist education, in reality, he is just building up an ideological speech, for validating a habitus based on its own values, its own world vision and the construction of a national identity. According to the first commissioner of MP7, engineer Francisco José Nobre Guedes8, these points should become hegemonic within the Portuguese society and align themselves with the principles defended by owners of political power.

MP is a movement whose acceleration cannot be stopped. In no time it will exert complete domination. In a few years it will bring down the housings in which old representatives of the macabre democracy, legitim mother of communism and the maniac sons of this modern leprosy. Portugal will belong to these new Portuguese, who will never lack strength and heart to guide it, throughout time to a constant aggrandizement (^{MP, 1937}, p. 1)⁹.

Since the first edition of Jornal da MP, published in 1937, the entities’ objective was clearly to hegemonize the ideological debate amongst Portuguese youngsters through educational policies. Engineer Francisco José Nobre ^{Guedes (MP, 1937}, p. 1), commissioner from MP, states that “[…] nothing can stop […]” that movement, and “[…] in no time it will dominate completely […]”, in a few years “[…] will bring down the housings where old representatives of this macabre democracy hide […]” and “[…] will put an end to the maniac sons of this modern leprosy […]”, the communism.

This newspaper production was shut from September of 1940 and October of 1942. Since 1942 the placement was suspended for September and October, being released for 10 months each year. Also, from that point onwards they started using colors and stopped pagination. Since that year, the director for training services came to be Frei Montalverne. Editing director, Rui Santos, started to diversify and insert texts from other authors, instead of writing the long philosophic oriented texts that used to.

National Commissioner for MP, Marcello Caetano, wrote a column called ‘Voz de Comando’ (‘Voice of Command’ in direct translation) which was published at MP’s newspaper from 1942 until 1944. The column was a direct channel between the highest leader of MP and his followers, bringing information, ideas and guidance to “[…] prepare new men for a new Portugal” (^{MP, 1942}, n.p.). After 1944, other members of MEN continued the emulative editorial for character formation of Portuguese men. Some of these members were the Interim Commissioner José Soares Franco; Engineer Captain and Service Director for Overall Training, Joaquim Gomes Marques; and Cultural Services Director, Rodrigues Cavalheiro. The column was identified until the year of 1947 (^{Voz de commando, 1947}, p. 11), under the title “Deveres de aprumo, retidão, compostura, bondade e devoção à Pátria” (“Duties for aplomb, righteousness, composure, kindness and devotion to the nation” in free translation).

For the members of MP, education should exert a pedagogic action, capable of producing a durable training, meaning a habitus, and perpetuate on social practices the incorporation of current moral standards. Among them, the most relevant is to fight against the ‘macabre democracy’, ‘legitim mother of communism’. This mentality produced a series of thoughts which asserted them in the condition of constructors of a nationalist social capital, one that would deny anything that did not belong to MP. These beliefs were defended by the later National Education Minister, António Carneiro Pacheco. In 1934 Pacheco proposed an ideologic training for youngsters and their later integration into a nationalist movement.

Created to praise the Portuguese values, it fed on the country’s history to legitimate itself. In 1941, Salazar answered Jeunesse10 that there were two reasons for the Portuguese government to create Mocidade Portuguesa: “[…] The imperative need to make the youth live in an environment full of healthy patriotism and heroic spirit […]” and “[…] the convenience of completing a family and school action via educational work and aiming to shape one’s character” (^{MP, 1941}, p. 73) ¹¹. Salazar himself defined what would be the properly symbolic effect intended by pedagogic action, imposition and inoculation carried out by MP in Portuguese public education, that being: complement the lessons given at school and by family, based on specific ideas about patriotism and heroic spirit, to shape a national character based on the ethics and moral standards of the politic hegemonic group, which in this case is the Christian based, fascism like nationalism.

In 1937, a year after the creation of MP, the MPF was created. It was directed by an organization called Obra das Mães pela Educação Nacional (OMEN), had D. Maria Guardiola as First Commissioner and aimed to instruct the future Portuguese mothers and wives. In a detailed study about structure and functioning of this institution, Irene Flunser ^{Pimentel (2008}) published a book with a title that carries an idea which was supposedly linked to the soul of the Portuguese women: Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina: educada para ser boa esposa, boa mãe, católica e obediente (freely translated into: Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina: educated to be a good wife, a good mother, catholic and obedient). The book describes the trajectory of MPF, from its beginning in 1937, until its end in 1974. “Ideologically, the ruling elite of MPF defended nationalist ideals and catholic doctrine, with common enemies to Estado Novo - liberalism and communism -, and elected feminism as specific opponent” (Pimentel, 2008, p. 17). With this, the author affirms that through the education applied at MPF, the conceptions of what should be fought or defended by the institution allude to what Bourdieu introduced as ‘internalized arbitrary’.

Premise of an entity created to shape Portuguese women in the ways of Christianity and nationalism, introducing the importance of worshiping and preserving past glories was presented by ^{Arriaga (1976}). He pointed out the leading directives of this Salazar’s institution. With a strict regulation, it was believed that once followed and instilled it would objectively guarantee the and creation of a habitus among Portuguese women from that generation onwards. Still, this analysis did not consider the fine level of detailing provided by ^{Pimentel (2008}).

So, the main objective should be the construction of a Portuguese mentality, aligning nationalism and religiosity as if they had similar meaningfulness. Starting from the same principle of MP, the objective was to form a new woman through the Christian moral education that was traditional in the country. Aiming to expand Portuguese colonies, the ^{decree n° 43.271 (1960}) extended overseas the feminine section of Organização Nacional da Mocidade Portuguesa.

Portuguese girls should be physically, intellectually and spiritually prepared to be the women desired by Estado Novo. Then, it was an institution which acted independently from MP, but worked together with it to attend the state’s interests at that time. According to the Minister of Educação Nacional, António Carneiro Pacheco, the goal of MPF was “[…] to educate and nationalize youth, preparing a woman to secure the safety and happiness of her family, and consequentially the well-being of the nation” (^{Pimentel, 2008}, p. 23). Thus, the woman’s role on Portuguese society was clearly delimitated and MPF had the task to educate young ladies for this future. For the leaders, the task was to develop mechanisms to help fulfilling these objectives.

School education was seen as an extension of the education received at home. Although, formal education was not enough to instill a cultural arbitrary for controlling of feminine bodies. For this, MPF should act on school spaces through informal education, reinforce the instill of this arbitrary and prepare Portuguese ladies to guarantee the safety and the happiness of her family, thus, the well-being of the nation. In other words, housekeeping, caring for her sons and staying docile to fulfill wedding obligations.

Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina had Dona Maria Guardiola as National Commissioner¹² from 1937 to 1968. From this year on, the previous National Commissioner Deputy for Overseas, Dona Maria Ana Almeida da Luz Silva, took on this position. The last National Commissioner of MP was Dona Maria Joana Bidarra de Almeida. The first commissioner also filled the role as dean of Maria Amália High School until 1947. Priest Gustavo de Almeida was responsible for moral and nationalist training. After his death in 1965, priest João Trindade took his place, with this being the only position occupied by a male figure at the institution (^{Pimentel, 2008}).

The fact that the position responsible for moral and nationalist training of the entity was always occupied by religious men. This reinforces the idea that the properly symbolic effect expected by the pedagogic action of this entity was to form ladies to a Christian, nationalist and sexist world view. It also brings a reflection about who was really defining the priorities of this pedagogic action. These religious men possessed the symbolic capital and represented the interests aligned among Roman apostolic catholic church and Salazar’s State.

The creation of Mocidade Portuguesa (MP) and Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina (MPF) permeated a field of action between formal, informal and diffuse education. They reserved spaces in a few school centers for actions of these institutions. Also, the government stablished decrees to put assistance and afterschool activities under the responsibility of MP and MPF (^{Pimentel, 2008}).

This way, the national civic formation of Portuguese youth occurred in the most diverse educational spaces, with a clearly defined objective: keep docile bodies, educated and prepared to attend the national necessities of that period. A personality which national identification would automatically be linked to values of a Portuguese nationality and belonging to the country since the beginning: obedience, respect and Christianity.

According to the first edition of Jornal da MP, the entity was nationalist and based on the constitution. Marcello ^{Caetano (1946}, p. 4) believed that “Mocidade Portuguesa is the most serious attempt of massive youth education that was ever made in Portugal; this shows that the former National Commissioner and now Minister of Colonies really believed that this organization would contribute to a future Portuguese society.

Liga dos Antigos Graduados da MP (freely translated into League of Former Graduates of MP) was an organization created to give life to a saying: “Who once belonged to Mocidade Portuguesa cannot leave it” (^{Vida da MP, 1946}, p. 272). Luís d’Avillez was the president and Pedro de Avillez was the president for the first reunion of associates, which occurred on June 9th of 1945, with the presence of Interim National Commissioner José Soares Franco.

All those who lived the life of ‘Mocidade Portuguesa’ intensely feel within them a second nature in formation, even the ones that separated themselves of us for lack of intelligence or mere whim. We all feel the potence of these ideas - a strength ready for bearing fruits, ready to start acting and shape all our attitudes (^{A nossa posição, 1946}, p. 90).

Among these words, Mocidade Portuguesa and Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina seem to find deeper meaning for the creation and existence of institutions like them. The major achievement for MP and MPF was to make Portuguese people keep on with actions and practices identical to the ones they learned at these institutions, even after they stopped being directly educated by such institutions. Thus, habitus would mean a national identity that would distinguish Portuguese people from the other nationalities.

For this reason, the text keeps defending Portuguese way to solve Portuguese problems:

[…] a real policy will respect the religious feelings of our people, attending their catholic and Christian principles and all its sociological projections […]. Equally, one cannot deny his family in the name of the nation and also cannot repulse (^{A nossa posição, 1946}, p. 93).

The Portuguese relation with the so called, Portuguese values and ideas of nationality finds in the religious sentiment with its principles about the existence of the nation. The foundation of a conception formative entity helped to shape individuals via a specific cultural arbitrary, one which they could carry on in their daily life practices, thus contributing for a Portuguese social capital that would eliminate the antinationalist ideals. Through MP and MPF, Salazar’s government would have reached its political and pedagogic objectives.

The day to day of Mocidade Portuguesa (MP) and Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina (MPF)

Operations by MP and MPF occurred at high schools, on spaces reserved at the school specifically for this. According to ^{Viana (2001}), even though the government movement became an afterschool matter for MP, it marked on history as an integral part of schools. Something similar can be said about MPF. On both cases, the high schoolers were obligated to affiliate.

Therefore, we can infer that Mocidade Portuguesa and Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina were the entities responsible for informal education at school grounds, but also exerted great influence on resumes and organization of formal education at public schools of Portugal. This is clearly expressed on the mandatory affiliation for students.

On November 28 of 1942, Jornal da MP published rules for affiliates of MP: “[…] wear uniform, carry the insignia and go to the lessons on Saturdays” (^{Santos, 1942}, p. 3). These were some of the practices of the boys linked to MP. Beyond that, these lessons should provide the future Portuguese with aptitude for “[…] conquering and colonizing” (^{Caetano, 1945}, p. 4). As for this matter, the ^{decree n° 43.271 of 1960} extended the feminine section of Organização Nacional Mocidade Portuguesa overseas.

Based on thesis by Luís Grosso ^{Correia (2002}), some characteristics were part of school actions under the direct influence of MP. The first one was related to the national prize established by MEN in its early years, on ^{decree n° 27.084 of 1936}. Effective participation on MP’s works was one of the criteria listed in this decree for a student to earn the prize. In 1943, D. Manuel II High School was not nominated for the prize because their best student did not participate devotedly on works of MP.

Both in and out of school, Portuguese students established connections that could be symbolic or based on exchange of materials. For ^{Bourdieu (1998}), installation and perpetuation of these kinds of connections assumed a recognition of proximity, either geographical, economic or symbolic. Existence of those relations does not come naturally, or even socially, it is a product of either conscious or unconscious strategies of social investment directed towards institution or reproduction of directly usable relations, at short or long term.

In other words, directed to turn eventual relations into necessary and elective relations, that is, in subjectively guaranteed durable duties. The author defines this network as social capital and admits its reproduction to be tributary of all institutions. Within these networks, occasions, places, or practices are produced, with intent to unite individuals as similar to one another as possible in aspects of existence and persistence of a group.

As a previously mentioned example, the best student of D. Manuel II High School was not inducted to MEN’s national prize for not possessing the social capital recognized by Mocidade Portuguesa. It means that, according to the directors’ evaluations, he did not devotedly participate in works of MP. So, consciously or unconsciously this student did not construct strategies of social investment for reproducing the relations instituted by MP. Here we can identify a clear signal of the possibility of inefficiency of this pedagogic action. The ultimate goal of the entity was to reach all youngsters, but from what we mentioned until here, they were not able to reach even the most dedicated high school students. This may be a sign that the pedagogic action applied was not unanimous among Portuguese students.

Documents for Mocidade Portuguesa (MP) and Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina (MPF)

Some documents were elaborated with the specific goal of guiding activities and theoretical formulations of boys and girls from both organizations. From the boys, there were Jornal da MP and Boletim da MP, for the girls was a newspaper called Lusitas, and also the Boletim para Dirigentes da MP.

First edition of Jornal da MP, in December of 1937, was justified by a necessity of improving the dialogues with its affiliates, making them more direct, even though MP claims communication vehicles as ideal means of transmission. The newspaper would be mandatory reading for its affiliates.

The creation of Jornal da MP exerted two functions: propaganda and ampliation of informal pedagogic actions carried out by this entity. Printed text has the power to promote the institution and also to directly instill a cultural arbitrary. In this last case, transmit and internalize Salazar’s regime dominating ideas among students of Portuguese public education linked to MP and obligated to read the periodic.

Bulletins from Mocidade Portuguesa (MP) had different contents than the ones from Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina (MPF), although, in both of them we can find previously mentioned ideological premises for educating Portuguese man and women under their ideals of nationality.

MP’s bulletins started out as an annual registry of activities carried out since 1937, changing to monthly releases in 1940. The first publication was presented by the National Commissioner from MP, an engineer called Nobre ^{Guedes (1937}, p. 2):

One must have in mind that the organization links to the spirit of youngsters the necessity of faith as superior support of existence, and Christian morality as the perfect norm for humane solidarity; a cult of the nation’s independency and territorial unity; a blazing admiration for past glories and knowledge about responsibilities derived from them; perfect consciousness of the national survey initiated in 1926; the social necessity of a government with strength and authority; the moral grace of a lemma that order to sacrifice one in benefit of all.

The worries about continuing the process initiated in 1926 aimed to provide greater powers to the government, but mainly to broaden up its acceptance and agreement. For this, MP should fulfill their role as trainers for physical and moral characters of its citizens, praising civic, moral and military duties. According to the National Organization Regulation of MP, there existed four echelons of affiliates, which were boys from 7 until 26 years old; the first echelon, called lusitos, ranged from 7 to 10 years old; infantes was the second, with ages between 10 and 14 years; the third, vanguardistas, from 14 to 18 years old; and the fourth, for men over 18 years old, was called cadetes (^{Decree n° 37.765, 1950}). It was also published in 1937 bulletin, but taken out before the official release in 1950, that: “MP will cultivate within its affiliates, the country’s traditional Christian education, based on the 3rd paragraph of article 43 of the political constitution and will never admit an atheist among them” (^{National Organization Regulation of MP, 1937}, p. 11). In this paragraph is also stated that the regulation has been published in December 4th of 1936, by the Ministro da Educação Nacional, António Faria Carneiro Pacheco. Here we can notice the legislative efforts to affirm aspects that should compose the nature of Portuguese national identity, reinforcing the non-acceptance of lack of religion.

The press is one of the spaces of cultural production in which the involved individuals battle for control of production and right to impose classifications as legitim and hierarchy of cultural goods produced. Within this space, they battle for the definitions of what they consider to be licit and healthy. Also, about defining which individuals and institutions would be legitimately authorized to set these classifications and hierarchizations (^{Bourdieu, 1978}).

During Salazar’s dictatorship, MP and MPF were the legitim institutions authorized by the Portuguese State to publish newspapers directed towards students of public schools and disseminate ideas considered licit and healthy for this audience (Christian faith and morals; praise the country’s independence and territorial unity; admiration for past glories, for a consciousness of the ideals of the regime started in 1926, its strange and authority; and its lemma: ‘sacrifice the interest of one for the well-being of all’). So, within this place of symbolic production, they exerted legitim power to express specific interests from the dominating groups and classes that were responsible for the production of this logistic.

The theme of influence and necessity of Christian religion in the construction of one’s character, was found to be in one of the schedules of 5a EMC (Conferência de Educação Moral e Cívica, freely translated into Conference for Moral and Civil Education). The conclusion is that ‘catholic religion’, which is Christian, was the responsible for civilizing Portugal, with the heroes that practiced religion, supernatural life and sacraments being the justification (^{MP, 1937}).

Therefore, there was in Portugal an inseparable relation between religion and civilization, thus the necessity of religion as part of educational development system for the nation to be prosperous. On the other hand, Marxism was also presented, by Professor Doctor Luiz Pinto Coelho, who was also MP’s secretary-inspector at the time.

On the November of 1940 bulletin, there are conclusions from MP’s First National Congress, carried out in May of 1939. There, a question about who would be responsible for moral trainings was made, with the following answer:

Normally the priests (parish priest or parish delegate) will be the instructors for moral trainings - true religious assistants of each Center. All of them, by the Circular n° 365, from November of 1939, are proposed for nomination to Comissariado Nacional (freely translated into National Comissariat) by Diretor dos Serviços de Formação Nacional (Director for Services of National Trainings, as freely translated), after setting all points with the competent ecclesiastic diocesan authority (^{MP, 1940}, p. 13).

Fulfilment of MP’s congresses highlights another aspect of the pedagogic action of the entity on informal education. During the analysis of the source, it becomes evident that those congresses had the explicit objective of instilling a moral formation centered around Christian-nationalist in Portuguese youth. More than that, the source expresses clearly the amount of collaboration from catholic priests to reach this objective. They were the ‘real assistants of each Center’ (parish priest and parish delegate). It means that the priests were responsible for moral trainings of the youngsters, being assembled to this mission by the participants of First National Congress of Mocidade Portuguesa.

Further down in the same bulletin, it was found that the indoctrination of youngsters should be Christian and Latin, in opposition to liberalism. The importance of moral training is justified with same fervor, when it certifies that the Constitution ruled, MP’s regulation prescribed, the moral training is a tradition and a truth. Once Priest Manuel Rocha, Director for Services of Moral Training, presents this, he discards any possibility of opposition or question. The bulletin goes on defending ideas, such as integral training of youth, checking on councils to ensure the formation of good directors, also recommending exams of consciousness and practice of physical activities.

On the bulletin one can also find speeches about the role of MP in the Portuguese society and other countries, colonized by Portugal. ‘Colonizar e civilizar’ (Colonize and civilize, as freely translated), is the title of the text written by Captain Celestino Marques Pereira, Director for Services of Sports and Physical Activities, published in volume V, Bulletin 1 from 1945. Therefore, the duty of civilizing was attached to the duty of colonizing; according to the bulletin, both of them would be connected to the maintenance of Portuguese traditions, mainly the religious ones.

Pius XI’s encyclical about Christian education of the youth, written in 1929 and published in various numbers of MP’s national commissariat bulletin, serves for comprehending how the government used to think about education. The beginning of each excerpt came with the title ‘Roteiro acerca da educação crista da juventude’ (Guide about Christian education of youth, as freely translated). In one of its excerpts, it affirms that education of youth belongs to the Church and the State. In a particular way, each social segment would have its responsibility and influence on shaping youngsters. Naturalization of this influence would be accepted because of the necessity of national unification in the country.

Therefore, is false any pedagogic naturalism that excludes or belittles, by all means, the supernatural Christian training of youth; also, it is wrong any method of education that, on its full or partial content, base itself only on the strength of human nature, negating or forgetting the original sin and the grace.

Such are, in their generality, those modern long-named systems that appeal to a pretended unlimited freedom and autonomy of a child, thus diminishing and suppressing the authority and the action of the educator, claiming to the student a set of exclusive initiative and action, independently of all superior nature and divine law on the doing of its education (^{Pius XI, 1946}, p. 287).

The bulletin of January of 1942 brings out the ideals of MP: generous youth, Christianity, Lusitanity, social order and cult to justice. About social order, its categorically stated the impossibility of rich and poor ceasing to exist. This means that society and institutions served only to maintain a preexisting reality. Yet in 1942, some of MP’s problems were pointed out, such as lack of competent and engaged directors and lack of money.

On MPF’s newspaper, Lusitas, some stories with moral and pedagogic nature are presented, such as fables ‘Os náufragos da Ilha Rochosa’ and ‘O cogumelo dourado’ (freely translated into ‘Castaways of Rocky Island’ and ‘The golden mushroom’, respectively). On Lusitas there were also identifiable lines of texts which discerned feminine and masculine roles, being the feminine ones about being a wife and a mother. These stories should be told by filiated teachers of MPF. Without the meaning of producing contents to use in classroom, but with the same educational content for training future mothers of Portugal, this was the Boletim para Dirigentes da MPF (Bulletin for Directors of MPF as freely translated). The newspapers of MP and MPF utilize as much pedagogic resources as possible to achieve the main objective of instilling in Portuguese youngsters the general premises of the cultural arbitrary imposed by Salazar’s Regime.

The first number of Bulletin for Directors of MPF: Primary centers was opened with a text intitled ‘Tu podes fazer cristandade’ (You can make Christianity, as freely translated), which attracts attention. In it, there is a clear interest in relating Christianity to an illumination and the necessity of instilling Christian precepts, with no separation among patriotism and religious missionary vocation. This affirmation is explicitly found in the Bulletin of 1954, where there is the affirmation: “[…] deserve like the Portuguese - which makes it useless to add as Christians in it” (^{Boletim para dirigentes da Mocidade Portuguesa Feminina, 1954}, p. 6). One can also find in some bulletin numbers, requests for the affiliates of MPF to buy the Lusitas, considered to be the students newspaper.

As the aim of Lusitas was to support pedagogic work from girls in their classrooms, many models of themes and contents to be taught were found. On number 208, published in November 30 of 1953, there is a comic book about the life of Mary, mother of Jesus. Probably it was supposed to be read and displayed to students during classes. Beyond that, there were sequels of comic books that carried moral and religious basis. Published monthly since May 1943, began to be published every 15 days from March 1947 onwards.

Conclusion

Gadgets created to legitimate within Portuguese formal education, truths about the national ideal and its identity, had less longevity than the dictatorship itself. Once they resembled many aspects of totalitarian regimes, as Fascism and Nazism, even though they denied it constantly, they crumbled. Mainly because of questions about the existence of a youth subservient to the state.

In a speech during the first anniversary of Centro Universitário do Porto (University Center of Porto, as freely transalted), on January 22, 1943, director Domingos Rosas da Silva talks about the role of University Center and the importance of MP. About the purposes of university education, he cites the three most import of them: teaching, creating and applying science. The function of MP would be filling the gaps demanded by society and not contemplated in direct actuations of University Center. Also, it criticizes teachers about the absence of a truly educational posture, citing that the previous generations have certain bias related to younger ones, considering them to be worse. “If this criterion was true, if every new generation was worse than the previous one, it would not be hard to trace in history a model generation and an earthly paradise in a relatively recent time” (^{Silva, 1943}, p. 134).

For considering the importance of spirituality, even among scientists and their deficiency to be taught and experienced by teachers, MP was the entity to be addressed with this problem. According to this director, the experience of MP by youngsters aimed to provide the scientific youth with a possibility to align aspects required by social environment on the members’ present and future scientific acts, inherent to the academic routine in a University Center. Obviously, one of these required aspects consisted in living according to rigid principles of Christian morals. Professor Domingos concludes stating that the University Center belonged to Mocidade Portuguesa, maybe in a gesture to approximate the concepts of both being national and Christian.

In the inauguration speech of Porto University’s Director, Dr. Jaime Rios de Sousa, in April 19, 1947, MP’s National Commissioner also spoke¹³. Taking advantage of the moment, he affirmed that the core principles of University Centers are analogues to one another. Highlighted that MP was a movement by boys, for boys stimulated to live “[…] as boys” (^{Coelho, 1947}, p. 153). Therefore, they would be trained to fulfill their duties as Portuguese citizens, men with sense of organization and hierarchy. To keep the nation under this model meant to continuate the nationalist sentiment and oppose internationalist movements.

What Mocidade wants with its nationalism is that Portugal exists, lives, works, organizes itself and progresses harmonically with its fundamental characteristics; so, no one from inside or outside can twist our country to fit shapes or costumes from others (which would oppose national tendencies and aspirations) only because they are beauty or fashion (^{Coelho, 1947}, p. 154).

To fight internationality, mainly communism, was one of MP’s duties. By defending the idea of Portuguese nationalism wherever it was, MP would affirm the Portuguese identity and automatically put divergent thoughts as antinationalism. The commissioner attests that it was MP’s duty to shape the future directors of the country. So, within MP would be the training of Portuguese elite.

Director for Services of Moral Training, Frei José Montalverne, wrote a text in June 1943’s bulletin, entitled ‘A formação moral da MP’ (The moral training of MP, as freely translated). In this text there are aspects of pedagogic and indoctrinating nature. Although he states that MP was not a work from catholic church and did not impose catholic religion, he considers it to be the “[…] true Church of Christ” (^{Montalverne, 1943}, p. 238). For this reason, it would be fit for teaching catholic religion.

MP was an educational institution created to continuate formal school education. That way consisted in disseminating ideas and formation actions to shape Portuguese citizens into Salazar’s government mentality. To be a Portuguese man, one was required to act according to precepts of Portuguese national identity, based on Christian and patriotic action. Boys and girls should fulfill specific functions within society.

There was an affirmation of national identity through religion, anchored on its fundamental existence. “Such as in Portugal, prominent catholic activists systematically dominated apparels of National Education and censorship” (^{Loff, 2008}, p. 173); here he is referring to Spain but making a straight correlation to what happened in Portugal, about the space given to catholic church in the educational sector in Salazar’s Dictatorship.

Words that repeated themselves with the objective of corroborating Christian-catholic religion within Portuguese national education were common. Thus, tradition, spiritualism, obedience and moral strength emerge to confirm premises of ideas considered to be crystalized in Portuguese society, as if they prescinded from them to keep existing. The ontological speech that being Portuguese would find meaning in Catholicism, based on the existence of “[…] a single God, a single Christ, a single faith, a single nation” (Lisbos apud ^{Loff, 2008}, p. 170).

A defense of a falseness and damage to pedagogic naturalism can be found in the encyclical of Pius XI in the bulletin from MP’s national commissariat. In it, education is treated as a tool for religious indoctrination, making it clear that there is no absence of interest in education making.

Instructing children would be a duty of the adults, mainly in the condition of conducting Christian identity. The Pope considers it wrong to deliver to a student the autonomy for his own education, neglecting the fact that education should start from the original sin. Thus, while religion is innate to Portuguese, one should not forget to teach it. This attribution should oversee the state and its educational institutions.

Since October 1952, the bulletin for directors of MPF started to be published in Lisbon, with the objective of providing necessary information for affiliated women to exert their duties. The number of published units draws attention; with average 5.000 units by number, being enlarged with every new number. Number 1’s first article is entitled ‘Tu podes fazer cristandade’ (freely translated into ‘You can make Christianity’) in a clear reference to one of MP’s meanings.

Each school year had a campaign, and, in that year, the lemma extolled the compromise of Portuguese women in educating their children in a religious way. “As we must forward these words of order to the little and older ones (you can make Christianity, you can illuminate the path of others) if we do not live them first? If we do not sculpt in our needs, in our consciousness, in our souls?!” (^{MPF, 1952}, p. 5). To teach children the real meaning and stimulate them to notice their capacity to exert something considered to be so important, it was necessary for the directors to first internalize it themselves. ‘Sculpt’ in the ‘need’, in the ‘consciousness’, in the ‘soul’, possesses here the same meaning as developing, within one, a habitus, later treated as natural and handed over to children, aiming to continuate this process.

Justified the campaign as “[…] a national reason that was simultaneously patriotic and religion - a missionary vocation of Portuguese people” (^{MPF, 1952}, p. 7). The religiosity feeling stated as part of “being Portuguese”, is here considered for stimulation of education and continuity of what was being affirmed to be part of nationality, consequently of Portuguese identity.

The second bulletin had ‘Catechize’ as lemma, in a perspective to continuate the lemma from the first number. Related to the words: ‘vocation’, ‘homeland’, ‘Christian’ and ‘educator’, the Bulletin brings to the directors the obligatoriness of acting based on something presented as inherent to education. Being an educator is, before anything, a calling. This way, there are no choices, because a calling is something one cannot run from, and when it comes from religion, it becomes impossible to deny.

Dear directors: Now, also materialism, under different and new forms, threats the supremacy of the spirit. The recent war and fear of future conflicts make life unstable; the weakness of faith makes the consciousness of man vulnerable to all excesses. The family itself does not fulfill its mission because the woman deserted its post.

[…] And society never got itself back up from a fall and rose high without the worth of the mothers! […] (^{MPF, 1952}, p. 98).

The women were assigned with family obligations, and by not doing that, relegated all the duty to the state. The mother duty, to be played by the mother, should be the most important to exert. The text presents the worth of a woman-mother to the development of society. With this, any other function should be considered less essential, aiming to strengthen faith and nation in this context.

The example of Queen Dona Leonor, born in Portugal on 15th century is minutely reported in Bulletins of April and May, 1958. The texts transcribed from the book of Dr. João Ameal, important figure for Portuguese historiography, tell the history of his life and Christian contribution for the kingdom of Portugal. Her role as wife, mother and queen, under the Christian precepts of nationality, were important to be exemplified.

Other subjects treated by Bulletin constantly had religious turns. This way, the Portuguese woman’s duty should always be according to the texts and orientations, presented and widespread by these promotional materials for good conduct of ladies.

The Portuguese civilization ideal goes through comprehension of the country’s history, in which the rising and affirmation was directly related to religion. The catholic roman church was the beginning and the purpose for organization, maintenance and expansion of Portugal. For Salazar’s dictatorship, the continuity of Portuguese civilization needed the maintenance of the habitus that gave meaning to Portuguese existence along the centuries. Now, it was at risk of getting lost because of foreign, liberal and antichristian ideas, brought mainly by atheist and denationalizing communism.

The institutions of MP and MPF were created and conducted by people who believed in this thought of distortion of youth by ideologies which opposed the ‘Portuguese being’. Reassuming values through practices, speeches and actions had the intention to stablish a social figuration to maintain the Portuguese national identity. This one would be grounded in what provided the Portuguese formation and gave meaning to their civilization, the religion as an element of cultural unity.

Through actions, organization and training, MP and MPF wanted to promote a feeling of national identity within youth. Although they managed to gain a great number of affiliates during the first years, the lack of interest for MP made the government adopt some measures, such as mandatory affiliation and support of sports. On the feminine side, Bulletin for directors achieved the mark of eleven thousand units per edition, in the year of 1962, what provided significant circulation of ideas among affiliates of MPF.

Despite government efforts along all the dictatorship, the year of 1974 marked the end of both educational institutions. Elaborated to complement school and academic life, it found longevity mainly in these spaces. The reason for its conception was in spreading ideas that only became coherent in the exertion of a dictatorship. Still, it is possible to identify in the article presented here, that even in this period of exception, possible resistances existed, thus configuring an unsuccessful effort of the totalitarian education institutions that had the intent to forge and hegemonic or unique identity of Portuguese nationality.