‘Viva Salazar!’: Nationalistic propaganda in Macau under the Estado Novo

Abstract

After the establishment of the Estado Novo (New State) in 1926, Portugal increasingly sought to integrate its colonies into the national framework under the sacrosanct trinity of ‘Deus, Pátria e Família’ (God, Nation and Family). Exploring the case of Macau under the Salazarist administration, this study reveals nuances in the broader project of imperial centralization. It reveals that the uniqueness of Macau as a relatively marginal territory of the Portuguese empire and a city that was increasingly influenced by China kept it out of Portugal’s absolute control, yet such circumstances ultimately allowed the territory to hold out as the longest-standing colony of the Portuguese empire.