Dictatorships in Europe

In Portugal,the dictator Dr.Antoniode Olivera Salazar ruled from 1932 to 1968.He used censorship  to try to isolate Portugal from the rest of the world.In the 1940s all photographs of harefoot children were banned,so t hat Portugal could not be perceived as poor or backward.

There was rigorous censorship of the press,theater and advertising.Nothing was published or broadcast without careful and costly scrutiny.Any news stories that might alarm the public or disparage the dignity of the nation were cut and replaced with approved material.Government stories were printed as though they were editorial copy,and even sportswriters was scrutinized to ensure the correct level of patriotic fervor.Censors revised the school curriculum and teachers were carefully selected.Disloyalty or any questioning of the social order was repressed as subversion or Communism.

In neighboring Spain,the dictator General  Miguel Primo de Rivera governed from 1923 to 1930,and enforced rigid censorship of the press.General Franco came to power in 1938 and established total control over the press,the law and the government;dissenting voices,opinions,or news concerning government policies were all censored During World War II,Franco supported the Nazi regime in Germany,but after Hilter’s defeat he passed the “Fuero de los Espanoles,” a Spanish bill of rights,to present a respectable face to the victorious allies.Article 12 of the bill of rights said:”All Spaniards can freely express their opinions provided they do not attack the fundamental principle of the State.” However,in  practice this meant that no opinion could be expressed that was not in favor of the state and all it stood for.All public meetings were closely controlled by the Ministry of the Interior and the Local civil governor.Censorship remained a central feature of the regime until 1966,and even after that date attacks on the government entailed fines and imprisonment.

THE THIRD REICH

The most notorious dictator of the twentieth century was Adolf Hitler,leader of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party,who became Chancellor of Germany in 1933.His time in office is called the Third Reich.Within a year of coming to power,he had banned all other political parties and many newspapers.The British ambassador at the time noted that the German daily press contained a list of papers suppressed or suspended.The establishment of a Reich Chamber of Culture brought all journalistic,theatrical,musical,and radio work under Goebbels’ control.Anyone making even the most cautious attempt at political criticism disappeared into a concertration camp.Those found guilty of publishing news detrimental to the public unterest were severly punished.

Daily bulletins from the government informed newspapers what to report,which stories to stress,and which to play down or ignore.All editors,reporters,and other regular contributors were requided to be members of the Reich Press Chamber and approved by the regime.Authors,artists,and composors were controlled in similar ways.Some 250 writers including the world famous novelist,Thomas Mann,went into exile.