ABSTRACT
The countries of Italy and Portugal underwent quite different processes as national constructs, despite presenting several common aspects during the Fascist and Salazarist dictatorships. In this chapter I will analyse how the regimes established several concepts that became the basis of nationalistic thought, and how these conceptions allowed for the development of a particular type of National Identity. In the Italian case, there was an emphasis on romanità, an effort to construct the new National Identity on the ancient values of the Roman Empire. In Portugal, Salazar had promoted the reaportuguesamento of the nation, i.e., arguing that the Portuguese needed to learn again how to be Portuguese. In both cases, the political agenda used several historical, anthropological and philosophical concepts in order to create a discourse on the Nation. Although brief, this study aims at connecting some aspects of the history of ideas with political history, in order to understand how those concepts were used by the State policies in to create the Nation they needed, and legitimate their interests within a supposed ‘true’ idea of the national character.
