Eusebio, an instrument of the Portuguese colonial propaganda

Thèmes abordés

Eusebio, Portuguese colonial propaganda, , Vasco da Gama

Résumé du document

The country turned towards a maritime expansion to find new lands that would be rich in raw material in the fifteenth century. The Portuguese first of all settled down on the African coast in order to establish a staging post to go to India. Then, Vasco da Gama reached the East Indies at the very end of the fifteenth century, but establishments were only built in Asia at the beginning of the sixteenth century. However, a different colonizing policy was followed on the American continent at the same time.

Gradually the general Portuguese influence decreased in favour of other commercial powers that are colonial empires too, like the Dutch or the English. Moreover, it is its influence on its own colonies which decreased. More particularly Portugal distanced itself from Brazil as the former got richer without the help of its mother country. This actually led to its independence in 1822 (eighteen twenty two).
The 1885 (eighteen eighty five) Berlin conference limited the rights of Portugal on the African continent but the latter managed to stay the third colonial empire in the world, essentially thanks to Angola and Mozambique.

Extraits

[...] Therefore, some colonies were lost in the East Indies. The 1970s (nineteen seventies) were synonymous with independence for African territories and the end of the twentieth century as well as the beginning of the twenty-first century saw the end of the evidence of the Portuguese colonial empire with retrocessions in Asia. Then, at home in Portugal, a coup d'état took place in May (nineteen twenty six). A military dictatorship called “Ditatura Nacional” was proclaimed, but it was replaced in 1933 by the New State, or “Estado a corporatist authoritarian regime which was set up by Salazar. [...]

[...] In 1965 (nineteen sixty five), Eusebio was rewarded with the Golden Ball which was a price given to the best European player by the magazine France Football. He was not only the first Portuguese, but also the first coloured football player to win it. On this photograph we can see Eusébio, also nicknamed the Black Panther, receiving another title in 1973 (nineteen seventy three). This underlines the international aura of this football player as well as his exceptional sports qualities. [...]

[...] Yet, each time the football world shied away from these eminently political analyses. With the last analyses, it seems that Eusébio was actually more concentrated on his dominating the football world than on taking a political stand. However, it is said that Eusébio became aware of his being manipulated rather late, in particular when the power prevented him from changing club to play for Juventus Football Club in 1962 (nineteen sixty two). Yet, in an interview in 2012 (two thousand and twelve) he denied the fact that political power was an obstacle on his own freedom whereas he admitted that some choices were decided in high places without any possible intervention from his part. [...]

[...] A general racism spread in the Portuguese society with a pseudo-scientific ground for justification. Salazar refused decolonization and launched expensive conflicts in Africa, in particular in Angola and Mozambique. The regime asserted the inferiority of the African populations qualifying them of being less civilized. A status of different citizenship was thus imposed with the established system of the Native population which came to an end in 1961 (nineteen sixty one). From then on, a new representation of the African individual had to develop: they were colonial subjects assimilated with the Portuguese society. [...]

[...] Eusébio da Silva Ferreira was everywhere: not only in newspapers and magazines, but also in TV shows and news programs on the Portuguese radios and televisions. The rise of a Black man as a role model for a whole generation burst in the eyes of the world and questioned every regime. On this photography, we can make out Eusébio who attracts the attention of a white crowd of spectators in spite of his ethnic origins. This highlights that the Portuguese society, all origins taken into account, supported this sportsman. His popularity was used by the regime as a real power. [...]