The National Salvation Junta ( pt, Junta de Salvação Nacional, ) was a group of

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

s designated to maintain the government of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in April 1974 after the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

had overthrown the '' Estado Novo'' dictatorial regime. This junta assumed power following a communiqué of its president,

António de Spínola António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola (generally referred to as António de Spínola, ;This surname, however, was not accompanied by the grammatical nobiliary particle "de". 11 April 1910 – 13 August 1996) was a Portuguese military off ...

, at 1:30 a.m. on 26 April 1974. The National Salvation Junta was the ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' governing body of Portugal following the Carnation Revolution.

Purpose

The Junta was a pre-planned part of the national reform program envisioned by the '' Movimento das Forças Armadas'' (Movement of the Armed Forces; MFA), which aimed to exercise political power after the revolution and prior to the formation of a civilian government in order to prevent the collapse of the Presidency of the Republic (then held by Rear-Admiral

Américo Tomás Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tomás (; 19 November 1894 – 18 September 1987) was a Portuguese Navy officer and politician who served as the 13th president of Portugal from 1958 to 1974. Biography Early life Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tom� ...

) and of the government. It entailed the dissolution of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

and of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

. The Constitutional Law 1/74 of 25 April 1974 was promulgated in order to set this process in motion. The Junta assumed upon itself the power to choose the President and Vice-President. On an interim basis, the Junta also exercised the functions of the Presidency of the Republic (from 26 April to 15 May, when it designated as Head of State the president of the Junta, António de Spínola) and of President of the Council (from 26 April to 16 May, when the MFA-chosen

First Provisional Government of Portugal First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

took power, headed by

Adelino da Palma Carlos Adelino da Palma Carlos, GCC, GCIH, GOL (; Faro, 3 May 1905 – Lisbon, 25 October 1992), was a Portuguese lawyer, scholar, politician and a freemason, one of at least five sons of Manuel Carlos and wife Auta Vaz Velho da Palma. He was a ...

Members

The Junta was composed of: * General António Ribeiro de Spínola (

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

), * General

Francisco da Costa Gomes Francisco da Costa Gomes, ComTE, GOA (; 30 June 1914 – 31 July 2001) was a Portuguese military officer and politician, the 15th president of Portugal (the second after the Carnation Revolution). Life He was one of the eleven children of Ant� ...

(

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

), * Brigadier

Jaime Silvério Marques Jaime Silvério Marques (1915 – 14 January 1986) was a Portuguese brigadier-general and colonial administrator. Biography Marques completed the Military engineering course at the Army School in 1940, shortly afterwards integrated in the Expe ...

(

), * General Diogo Neto (

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- absent in

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), * Colonel

Carlos Galvão de Melo Carlos Galvão de Melo (4 August 1921 – 20 March 2008) was a Portuguese military officer from the Portuguese Air Force. Life Galvão de Melo was the eldest of nine children of António Augusto Ferreira de Melo, a merchant based in Mozamb ...

(

), * Naval Captain

José Baptista Pinheiro de Azevedo José Baptista Pinheiro de Azevedo (; 5 June 1917 – 10 August 1983) was a Portuguese political figure, reformer and revolutionary. He helped overthrow Marcelo Caetano in 1974. He served as the 104th Prime Minister of Portugal between 19 Sept ...

(

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

), * Naval Commander

António Alva Rosa Coutinho António Alva Rosa Coutinho (14 February 1926 – 2 June 2010) was a Portuguese admiral, political activist, and participant in the Carnation Revolution. Biography Coutinho was born in Lisbon. As an officer of the Portuguese navy, Rosa Couti ...

(

). On 30 September 1974 the staff was reorganized: * General

(president,

), * Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Alberto Idães Soares Fabião (former governor of

Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Gu ...

). * Lieutenant-Colonel Nuno Fisher Lopes Pires (

). * Vice-Admiral

José Pinheiro de Azevedo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

(

). * Naval Captain Silvano Alves Ribeiro (

), during the absence of Naval Commander

António Rosa Coutinho Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 40 ...

, who was appointed the governor of

Portuguese Angola Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...

. * Lieutenant-Colonel Narciso Mendes Dias (

), * Lieutenant-Colonel Aníbal Pinho Freire (

Abolition

Constitutional Law 5/75 of 14 March 1975 abolished the National Salvation Junta and established the Revolutionary Council of Portugal (Conselho da Revolução de Portugal), which included former members of the Junta. Carnation Revolution 1974 in Portugal 1975 in Portugal Military history of Portugal Political history of Portugal Presidents of Portugal Prime Ministers of Portugal 1974 establishments in Portugal 1975 disestablishments in Portugal 1970s in Portugal Provisional governments {{Portugal-poli-stub