The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a
military coup
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...
by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the
authoritarian
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...
Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbon, producing major social, economic, territorial, demographic, and political changes in
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 ...
and its
overseas colonies through the
Processo Revolucionário Em Curso
The Processo Revolucionário Em Curso (PREC) (English: ''Ongoing Revolutionary Process'') was the period during the Portuguese transition to democracy, which started after a failed right-wing coup d'état on 11 March 1975, and ended after a f ...
. It resulted in the
Portuguese transition to democracy
Portugal's redemocratization process started with the Carnation Revolution of 1974. It ended with the enactment of the Current Portuguese Constitution in 1976.
Background: the Salazar-Caetano era
The republic was replaced by a military dict ...
and the end of the
Portuguese Colonial War
The Portuguese Colonial War ( pt, Guerra Colonial Portuguesa), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambican War of Independence, ...
.
The revolution began as a coup organised by the
Armed Forces Movement
230px, A mural dedicated to the MFA, it reads: "Towards freedom. Long live the 25th of April!"
The Armed Forces Movement ( pt, Movimento das Forças Armadas; MFA) was an organization of lower-ranking, politically left-leaning officers in the Por ...
( pt, Movimento das Forças Armadas, links=no, MFA), composed of military officers who opposed the regime, but it was soon coupled with an unanticipated, popular
civil resistance
Civil resistance is political action that relies on the use of nonviolent resistance by ordinary people to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and coercion: i ...
campaign. Negotiations with
African independence movements
The African independence movements took place in the 20th century, when a wave of struggles for independence in European-ruled African territories were witnessed.
Notable independence movements took place:
*Algeria (former French Algeria), see A ...
began, and by the end of 1974, Portuguese troops were withdrawn from
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 ...
, which became a
UN member state
The United Nations member states are the sovereign states that are members of the United Nations (UN) and have equal representation in the UN General Assembly. The UN is the world's largest intergovernmental organization.
The criteria ...
. This was followed in 1975 by the independence of
Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
,
São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...
and
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
in Africa and the declaration of independence of
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. These events prompted a
mass exodus of Portuguese citizens from Portugal's African territories (mostly from Angola and Mozambique), creating over a million Portuguese
refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. s – the ''
retornados''.
The Carnation Revolution got its name from the fact that almost no shots were fired and from restaurant worker
Celeste Caeiro offering
carnations
''Dianthus caryophyllus'' (), commonly known as the carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus''. It is likely native to the Mediterranean region but its exact range is unknown due to extensive cultivation for the last 2,000 years.Med ...
to the soldiers when the population took to the streets to celebrate the end of the dictatorship, with other demonstrators following suit and carnations placed in the muzzles of guns and on the soldiers' uniforms. In Portugal, 25 April is a
national holiday ( pt, Dia da Liberdade, Freedom Day) that commemorates the revolution.
Background
By the 1970s, nearly a half-century of authoritarian rule weighed on Portugal. The
28 May 1926 coup d'état
The 28 May 1926 coup d'état, sometimes called 28 May Revolution or, during the period of the authoritarian Estado Novo ( en, New State), the National Revolution ( pt, Revolução Nacional), was a military coup of a nationalist origin, that put ...
implemented an authoritarian regime incorporating
social Catholicism
Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, co ...
and
integralism
In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism (french: intégrisme) is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues for an authoritarian and anti- pluralist Catholic state, wherever the preponderance of Catholics within t ...
. In 1933, the regime was renamed Estado Novo (New State).
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the re ...
served as Prime Minister until 1968.
In
sham elections the government candidate usually ran unopposed, while the opposition used the limited political freedoms allowed during the brief election period to protest, withdrawing their candidates before the election to deny the regime
political legitimacy
In political science, legitimacy is the right and acceptance of an authority, usually a governing law or a regime. Whereas ''authority'' denotes a specific position in an established government, the term ''legitimacy'' denotes a system of governm ...
.
The Estado Novo's political police, the
PIDE
The International and State Defense Police ( pt, Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of the ...
(Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado, later the DGS, Direcção-Geral de Segurança and originally the PVDE, Polícia de Vigilância e Defesa do Estado),
persecuted
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms ...
opponents of the regime, who were often tortured, imprisoned or killed.
In 1958, General
Humberto Delgado
Humberto da Silva Delgado, ComC, GCA, GOA, ComA, OA, ComSE, GCL, OIP, CBE (Portuguese pronunciation: ˈbɛɾtu dɛɫˈɡadu 15 May 1906 – 13 February 1965) was a General of the Portuguese Air Force, diplomat and politician.
Early life ...
, a former member of the regime, stood against the regime's presidential candidate,
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 Tomá ...
, and refused to allow his name to be withdrawn.
Tomás won the election amidst claims of widespread electoral fraud, and the Salazar government abandoned the practice of popularly electing the president and gave the task to 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 ...
.
Portugal's Estado Novo government remained neutral in the second world war, and was initially tolerated by its
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
post-war partners due to its
anti-communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
stance. As the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
developed,
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
and
Eastern-bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed d ...
states vied against each other by supporting
guerrillas
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics ...
in the
Portuguese colonies
The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...
, leading to the 1961–1974
Portuguese Colonial War
The Portuguese Colonial War ( pt, Guerra Colonial Portuguesa), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambican War of Independence, ...
.
Salazar had a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
in 1968, and was replaced as
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
by
Marcello Caetano
Marcelo José das Neves Alves Caetano (; 17 August 1906 – 26 October 1980) was a Portuguese politician and scholar. He was the second and last leader of the Estado Novo after succeeding António Salazar. He served as prime minister from 196 ...
, who adopted a slogan of "continuous evolution", suggesting reforms, such as a monthly
pension
A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
to rural workers who had never contributed to Portugal's
social security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
. Caetano's Primavera Marcelista (Marcelist Spring) included greater political tolerance and
freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
, and was seen as an opportunity for the opposition to gain
concessions from the regime. Portugal had a taste of democracy in 1969, and Caetano authorised the country's first democratic labour-union movement since the 1920s. However, after the elections of 1969 and 1973, hard liners in government and the military pushed back against Caetano, with
political repression
Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereb ...
against
communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...
and
anti-colonialists.
Economic conditions
![Portuguese colonial war blank map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Portuguese_colonial_war_blank_map.svg)
The Estado Novo regime's economic policy encouraged the formation of large
conglomerates. The regime maintained a policy of
corporatism
Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...
which resulted in the placement of much of the economy in the hands of conglomerates including those founded by the families of
António Champalimaud
António de Sommer Champalimaud ( Lapa, Lisbon, 19 March 1918 – Lapa, Lisbon, 8 May 2004) was a Portuguese banker and industrialist in 2004. He was the wealthiest man in Portugal, he earned his fortune with insurance, banking, iron ore min ...
(
Banco Totta & Açores,
Banco Pinto & Sotto Mayor,
Secil,
Cimpor),
José Manuel de Mello
José Manuel de Mello (8 December 1927 – 16 September 2009) was a Portuguese businessman who founded the conglomerate Grupo José de Mello. He was the heir of an older industrial conglomerate, Companhia União Fabril (CUF), which had been founde ...
(
Companhia União Fabril The Companhia União Fabril (CUF) was one of the largest and oldest Portuguese conglomerates from the 1930s to 1974 and later a chemical corporation which was by then a part of Grupo José de Mello founded in 1988. After many acquisitions, mergers ...
),
Américo Amorim
Américo Ferreira Amorim (21 July 1934 – 13 July 2017) was a Portuguese billionaire businessman, and a 50% owner of Corticeira Amorim, founded by his grandfather. He was the richest person in Portugal at the time of his death with a fortune esti ...
(
Corticeira Amorim
Corticeira Amorim S.G.P.S., S.A., is a Portuguese subholding company belonging to the Amorim Group and claims to have been the world leader in the cork industry for over 130 years, with operations in hundreds of countries all over the world. Co ...
) and the dos Santos family (
Jerónimo Martins
Jerónimo Martins SGPS, SA (JM) is a Portuguese corporate group that operates in food distribution and specialised retail. It operates more than 4,900 stores in Portugal, Poland, and Colombia.
The group is the majority owner of Jerónimo Mart ...
).
One of the largest was the Companhia União Fabril (CUF), with a wide range of interests including cement, petro and agro chemicals, textiles, beverages, naval and electrical engineering,
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
, banking, paper, tourism and mining, with branches, plants and projects throughout the Portuguese Empire.
Other medium-sized family companies specialised in textiles (such as those in
Covilhã
Covilhã () is a city and a municipality in the Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 34,772 inhabitants in 2001. The municipality population in 2011 was 51,797, in an area of . It is located in the Beiras e Serra da Estrela subregion and B ...
and the northwest), ceramics, porcelain, glass and crystal (such as those in
Alcobaça,
Caldas da Rainha
Caldas da Rainha () is a medium-sized Portuguese city in the Oeste region, in the historical province of Estremadura, and in the district of Leiria. The city serves as the seat of the larger municipality of the same name and of the Comunidad ...
and
Marinha Grande
Marinha Grande () is a municipality in the Leiria District, Portugal. The population in 2021 was 39,032, in an area of 187.25 km². The city itself has a population of 32,330.
It is located right in the middle of the 700-year-old Leiria pine ...
), engineered wood (such as
SONAE
Sonae is a multinational business group based in Maia, Porto District, Portugal. It is present in 90 countries, operating in several sectors, including retail, financial services, shopping centres management, software and information systems, me ...
, near
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
), canned fish (
Algarve
The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese).
The region has it ...
and the northwest), fishing, food and beverages (liqueurs, beer and
port wine
Port wine (also known as vinho do Porto, , or simply port) is a Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal. It is typically a sweet red wine, often served with dessert, although it also comes in dry, semi- ...
), tourism (in
Estoril
Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...
,
Cascais
Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...
,
Sintra
Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of . Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populated ...
and the
Algarve
The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese).
The region has it ...
) and agriculture (the
Alentejo
Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo'').
Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...
, known as the
breadbasket
The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other grain. Rice bowl is a similar term used to refer to Southeast Asia; and C ...
of Portugal) by the early-1970s. Rural families engaged in agriculture and forestry.
Income from the colonies came from resource extraction, of oil, coffee, cotton, cashews, coconuts, timber, minerals (including diamonds), metals (such as iron and aluminium), bananas, citrus, tea, sisal, beer, cement, fish and other seafood, beef and textiles.
Labour unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
were prohibited, and
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
laws were not enforced. Starting in the 1960s, the outbreak of colonial wars in Africa set off significant social changes, among them the rapid incorporation of women into the labour market.
Colonial war
![AssaltonaMatadaSanga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/AssaltonaMatadaSanga.jpg)
Independence movements began in the African colonies of
Portuguese Mozambique
Portuguese Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique) or Portuguese East Africa (''África Oriental Portuguesa'') were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony. Portuguese Moz ...
,
Portuguese Congo
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
. The Salazar and Caetano regimes responded with diverting more and more of Portugal's
budget
A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...
to colonial administration and
military expenditure
A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defense budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by a state to raising and maintaining an armed forces or other methods essential for defense purposes.
Financing milit ...
, and the country became increasingly
isolated from the rest of the world, facing increasing internal dissent,
arms embargo
An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes:
* to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor
* to maintain ...
es and other
international sanctions
International sanctions are political and economic decisions that are part of diplomatic efforts by countries, multilateral or regional organizations against states or organizations either to protect national security interests, or to protect in ...
.
By the early-1970s, the
Portuguese military
The Portuguese Armed Forces ( pt, Forças Armadas) are the military of Portugal. They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the other unified bodies and the three service branches: Portuguese Navy, Portuguese Army and Portuguese Air ...
was overstretched and there was no political solution in sight. Although the number of
casualties
A casualty, as a term in military usage, is a person in military service, combatant or non-combatant, who becomes unavailable for duty due to any of several circumstances, including death, injury, illness, capture or desertion.
In civilian usa ...
was relatively small, the war had entered its second decade; Portugal faced criticism from the international community, and was becoming increasingly isolated. Atrocities such as the
Wiriyamu Massacre
The Wiriyamu Massacre or Operation Marosca was a massacre of the civilian population of the village of Wiriyamu in Mozambique by Portuguese soldiers in December 1972.
In September 2022 Portuguese prime minister António Costa considered it 'an ...
undermined the war's popularity and the government's diplomatic position, although details of the massacre are still disputed.
[Westfall, William C., Jr., Major, ]United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
, ''Mozambique-Insurgency Against Portugal, 1963–1975'', 1984. Retrieved on 10 March 2007
The war became unpopular in Portugal, and the country became increasingly polarised. Thousands of left-wing students and anti-war activists avoided
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
by
emigrating illegally, primarily to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Meanwhile three generations of right-wing militants in Portuguese schools were guided by a
revolutionary nationalism
Revolutionary nationalism is a term that can refer to:
• Different ideologies and doctrines which differ strongly from traditional nationalism, in the sense that it is more involved in the social question, involved geopolitically whose polit ...
partially influenced by European
neo-fascism
Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sen ...
, and supported the
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...
and an authoritarian regime.
The war had a profound impact on the country. The revolutionary
Armed Forces Movement
230px, A mural dedicated to the MFA, it reads: "Towards freedom. Long live the 25th of April!"
The Armed Forces Movement ( pt, Movimento das Forças Armadas; MFA) was an organization of lower-ranking, politically left-leaning officers in the Por ...
(MFA) began as an attempt to liberate Portugal from the Estado Novo regime and challenge new military laws which were
coming into force
In law, coming into force or entry into force (also called commencement) is the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely related to the date of this t ...
.
[ Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA). In Infopédia ]m linha
M, or m, is the thirteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabe ...
Porto: Porto Editora
Porto Editora is the largest Portuguese publisher with a consolidated turnover of more than 90M € in 2010. It is
the leading educational publisher in PortugalHerbert R. Lottman, "Publishing in Portugal", ''Publishers Weekly'', Volume 213, Issue ...
, 2003–2009. onsult. 2009-01-07 Disponível na www: URL: http://www.infopedia.pt/$movimento-das-forcas-armadas-(mfa). The laws would reduce the military budget and reformulate the Portuguese military. Younger military-academy graduates resented Caetano's programme of commissioning militia officers who completed a brief training course and had served in the colonies' defensive campaigns at the same rank as academy graduates.
Revolution
In February 1974, Caetano decided to remove General
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 ...
from the command of Portuguese forces in Guinea in the face of Spínola's increasing disagreement with the promotion of military officers and the direction of Portuguese colonial policy. This occurred shortly after the publication of Spínola's book, ''Portugal and the Future'', which expressed his political and military views of the Portuguese Colonial War. Several military officers who opposed the war formed the
MFA to overthrow the government in a
military coup
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...
. The MFA was headed by
Vítor Alves,
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho
Otelo Nuno Romão Saraiva de Carvalho, GCL (; 31 August 1936 – 25 July 2021) was a Portuguese military officer. He was the chief strategist of the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Lisbon. After the Revolution, Otelo assumed leadership roles in t ...
and Vasco Lourenço, and was joined later by
Salgueiro Maia
Fernando José Salgueiro Maia, GOTE, GCIH, GCL (1 July 1944 – 4 April 1992 in Santarém), commonly known as Salgueiro Maia (), was a captain in the Portuguese army. He made a significant contribution to the Carnation Revolution, which result ...
. The movement was aided by other Portuguese army officers who supported Spínola and democratic civil and military reform. It is speculated that
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 ...
actually led the revolution.
The coup had two secret signals. First,
Paulo de Carvalho
Paulo de Carvalho (born Manuel Paulo de Carvalho Costa, in Lisbon, on 15 May 1947) is a Portuguese singer.
Career
Carvalho co-founded the band The Sheiks in 1965. He sang and played the drums. He also played an instrumental role, either as a fo ...
's "
E Depois do Adeus" (Portugal's entry in the
1974 Eurovision Song Contest) was aired on Emissores Associados de Lisboa at 10:55 p.m. on 24 April. This alerted rebel captains and soldiers to begin the coup. The second signal came at 12:20 a.m. on 25 April, when
Rádio Renascença
Rádio Renascença, also known as 'RR' or just 'Renascença' (Renaissance in English), is a private, commercial radio station in Portugal, owned by various organizations within the Portuguese Catholic Church: among others, the Patriarchate of Lis ...
broadcast "
Grândola, Vila Morena
"Grândola, Vila Morena" (English: ''Grândola, Swarthy Town'') is a Portuguese song by singer-songwriter José Afonso, recorded in 1971. It was originally released in Afonso's 1971 album ''Cantigas do Maio'' and later released in an EP of the sam ...
" (a song by
Zeca Afonso Zeca may refer to:
* José Afonso (1929–1987), Portuguese folk and political musician also known mononymously as Zeca
* Zeca (footballer, born 1946), full name Jose Luiz Ferreira Rodrigues, Brazilian football manager known mononymously as Zeca
* ...
, an influential political
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
ian and singer who was banned from Portuguese radio at the time). The MFA gave the signals to take over strategic points of power in the country.
Six hours later, the Caetano government relented. Despite repeated radio appeals from the "captains of April" (the MFA) advising civilians to stay home, thousands of Portuguese took to the streets – mingling with, and supporting, the military insurgents. A central gathering point was the Lisbon flower market, then richly stocked with carnations (which were in season). Some of the insurgents put carnations in their
gun barrel
A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressure ...
s, an image broadcast on television worldwide which gave the revolution its name. Although no
mass demonstration
A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...
s preceded the coup, spontaneous civilian involvement turned the military coup into a popular revolution "led by radical army officers, soldiers, workers and peasants that toppled the senile Salazar dictatorship, using the language of socialism and democracy. The attempt to radicalise the outcome", noted a contemporary observer of the time, "had little mass support and was easily suppressed by the
Portuguese Socialist Party
The Portuguese Socialist Party ( pt, Partido Socialista Português) was a political party in Portugal.
The party was founded in 1875. During its initial phase the party was heavily influenced by Proudhonism, and rejected revolutionary Marxism. T ...
and its allies."
Caetano found refuge in the main headquarters of the Lisbon military police, the
National Republican Guard, at the Largo do Carmo. This building was surrounded by the MFA, which pressured him to cede power to General Spínola. Caetano and President
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 Tomá ...
fled to Brazil; Caetano spent the rest of his life there, and Tomás returned to Portugal a few years later. The revolution was closely watched by neighbouring Spain, where the government (and the opposition) were planning the
succession of Spanish dictator
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
. Franco died a year and a half later, in 1975.
Four civilians were shot dead by government forces under the Directorate General of Security, whose personnel involved were later arrested by the MFA for their murders.
Aftermath
![25 Abril 1983 Porto by Henrique Matos 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/25_Abril_1983_Porto_by_Henrique_Matos_01.jpg)
After the coup, power was held by the
National Salvation Junta
The National Salvation Junta ( pt, Junta de Salvação Nacional, ) was a group of military officers designated to maintain the government of Portugal in April 1974 after the Carnation Revolution had overthrown the '' Estado Novo'' dictatorial ...
(a military junta). Portugal experienced a turbulent period, known as the
Processo Revolucionário Em Curso
The Processo Revolucionário Em Curso (PREC) (English: ''Ongoing Revolutionary Process'') was the period during the Portuguese transition to democracy, which started after a failed right-wing coup d'état on 11 March 1975, and ended after a f ...
(Ongoing Revolutionary Process).
The conservative forces surrounding Spinola and the MFA radicals initially confronted each other (covertly or overtly), and Spinola was forced to appoint key MFA figures to senior security positions. Right-wing military figures attempted an unsuccessful
counter-coup, resulting in Spinola's removal from office. Unrest within the MFA between leftist forces (often close to the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
) and more-moderate groups (often allied with the
Socialists
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...
) eventually led to the group's splintering and dissolution.
This stage of the PREC lasted until the 25 November 1975
pro-communist coup, which was followed by a successful counter-coup by moderates, and was marked by constant friction between liberal-democratic forces and leftist-communist political parties. Portugal's
first free election was held on 25 April 1975 to write a new constitution replacing the
Constitution of 1933, which prevailed during the Estado Novo era. Another
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
was held in 1976 and the first constitutional government, led by centre-left socialist
Mário Soares
Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares, GColTE, GCC, GColL (; 7 December 1924 – 7 January 2017) was a Portuguese politician, who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the 17th presid ...
, took office.
Decolonisation
Before April 1974, the intractable Portuguese Colonial War in Africa consumed up to 40 percent of the Portuguese budget. Although part of
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
became independent ''de facto'' in 1973,
Bissau
Bissau () is the capital, and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. Bissau had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, and its administrative and m ...
(its capital) and the large towns were still under Portuguese control. In
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
and
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, independence movements were active in more remote rural areas from which the Portuguese Army had retreated.
A consequence of the Carnation Revolution was the sudden withdrawal of Portuguese administrative and military personnel from its overseas colonies. Hundreds of thousands of
Portuguese Africans
Portuguese Africans ( pt, luso-africanos) are Portuguese people born or permanently settled in Africa (they should not be confused with Portuguese of Black African ancestry). The largest Portuguese African population lives in Portugal numbering ...
returned to Portugal. These people—workers, small businesspeople, and farmers—often had deep roots in the former colonies and became known as the ''retornados''.
Angola began a
decades-long civil war which involved the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Millions of Angolans died in the aftermath of independence due to armed conflict,
malnutrition
Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...
and disease. After a brief period of stability, Mozambique became embroiled in a
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
which left it one of the poorest nations in the world. The country's situation has improved since the 1990s, and
multi-party elections
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in c ...
have been held.
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
was
invaded by Indonesia, and would be
occupied
' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...
until 1999. There were an estimated 102,800 conflict-related deaths from 1974 to 1999 (about 18,600 killings and 84,200 deaths from hunger and illness), most of which occurred during the Indonesian occupation.
After a long period of one-party rule, Guinea-Bissau experienced a brief
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and a difficult transition to civilian rule in 1998.
Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
and
São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...
avoided civil war during the decolonisation period, and established
multi-party political systems by the early 1990s. By a treaty signed in 1974, Portugal recognised the incorporation of former
Portuguese India
The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...
into
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. A 1978 Portuguese offer to return
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
to China was rebuffed as the Chinese government did not want to potentially jeopardize negotiations with the UK over returning Hong Kong. The territory remained a Portuguese colony until 1999, when
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
took control in a
joint declaration and enacted a "
one country, two systems
"One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
The constitutional principle was formulated in the early ...
" policy similar to that of
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
.
Economic issues
The
Portuguese economy changed significantly between 1961 and 1973. Total output (GDP at factor cost) had grown by 120 percent in real terms. The pre-revolutionary period was characterised by robust
annual growth in
GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is often ...
(6.9 percent),
industrial production
Industrial production is a measure of output of the industrial sector of the economy. The industrial sector includes manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Although these sectors contribute only a small portion of gross domestic product (GDP), the ...
(nine percent),
consumption
Consumption may refer to:
*Resource consumption
*Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically
* Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms
* Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
(6.5 percent), and
gross fixed capital formation
Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) is a macroeconomic concept used in official national accounts such as the United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA), National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) and the European System of Accounts (ES ...
(7.8 percent). The revolutionary period experienced a slowly-growing economy, whose only impetus was its 1986 entrance into the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
. Although Portugal never regained its pre-revolution growth, at the time of the revolution it was an
underdeveloped country with poor
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
, inefficient agriculture and some of the worst health and education indicators in Europe.
Pre-revolutionary Portugal had some social and economic achievements. After a long period of economic decline before 1914, the Portuguese economy recovered slightly until 1950. It began a period of economic growth in common with Western Europe, of which it was the poorest country until the 1980s. Portuguese economic growth between 1960 and 1973 (under the Estado Novo regime) created an opportunity for integration with the developed economies of Western Europe despite the colonial war. Through emigration, trade, tourism and foreign investment, individuals and companies changed their patterns of production and consumption. The increasing complexity of a growing economy sparked new technical and organisational challenges.
On 13 November 1972, Fundo do Ultramar (The Overseas Fund, a
sovereign wealth fund
A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), sovereign investment fund, or social wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such ...
) was enacted with Decreto-Lei n.º 448/ /72 and the Ministry of Defense ordinance Portaria 696/72 to finance the war. The increasing burden of the war effort meant that the government had to find continuous sources of financing. Decretos-Leis n.os 353, de 13 de Julho de 1973, e 409, de 20 de Agosto were enforced to reduce military expenses and increase the number of officers by incorporating
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
and military-academy officers as equals.
According to government estimates, about of agricultural land were seized between April 1974 and December 1975 as part of
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
; about 32 percent of the appropriations were ruled illegal. In January 1976, The government pledged to restore the illegally-occupied land to its owners in 1976, and enacted the Land Reform Review Law the following year. Restoration of illegally-occupied land began in 1978.
In 1960, Portugal's per-capita GDP was 38 percent of the European Economic Community average. By the end of the Salazar period in 1968 it had risen to 48 percent, and in 1973 it had reached 56.4 percent; the percentages were affected by the 40 percent of the budget which underwrote the African wars. In 1975 (the year of greatest revolutionary turmoil), Portugal's per-capita GDP declined to 52.3 percent of the EEC average. Due to revolutionary economic policies, oil shocks, recession in Europe and the return of hundreds of thousands of overseas Portuguese from its former colonies, Portugal began an economic crisis in 1974–1975.
Real gross domestic product
Real gross domestic product (real GDP) is a macroeconomics, macroeconomic measure of the value of economic output (economics), output adjusted for price changes (i.e. inflation (economics), inflation or deflation). This adjustment transforms the m ...
growth resumed as a result of Portugal's economic resurgence since 1985 and adhesion to the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
(EEC). The country's 1991 per-capita GDP reached 54.9 percent of the EEC average, slightly exceeding the level at the height of the revolutionary period.
A January 2011 story in the ''Diário de Notícias'' (a Portuguese tabloid newspaper) reported that the
government of Portugal
The Government of Portugal is one of the four sovereignty bodies of the Portuguese Republic, together with the President of Portugal, President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal), Assembly of the Republic and Judiciary of Port ...
encouraged overspending and investment bubbles in public-private partnerships between 1974 and 2010, and the economy has been damaged by risky
credit
Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), ...
,
public debt
A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...
creation,
overstaffing
In Keynesian economics, underemployment equilibrium is a situation with a persistent shortfall relative to full employment and potential output so that unemployment is higher than at the NAIRU or the natural rate of unemployment, "natural" rate of ...
in the public sector, a rigid labor market and mismanaged
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
's
structural and cohesion funds
The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds, ESIFs) are financial tools governed by a common rulebook, set up to implement the regional policy of the European Union, as well as the structural policy pillars of the Common Agricultural ...
for almost four decades. Prime Minister
José Sócrates
José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH (born 6 September 1957), commonly known as José Sócrates (), is a Portuguese politician who was the prime minister of Portugal from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011. For the second half of 2007, he ...
' cabinet was unable to foresee or forestall this when symptoms first appeared in 2005, and could not ameliorate the situation when Portugal was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2011 and required financial assistance from the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
and the European Union.
Freedom of religion
The
constitution of 1976 guarantees all religions the right to practice, and non-Catholic groups are recognised as legal entities with the
right to assemble
Freedom of peaceful assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ide ...
. Non-Catholic
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
s have the right to apply for alternative military service. The
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, however, still sought to impede other missionary activity.
The ban on
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
activity was abolished. The Witnesses were registered as a religious organisation in December 1976, and organised their first Portuguese international convention in Lisbon in 1978.
Results
After an early period of turmoil, Portugal emerged as a democratic country. The country divested itself of almost all of its former colonies and experienced severe economic turmoil. For the Portuguese and their former colonies this was a very difficult period, but
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
and
political freedom
Political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies.Hannah Arendt, "What is Freedom?", ''Between Past and F ...
s were achieved.
Legacy
![Ponte25Abril1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Ponte25Abril1.jpg)
Construction of what is now called the 25 de Abril Bridge began on 5 November 1962. It opened on 6 August 1966 as the Salazar Bridge, named after Estado Novo leader
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the re ...
. Soon after the Carnation Revolution of 1974, the bridge was renamed the
25 de Abril Bridge
The 25 de Abril Bridge ( pt, Ponte 25 de Abril, 25th of April Bridge, ) is a suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, to the municipality of Almada on the left (south) bank of the Tagus river. It has a total len ...
to commemorate the revolution. Citizens who removed the large, brass "Salazar" sign from a main pillar of the bridge and painting a provisional "25 de Abril" in its place were recorded on film.
Many Portuguese streets and squares are named ''vinte e cinco de Abril'' (25 April), for the day of the revolution. The
Portuguese Mint chose the 40th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution for its 2014
2 euro commemorative coin.
Freedom Day
Freedom Day (25 April) is a
national holiday, with state-sponsored and spontaneous commemorations of the
civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
and
political freedom
Political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies.Hannah Arendt, "What is Freedom?", ''Between Past and F ...
s achieved after the revolution. It commemorates the 25 April 1974 revolution and Portugal's first free elections on that date the following year.
Films
* ''Setúbal, ville rouge'' (France–Portugal 1975 documentary, b/w and colour, 16 mm, 93 minutes, by
Daniel Edinger) – In October 1975
Setúbal
Setúbal (, , ; cel-x-proto, Caetobrix) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies within the Lisbon metropolitan area.
In the ti ...
, neighbourhood committees, factory committees, soldiers' committees and peasant cooperatives organise a central committee.
* ''Cravos de Abril'' (''April Carnations''), 1976 documentary, b/w and colour, 16 mm, 28 minutes, by Ricardo Costa – Depicts the revolutionary events from 24 April to 1 May 1974, illustrated by the French cartoonist
Siné
Maurice Sinet (; 31 December 1928 – 5 May 2016), known professionally as Siné (), was a French political cartoonist. His work is noted for its anti-capitalism, anti-clericalism, anti-colonialism, anti-semitism, and anarchism.
Biography
A ...
.
* ''Scenes from the Class Struggle in Portugal'' – U.S.–Portugal 1977, 16 mm, b/w and colour, 85 minutes, directed by
Robert Kramer
Robert Kramer (June 22, 1939 – November 10, 1999), born in New York and educated at Swarthmore College and Stanford University, was an American film director, screenwriter and actor who directed 19 films between 1965 and 1999, most of them ...
* ' (''The Hour of Freedom''), 1999 documentary, by Joana Pontes, and
* ''
Capitães de Abril
''April Captains'' ( pt, Capitães de Abril) is a 2000 film telling the story of the '' Carnation Revolution'', the military coup that overthrew the corporatist dictatorship (known as the '' Estado Novo'') in Portugal on 25 April 1974. Although d ...
'' (''April Captains''), a 2000 dramatic film by
Maria de Medeiros
Maria Esteves de Medeiros Victorino de Almeida, DamSE (born 19 August 1965), known professionally as Maria de Medeiros (), is a Portuguese actress, director, and singer who has been involved in both European and American film productions.
Ear ...
about the Carnation Revolution
* ''25 de Abril: uma Aventura para a Democracia'' (''25th April: an Adventure for Democracy''), 2000 documentary, by
Edgar Pêra
Edgar Henrique Clemente Pêra (born 19 November 1960) is a Portuguese filmmaker.
Pêra is also a fine artist and a graphic comics artist . and writes fiction and cinema essays (PhD).
Edgar Pêra studied Psychology, but switched to Film at the ...
* The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. The first episode details the coup, and the second narrates the
* Barker, Collin. ''Revolutionary Rehearsals''. Haymarket Books. First Edition, 1 December 2002. .
* Chilcote, Ronald. The Portuguese Revolution: State and Class in the Transition to Democracy. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2012 .
)
* Ferreira, Hugo Gil, and Marshall, Michael William. "Portugal's Revolution: 10 years on". Cambridge University Press, 303 pages, 1986.
* Green, Gil. ''Portugal's Revolution''. 99 pages. International Publishers. First Edition, 1976. .
* Mailer, Phil. ''Portugal: The Impossible Revolution?'' PM Press. 2nd ed. 2012.
*
(eds.), ''Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present''. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 144–161. .
* Wise, Audrey. ''Eyewitness in Revolutionary Portugal''. Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation for Spokesman Books, 72 pages, 1975
* Wright, George. ''The Destruction of a Nation: United States Policy Towards Angola Since 1945'',