Extracto de “Canções Populares” dos Cadernos de Cultura Popular - 1, editado pela Associação Cultural e Recreativa de S. João da Madeira - “União Operária”
On this day, 25 April 1974, Portugal’s right-wing Estado Novo dictatorship was overthrown by a military coup by low ranking army officers who had formed the Movement of the Armed Forces (MFA). When officers loyal to the dictatorship ordered the troops to open fire, a mutiny by rank-and-file soldiers effectively prevented a counter-revolution. The events would become known as the Carnation Revolution, as few shots were fired and people adorned troops with red and white carnations which were in season and being widely sold on the streets at the time. The collapse of the regime was then followed by a working class uprising which lasted over 18 months. Urban workers took over their workplaces and rural workers took over land and farmed it collectively. The key factor in the unpopularity of the regime was the long-running colonial war against independence movements in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Principe which had been raging since anti-colonial uprisings in the early 1960s. After the revolution these former colonies all soon achieved independence. Learn more in our podcast episodes 41-42: https://workingclasshistory.com/2020/08/13/e41-42-the-portuguese-revolution/ Books and other items commemorating the events are available in our online store: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/portuguese-revolutionhttps://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1702294433289033/?type=3
TheCarnation Revolution (Portuguese: Revolução dos Cravos), also referred to as the 25 April (Portuguese: 25 de Abril), was a military coup began on 25 April 1974 in Lisbon, Portugal, and which overthrew the dictatorial regime of the Estado Novo. The revolution started as a military coup organized by the Movimento das Forças Armadas (Armed Forces Movement, MFA), composed of military officers who opposed the regime, but the movement was soon coupled with an unanticipated and popular campaign of civil resistance. This movement would lead to the fall of the Estado Novo and the withdrawal of Portugal from its African colonies.
The name “Carnation Revolution” comes from the fact no shots were fired and when the population started descending the streets to celebrate the end of the dictatorship and war in the colonies, carnation flowers were put into the muzzles of rifles and on the uniforms of the army.
The Portuguese celebrate the national holiday of Freedom Day (Portuguese: Dia da Liberdade) on 25 April every year to celebrate these events.
