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REAL FREEDOM:
PEACE
BREAD
HOUSING
HEALTH
EDUCATION
AGRUPAMENTO
DE ESCOLAS JOSÉ
CARLOS DA MAIA
37 YEARS OF
DEMOCRACY!!!
There were two secret signals in the mili-
tary coup: first the airing of the song E
depois do adeus, by Paulo de Carvalho,
Portugal's entry in the 6th of April 1974
Eurovision Song Contest, which alerted the
rebel captains and soldiers to begin the
coup. A few hours later the national radio
broadcast Grândola Vila Morena, a song
by Zeca Afonso, a folk singer forbidden on
Portuguese radio at the time. This was the
signal that the MFA gave to take over stra-
tegic points of power in the country,
"announced" that the revolution had started
and nothing would stop it except "the pos-
sibility of a regime's repression".
Despite repeated appeals from the "April
captains" on the radio inciting the popula-
tion to stay at home, thousands of Portu-
guese descended on the streets, mixing
themselves with the military insurgents.
One of the points of these gathering was
the Lisbon flower market, then richly stoc-
ked with carnations, which were in season.
Some military insurgents would put these
flowers in their gun-barrels, an image
which was shown on television around the
world. This was the origin of the name of
this "Carnation revolution".
“This project has been funded with support from the
European Commission.
This publication [communication] reflects the views only
of the author, and the Commission cannot be held respon-
sible for any use which may be made of the information
contained therein.”
F R E E D O M D A Y
The Carnation Revolution was a period
in the history of Portugal, triggered by a
bloodless military coup that took place
on April 25, 1974, which overthrew the
Estado Novo dictatorship, in power since
1933 and began a process that would end
with the implementation of a democratic
regime with
the entry into
force of a new
Consti tution
on 25 April
1 9 7 6 .
This scam,
c o m m o n l y
known by the
Portuguese as
25 April, was conducted by a military
movement, the Armed Forces Movement
(MFA), composed of intermediate offi-
cers of the military, mostly captains who
had participated in the Colonial War
militia officers and recruited students,
many of them college students. This
movement was born around 1973, initially
based on corporatist claims, as the fight
for the prestige of the armed forces and
eventually extended to the current politi-
c a l r e g i m e .
After the coup, the National Salvation
group was created, responsible for the
appointment of the President, the program
of the Provisional Government and its
organic. Thus, on May 15, 1974, General
Antonio de Spinola was appointed Presi-
dent of the Republic, who in turn assigned
the post of prime minister to Adelino da
P a l m a C a r l o s .
A period of great social, political and military
unreast followed, known as the PREC (Ongoing
Revolutionary Process), marked by demonstra-
tions, occupations, provisional governments,
nationalization and military confrontations,
which finished with an attempted coup failed on
2 5 N o v e m b e r 1 9 7 5 .
With a more stable situation, it was possible to
continue the work of the Constituent Assembly
and to reach a new democratic constitution,
which was establi-
shed on 25 April
1976, the same day
of the first election of
the new republic.
Following these
events, a national
holiday was establi-
shed in Portugal on
April 25, called "Freedom Day".
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