Carnation Revolution

The Carnation Revolution (Portuguese: Revolução dos Cravos) was a military uprising in Lisbon on 25 April 1974 that ended nearly five decades of authoritarian rule under the Estado Novo regime, founded by António de Oliveira Salazar and led at the time of the coup by Marcelo Caetano. The action was organized by the Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA), a clandestine network of mid-ranking officers disillusioned by the protracted and costly Portuguese Colonial War in Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau.

The coup unfolded in the early hours of 25 April, coordinated by signals broadcast over radio—most famously Zeca Afonso's banned song "Grândola, Vila Morena." Troops loyal to the MFA seized key installations in Lisbon with minimal resistance. Caetano surrendered at the Largo do Carmo and was flown into exile in Brazil. The name "Carnation Revolution" comes from civilians placing red carnations into the barrels of soldiers' rifles, a gesture popularly associated with restaurant worker Celeste Caeiro.

The revolution produced two transformative outcomes:

• Democratization. A Junta of National Salvation under General António de Spínola assumed power, followed by a turbulent period known as the Processo Revolucionário em Curso (PREC). Portugal held its first free elections on 25 April 1975 for a Constituent Assembly, and a new democratic constitution entered into force in 1976.
• Decolonization. Lisbon rapidly negotiated independence for its African territories: Guinea-Bissau (recognized September 1974), Mozambique (June 1975), Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe (July 1975), and Angola (November 1975). East Timor's decolonization process was interrupted by Indonesian invasion in December 1975.

The events also prompted the retornados—roughly half a million Portuguese settlers returning from Africa—and set Portugal on a path toward European integration, culminating in its accession to the European Economic Community in 1986. 25 April is a national holiday, Dia da Liberdade.