25th April 1974

[Sprafa]

I know I'm late on this, but I've been busy.

With headlines such as "Army rebels oust Lisbon regime," "Elections set; political prisoners freed," "Area residents say kin report no bloodshed," "Lisbon is calm after a successful coup," The Standard-Times reported on its front page the events in Portugal, between the 25th and 28th of April 1974.
Expectations for very dramatic incidents were frustrated as they were not really happening. Local Portuguese residents were prudent in their commentaries, not showing much surprise and mentioning reassurances from their relatives that there was no danger. The old country, always so predictable, was, as it would be said today, a prime time issue.
Probably, the same type of news could be found printed on most of the important American and European newspapers at the time. The analysis might have differed, but there was surprise, not so much about the attempt to change the Portuguese regime, but about the swift way the actions developed. Many might have felt the same kind of wonder expressed by Henry Kissinger, then United States Secretary of State, who said: "We knew next to nothing about any of the personalities involved, only that they concentrated initially on the decolonization of Portugal's African Empire."
The Revolution of April 25th in Portugal happened thirty years ago this week. On April 25, 1974, the Movement of the Armed Forces (MFA) put an end to a dictatorial regime that had lasted almost 48 years, changing completely the Portuguese political structures.
One year later, in 1975, the people of Portugal held general elections, and for the first time the right to vote by secret ballot was extended to all men and women older than 18 years. In those first 12 months, the democratic rights of freedom of press, assembly, and association were established, as the juridical and practical conditions were created for every adult to vote, regardless of sex, education or wealth.
The Captains of April -- the sentimental title given to the military leaders of the MFA -- accomplished their primary goal: the restoration of democracy.
Historically, the revolution's relevancy is still more remarkable if we look retrospectively at some of its causes, even in a very brief and general way.
During the 1920s and 1930s, in the aftermath of the First World War, the European democratic societies agonized. Many countries turned to totalitarianism. Portugal did not escape this trend. Between 1910 and 1926, the Portuguese republican regime had shown an incapacity to respond to successive socio-political and financial crises. On May 28, 1926, a dictatorial regime was installed in a country exhausted by almost 16 years of instability and confrontation.
The dictatorship was justified by the necessity to pacify and unite the nation. But its leadership was not united, and from their internal struggles emerged the most backward faction. This group, inflating pretentiously patriotic arguments and brandishing the communist threat, made the democracy the main enemy. They claimed that the democratic institutions were pernicious, the origin of national division, barriers to peaceful economic progress, and therefore unsuitable for Portugal. They stole the historical experience of Portugal. In fact, throughout almost the previous 100 years the governments of Portugal had been comparable to other democratic western Europeans nations.
However, in 1926, the inability of the traditional democratic parties and the international environment facilitated the installation of the dictatorial regime. For almost five decades, political oppression was enforced with propaganda, censorship and political police.
In the period after World War II, the authoritarian government was sustained by the dictatorship repression machine, some economic growth, and the atmosphere created by the Cold War. Portugal's geopolitical position, not in the heart of Europe, and next to Spain which was also under Franco's autocratic regime, also contributed to the continuation of the dictatorship in Portugal.
In 1961, with the beginning of the colonial wars in the Portuguese African territories, Portugal's autocratic ideology became more visible to the rest of the world. And the Portuguese became more aware of the economic gap between themselves and other countries. Their material improvements always seemed smaller than those shown in the cinema, television, newspapers and magazines from other western countries.
More and more people were also seeing a political system that showed insensitivity to its own society and to the profound changes occurring on the international scene.
It became evident that resistance to the regime was the only option available concerning the colonial war on three fronts of the African continent. It was obvious that the Portuguese military officials could not be forever indifferent to this situation and state of mind, especially, after more than ten years of guerrilla warfare that was depleting the Portuguese in human and material terms. In this atmosphere of general discontent, the members of the MFA began meeting. Later, they decided to try to overthrow the regime.
And on that sunny day of April 25, 1974, the courage of the Captains of April triumphed. The revolution, carried out by soldiers, was a peaceful one. At the end of almost 48 years of dictatorship, with the deposed leaders not yet on board planes for exile, the Portuguese people showed their happiness with huge crowds celebrating in the streets.
Political prisoners were liberated. The democratic freedoms were immediately assumed and exercised. And in 1975, Portugal's African colonies became independent nations.
All the Portuguese who lived those days at the end of April 1974 remember them with intensity and astonishment. One image on a poster that captured the spirit of the revolution showed a happy child putting a red carnation into the end of an automatic rifle held by a young smiling soldier. The message is evident in its simplicity and optimism. In fact, the Carnation Revolution of April 25th, 1974, opened to that child and to all of Portugal a world where the present was no longer melancholy and politically oppressed, and hope in the future was not futile.
Fernando Teles Fazendeiro
Consul of Portugal

Anyone else lives in country freed of opression recently ? i.e. Spain or Chile ?

 

[Sprafa]

Don't you ppl have a min of care for this?

 

[CrazyHarij]

Apparently not.

 

[Dedalus]

space it out a little and it might not be so hard on the eyes.

i didn't know this happened. was before my time. i had no idea portugal was under an opressive regime a mere 30 years ago. seems you've come a long way since then.

 

[Bad^Hat]

25th April 1974
I know I'm late on this, but I've been busy.

Finally! Can I stop holding this brick with my genitals now?


...I didn't read it =/

 

[Dedalus]

Finally! Can I stop holding this brick with my genitals now?


...I didn't read it =/

i didn't say that, sprafa did. change your quoting please.

 

[Bad^Hat]

i didn't say that, sprafa did. change your quoting please.

For the record, you are Sprafa. This way is alot less confusing :imu:

Edit - oops, quoting changed :>

 

[Sulkdodds]

Having read it (cmon people it's not that long!) I am honsetly surprised. I never knew anythign about that...in fact I never knew anything about Portugal's history. You learn somethign enw every day...

 

[Foxtrot]

Schools are too busy teaching the history of Africa, Asia and the Middle East to teach anything about America or Europe.

 

[Sprafa]

Our troops committed genocide in Africa , Foxtrot. So basically, it is African History.

And after the Revolution , we freed all our colonies. Timor was invaded by Indonesia, Angola went into Civil War....

 

[ComradeBadger]

I like how you ignore Catalonia.

 

[Foxtrot]

Hmm, I got an A in that class and I have never even heard of either of those events.

 

[Sprafa]

I like how you ignore Catalonia.

edit - nm.