Carnation Revolution

On 25 April 1974 a military coup in Lisbon, joined by crowds bearing carnations, ended decades of dictatorship and Portugal African wars.

Overview

The Movimento das Forcas Armadas, young officers sick of endless colonial wars in Africa, moved to overthrow the Marcelo Caetano regime. Troops met almost no resistance, and civilians placed carnations in rifle barrels, giving the day its name. The revolution opened two turbulent years of decolonization, nationalizations, land occupations, and political struggle, with six provisional governments and a failed left-wing countercoup in November 1975 before democracy consolidated in the 1976 constitution. Portugal granted rapid independence to Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and others, setting off civil wars fed by Cold War intervention. The Carnation Revolution became a global symbol of regime change accomplished by soldiers who refused to shoot.