A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #346 - Culture, Read Victor Pereira: It is the people who command: The Carnation Revolution, 1974-1976 (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

And the Portuguese dictatorship collapsed... with a song as a call: 
Grandôla, Vila Morena. This April 25, 1974, with the Carnation 
Revolution, more than forty years of dictatorship ended in a few days 
following the action of officers allied in the MFA (Armed Forces 
Movement) supported by soldiers. ---- Thus the government of Marcelo 
Caetano, heir to the Salazar dictatorship and dictator himself, 
collapsed. Quickly, this was not expected, thousands of civilians took 
to the streets. The military coup led to the fall of the dictatorship 
and the Carnation Revolution. In 1974, Europe was still experiencing the 
bloody dictatorial regimes of Spain and Greece. This gives all the 
historical importance of the phenomenon. Two years of revolutionary 
upheaval then began in Portugal.

At the beginning of 1974, Portugal was still a colonial empire and the 
government had not assimilated the changes linked to decolonization. The 
empire found it increasingly difficult to contain the revolts which 
shook Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. Uprisings 
followed one another and the war became very unpopular in Portugal. The 
country, economically and socially backward, was experiencing 
significant emigration.

The dictatorship appeared to be totally overwhelmed. The total absence 
of freedoms and the merciless repression which weighed on the population 
fueled these departures. It was an impasse. From 1973, mid-level 
officers organized themselves for corporate reasons. Many believed that 
the wars in Africa could not find a victorious outcome militarily. Also, 
the idea emerged of seeking a political solution to these repetitive 
crises. The independence of these territories became a possible 
alternative. The MFA designed a project with the end of the dictatorship 
through military action in perspective.

From April 25, the population took to the streets and supported the 
insurgents. The dictatorship fell quickly. Then began a series of 
spontaneous demonstrations and popular mobilizations: strikes, 
occupation of housing, student struggles... The dikes had given way. 
Speech was freed, possibilities, still poorly defined, emerged. The 
succession was difficult. There was no shortage of support for the 
dictatorship.

For two years, intense debates crossed the country, between the military 
and previously banned political parties such as the Portuguese Communist 
Party, the Socialist Party or the far left. Divergent economic interests 
and the influence of the Catholic Church which had supported the 
dictatorship and the return of the retornados, nearly 300,000 
repatriates from the colonies, complicated the situation.

The first elections in April 1975 showed a Portuguese Communist Party 
and far-left currents, electorally weaker than the socialists with Mario 
Soares. The right still benefits from a broad base. Little by little, 
revolutionary upheavals and anti-communist violence diminished. The 
transition from dictatorship to democracy took place in a jerky but 
fairly calm manner. The Carnation Revolution remains a unique time in 
the history of revolutions. Many questions remain. This cannot be 
reduced to integration into the European Economic Community from the 1980s.

Memories of the Carnation Revolution differ on many points. 
Disillusionment gradually spread to the ranks of the left and the far 
left. As for the right and the extreme right, it began a watering down 
of the Salazar years. For this little-known subject in France, this 
sober, clear and easy-to-read work allows us to better understand the 
hopes raised by this carnation revolution and the great upheaval it 
brought about in ideas. A question remains: is it the people who command 
in a revolutionary process stemming in part from the armed forces?

Dominique Sureau (UCL Angers)

Victor Pereira, It is the people who command: The Carnation Revolution 
1974-1796, Edition Du Détour November 2023, 281 pages, 21.90 euros.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Victor-Pereira-C-est-le-peuple-qui-commande-La-Revolution-des-OEillets
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