1974, News: The Carnation Revolution

On April 25 1974 army rebels took control in Portugal after an almost bloodless dawn coup ending nearly 50 years of dictatorship.

The 25 April coup became known as “The Carnation Revolution” (“Revolução dos Cravos”). It ended the longest dictatorship in Europe, the “Estado Novo”. In the early hours of 25 April 1974, “The Carnation Revolution” began in the Portuguese city of Lisbon. There were two secret signals in the military coup: first the airing (at 10:55 pm) by “Emissores Associados de Lisboa” of the song “E Depois do Adeus” ("And After Goodbye”) by Paulo de Carvalho, Portugal's entry in the 6 April 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, which alerted the rebel captains and soldiers to begin the coup. Next at 12:20 am, “Radio Renascença” broadcast “Grândola, Vila Morena” (“Grândola, swarthy town”), a song by Zeca Afonso, a influential folk and political musician-singer forbidden on Portuguese radio at the time. This was the signal that "announced" that the revolution had started and nothing would stop it except "the possibility of a regime's repression".

The military forces quickly overwhelmed the government, sparking spontaneous demonstrations in the street, in which civilians ran out to mingle with the soldiers, despite orders to stay inside. At the time, carnations were flooding the famous central flower market of Lisbon, and many citizens put them into the gun barrels of the soldiers, inspiring the name “Carnation Revolution” to describe this event in Portuguese history.

Documentary

E Depois do Adeus