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
