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The April 25th Revolution, also known as the Carnation Revolution, was a military coup that occurred in 1974. This coup ended the dictatorial Estado Novo regime and initiated the decolonization of the Portuguese colonies and the implementation of a democratic regime in Portugal.

The Revolution was led by a military movement, the Armed Forces Movement (MFA), made up mostly of captains (the “April Captains”) who had been to the Colonial War and opposed the regime.

The Revolution was a peaceful one with the regime’s reaction being practically nonexistent due to their reduced military power (most of the troops and armament were in the Colonial War) and the huge backing that MFA quickly gathered from the population.

After the success of the revolution, the transition to democracy and negotiations for decolonization started. This also started a mass exodus of Portuguese citizens from the ex-colonies, creating a huge refugee crisis in the country.

This is also when a big and turbulent political, economic, and social process known as Revolutionary Process in Progress (PREC) started, which would end with the Crisis of the 25th of November 1975.

The pluralist democratic regime would be consolidated on April 25, 1975, with the implementation of the new democratic Constitution, marked by its strong socialist orientation. On that same day, the first legislative election of the new Portuguese Republic was held with universal suffrage.

For all of this, April 25th is “Freedom Day” in Portugal and is a National Holiday, commemorating the Revolution and all its conquests for the Portuguese people.


IF YOU ARE INTERESTING IN KNOWING MORE :

www.portugal.com/history-and-culture/april-25th-revolution