When the dictatorship was overthrown by the security forces themselves: how young officers made Portugal democratic

The path to democracy was different for different countries. In Portugal, the system was changed by those who were supposed to protect it — the military.

Portugal in 1974 was not a typical country for Western Europe. Almost all European countries outside the socialist bloc were democracies at that time. The exceptions, besides Portugal, were Spain, where the aging dictator Francisco Franco held onto power with blue fingers, and Greece, where the "black colonels" ruled. But all three regimes had very little time left to live.

Read also:
Spain. From dictatorship to democracy — just three steps
Greece. The black colonels and their downfall

In the 1920s–1930s, economist and politician António Salazar created the "New State" in Portugal — a corporate Christian country like Austria in the time of Engelbert Dollfuss. The only permitted party, massive election fraud, and a political police force called PIDE (Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado — International Police for the Defense of the State) quickly turned Portugal into a typical dictatorship.

By the 1970s, the main problem for the Portuguese dictatorship had emerged.

The authorities set themselves the task of preserving the African colonies at any cost: Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique. However, Africans were increasingly fighting for independence: the French and British colonial empires had collapsed, and new independent African states provided a base for the struggle for freedom for the remaining colonies.

Business and the nomenclature needed Africa: there were raw materials and a sales market. But young people did not want to fight there and massively fled abroad from mobilization. It got to the point that migration then reached one-sixth of Portugal's then 9 million population.

Salazar died in 1970, and power passed to his successors. When the oil and economic crisis of 1973 finally undermined the economy, a group of young officers decided that the moment had come to change the system, that the situation had matured.

The first coup attempt took place in March 1974. The special services uncovered the conspiracy, and about 200 people were jailed. But while a hole was plugged in one place, it burst in another.

On the night of April 24-25, 1974, Captain Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, with groups of officers and soldiers loyal to him, seized the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. From three to five in the morning, state radio and television, the main ministries, and Lisbon airport were occupied.

Only PIDE fired

Everyone was fed up with the dictatorship, so except for special service officers from PIDE, no one resisted: neither the army nor the police.

Emotional moment: the military appealed to citizens on the radio to stay at home to avoid casualties. But overjoyed residents poured into the streets by the thousands to thank the army. They brought soldiers water and food. And a restaurant worker, Celeste Caeiro, stuck a carnation into the barrel of one of the soldiers' assault rifles.

This symbol of unity with the military ended up in the lenses of journalists and was repeated in other places, which is why the coup went down in history as the "Carnation Revolution."

Павялічыць

At 7 p.m., Salazar's successor, Marcelo Caetano, handed over power to the rebels, and Carvalho celebrated the victory. An almost bloodless one.

Only four men died, who were fired upon from the headquarters of the political police — an analogue of Lukashenka's GUBOPiK.

On April 25, Caetano abdicated power. And on April 26, the first issue of the main Portuguese newspaper, "Republic," appeared without censorship. Demonstrations in support of the revolution took place in the country's largest cities. Political prisoners were released from prisons and a concentration camp in the Azores, and the secret police were disbanded.

Power was taken over by the National Salvation Council, headed by António de Spínola, who became interim president on May 15. Carvalho was appointed head of the Continental Operational Command (in Portuguese, COPCON) — the body for the protection of the revolution.

There was a bit of chaos during the transition period. The poor began to occupy vacant housing.

To quell the unrest, the junta froze rents and ordered the preparation of the nationalization of banks (except those belonging to foreign capital).

Meanwhile, well-known politicians returned to the country from emigration — the leader of the socialists, Mário Soares, and the head of the communists, Álvaro Cunhal. All this temporarily calmed the people. Meanwhile, Spínola and Carvalho agreed that there would be almost no repression against the old elite: only those who shot at people from the special service building were punished, and the former political elite was allowed to emigrate to Brazil (they also speak Portuguese there).

On May 16, the Provisional Government held its first meeting. It included representatives of socialists, communists, and "people's democrats" (the latter party consisted of former supporters of Salazar). The ministers supported raising the minimum wage and ordered the start of Saneomento ("Cleansing"). During this process, notorious figures of the old regime were dismissed. The future president of the country, the military António Ramalho Eanes, was engaged in "cleansing" on radio and television.

Some right-wing politicians hoped to keep the colonies, but in July their leader, Spínola, had to admit: it was necessary to start negotiations.

Short period of chaos

Meanwhile, endless strikes led to a deepening crisis. Supporters of left-wing ideas demanded wage increases. In the south of the country, peasants massively seized land.

Both the far left and the right made plans to take advantage of this to strengthen their power. Spínola made the first false start. After an unsuccessful attempt to establish a dictatorship, he resigned.

The right tried to organize another putsch, but again unsuccessfully.

Павялічыць

The country's leadership changed after that — now the main body was the Revolutionary Council. Workers' control was introduced in factories, and peasants continued to seize land (by the end of November 1975, about a quarter of agricultural territories had changed owners). The nationalization of enterprises also began — mainly these were firms confiscated from the right-wingers who supported the putsch and Spínola.

On April 25, 1975 — on the first anniversary of the revolution — elections were held for the Provisional Assembly, which was to prepare the constitution.

Turnout in the first elections was 92%, and the socialists won a confident victory with 38% of the vote (a year earlier, the party had only 200 people!). They were followed by the center-right People's Democratic Party (26%) and the communists (12%).

The new government considered that the election results gave it the right to build "Portuguese socialism." But this led to a conflict between regions. If the landless laborers of the south supported the idea, the wealthy peasants of the north were against it. In some areas, churches were destroyed, in others — the headquarters of the communists were burned. The army also split into right and left.

The composition of the provisional government changed almost every week.

At the end of November, radicals tried to carry out an armed coup. On the morning of November 25, soldiers from among their supporters occupied several barracks. But the people did not support them — unlike the Carnation Revolution, this time the soldiers were isolated and surrendered that same evening. No one wanted great bloodshed and civil war.

On November 28, Carvalho was forced to resign, and COPCON was completely liquidated. The functions of protecting the revolution passed to the general staff, headed by a new star on the political horizon — António Ramalho Eanes. He restored order and suppressed attempts at armed rebellion in other areas of the country. And then he calmed the radicals, stopping the self-seizures of land and housing.

Socially oriented state

But it is not enough to simply quell the unrest in the country — it is also necessary to give society a positive alternative. And the new authorities turned out to be reformers on top.

On April 2, 1976, the Portuguese parliament approved a new constitution. It stipulated a course towards a socially oriented state. And this turned out to be not empty words.

Павялічыць

Changes took place in education. Teachers' salaries were increased, and subjects such as ideological education were removed from the curriculum. The administrative system also changed. Schools were now managed by councils of teachers instead of directors.

New social programs gave popularity to the new government.

Most of the reforms were controlled by Eanes, who was elected president twice (in 1976 and 1981).

Of course, in subsequent decades, the country experienced both political and economic crises. But the main thing is that Portugal, after all the upheavals of the 1970s, finally became an ordinary European state. A democratic one — one that most post-Soviet republics still dream of catching up with today.

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