The Carnation Revolution or Revolução dos Cravos was a largely bloodless coup which occurred in the nation of Portugal in 1974. The result of the Carnation Revolution was the toppling of a dictatorship which had prevailed for almost 50 years. After a brief period of turmoil, Portugal emerged as a democratic country, to the great delight of many of its citizens and the world in general. The history of this event began in 1926, when a military coup established the Estado Novo, overthrowing the nascent First Republic of Portugal, a democratic government which had replaced Portugal's monarchy in 1910. Portuguese citizens chafed under the Estado Novo, but the end of this regime was ultimately brought about by the actions of the military, rather than the citizens. Military officers with left-wing inclinations masterminded their coup d'état in response to the sacking of a Portuguese general who spoke out against Portuguese colonial policy. In the early hours of 25 April 1974, the Carnation Revolution began in the Portuguese city of Lisbon. 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. In February 1974, Caetano determined to remove General António Spínola in the face of increasing dissent by Spinola over the promotion of military officers and the direction of Portuguese colonial policy. At this point, several left-wing military officers who opposed the war formed a conspiracy - the Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA, "Armed Forces Movement"), to overthrow the government by military coup. The MFA was headed by Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho and joined by Salgueiro Maia. The movement was significantly aided by other officers in the Portuguese army who supported Spinola and democratic civil and military reform. Some observers have speculated that Francisco da Costa Gomes actually led the revolution. There were two secret signals in the military coup: first the airing of the song "E depois do adeus" by Paulo de Carvalho, Portugal's entry in the 6th of April 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, which alerted the rebel captains and soldiers to begin the coup. Next, on April 25, 1974 at 12:15 am, the national radio broadcast Grândola, Vila Morena, a song by Zeca Afonso, a progressive folk singer forbidden on Portuguese radio at the time. This was the signal that the MFA gave to take over strategic points of power in the country and "announced" that the revolution had started and nothing would stop it except "the possibility of a regime's repression". Six hours later, the Caetano regime relented. Despite repeated appeals from the "captains of April" (of the MFA) on the radio inciting the population to stay at home, thousands of Portuguese descended on the streets, mixing themselves with the military insurgents. One of the central points of those gathering was the Lisbon flower market, then richly stocked with carnations, which were in season. Some military insurgents would put these flowers in their gun-barrels, an image which was shown on television around the world. This would be the origin of the name of this "Carnation revolution". To clarify the above context, this was not a popular revolution but a military coup- there were no mass demonstrations by the general population prior to the coup. Caetano found refuge in the main Lisbon military police station at the Largo do Carmo. This building was surrounded by the MFA, which pressured him to cede power to General Spínola. Both Caetano (the prime minister) and Américo Thomaz (the President) fled to Brazil. Caetano spent the rest of his life in Brazil, while Thomaz returned to Portugal a few years later. The revolution was closely watched from neighbouring Spain, where the government and opposition were planning for the succession of Francisco Franco, who died a year later, in 1975. Song A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE

• published: 22 Apr 2013
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