Carnation Revolution/Freedom Day (Portugal)
The Carnation Revolution (Portuguese: Revolução dos Cravos) was an almost bloodless, leftist, military-led coup d’état, started on April 25, 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, that effectively changed the Portuguese regime from an authoritarian dictatorship to a democracy after two years of a transitional period known as PREC (Processo Revolucionário Em Curso), characterized by social turmoil and power dispute between left and right wing political forces.
Although government forces killed four people before surrendering, the revolution was unusual in that the revolutionaries did not use direct violence to achieve their goals. The population, holding red carnations (cravos in Portuguese), convinced the regime soldiers not to resist. The soldiers readily swapped their bullets for flowers. It was the end of the Estado Novo, the longest authoritarian regime in Western Europe.
Freedom Day on April 25 is a national holiday in Portugal, with official and some popular commemorations, though some right-wing and apolitical sectors of the population still regard the developments after the coup d’état as pernicious for the country. On the other hand, some of the military leaders are unhappy that the leftist inspiration of the uprising has since been abandoned.
