12 min
What remains of Portugal's Carnation Revolution, 50 years on? Perspective
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- News
Thousands of people in Portugal are marking the fiftieth anniversary of the country's Carnation Revolution – a military coup that put an end to Europe's longest dictatorship and to 13 years of colonial wars in Africa. The 1974 revolt, which was led by a group of idealist left-leaning young military captains, quickly turned into a popular uprising as the troops were joined by jubilant crowds. It was nicknamed the Carnation Revolution after the flowers that protesters placed in the soldiers' guns and tanks, in a rare example of a military coup being staged to install democracy. Yves Léonard, a professor and researcher at Paris's Sciences Po University, is the author of numerous books on Portugal's modern history. He spoke to us in Perspective.
Thousands of people in Portugal are marking the fiftieth anniversary of the country's Carnation Revolution – a military coup that put an end to Europe's longest dictatorship and to 13 years of colonial wars in Africa. The 1974 revolt, which was led by a group of idealist left-leaning young military captains, quickly turned into a popular uprising as the troops were joined by jubilant crowds. It was nicknamed the Carnation Revolution after the flowers that protesters placed in the soldiers' guns and tanks, in a rare example of a military coup being staged to install democracy. Yves Léonard, a professor and researcher at Paris's Sciences Po University, is the author of numerous books on Portugal's modern history. He spoke to us in Perspective.
12 min