In the early hours of 25 April 1974, the banned song Grândola, Vila Morena by left-wing singer-songwriter José Afonso was played on the radio. That gave the go-ahead for the anti-fascist military coup d’état by the MFA – Movimento das Forças Armadas (Armed Forces Movement). It would go down in history as the Carnation Revolution.
„Stay at home and keep calm“ was an often repeated phrase in the MFA’s radio announcements. But after 48 years of fascist oppression, people couldn’t stay at home any longer. They poured out onto the streets, chasing away the regime’s henchmen and celebrating the soldiers and the liberation. But it didn’t stop there. A military coup d’état turned into a national uprising. The demand for civic democratic rights quickly turned into a cry for radical change in social conditions. For the first time in centuries, those few families of the upper classes and large landowners had to fear for their privileges.
The battle of the classes was flared up and the maxim Portuguese Socialism was on everyone’s lips.
Lisbon, 25 April 1974: People climb onto a tank and celebrate during the Carnation Revolution.
Mural in Grândola with full score and lyrics from Grândola, Vila Morena. First verse:
Grândola, vila morena
Grândola, swarthy town
Terra da fraternidade
Land of fraternity
O povo é quem mais ordena
It’s the people who determine most things
Dentro de ti, ó cidade
In you, oh town.
The Carnation Revolution owes its name to the red carnations, a symbol of the left, with which flower sellers decorated the rebellious soldiers
Flor – Libertação / Flower – Liberation
Fruto – Democracia / Fruit – Democracy
Semente – Socialismo / Seed – Socialism
Forças Armadas / Armed Forces
Raizes Duma Revolução / Roots of a revolution
Images
Unknown author, commons.wikimedia.org, Revolução_dos_Cravos.jpg, CC BY-SA 4.0
Vitor Oliveira, commons.wikimedia.org, Monumento_ao_25_de_Abril_-_Grândola_-_Portugal_(50161169403).jpg, CC BY-SA 2.0
http://www.konflictcam.com/photo-report/33/carnation-revolution-portugal-1974
https://lh4.ggpht.com/-SJet1U92buM/T5ZoGiz7PUI/AAAAAAAAUcI/C8bSBgr4w-4/s1600-h/MFA.16.jpg