Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Education Policy in Portugal: Changes and Perspectives.

2000; Arizona State University; Volume: 8; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

1068-2341

Jesus Maria Sousa,

Educational Practices and Policies

The Revolution of the 25 April in Portugal put an end to a forty-eight year old dictatorship, dominated by a political police, the so-called PIDE. After Salazar’s death in 1968, the new prime-minister Marcello Caetano tried to gradually open the regime (the Marcellist Spring), but it was so weak and rotten that a revolution broke in the early morning hours of 25 April 1974. Zeca Afonso’s banned protest song “Grandola, Vila Morena” was broadcasted on Portuguese radio, as a secret signal to a group of rebel officers to move against the regime. So, it was the army, tired of a bloody and useless war in remote colonies in Africa that led the Revolution. Most of the leading military officers of MFA (Armed Forces Movement) were involved in left wing activities. We can say the Revolution was quite peaceful. It was called the Carnations Revolution because these flowers were in bloom at that time of the year and were placed in the guns of the soldiers. The forces of the “ancien regime” surrendered with little resistance.