The carnation revolution, the flower with a gun on France 5

We are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the “carnation revolution” in Portugal. On April 25, 1974, at twenty past midnight, Grândola villa Morena, the song composed by the singer close to the opposition José Afonso, resounded on the airwaves of Radio Renascença. This deep song – revolutionaries know how to choose their anthems – is the signal awaited by thousands of soldiers. In the wake of the captains, the army rises. The military has been in the starting blocks since the government’s decision to promote young recruits to feed the troops sent to the colonial front.

Captains, majors, lieutenants fear being downgraded; the youngest, to leave their skin there. Rejection of the war is growing in the country. The women beg the Virgin of Fatima to spare their son or their fiancé, the high-ranking officers no longer believe it. One of them, “model for his troops, awakener of conscience», General Spinola, publishes a pamphlet. “Strangely, it is not censored», asks a surprised voice-over. It looks like the dictatorship is distracted. Focused on the past – and outdated – greatness of Portugal, the President of the Council, Marcelo Caetano, refuses to sell out the empire.

Three light armored vehicles control the city

The Estado Novo is running out of steam. Poverty, illiteracy, deprivation of freedom, the documentary, with the minimalist title The Carnation Revolution, reduces Salazar’s work to its simplest expression. If the Communist Party is banned, we learn that Coca-Cola is too; the French language, spoken by the elites, is privileged. Disappeared in 1970, the master of Portugal dreamed of a Gaullian, dictatorial and conservative third way. She closed in on herself. Code name Oscar, Major Otelo de Carvalho takes charge of the rebels. During the night, the tanks headed towards Lisbon. Three light armored vehicles will be enough to control the city. No resistance comes to slow their advance. The police forces rally.

In the morning, a brief moment of tension pits young captain Salgueiro Maia against an armored unit that remains loyal to the regime. On an amateur film, we see him advancing, a grenade in his pocket, towards the tanks which threaten him. The order is given to fire on the insurgents but the troops refuse to obey. The soldiers join the revolutionary movement. A woman gives a carnation to one of them. He places it on the barrel of his rifle, unknowingly giving the revolution its spring symbol. Entrenched in his Republican Guard HQ, an entity independent of the army, Lapin – alias Caetano – remains invisible. Salgueiro Maia calls to him from behind his hygiaphone. It looks like a theater scene. The crowd observes, curious, fervent, but calm. After a few shots, Caetano agrees to surrender, but only to a general. We’re going to get Spinola.

The regime falls like a house of cards

A wind of madness is blowing over Lisbon. People are running in the streets. In front of the headquarters of the Pide – the feared political police – there were 5 dead and 45 injured among the passers-by targeted by panicked police fire. Some political prisoners are released. Soldiers prevent lynchings. The regime fell like a house of cards. Nourished by numerous archive images and multiple testimonies, the documentary is striking with the quiet strength that emerges from it. Commentators do not spare their admiration for the liberators. At no time is the secret role of the Soviets mentioned – they supported the guerrillas in Mozambique or Angola – nor the threat that the communists will pose for a little over a year on freedoms. We must not detract from the legends.