Revolutions have occurred in every singles
country and for many reasons, economic, political cultural…; In this case, the
Carnation Revolution was a political revolution that had important economic and
cultural repercussions. Know, we are going to talk about the Carnation
Revolution that took place in Portugal the 25th of April of 1974.
The Carnation Revolution or Revolução dos
Cravos was a coup which occurred in the nation of Portugal in 1974. The result
was the end of 50 years under a dictatorship, and this cause the beginning of a
democratic country.
This story began when in 1926 a military
coup established the Estado Novo, and this caused the nascent of the First
Republic of Portugal. Later, on the early hours of the 25th of April
of 1972, the Carnation Revolution started on the Portuguese nation of Lisbon
(the capital). It began with the military presence in the city, the continuous
attacks to the governments, the spontaneous demonstration on the streets, and
during all this turbulence, the citizens ran out without knowing what was
happening.
Carnations were given in the famous central
flower market of Lisbon, and many citizens put them into the guns of the
soldiers, and this was the inspiration of the “Carnation Revolution” to
describe this event in Portuguese history.
Before happening all this turbulent social
and political moments, the Estado Novo or Second Republic was the authoritarian
regime installed in Portugal in 1933. This political movement was developed by
António de Oliveira Salazar, who was the ruler of Portugal from 1932 to 1968.
After introducing the historical events, we
should talk a little about how people, particularly my father lived that day,
because the 25th of April was the day of freedom (Freedom Day on 25 April is a
national holiday in Portugal, with both state-sponsored and spontaneous
commemorations praising the elemental civil liberties and political freedoms
achieved after the revolution). For all
the Portuguese, caught by surprise, as they could not go to work or school
because things were not going as usual. As my father said: "Grandfather
went to work, but quickly returned because the street was plenty of militaries,
tanks, etc. scared and not knowing what was happening”. That day my father and
uncles didn´t went to school and followed everything that happened by the radio
and the television.
After starting the day, the old people
explained to the little kids what was happening, and what happened was that the
dictatorship that existed would end on the 25th of April of 1974. After this,
Portugal started to be politically free and more European aligned, because
during those years only Portugal and Spain were still under a dictatorship.
These two countries started to be freer and aligned with the rest of Europe
because of the change in political and social structures.
Before this coup, the country was under a
dictatorship and everyone was forced to do what the head of state said.
Portugal was under strict political rules and everyone wanted a change. Life
before the coup was normal and similar to the countries that were under a
dictatorship.
Although the country enter a full democracy,
the previous years before that were very turbulent, but this helped the country (Portugal) to
develop lots of factors that helped the country to grow up and get in line with
the rest of the European countries that were developed.
Despite a coup is always a good change for
a submit country, it also carries on with some negative impacts. The worst
moment lived in Lisbon that year, was when the communist party together with
some militaries took the control of the government and started the coup. But as
I said before, a coup brings bad things (revolution) but also good things, like
the end of 48 years of dictatorship.
After the entire coup, the social and
political/economic impact was very important. The most important social impact,
and the one which nowadays is the most significant, is the 25 of April Bridge.
Its construction began in 1962. After a few months it was inaugurated in August
1966, named as the Salazar Bridge. Soon, after the Carnation Revolution in
1974, the bridge was renamed the 25 of April Bridge, the day that the
revolution occurred.
A symbol of those times was recorded on
film (this is history, based on fact, on the past and on evidences), how the
bridge changed through the years and how peoples react to this changes. In
Portugal, many avenues, squares, and streets are named after the day of the
revolution (25 of April), and they are also many ones named with other cultural
and political movements.
And to continue with the economic impact
that was permitted the state of Portugal to enter the UE and to become one of
the European potential.
To conclude with this essay about the
Carnation Revolution, also named A Revolução dos Cravos, I have to say that it
causes a great change in the country because it helped it to become bigger in
Europe and to start developing at the same level as the other European
potentials.
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