The Carnation Revolution | 25th April 1974
Thanks for celebrating with us the day of Freedom!
On the last 24th of April our Portuguese language school organized a walking tour about the Carnation Revolution.
Our history teacher, Indira Leão, was our guide during this afternoon. We started at Praça do Comércio, the main stage of the revolution. Salgueiro Maia with his troops could dialogue peacefully with the navy and the army and convinced them to surrender. Unfortunately, due to rain, we had to scape to Confeitaria Nacional. There, we drank a hot beverage while Indira was telling us more facts about the 25th of April.
The Carnation Revolution abolished almost fifty years of a dictatorship. The Portuguese people were censored, oppressed and taught to believe in the patriotic ideals of the Salazar's regime. Most part of the Portuguese people was poor and illiterate. Women were raised to be obedient and submissive to men; they couldn't vote or even apply to university and politics. The legislation allowed men to kill their wives in flagrant adultery. Indira showed us some pictures about the dictatorship and the Carnation Revolution.
The Portuguese oppression and poverty, and the Portuguese colonial war were the main reasons to organize a revolution. A group of military men, mainly captains occupied the radio, airports and other institutions of power. The people of Lisbon supported those men. A florist gave red carnations to the soldiers to show support and they put them into the guns. The government of the dictatorship surrendered to General António de Spínola, at the end of the day. Before surrendering to the revolutionary soldiers the members of the political police shot the population and killed four people.
At the end of the day, the rain stopped. Indira did the rest of the walking tour with some of the students that could stay.
Take a look at our photos:
Yesterday we celebrated the Carnation Revolution! It was an inspiring day ☺️👍 Here you have the photos of this afternoon. #portuguesetcetera #Lisbon #25deabril
A post shared by Português et Cetera (@portuguesetcetera) on Apr 25, 2019 at 9:22am PDT
Let's celebrate the Carnation Revolution!
On the 25th of April 1974 there was a well-succeeded military revolution in Lisbon. It marked the Portuguese history forever because abolished a dictatorship that lasted for almost 60 years. This revolution became known as Carnation Revolution: it was an important moment welcomed enthusiastically by the population of Lisbon. The people of Lisbon decided to give red carnations to the revolutionary troops in order to show support to them. It was a beautiful and exciting moment of the Portuguese History! Our Portuguese language school will recreate the Carnation Revolution on the 24th of April.
Indira Leão, our history teacher, will help to understand the importance of this event. We'll start at Praça do Comércio. The military troops led by Salgueiro Maia settled here and they went through very tense moments during the Revolution. Everything could go wrong. Thanks to the cold blood of Salgueiro Maia the navy allied with the dictatorial regime surrendered peacefully.
We'll walk through Largo do Chiado, where the people gave red carnations to the revolutionary troops. They belonged to MFA (Movimento das Forças Armadas).
Then, we'll go to Rua Maria António Cardoso. This street became tragically known during this day. At the end of the revolution, the troops of Salgueiro Maia went to the edge of the political police, located here. Members of the political police shot 4 people, the only victims of this Revolution.
We'll end in Largo do Carmo. This square was crowded by people who attended to the rendition of the dictatorial government.
After the tour we'll have the opportunity to know each other better, while having a drink!
Don't miss this amazing opportunity to revive the popular joy and excitement during the Carnation Revolution!
Follow our upcoming events on the website.