Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant'
25th April 2013, 08:56
Army rebels took control of Portugal after an almost bloodless dawn coup ended nearly 50 years of dictatorship.
Shortly after midnight, tanks rolled into the centre of Lisbon. The Salazar Bridge over the River Tagus was seized and the airport, radio and television centres were taken.
Troops armed with machineguns stormed the barracks where the Prime Minister, Dr Marcello Caetano, and several of his ministers had taken refuge. The former deputy armed forces minister, General Antoniio de Spinola, received the surrender of the prime minister, who fled into exile to the Portuguese island of Madeira.
By sunrise the Movement of the Armed Forces, or MFA, was in control. It issued an immediate proclamation appealing for calm and patriotism. After almost five decades of dictatorship, it promised to restore civil liberties and hold general elections to a national assembly as soon as possible.
The new regime pushed through a rapid and hasty programme of decolonisation. Over the next few years Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, and Angola all became independent.
General Spinola served briefly as interim president and was succeeded by General Francisco da Costa Gomes.
Between them they nationalised about 60% of the economy and carried out a major redistribution of land. Hundreds of political prisoners were released.
Caetano spent the rest of his life in exile in Brazil.
(BBC History)
Shortly after midnight, tanks rolled into the centre of Lisbon. The Salazar Bridge over the River Tagus was seized and the airport, radio and television centres were taken.
Troops armed with machineguns stormed the barracks where the Prime Minister, Dr Marcello Caetano, and several of his ministers had taken refuge. The former deputy armed forces minister, General Antoniio de Spinola, received the surrender of the prime minister, who fled into exile to the Portuguese island of Madeira.
By sunrise the Movement of the Armed Forces, or MFA, was in control. It issued an immediate proclamation appealing for calm and patriotism. After almost five decades of dictatorship, it promised to restore civil liberties and hold general elections to a national assembly as soon as possible.
The new regime pushed through a rapid and hasty programme of decolonisation. Over the next few years Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, and Angola all became independent.
General Spinola served briefly as interim president and was succeeded by General Francisco da Costa Gomes.
Between them they nationalised about 60% of the economy and carried out a major redistribution of land. Hundreds of political prisoners were released.
Caetano spent the rest of his life in exile in Brazil.
(BBC History)