1 . Demonstration of construction workers , March-April 1977 , Ferran Street , Barcelona | Arreu Collection , Historical Archive of the CC . OO . of Catalonia
Dictatorial Crises and Democratisation Processes : Their Differentiated Contexts
The Portuguese dictatorship , known as Estado Novo , was established by António de Oliveira Salazar in 1933 , years after the coup d ’ état of 1926 , which ended the First Republic . This political regime was characterised by strong authoritarianism , nationalism , and corporatism . For over four decades , Salazar and his successor from 27 September 1968 , Marcelo Caetano , ruled by suppressing political freedoms and repressing dissent , despite Caetano ’ s promises of reforms and changes to sustain the regime itself .
The colonial wars fought by Portugal , starting in the 1960s , led the Estado Novo to become embroiled in costly and bloody wars in Angola , Mozambique , and Guinea-Bissau . These conflicts significantly weakened the dictatorship . The economic and human toll of these wars became unsustainable , while internal opposition and growing discontent , as well as international pressure , increased . Thus , the 25 April 1974 coup , led by a group of MFA officers , paved the way for a rapid and complex process of decolonisation , granting independence to its African colonies . This event , known as the Carnation Revolution , was marked by a low manifestation of violence and widespread popular support . The image of soldiers with carnations in the barrels of their rifles became the symbol of this process . overview
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