Twentieth-century military coups tended to be accompanied by murder, torture and brutal repression, rather than flowers and gentle folk songs. As in Chile, for example, where the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende was violently overthrown in September 1973. Portugal’s Carnation Revolution, which took place the following spring, was a glorious exception to this dismal rule.
The playing of a popular ballad on a radio station was the arranged signal for dissidents in the armed forces to bring an end to Europe’s longest-lasting dictatorship. After an almost bloodless transition, a military junta promptly moved to abandon unpopular colonial wars in Africa, and pave the way for democracy at home. Red carnations found their way into the muzzles of rifles amid euphoria on the streets.
