The Army Intervenes

The Portuguese dictatorship's demise was to a great extent the consequence of the colonial wars waged in the 1960s and the 1970s. The Johnson administration neither was able to disassociate itself from Portugal's colonial policies nor had attempted to do so as the Kennedy administration had done. The liberation movements relied on Cuban aid and Moscow's interest in the area of the crumbling Portuguese colonial empire. The colonial wars in Africa would thus also acquire a strong Cold War dimension which, in concurrence with other developments, would test détente between the superpowers. From the Soviet viewpoint, détente would be not incompatible with extending the socialist camp's sphere of influence to the Third World.

Portugal's economic situation was dire in the early months of 1974. The wars had depleted the country's public finances, and the oil crisis of 1973 led to worsening conditions for an already poor labour force. Signs of social unrest were evident well before the Revolution of the Carnations and fuelled to a great extent the social upheaval that followed it. Antonio Spinola, a respected general who served in Guinea-Bissau, had come to the conclusion that the continuation of the war was meaningless. He hoped that the former colonies, once afforded the right to choose, would opt for the retaining of a bond with the metropolis. His views were publicized by a book of his which made a considerable impression.