Armed Forces Movement
(Redirected from
Movimento das Forças Armadas
)
| Armed Forces Movement | |
|---|---|
| Movimento das Forças Armadas | |
Estado Novo | |
| Battles and wars | Carnation Revolution |
The Armed Forces Movement (
corporatist New State regime (Estado Novo) and the Portuguese Colonial War, which led to the independence of Portugal's overseas territories in Africa. The MFA instituted the National Salvation Junta (Junta de Salvação Nacional) as the provisional national government 1974 to 1976, following a communiqué of its president, António de Spínola
, at 1:30 a.m. on 26 April 1974.
Causes of the revolutionary coup
The military-led coup can be described as the necessary means of bringing back democracy to Portugal, ending the unpopular
Portuguese Government had begun the program (which included several other reforms) on the advice of the Rhodesian Government, in order to increase the number of officials employed against the African insurgencies, and at the same time cut down military costs to alleviate an already overburdened government budget.[5]
Events
The MFA developed in the early 1970s as a movement of
decolonisation and development
.
His appeals to the maioria silenciosa ("
Christian Social Union in Bavaria. Spínola's group was the MDLP – Movimento Democrático de Libertação de Portugal ("Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Portugal") an anti-communist network of terrorist bombers, responsible for the death of a priest, and whose operatives included Carlos Paixão, Alfredo Vitorino, Valter dos Santos and Alcides Pereira. As their leader, Spínola had met with Wallraff to negotiate the purchase of arms and had supporters in the Alentejo
who awaited the word to regain power (which Wallraff submitted as proof in order to detain Spínola by Swiss authorities). But there was never enough proof at that time to charge him or his conspirators in court.
Transition to democracy
The systematic demolition of the old order was inaugurated by the MFA-led centrist leaders.
Finally, the
Portuguese legislative election, 1976 took place on 25 April, exactly one year after the previous election, and two years after the Carnation Revolution. These elections could be said to be the definitive end of a period of revolution. Moderate democratic parties received most of the vote. However, the constitution pledged the country to realize socialism
. Furthermore, the constitution declared the extensive nationalizations and land seizures of 1975 irreversible (many would be ruled illegal some years later). The military supported these commitments through a pact with the main political parties that guaranteed its guardian rights over the new democracy for four more years.
See also
- Carnation Revolution
- Junta de Salvação Nacional
- Portuguese Colonial War
References
- ^ (in Portuguese) Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA). In Infopédia [Em linha]. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003-2009. [Consult. 2009-01-07]. Disponível na www: URL: http://www.infopedia.pt/$movimento-das-forcas-armadas-(mfa).
- ^ Movimento das Forças Armadas (1974-1975), Projecto CRiPE- Centro de Estudos em Relações Internacionais, Ciência Política e Estratégia. © José Adelino Maltez. Cópias autorizadas, desde que indicada a origem. Última revisão em: 02-10-2008
- youtube.com.
- ^ João Bravo da Matta, A Guerra do Ultramar, O Diabo, 14 October 2008, pp. 22
- ^ "Dismantling the Portuguese Empire". Time. (7 July 1975).
- ISCTE (Lisbon), Portugal's history since 1974, "The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP–Partido Comunista Português), which had courted and infiltrated the MFA from the very first days of the revolution, decided that the time was now right for it to seize the initiative. Much of the radical fervour that was unleashed following Spínola's coup attempt was encouraged by the PCP as part of their own agenda to infiltrate the MFA and steer the revolution in their direction.", Centro de Documentação 25 de Abril, University of Coimbra
- ^ Yossi Shain and Juan José Linz. Between States: Interim Governments and Democratic Transitions, 1995. Page 149.
External links
- "One, two, three MFA": the rise and fall of Portugal's Armed Forces Movement (MFA) - article by Raquel Varela, Instituto de História Contemporânea, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal