Late Dictatorship
1945-1974






Portugal since 1974



One morning in 1974, Lisbon Radio station played the song GRANDOLA VILLA MORENA. This was the signal for certain army units to leave the barracks and occupy strategic locations. The government was disempowered and a military junta, consisting of young, reform-oriented officers leaning to the left, formed.
Portugal lived through a euphoric phase; long-forbidden political parties such as the communists and social democrats suddenly became major political forces.
The colonies were released into independence, Portuguese Timor occupied by Indonesia; the Portuguese offered to return Macau to China. Only to learn that the Chinese refused to take over immediately; the takeover was postponed to 1999. In the months after the coup, relations with the US were strained because the latter regarded the Portuguese junta as communist; by the end of 1975, US-Portuguese relations normalized.

Portugal rapidly reverted to parliamentary democracy, the political sentiment at first staunchly on the political left. The country applied for EC membership. Yet, membership was not granted immediately. The economy, meanwhile, suffered as refugees returned from the colonies, such as Angola, where ongoing civil war had made life for them untenable. In the early years after the revolution, Portugal saw a frequent change of administrations; in 1986, Portugal was finally admitted to the European Community as one of its poorer members. Yet, it has ever since come up with strong figures of economic growth.
In 1989, the constitution was revised, Marxist concepts of nationalization and collectivization, included in the constitution of 1976, were eliminated.



EXTERNAL
FILES 		Library of Congress, Country Studies : Portugal
History of Portugal by Dark Angel
Biography of Francisco de Sa Carneiro, from artehistoria, in Spanish, illustrated, 10 lines
Biography of Anibal Cavaco Silva, from biography.com, 7 lines
Biography of Mario Soares, from Mario Soares Foundation, illustrated, extensive
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Portugal, by Ben Cahoon; Portugal, by B. Schemmel; World Rulers : Portugal, by Enno Schulz, illustrated; Leaders of Portugal, from ZPC
REFERENCE James Maxwell Anderson, The History of Portugal, Greenwood 2000, 248 pp.; KMLA Lib.Sign. 946.9 A546h
David Birmingham, A Concise History of Portugal, Cambridge UP, 1993, 209 pp.; KMLA Lib.Sign. 946.9 B619a
Douglas L. Wheeler (ed.), Historical Dictionary of Portugal, Scarecrow 2003; KMLA Lib.Sign. R 946.9 W562h
Article : Portugal, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1975 pp.561-563, 1976 pp.567-569, 1977 pp.568-569, 1978 pp.590-591, 1979 pp.581-582, 1980 pp.580-581, 1981 pp.580-581, 1982 pp.582-583, 1983 pp.575-576, 1984 pp.574-575, 1985 pp.539-540, 762, 1986 pp.533, 761, 1987 pp.504-505, 729, 1988 pp.460-461, 681, 1989 pp.460-461, 681, 1990 pp.476-477, 697, 1991 pp.460-461, 683, 1992 pp.439, 683, 1993 pp.449-450, 695, 1994 pp.448-449, 694, 1995 pp.459-460, 694, 1996 pp.457, 694, 1997 pp.463, 692, 2002 pp.480, 705 [G]
Article : Portugal, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1975-1976 pp.1252-1261, 1976-1977 pp.1249-1259, 1978-1979 pp.998-1005, 1979-1980 pp.1004-1012, 1980-1981 pp.1005-1012, 1981-1982 pp.1008-1016, 1983-1984 pp.1001-1007, 1984-1985 pp.1000-1005, 1985-1986 pp.1001-1005, 1986-1987 pp.1001-1007, 1987-1988 pp.1005-1010, 1988-1989 pp.1007-1012, 1989-1990 pp.1019-1024, 1990-1991 pp.1020-1026, 1991-1992 pp.1020-1026, 1992-1993 pp.1107-1113, 1993-1994 pp.1105-1111, 1994-1995 pp.1104-1110, 1995-1996 pp.1097-1103, 1996-1997 pp.1050-1057, 1997-1998 pp.1056-1062, 1998-1999 pp.1139-1146, 2000 pp.1287-1295, 2001 pp.1255-1263, 2002 pp.1305-1314, 2003 pp.1304-1312, 2004 pp.1309-1317, 2005 pp.1320-1329, 2006 pp.1328-1336 [G]
Article : Portugal, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 pp.250-252, 2nd ed. 1978 pp.250-252, 4th ed. 1984 pp.250-252 [G]
Entry : Travel Warning - Portugal, pp.578-580, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2000, Supplement [G]
Entry : Portugal, Cabinet p.82, Background Notes : Portugal, pp.1052-1056, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Entry : Portugal, pp.838-843 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]
Article : Portugal, in : Americana Annual 1976 pp.458-459, 1988 pp.432-433, 1989 p.433, 1990 p.433, 1992 p.434, 1993 pp.436-437, 1994 pp.435-436, 1998 p.414, 2006 p.306 [G]
Article : Portugal, in : Yearbook on International Communist Affairs 1976 pp.201-210 (H. Leslie Robinson), 1980 pp.199-203 (H.L.R.) [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on March 23rd 2007

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