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A People's History of the Portuguese Revolution
On the 25th April 1974, a coup destroyed the ranks of Portugal’s fascist Estado Novo government as the Portuguese people flooded the streets of Lisbon, placing red carnations in the barrels of guns and demanding a ‘land for those who work in it’.
This became the Carnation Revolution - an international coalition of working class and social movements, which also incited struggles for independence in Portugal’s African colonies, the rebellion of the young military captains in the national armed forces and the uprising of Portugal’s long-oppressed working classes. It was through the organising power of these diverse movements that a popular-front government was instituted and Portugal withdrew from its overseas colonies.
Cutting against the grain of mainstream accounts, Raquel Cardeira Varela explores the role of trade unions, artists and women in the revolution, providing a rich account of the challenges faced and the victories gained through revolutionary means.
This became the Carnation Revolution - an international coalition of working class and social movements, which also incited struggles for independence in Portugal’s African colonies, the rebellion of the young military captains in the national armed forces and the uprising of Portugal’s long-oppressed working classes. It was through the organising power of these diverse movements that a popular-front government was instituted and Portugal withdrew from its overseas colonies.
Cutting against the grain of mainstream accounts, Raquel Cardeira Varela explores the role of trade unions, artists and women in the revolution, providing a rich account of the challenges faced and the victories gained through revolutionary means.
352 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2014
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596 people want to read
About the author
Raquel Varela
51 books34 followersRAQUEL VARELA nasceu a 15 de Outubro de 1978, em Cascais. É licenciada em História (2005), pós-graduada em História Contemporânea (2006) e doutorada em História Política e Institucional (2010), pelo ISCTE-IUL.
É Professora Auxiliar com Agregação na Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Secção Autónoma em Educação e Formação Geral). Foi investigadora do Instituto de História Contemporânea (IHC-FCSH/UNL), onde coordenou o Grupo de Estudos do Trabalho e dos Conflitos Sociais, e é investigadora do Instituto Internacional de História Social, presidente do Observatório para as Condições de Vida e Trabalho e coordenadora do Social Data/Nova4Globe. Investigadora no grupo História, Território e Comunidades CEF/UC/Polo FCSH e Colaboradora do Centro de Estudos Globais da Universidade Aberta.
As suas áreas de investigação são História Global do Trabalho; História do Estado Social e da Segurança Social; História do Trabalho e História da Revolução de 25 de Abril de 1974.
É coordenadora da obra Quem paga o Estado Social em Portugal? (Bertrand, 2012) e autora de História da Política do PCP na Revolução dos Cravos (Bertrand, 2011) e História do Povo na Revolução Portuguesa: 1974-1975 (Bertrand, 2014), coordenadora de Revolução ou Transição? História e Memória da Revolução dos Cravos (Bertrand, 2012), co-coordenadora de Greves e Conflitos Sociais no Portugal Contemporâneo (Colibri, 2012), co-coordenadora de O Fim das Ditaduras Ibéricas (1974-1978) (Centro de Estudios Andaluces/ Edições Pluma, 2010).
É Professora Auxiliar com Agregação na Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Secção Autónoma em Educação e Formação Geral). Foi investigadora do Instituto de História Contemporânea (IHC-FCSH/UNL), onde coordenou o Grupo de Estudos do Trabalho e dos Conflitos Sociais, e é investigadora do Instituto Internacional de História Social, presidente do Observatório para as Condições de Vida e Trabalho e coordenadora do Social Data/Nova4Globe. Investigadora no grupo História, Território e Comunidades CEF/UC/Polo FCSH e Colaboradora do Centro de Estudos Globais da Universidade Aberta.
As suas áreas de investigação são História Global do Trabalho; História do Estado Social e da Segurança Social; História do Trabalho e História da Revolução de 25 de Abril de 1974.
É coordenadora da obra Quem paga o Estado Social em Portugal? (Bertrand, 2012) e autora de História da Política do PCP na Revolução dos Cravos (Bertrand, 2011) e História do Povo na Revolução Portuguesa: 1974-1975 (Bertrand, 2014), coordenadora de Revolução ou Transição? História e Memória da Revolução dos Cravos (Bertrand, 2012), co-coordenadora de Greves e Conflitos Sociais no Portugal Contemporâneo (Colibri, 2012), co-coordenadora de O Fim das Ditaduras Ibéricas (1974-1978) (Centro de Estudios Andaluces/ Edições Pluma, 2010).
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April 1, 2021
The Carnation Revolution of 1974 was the most profound revolutionary process in Western Europe after World War II. It ended a 46-year dictatorship, and the last colonial empire. The revolution lasted 19 months and included many features of "classical" proletarian revolutions: experiences of workers' control, embryonic forms of workers' councils (soviets), splits in the army (but not the police), land occupations, anti-colonial struggles, battles for women's rights, international solidarity… Portugal also proved to be the testing ground for a new imperialist strategy: rather than attempting crush the revolution with a right-wing dictatorship, they instead co-opted it via social democracy and parliamentarism in a "democratic counter-revolution."
A people's history rejects history as a series of meetings between "great men." Such a history does not ignore what happens at the top of society, but rather explains how conflicts between politicians and parties in fact reflect clashes between social classes and groups. The author clearly spent many years with systematic study of countless struggles by workers and oppressed people in Portugal in 1974-76. The book relies on interviews with participants, newspaper reports, and — this being such a recent revolution — TV news.
I wanted to like this book — the author is known for her criticism of Stalinist attempts to contain the revolution, and sympathetic to the radical Left, even including numerous quotes from Tony Cliff and other Trotskyists from Great Britain. But I needed a very introductory history, as I couldn't have named a single historical figure except perhaps the social democrat Soares. And this was not the right book for me.
There was no presentation of the successive governments, assuming that readers are already familiar with a whole series of generals and left-wing parties. I found myself consulting Wikipedia again and again. So the book at times reads like a list of struggles disconnected from a bigger narrative. I suspect this is in part a result of translating a work written for a Portuguese audience into English. My deepest sympathies go to the translators. It also would have been useful to learn more about the different factions of the radical Left — Trotskyists and Guevarists and Maoists are all lumped together.
I think the main problem is that the author is sparse with theorization of the revolution — what kind of revolution was it, what potential did it contain, and what would have been necessary for this potential to be realized. The question of theory, rather than driving the narrative, is siloed off in a final chapter and feels quite academic. Thus all the preceding chapters read like an overview of different struggles without a sense of their bigger meaning.
Writing a people's history is an almost insurmountable challenge: weaving a thousand small stories of struggles into a coherent narrative that explains how big politics were moved forward. I was very impressed by Albert Soboul on the French Revolution, and Trotsky of course set the standard. This book, I fear, didn't work as well. I will need to study some bourgeois history to better understand what happened. I think I am just not the right reader here — someone with a strong working knowledge of the Portuguese Revolution would have gotten more out of this.
A people's history rejects history as a series of meetings between "great men." Such a history does not ignore what happens at the top of society, but rather explains how conflicts between politicians and parties in fact reflect clashes between social classes and groups. The author clearly spent many years with systematic study of countless struggles by workers and oppressed people in Portugal in 1974-76. The book relies on interviews with participants, newspaper reports, and — this being such a recent revolution — TV news.
I wanted to like this book — the author is known for her criticism of Stalinist attempts to contain the revolution, and sympathetic to the radical Left, even including numerous quotes from Tony Cliff and other Trotskyists from Great Britain. But I needed a very introductory history, as I couldn't have named a single historical figure except perhaps the social democrat Soares. And this was not the right book for me.
There was no presentation of the successive governments, assuming that readers are already familiar with a whole series of generals and left-wing parties. I found myself consulting Wikipedia again and again. So the book at times reads like a list of struggles disconnected from a bigger narrative. I suspect this is in part a result of translating a work written for a Portuguese audience into English. My deepest sympathies go to the translators. It also would have been useful to learn more about the different factions of the radical Left — Trotskyists and Guevarists and Maoists are all lumped together.
I think the main problem is that the author is sparse with theorization of the revolution — what kind of revolution was it, what potential did it contain, and what would have been necessary for this potential to be realized. The question of theory, rather than driving the narrative, is siloed off in a final chapter and feels quite academic. Thus all the preceding chapters read like an overview of different struggles without a sense of their bigger meaning.
Writing a people's history is an almost insurmountable challenge: weaving a thousand small stories of struggles into a coherent narrative that explains how big politics were moved forward. I was very impressed by Albert Soboul on the French Revolution, and Trotsky of course set the standard. This book, I fear, didn't work as well. I will need to study some bourgeois history to better understand what happened. I think I am just not the right reader here — someone with a strong working knowledge of the Portuguese Revolution would have gotten more out of this.
June 20, 2024
the only time i've ever felt proud of my people
Read
March 18, 2014Nesta obra, História do Povo na Revolução Portuguesa 1974-75, Raquel Varela, apresenta-nos um retrato fundamentado e estruturado da participação popular na revolução do 25 de Abril. O povo pobre, analfabeto e pouco politizado que acorda para a revolução, para os seus direitos e para uma sociedade sem mais exploração do homem pelo homem; os artistas expressando a sua liberdade nos murais, no teatro, na escrita e nas canções; os que, tendo uma maior consciência política, partiram para o exílio e oposição ao regime e regressam para integrar a vida partidária; o papel da mulher na sociedade; a crescente consciência política da autodeterminação dos povos coloniais; etc. Este era o povo de Abril: o povo que já não tem medo.
Ler mais em Acrítico - leituras dispersas
Ler mais em Acrítico - leituras dispersas
March 5, 2025
My earliest memory, as a teenager, of the Portuguese Revolution of 1974-75 is of a large cartoon in a British tabloid newspaper (most likely The Sun). Portugal was represented by an angry bull captioned "Revolution" while Spain was depicted as a matador. I hoped the Portuguese bull would very much overthrow the matador. The cartoon captures the fear among Western rulers that revolution was knocking on their doors - nowhere more so than in Franco's Spain (Portuguese workers, angered by Franco's repression, would burn down the Spanish Embassy in Lisbon - and also the Consulate in Porto - for good measure in 1975).
Raquel Varela's People's History of the Portuguese Revolution tells the largely forgotten story of the Carnation Revolution which began in April 1974 and which was closed down by a counter-revolutionary coup in November 1975. Varela explains how both the revolution and the counter-revolution were not isolated events but processes driven by needs and aspirations of different social classes. She also explains how the revolution grew out of the bloody crisis of Portugal's colonial wars in Africa.
The revolution which started on the 25 April 1974 did not follow the script of the military plotters who overthrew the Estado Novo dictatorship. Thousands of workers flooded into the streets of Portugal's towns and cities and took into their own hands the tasks of dismantling the secret police and other hateful paramilitary forces. Everywhere hated bosses and their lackeys were driven out of the factories, schools and offices. Workers joined forces with the ranks of conscripted soldiers to purge the army of reactionary senior officers.
US President Gerald Ford was worried that that Mediterranean would be turned into a "red sea", with the regimes of southern Europe falling like dominoes. Workers in Portugal did force the nationalisation of the banks, stopping the fight of capital from the country. They won huge increase in wages and - more importantly in the social wage in the form of state pensions, free health care, free education and enshrined the concept social security into the 1976 Constitution.
At the end of the day, the revolution was drowned in money, not in blood. Varela is very good at showing the critical role of the Socialist Party in delivering the restoration of capitalist norms in society. They were largely sponsored by the EU to this end. It is clear that the left in Portugal feared a return to fascism (the bloody coup in Chile was in 1973) and did not understand the organic roots of reformism. Varela is also very insightful on the role of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), whose members and leaders had fought heroically under the dictatorship, only to pursue a strategy of class collaboration once they were offered "seats at the table".
Varela draws on the analysis produced by the Palestinian Jewish Marxist, Tony Cliff in his pamphlet "Portugal at the Crossroads", written at the height of the revolutionary crisis. For a long time, a situation of dual power existed in Portugal between exploiters who sought a return to "normality" and exploited who could glimpse a world of workers power - and an end to exploitation. At the end of the day, dual power cannot go on indefinitely. In Portugal, it passed through militant phases of strikes, demonstrations, occupations but also "dual powerlessness", where workers failed to grasp opportunities necessary to change circumstances radically in their favour.
If I have one criticism of this People's History, it is that we do not learn enough about the ideological weaknesses of the far left in general, and the Maoist PRP, in particular. The far left were not without significant influence in many of the major industries but they had no clear strategy of building a united front with the PCP, its members and supporters, to fight for a strategy to defend the revolution or of orientating around building working class organisation. In every revolution, there is never pure spontaneity. There is always a now hidden, now open battle for leadership in ideas, in strategy and - most importantly - in political intervention to shape events.
In later life, I was lucky enough to travel to Lisbon many times. One time I visited, the centre of Lisbon was full of life size posters of the revolutionary events which had occurred there on 25 April 1974. I was reminded of a phrase coined by the philosopher, Georg Lukacs - "the actuality of the revolution". The legacy of the 1974 revolution remains a contested space. Europe's rulers would like us to forget the Portuguese Revolution altogether. In Portugal, there is a systematic attempt to reduce the revolution to a one day event, the 25 April, one to be commemorated each year. Raquel Varela's magnificent book is a roadblock to the project to reduce the Portuguese revolution to a mere "transition to normalisation". It is a testament to the actuality of the Portuguese Revolution that refuses to be forgotten.
Raquel Varela's People's History of the Portuguese Revolution tells the largely forgotten story of the Carnation Revolution which began in April 1974 and which was closed down by a counter-revolutionary coup in November 1975. Varela explains how both the revolution and the counter-revolution were not isolated events but processes driven by needs and aspirations of different social classes. She also explains how the revolution grew out of the bloody crisis of Portugal's colonial wars in Africa.
The revolution which started on the 25 April 1974 did not follow the script of the military plotters who overthrew the Estado Novo dictatorship. Thousands of workers flooded into the streets of Portugal's towns and cities and took into their own hands the tasks of dismantling the secret police and other hateful paramilitary forces. Everywhere hated bosses and their lackeys were driven out of the factories, schools and offices. Workers joined forces with the ranks of conscripted soldiers to purge the army of reactionary senior officers.
US President Gerald Ford was worried that that Mediterranean would be turned into a "red sea", with the regimes of southern Europe falling like dominoes. Workers in Portugal did force the nationalisation of the banks, stopping the fight of capital from the country. They won huge increase in wages and - more importantly in the social wage in the form of state pensions, free health care, free education and enshrined the concept social security into the 1976 Constitution.
At the end of the day, the revolution was drowned in money, not in blood. Varela is very good at showing the critical role of the Socialist Party in delivering the restoration of capitalist norms in society. They were largely sponsored by the EU to this end. It is clear that the left in Portugal feared a return to fascism (the bloody coup in Chile was in 1973) and did not understand the organic roots of reformism. Varela is also very insightful on the role of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), whose members and leaders had fought heroically under the dictatorship, only to pursue a strategy of class collaboration once they were offered "seats at the table".
Varela draws on the analysis produced by the Palestinian Jewish Marxist, Tony Cliff in his pamphlet "Portugal at the Crossroads", written at the height of the revolutionary crisis. For a long time, a situation of dual power existed in Portugal between exploiters who sought a return to "normality" and exploited who could glimpse a world of workers power - and an end to exploitation. At the end of the day, dual power cannot go on indefinitely. In Portugal, it passed through militant phases of strikes, demonstrations, occupations but also "dual powerlessness", where workers failed to grasp opportunities necessary to change circumstances radically in their favour.
If I have one criticism of this People's History, it is that we do not learn enough about the ideological weaknesses of the far left in general, and the Maoist PRP, in particular. The far left were not without significant influence in many of the major industries but they had no clear strategy of building a united front with the PCP, its members and supporters, to fight for a strategy to defend the revolution or of orientating around building working class organisation. In every revolution, there is never pure spontaneity. There is always a now hidden, now open battle for leadership in ideas, in strategy and - most importantly - in political intervention to shape events.
In later life, I was lucky enough to travel to Lisbon many times. One time I visited, the centre of Lisbon was full of life size posters of the revolutionary events which had occurred there on 25 April 1974. I was reminded of a phrase coined by the philosopher, Georg Lukacs - "the actuality of the revolution". The legacy of the 1974 revolution remains a contested space. Europe's rulers would like us to forget the Portuguese Revolution altogether. In Portugal, there is a systematic attempt to reduce the revolution to a one day event, the 25 April, one to be commemorated each year. Raquel Varela's magnificent book is a roadblock to the project to reduce the Portuguese revolution to a mere "transition to normalisation". It is a testament to the actuality of the Portuguese Revolution that refuses to be forgotten.
June 5, 2025
(PT) Serias perdoado por achar que este livro é um pouco tendencioso.
Fiel ao que já é mais ou menos sugerido no prefácio, Varela exclui da sua noção de "o povo" o Partido Comunista Português (PCP) e os seus aliados, bem como o Movimento das Forças Armadas, mantendo, no entanto, as organizações de trabalhadores independentes e os pequenos grupos da extrema-esquerda (rotulados como "revolucionários") que surgiram durante a revolução (em contraste com o PCP, que já existia).
Isto faz com que a obra se incline frequentemente mais para a polémica esquerdista do que para a análise histórica rigorosa. A argumentação de Varela — provavelmente demasiado otimista e pouco desenvolvida — de que a Revolução dos Cravos poderia ter desencadeado uma revolução europeia, através de "elos" numa cadeia revolucionária que começaria em Portugal e poderia depois estender-se a Espanha, aliada às constantes referências a figuras como Tony Cliff e outros, resulta numa leitura essencialmente trotskista da revolução. E não me parece que a autora contestasse isso.
O contexto geopolítico também está gravemente ausente ao longo do livro. Lendo-o, dir-se-ia que esse fator não teve qualquer influência. No entanto, a maioria dos relatos da revolução (incluindo os das próprias figuras no topo do incipiente Estado, das forças armadas e das estruturas partidárias) sublinha que esse contexto teve um peso imenso em todo o processo, especialmente nas decisões do PCP. Esta omissão prejudica fortemente a explicação da luta pelo poder nacional.
Em vez de fornecer esse enquadramento, Varela leva o leitor por uma espécie de "quem é quem" dos partidos da extrema-esquerda europeia que apoiaram e comentaram a revolução (por serem, segundo ela, parte do "povo"). Mas como esses grupos eram relativamente pequenos e com cada vez menos influência nos seus próprios países, é difícil perceber em que medida isso era relevante para os trabalhadores e revolucionários em Portugal.
O desfecho realista de uma tomada revolucionária das instituições do país (ou de uma sua transformação radical), fosse pelo PCP ou pelos trabalhadores independentes, apontava para um cenário de guerra civil — entre a esquerda comunista (ou alinhada com o PCP) e a esquerda não-comunista (que acabaria ganhando as eleições em 76) juntamente com a direita. Varela minimiza esta possibilidade sem grande argumentação, tal como minimiza a ameaça da extrema-direita. Mas é precisamente nesse tipo de cenário que as posições, motivações e intenções das duas superpotências — que de facto poderiam ter fornecido apoio material a cada lado — se tornam mais relevantes.
Deve dizer-se que o grau de “sobredeterminação” do resultado da revolução (um país capitalista com uma democracia representativa) é um dos aspetos mais polémicos do processo revolucionário, a par do golpe de 25 de novembro, que marcou o início da contra-revolução. Esta mesma contra-revolução, bem como as divergências entre os próprios trabalhadores, também não são devidamente explicadas, levando a ideia de que todos pensavam o mesmo e que o país estava realmente preparado para uma revolução.
Contudo, onde o livro verdadeiramente brilha é na análise e exposição dos impressionantes níveis de organização dos trabalhadores portugueses em certas regiões — comissões de trabalhadores, ocupações, associações de moradores, agrupamentos militares, creches, hospitais, etc. — e no modo como estas estruturas estavam a transformar os seus contextos locais, enfrentando dilemas concretos no processo.
E há que dizer que, para uma esquerda ocidental que se debruça, na minha opinião, em experiências bem menos impressionantes como o Maio de 68, a Revolução dos Cravos continua a ser incrivelmente pouco estudada — especialmente tendo em conta que foi um caso em que o exército, e algumas forças de segurança, se amotinaram literalmente.
(EN)
You'd be forgiven for thinking that this book is a bit one-sided.
True to the preface, where this is more or less implied, Varela ejects from her notion of "the people (povo)" the Communist Party (PCP) and its allies, as well as the Armed Forces Movement, while retaining in it the independent workers' organizations as well as the sputtering of far-left sects (labeled as "revolutionaries") which popped up during the revolution (in contrast to the PCP, which already existed).
This leaves the work often delving more (or just as much) into leftist polemic than straight historical scholarship, and Varela's probably too-optimistic argument (which is not argued well or enough) that the Carnation Revolution could've smoothly sparked a European revolution due to "links" in a revolutionary chain—starting in Portugal and then potentially linking with Spain—as well as her constant citations of figures like Tony Cliff and others, means you're left with essentially a Trotskyist reading of the revolution. And I don't think the author would dispute that.
Geopolitical context is also severely lacking throughout. One would think, reading it, that it didn't factor in at all. But most accounts of the revolution (including by the very people at the top of the fledgling state, military, and party apparatuses) assert that it weighed immensely throughout the whole process, and especially on the PCP's decisions. This is a big detriment to explaining the struggle for national power.
In lieu of this lack of context, Varela instead takes the reader through a who's who of far-left parties across Europe which supported and commented on the revolution (because they are a part of "the people"). But as these groups were relatively small and carried increasingly less influence in their countries, one wonders how this was relevant to the workers and revolutionaries in Portugal.
The realistic outcome of a revolutionary takeover of the country's institutions (or a dramatic reshaping of them), whether by the PCP or by the independent workers, was a civil war scenario—between the communist and maybe the communist-aligned left against the non-communist left (which would end up winning the elections in 76) and the right. Varela downplays this without much argument, along with the threat of the far-right. But it is precisely in this scenario where the positions, motives, and intents of the two superpowers—who actually could've provided material support to each side—matter most.
It should be said that the level of overdetermination of the outcome of the revolution (a capitalist country with a representative democracy) is one of the most polemic aspects of the revolution, along with the coup (25/11) which kickstarted the counter-revolution. Said counter-revolution and the differences of opinion among the workers are also not well explained, leading you to think that everyone thought the same and really was ready for revolution.
However, where the book shines is in its examination and exposition of the staggering levels of organization by Portuguese workers in some regions into workers' commissions, occupations, neighborhood associations, military groupings, nurseries, hospitals, etc.—and of the process through which these organizations were changing their local contexts into something else, and some of the dilemmas that they faced.
And it must be said that, for a Western left that dwells very heavily on (in my opinion) much less impressive experiences like May '68, the Carnation Revolution is way too understudied for an event where the army, and some security forces, literally mutinied.
Fiel ao que já é mais ou menos sugerido no prefácio, Varela exclui da sua noção de "o povo" o Partido Comunista Português (PCP) e os seus aliados, bem como o Movimento das Forças Armadas, mantendo, no entanto, as organizações de trabalhadores independentes e os pequenos grupos da extrema-esquerda (rotulados como "revolucionários") que surgiram durante a revolução (em contraste com o PCP, que já existia).
Isto faz com que a obra se incline frequentemente mais para a polémica esquerdista do que para a análise histórica rigorosa. A argumentação de Varela — provavelmente demasiado otimista e pouco desenvolvida — de que a Revolução dos Cravos poderia ter desencadeado uma revolução europeia, através de "elos" numa cadeia revolucionária que começaria em Portugal e poderia depois estender-se a Espanha, aliada às constantes referências a figuras como Tony Cliff e outros, resulta numa leitura essencialmente trotskista da revolução. E não me parece que a autora contestasse isso.
O contexto geopolítico também está gravemente ausente ao longo do livro. Lendo-o, dir-se-ia que esse fator não teve qualquer influência. No entanto, a maioria dos relatos da revolução (incluindo os das próprias figuras no topo do incipiente Estado, das forças armadas e das estruturas partidárias) sublinha que esse contexto teve um peso imenso em todo o processo, especialmente nas decisões do PCP. Esta omissão prejudica fortemente a explicação da luta pelo poder nacional.
Em vez de fornecer esse enquadramento, Varela leva o leitor por uma espécie de "quem é quem" dos partidos da extrema-esquerda europeia que apoiaram e comentaram a revolução (por serem, segundo ela, parte do "povo"). Mas como esses grupos eram relativamente pequenos e com cada vez menos influência nos seus próprios países, é difícil perceber em que medida isso era relevante para os trabalhadores e revolucionários em Portugal.
O desfecho realista de uma tomada revolucionária das instituições do país (ou de uma sua transformação radical), fosse pelo PCP ou pelos trabalhadores independentes, apontava para um cenário de guerra civil — entre a esquerda comunista (ou alinhada com o PCP) e a esquerda não-comunista (que acabaria ganhando as eleições em 76) juntamente com a direita. Varela minimiza esta possibilidade sem grande argumentação, tal como minimiza a ameaça da extrema-direita. Mas é precisamente nesse tipo de cenário que as posições, motivações e intenções das duas superpotências — que de facto poderiam ter fornecido apoio material a cada lado — se tornam mais relevantes.
Deve dizer-se que o grau de “sobredeterminação” do resultado da revolução (um país capitalista com uma democracia representativa) é um dos aspetos mais polémicos do processo revolucionário, a par do golpe de 25 de novembro, que marcou o início da contra-revolução. Esta mesma contra-revolução, bem como as divergências entre os próprios trabalhadores, também não são devidamente explicadas, levando a ideia de que todos pensavam o mesmo e que o país estava realmente preparado para uma revolução.
Contudo, onde o livro verdadeiramente brilha é na análise e exposição dos impressionantes níveis de organização dos trabalhadores portugueses em certas regiões — comissões de trabalhadores, ocupações, associações de moradores, agrupamentos militares, creches, hospitais, etc. — e no modo como estas estruturas estavam a transformar os seus contextos locais, enfrentando dilemas concretos no processo.
E há que dizer que, para uma esquerda ocidental que se debruça, na minha opinião, em experiências bem menos impressionantes como o Maio de 68, a Revolução dos Cravos continua a ser incrivelmente pouco estudada — especialmente tendo em conta que foi um caso em que o exército, e algumas forças de segurança, se amotinaram literalmente.
(EN)
You'd be forgiven for thinking that this book is a bit one-sided.
True to the preface, where this is more or less implied, Varela ejects from her notion of "the people (povo)" the Communist Party (PCP) and its allies, as well as the Armed Forces Movement, while retaining in it the independent workers' organizations as well as the sputtering of far-left sects (labeled as "revolutionaries") which popped up during the revolution (in contrast to the PCP, which already existed).
This leaves the work often delving more (or just as much) into leftist polemic than straight historical scholarship, and Varela's probably too-optimistic argument (which is not argued well or enough) that the Carnation Revolution could've smoothly sparked a European revolution due to "links" in a revolutionary chain—starting in Portugal and then potentially linking with Spain—as well as her constant citations of figures like Tony Cliff and others, means you're left with essentially a Trotskyist reading of the revolution. And I don't think the author would dispute that.
Geopolitical context is also severely lacking throughout. One would think, reading it, that it didn't factor in at all. But most accounts of the revolution (including by the very people at the top of the fledgling state, military, and party apparatuses) assert that it weighed immensely throughout the whole process, and especially on the PCP's decisions. This is a big detriment to explaining the struggle for national power.
In lieu of this lack of context, Varela instead takes the reader through a who's who of far-left parties across Europe which supported and commented on the revolution (because they are a part of "the people"). But as these groups were relatively small and carried increasingly less influence in their countries, one wonders how this was relevant to the workers and revolutionaries in Portugal.
The realistic outcome of a revolutionary takeover of the country's institutions (or a dramatic reshaping of them), whether by the PCP or by the independent workers, was a civil war scenario—between the communist and maybe the communist-aligned left against the non-communist left (which would end up winning the elections in 76) and the right. Varela downplays this without much argument, along with the threat of the far-right. But it is precisely in this scenario where the positions, motives, and intents of the two superpowers—who actually could've provided material support to each side—matter most.
It should be said that the level of overdetermination of the outcome of the revolution (a capitalist country with a representative democracy) is one of the most polemic aspects of the revolution, along with the coup (25/11) which kickstarted the counter-revolution. Said counter-revolution and the differences of opinion among the workers are also not well explained, leading you to think that everyone thought the same and really was ready for revolution.
However, where the book shines is in its examination and exposition of the staggering levels of organization by Portuguese workers in some regions into workers' commissions, occupations, neighborhood associations, military groupings, nurseries, hospitals, etc.—and of the process through which these organizations were changing their local contexts into something else, and some of the dilemmas that they faced.
And it must be said that, for a Western left that dwells very heavily on (in my opinion) much less impressive experiences like May '68, the Carnation Revolution is way too understudied for an event where the army, and some security forces, literally mutinied.
July 5, 2025
Since we visited in 2022, I really wanted to read this and learn more about Portugal. This was only reinforced when I learnt last year that my cousins just received their Portuguese nationality after establishing the link to some ancestor that was expelled from the country during the Crusades (or something like that). Felt like I should learn more about my people!!
Unfortunately, this truly felt not just dense, but also confusing and badly written (or perhaps translated). I did get the message that the Portuguese Revolution resulted in a period of 19 months where people practiced direct democracy in a way that hasn't really been seen before or since. I also thought it was interesting that the revolution was successful in terms of abolishing private property and redistributing lands and housing. Same goes for the incredible salary increases the workers fought for and obtained. Also interesting that the Socialist Party allied itself with the Church and the right-wingers to offset the power of the Communist Party during the fifth provisional government (I think? That's how I understood it)
Other than that, what the hell did I just read? I support giving more agency to the masses instead of focusing on the political parties and the Army... but man, it just became really confusing when everyone was on strike and then not on strike and meanwhile SIX provisional governments came and went without really giving more context on that. Mentioning names was also confusing because I didn't really know who was who, or what side of the fight they were on.
Unfortunately, this truly felt not just dense, but also confusing and badly written (or perhaps translated). I did get the message that the Portuguese Revolution resulted in a period of 19 months where people practiced direct democracy in a way that hasn't really been seen before or since. I also thought it was interesting that the revolution was successful in terms of abolishing private property and redistributing lands and housing. Same goes for the incredible salary increases the workers fought for and obtained. Also interesting that the Socialist Party allied itself with the Church and the right-wingers to offset the power of the Communist Party during the fifth provisional government (I think? That's how I understood it)
Other than that, what the hell did I just read? I support giving more agency to the masses instead of focusing on the political parties and the Army... but man, it just became really confusing when everyone was on strike and then not on strike and meanwhile SIX provisional governments came and went without really giving more context on that. Mentioning names was also confusing because I didn't really know who was who, or what side of the fight they were on.
April 25, 2024
A bit too much focus on workers. The chapter on women—their part in the revolution and the freedoms brought to them by the revolution—seemed skimpy. That said, I learned an immense amount from this book and look forward to learning more, both about the revolution and about the 50 years since.
The author’s focus on the people—povo—of the revolution is what I prefer history to report, and I found her theories about revolution, chaos, and evolution intriguing.
Sometimes the translation made reading for understanding difficult.
Was a delight to read this book in Portugal as the country experienced and celebrated the 50th anniversary of the revolution.
The author’s focus on the people—povo—of the revolution is what I prefer history to report, and I found her theories about revolution, chaos, and evolution intriguing.
Sometimes the translation made reading for understanding difficult.
Was a delight to read this book in Portugal as the country experienced and celebrated the 50th anniversary of the revolution.
January 22, 2024
I had hoped to read a historical account of the 1974 revolution in Portugal. Unfortunately, the material lacked substance. It primarily consisted of anecdotes and narratives from 1974-75, along with the author's opinions. It would have been nice if it had contained more data, such as data on the economy pre- and post-revolution, since the author (from the author's socialist vantage-point) asserts that the revolution was primarily driven by economics. As a result, the book is more political polemic than historical scholarship.
September 15, 2025
Great book to learn more about the revolution process with a point of view centered on the people. As expected given the title, the book doesn't go into much detail over the many governments of 1974-75.
The narrative itself was hard to follow: complex sentences with many asides, repetitive content, usage of abbreviations that are only explained pages later.
The narrative itself was hard to follow: complex sentences with many asides, repetitive content, usage of abbreviations that are only explained pages later.
December 6, 2020
Tough to review, as I think it is a little bit too smart for me! I think if I knew a bit more about Portuguese history I may have gotten even more out of it, but there was lot of interesting aspects to this book.
February 10, 2022
O povo unido
Brilliant a great story well told. Without hatred of prejudice but with the interests of the working people at heart. Read it
Brilliant a great story well told. Without hatred of prejudice but with the interests of the working people at heart. Read it
September 1, 2022
Very informative. It puts a new light on modern Portuguese society and answers questions which always puzzled me about Portugal.
May 25, 2023
esperava mais podres sobre o PCP + Raquel Varela é uma tone
September 20, 2023
A bit too academic for me but otherwise comprehensive overview of a revolutionary period I knew nothing about!
May 11, 2024
On the money politically but a bit heavy going.
October 1, 2024
A fascinating detail of a largely unknown revolution, focussing on the perspective of those who were both driving and impacted by the change - the povo (people).
December 29, 2024
0* I was looking for a good history book of that particuar time in Portugal. Something easily accessible. However, the book is a very detailed analysis and in my opinion requires some previous knowledge and profound interest in a detailed account of events.
June 28, 2025
Very interesting at first; certainly deepened my affection and interest for Portugal and its people. Love to engage with its history, especially such recent events. The crux of the book was workers rights and uprising of the working class, unfortunately after a while it became a little repetitive to read about the countless strikes in great detail. Always struggle with nonfic over 200 pages… what a philistine.
September 7, 2024
Varela brings the history of the revolution to life with many stories on workers taking control over their workplaces and neighborhoods. Varela shines light on many aspects that make the revolution such an important process to analyze: the role of the African decolonial uprising as the detonator for the revolution in Portugal, the difference between workers management and workers control and the contra-revolutionary politics of both main parties of the left. It's the best book to read on the revolution, with some chapters delving in very specific aspects of the revolution such as art and the role of women. Because it's wide scope, it is sometimes a bit hard to follow the main line of the revolutionary process.
July 25, 2025
História do Povo na Revolução Portuguesa 1974-75 is a detailed look at the Carnation Revolution — a unique moment in Western Europe that brought down a long-standing dictatorship and colonial empire. The book focuses heavily on workers' rights, strikes, class struggles and grassroots movements, showing how real people helped shape history. While it can feel a bit academic and repetitive at times, especially with the in-depth coverage of strikes, it's an intriguing and informative read.
July 1, 2020
A diferença entre este livro e o de Howard Zinn, para além do óbvio, é que este se perder demais nos academismos. Tirando isso e apesar de achar que peca por não dar mérito nenhum ao PCP, é uma perspectiva fresca do papel da cidadania no 25 de Abril.
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