| Armed Forces Movement | |
|---|---|
| Movimento das Forças Armadas | |
 Emblem of the MFA as used in government propaganda during the Provisory Governments and the PREC. | |
| Leader | Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho |
| Dates of operation | 1974 |
| Active regions | Portugal |
| Ideology | Anti-fascism Communism Socialism |
| Political position | Left-wing tofar-left |
| Allies | Socialist Party Communist Party |
| Opponents | Estado Novo |
| Battles and wars | Carnation Revolution |
TheArmed Forces Movement (Portuguese:Movimento das Forças Armadas;MFA) was an organization of lower-ranking officers in thePortuguese Armed Forces responsible for instigating the 1974Carnation Revolution, amilitary coup inLisbon that endedPortugal'scorporatistNew State regime (Estado Novo) and thePortuguese Colonial War inAngola,Mozambique, andGuinea-Bissau, which led to the independence of those countries and Portugal's other overseas territories ofCape Verde,São Tomé and Príncipe andEast Timor. The MFA instituted theNational Salvation Junta (Junta de Salvação Nacional) as theprovisional national government 1974 to 1976, following a communiqué of its president,António de Spínola, at 1:30 a.m. on 26 April 1974.
The military-led coup can be described as the necessary means of bringing back democracy to Portugal, ending the unpopularColonial War where thousands of Portuguese soldiers had been commissioned into military service, and replacing theauthoritarianEstado Novo (New State) dictatorship andits secret police which repressedcivil liberties andhuman rights. In addition, academics have published works theorizing that the efforts made by the MFA were not in the strict interest of the people of Portugal or its overseas provinces, since the movement was initiated not as an attempt to liberate Portugal from the Estado Novo, but as an attempt of rebellion against the new military laws that were to be presented the next year (Decretos-Leis n.os 353, de 13 de Julho de 1973, e 409, de 20 de Agosto).[1][2][3] The revolution and the whole movement were a way to work against laws that would reduce military costs and would reformulate the whole Portuguese military.[4] Younger military academy graduates resented a program introduced byMarcello Caetano whereby militia officers who completed a brief training program and had served in the overseas territories' defensive campaigns, could be commissioned at the same rank as military academy graduates. Caetano'sPortuguese Government had begun the program (which included several other reforms) on the advice of theRhodesian 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 overburdenedgovernment budget.[5]
The MFA developed in the early 1970s as a movement ofcaptains (movimento dos capitães), young officers who had been involved in theColonial War against the separatist movements in the African overseas provinces ofAngola,Mozambique, andPortuguese Guinea. What motivated the "captains" was, essentially, a desire for back wages and the freedom until then denied to the Portuguese people and the dissatisfaction with the policies followed by the government in relation to the Colonial War and military law. The principal aims of the MFA were the immediate completion of thePortuguese Colonial War, retreat from Portuguese Africa, establish free elections and the abolition of the secret police, thePIDE/DGS. The revolution was planned by Vasco Lourenço,Vasco Gonçalves andOtelo Saraiva de Carvalho the chief strategist who directed operations.Salgueiro Maia commanded the troops deployed from the School ofCavalry atSantarém. Some of the officers had leftist sympathies and connections to thePortuguese Communist Party.[6] After a failed initial attempt in March 1974 the coup took place on the morning of 25 April. Within a few hours Lisbon was completely occupied by troops loyal to the MFA. Prime MinisterMarcello Caetano handed over power toGeneralAntónio de Spínola. As a consequence of 25 April 1974 the MFA mobilised the army and announced the three 'Ds:democratisation,decolonisation anddevelopment.
His appeals to themaioria silenciosa ("silent majority"), to resist the accelerating swing to the left after the failedcoup of 28 September 1974, and his tentative involvement in the rightist counter-revolution on 11 March 1975 (wherein he fled to Brazil)[7] were clear examples that Spínola had changed his allegiances. Between 1976 and 1980, he presided over the Exército de Libertação de Portugal (ELP), the Liberation Army of Portugal, a paramilitary terrorist group of the extreme-right based inBrazil. As the authorGünter Wallraff wrote in his bookAufdeckung einer Verschwörung – die Spínola-Aktion, Spínola was always interested in returning to power and eliminating his political adversaries. During Spínola's exile to Brazil, he was approached by Wallraff who had infiltrated Spínola's group, pretending to be an arms dealer working forFranz-Josef Strauss, a conservative and leader of theChristian 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 theAlentejo 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.
The systematic demolition of the old order was inaugurated by the MFA-ledJunta de Salvação Nacional. As the pro-communist inspiration of theJunta was becoming increasingly evident, and far-left factions were taking the leading edge of the revolution, the process was halted by the failedcoup of 25 November 1975. This period of social and political unrest which ensued after the 25 April military coup, is known as PREC (Processo Revolucionário Em Curso), where leftist and rightist factions struggled for supremacy within the Portuguese society and political institutions. The moderates eventually won and this prevented post-revolutionary Portugal from becoming a left orright wing-ruled regime, being governed bycentrist leaders.
Finally, thePortuguese legislative election, 1976 took place on 25 April, exactly one year after the previous election, and two years after theCarnation Revolution. These elections could be said to be the definitive end of a period of revolution. Moderate democratic parties received most of the vote, and the Army handed power to aSocialistcabinet on 23 July 1976. However, the constitution pledged the country to realizesocialism. 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.