Why Carnation Revolution matters 50 years on

For an event which had such a profound effect on the history of the African continent, the Carnation Revolution seems a soft way to describe what happened in Portugal 50 years ago.

On 25 April, 1974, disgruntled soldiers drove into Lisbon to overthrow the 48-year dictatorship which had been led by Antonio Salazar and later Marcelo Caetano.

It was an almost bloodless transfer of power.

Red carnations were handed out to the soldiers, who placed them in the muzzles of their guns, ultimately giving the revolution its name.

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While the Portuguese revolution may have been peaceful, it was anything but in its African colonies, as Lisbon withdrew and gave them independence.

The two biggest colonies, Angola and Mozambique, descended into bloody civil wars, whose effects are felt to this day.

Many white refugees from those countries ended up in South Africa.

The upheaval meant the days were numbered for white Rhodesia as well as South Africa and Namibia, the territory Pretoria ruled in defiance of the United Nations.

The Carnation Revolution was the first domino to fall in the process which ended settler rule and apartheid.

For that fact alone, it should be recognised and remembered in our country, despite the debates about what happened afterwards.

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