Carnation Revolution UPSC NOTE

The Carnation Revolution , also known as the 25 April, was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Lisbon,Portugal, producing major social, economic, territorial, demographic, and political changes in Portugal and its overseas colonies through the Processo Revolucionário Em Curso.
It resulted in the Portuguese transition to democracy and the end of the Portuguese Colonial War

The Carnation Revolution got its name from the fact that almost no shots were fired and from restaurant worker Celeste Caeiro offering carnations to the soldiers when the population took to the streets to celebrate the end of the dictatorship, with other demonstrators following suit and carnations placed in the muzzles of guns and on the soldiers' uniforms

Dianthus caryophyllus commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of Dianthus native to the Mediterranean region

History

Antonio Oliveira Salazar was appointed as Prime Minister of Portugal in 1932( till 1968), and within a year managed to concentrate political power with himself.
In 1933, Salazar established the Estado Novo (literally, “New State”) — a conservative, corporatist, and nationalist regime ostensibly built on the values of Portugal’s traditional Catholic faith, and with the purpose of maintaining the Portuguese empire, most importantly in Africa.

After his death, the regime lasted for a another six years under his successor Marcelo Caetano, finally crumbling on April 25, 1974.

Revolution

The almost bloodless revolution was conducted by a group of junior army officers who wanted democracy, and to put an end to long-running wars against independence movements in the African colonies of Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau.
They regarded those wars, which were killing thousands of young Portuguese conscripts, as unjust and unwinnable, especially given the rapid dismantling of all major European empires.