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On the morning of April 25th 1974, as tanks rolled into Lisbon under the direction of the young officers of the Armed Forces Movement (AFM), hundreds of thousands of workers crowded the streets to celebrate the overthrow of the unpopular Caetano regime. ... Did the African Wars contribute to this downfall of the regime? ... With the loss of Brazil, Portugal’s economic lifeline, the Portuguese soon established their African colonies as alternative sources of income. In 1885 the European colonial powers met in Berlin to divide among themselves the territories of the African continent. ...
The great revolution of 1910 deposed the Portuguese monarchy but inevitably broke down into its antagonistic class components. ... This regime came to rest increasingly on the Portuguese Gestapo, who were responsible for outrageous atrocities including beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions against the African independence movements and opposition in Portugal. ... Every revolution begins not at the bottom but the top. The first condition for revolution is a crisis within the ruling class. ... The importance of the African colonies to the metropolitan economy, therefore, weren’t underestimated and it wasn’t of little surprise that the authorities were determined to hold on to them in the face of bitter resistance from popular national liberation movements
These colonies were controlled by the Portuguese government from their Head Quarters in Lisbon, colonies such as, Angola and Mozambique did not have any autonomy. ... War had raged in the African colonies since 1961 when the Angolan liberation movement was launched. ... Beginning, however, with the loss of India and, above all, as the African wars dragged on, the Armed Forces discovered, not without surprise for many soldiers who for the first time saw things as they were, their real separation from the nation. ... As the shortcomings of this policy became more evident, the Armed Forces appeared increasingly responsible in the eyes of the nation, not only for the African impasse, but for the general crisis in the country, which was not only a political crisis, but also economic, social and moral. ... The African wars were a crippling cancer on society. After 13 years it was clear these wars were unwinnable. ... To avoid conscription of up to four years on starvation rations in the African jungles, a massive movement of desertion and draft dodging gathered pace. ... At the same time, Portugal was less and less able to exploit the resources of its own African colonies.
Approximate Word count = 1927
Approximate Pages = 7.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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