45 Die as Flight Crashes: Prague Aviation Tragedy

Far-left military officers attempted a coup to hijack Portugal's democratic transition and install a communist regime, deploying paratroopers and armored units in Lisbon eighteen months after the Carnation Revolution toppled the dictatorship. Moderate military forces crushed the uprising within hours, securing Portugal's path to parliamentary democracy and eventual European Community membership. The coup attempt on November 25, 1975, was the culmination of months of political instability following the Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974, which had overthrown the authoritarian Estado Novo regime. The revolutionary period that followed saw intense competition between communists, socialists, and conservative factions within the Armed Forces Movement, each with different visions for Portugal's future. The far-left faction, supported by the Portuguese Communist Party and radical military officers, sought to establish a revolutionary socialist state aligned with the Soviet bloc. Their coup attempt involved paratroopers seizing the Montijo Air Base near Lisbon and armored units taking positions in the capital. However, moderate military officers under the Operational Command of the Continent, led by Colonel Ramalho Eanes, responded swiftly and decisively. Loyalist forces surrounded the rebel positions and negotiated their surrender without significant bloodshed. Only one death was recorded during the counter-operation. The failure of the November 25 coup decisively ended the revolutionary period and established the moderate military faction's dominance. The 1976 constitution established a parliamentary democracy, and the first free elections brought the Socialist Party to power. Portugal's subsequent political stability enabled its accession to the European Community in 1986 and its integration into the Western democratic order.