António de Spínola

António de Spínola (1910–1996) was a Portuguese army officer and politician who became president after the Carnation Revolution and opposed the revolutionary movement’s leftward course.

Marcelo Caetano: Portugal’s prime minister from 1968 until the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Spínola served as a senior military commander under Caetano’s government before breaking with its colonial policy.
Carnation Revolution: The 1974 Portuguese military coup that ended the Estado Novo dictatorship and began a democratic transition. The coup brought Spínola to the presidency and created the political struggle he tried to direct.
Portugal and the Future: Spínola’s 1974 book arguing that Portugal’s colonial wars required a political, rather than purely military, solution. The book challenged the government’s war policy and helped set the stage for the coup.
Armed Forces Movement: The Portuguese military organization whose officers overthrew the Estado Novo in 1974 and shaped the ensuing transition. Spínola depended on the movement’s coup but clashed with its officers over the revolution’s direction.
Francisco da Costa Gomes: A Portuguese general who served as president from 1974 to 1976. Costa Gomes succeeded Spínola as president after Spínola resigned.
Portuguese Colonial War: A series of wars from 1961 to 1974 between Portugal and independence movements in its African colonies. Spínola’s command in Guinea and criticism of the war helped make him a national political figure.
Presidency of António de Spínola: The period from May to September 1974 when Spínola served as Portugal’s president. His short presidency tested whether a moderate transition could contain revolutionary forces.
PREC: The Processo Revolucionário em Curso, Portugal’s turbulent revolutionary period from 1974 to 1975. Spínola’s efforts to limit revolutionary change collided with the political dynamics of the PREC.
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho: A Portuguese army officer who helped plan the Carnation Revolution and later supported radical revolutionary change. Their opposing political directions exposed the divide between Spínola and radical officers.
Guinea-Bissau War of Independence: The armed struggle from 1963 to 1974 that led to Guinea-Bissau’s independence from Portugal. Spínola commanded Portuguese forces in Guinea and developed proposals for a political settlement there.

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