Portugal, 1961 — military coup conspiracy
Event Summary
On 8 April 1961 General Julio Botelho Moniz, the Portuguese Minister of National Defence, led an aborted attempt to remove Antonio de Oliveira Salazar from the head of government. Known as the Abrilada of 1961, it drew in senior figures of the military hierarchy and the Army General Staff, and aimed at replacing Salazar with a view to reforming the regime's rigid colonial policy after the outbreak of war in Angola in early 1961 and the election of John F. Kennedy in the United States.
Botelho Moniz, who had been military attache in Washington, had tried to convince Salazar to change course and, failing that, turned to President Americo Tomas to dismiss the prime minister; Tomas refused. The plot was ill prepared, which allowed Salazar to react promptly, dismiss Botelho Moniz, and reassert control. It was the last significant attempt at military intervention in Portuguese political life before the 1974 Carnation Revolution.
A separate civil and military rising, the Beja revolt, followed at the end of December 1961.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
23504081961
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Salazar remained in office and dismissed Botelho Moniz; he ruled until a stroke in 1968.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
New York Times
Manchester Guardian
Washington Post and Times Herald
Christian Science Monitor
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →