Portugal, 1974 — palace coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an event coded as an attempted palace coup in Portugal on 28 September 1974, corresponding to the failed bid by President Antonio de Spinola to reassert conservative control over the revolution that had toppled the dictatorship in April. Spinola, the general to whom Marcelo Caetano had surrendered power, had become president but grew alarmed at the leftward radicalization driven by the Armed Forces Movement and the Communist Party. To test the balance of power and create a pretext for seizing fuller authority, he called for a mass demonstration of the silent majority for 28 September 1974 to rally moderate and conservative Portuguese against the left.
But left-wing forces, communists, socialists, and radical soldiers, erected armed barricades across the country and blocked the roads into Lisbon, preventing Spinola's supporters from gathering. The demonstration was called off, right-wing figures were arrested, and Spinola, his position collapsing, resigned two days later on 30 September, deepening the leftward turn of the Portuguese revolution.
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
23509281974
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Spinola's silent majority bid failed and he resigned; the leftist revolution deepened.
Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. 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
CSP
Luttwak
Wikipedia
New York Times
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 →