A 25 de Abril de 1974, Portugal acorda com os militares na rua, culminando no derrube do governo de Marcello Caetano. Com este golpe esperava-se acabar com uma ditadura de mais de quarenta anos de existência, levando à queda do regime e colocando um ponto final no conflito colonial de treze longos anos. No início, a população não sabia como reagir ou o que esperar. Seria um golpe de direita ou de esquerda? Um golpe militar ou uma revolução? Com o passar das horas foi-se percebendo que o golpe podia não ser de esquerda, mas de direita de certeza que não era. Os militares portugueses vieram para a rua e derrubaram o governo, mas porquê? Terão sido apenas motivos corporativos que fizeram com que os militares saíssem para a rua? O que prentendiam estes homens, quais as suas motivações? Esta dissertação tem por intuito encontrar resposta a estas questões, centrando a investigação no grupo de militares que saiu armado para a rua a 25 de Abril, forçando a queda do regime, de forma a perceber quem eram estes homens e quais os caminhos da sua formação política e cultural, através dos seus percursos de vida, relações pessoais, familiares e enquanto militares, em especial quando confrontados com um cenário de guerra.

On 25 April 1974, Portugal woke up to the sound of the military in the streets, to a movement that culminated in the overthrow of Marcello Caetano’s government. This coup was intended to end a dictatorship of over forty years, to lead to the fall of the regime and to put a stop to the colonial conflict that persisted for thirteen long years. At first, the population didn’t quite know how to react or what to expect. Was it a right-wing or a left-wing coup? Was it a military coup or a revolution? Hours went by and it became clear it could not be a left-wing coup, but it was certainly not right-wing. The Portuguese military had invaded the streets and overthrown the government, but why? Had it been only for corporate reasons? What did these men have in mind, what were their motivations? This paper proposes to find the answer to these questions, focusing its research on the fully armed military group that swarmed the streets on 25 April 1974, causing the fall of the regime. By analyzing their life stories, personal relationships, who were their families and who they were as army officers – especially when facing a war scenario – we will be able to understand who these men were and what were their political and cultural backgrounds.