Carnations and coups are not a common combination, but they were together in the streets of Lisbon in April 1974, and again this Thursday for the 50th anniversary of the coup that brought democracy to Portugal.

Younger officers in the Portuguese armed forces, principally frustrated by the toll of Portugal’s overseas colonial wars, staged a coup against the long-running regime of Antonio Salazar, who served as prime minister from 1932 to 1968. Salazar died in 1970, but his “Estado Novo” continued on until the 1974 coup.