From the Armed Struggle Against the Dictatorship to the Socialist Revolution: the Evolution of Radical Left Violence in Portugal

In this paper we conduct a historical case study of three armed organisations that acted in Portugal both before (ARA and BR) and after (FP-25) the April Revolution of 1974. This revolution put an end to Estado Novo’s authoritarian regime, starting a period of transition to democracy. We analyse how processes of restraint were manifested in, evolved, and shaped the tactical repertoires of these specific organisations, considering, in particular, the socio-political temporality of action of each one of them. The armed organisations that acted during the Estado Novo regime sought, essentially, to combat the dictatorship and the colonial war, channelling their actions towards the destruction of the regime's repressive and colonial apparatus and refusing to target human lives. In the context of the transition to democracy, the disillusionment caused by the negative outcome of the revolutionary process and the end of the utopia of the Socialist Revolution led to the radicalisation of some sectors of the radical left that engaged in armed struggle which target not only property, but also human lives.