Antonio de Spínola

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António de Spínola, President of the Third Portuguese Republic in 1974

António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola [ ɐ̃ˈtɔniw sɨβɐʃtiˈɐ̃w̃ ʁiˈβɐjɾu dɨ ˈspinulɐ ] (born April 11, 1910 in Estremoz , Alto Alentejo ; † August 13, 1996 in Lisbon ) was a Portuguese general and politician. After the Carnation Revolution, from April to September 1974 he was President of the Junta de Salvação Nacional, the transitional government, and thus the first President of the Third Portuguese Republic .

Life and career

António Spínola was the son of a wealthy aristocratic family. Spínola's father, António Sebastião Spínola, was one of the closest financial advisors to longtime Portuguese dictator Salazar .

During the Spanish Civil War he fought as a volunteer on the side of Francisco Franco . He took part in the Battle of Leningrad during World War II as an observer for the Wehrmacht . From 1968 to 1973 he was military governor of Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau ), in this function also Commander-in-Chief of the Mar Verde military operation , and then Deputy Chief of Staff.

After the publication of his book Portugal eo Futuro ("Portugal and the Future"), in which he stated that the costly colonial war in Africa could not be won militarily and called for political reforms, he was removed from his post in March 1974.

Carnation Revolution

In the course of the revolution in April 1974 , in which the left-wing army group Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA) overthrew the dictatorship of the “ Estado Novo ”, the MFA agreed in the surrender negotiations with the dictator Marcelo Caetano that the state would be handed over to a transitional government should be led by Spínola, which is considered neutral. At a press conference he promised free parliamentary elections and announced the release of political prisoners and the lifting of press censorship .

After confrontations with the left wing of the MFA, he resigned in September 1974. After he was involved in a failed coup attempt by conservative forces on March 11, 1975, he had to flee Portugal.

Exile and death

In exile in Brazil, he secretly founded the Movimento Democrático de Libertação de Portugal ( Portuguese for Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Portugal ) with the aim of returning to Portugal, overthrowing the socialist forces and regaining power. In February 1976 he came to Switzerland on condition that he refrain from any political activity. When he met Günter Wallraff , who pretended to be an arms negotiator, in Düsseldorf on March 25, 1976 for arms delivery negotiations, Wallraff made his putsch plans public. On April 9th ​​he had to leave Switzerland and fled to Brazil.

In 1976 he returned to Portugal from exile. Despite the coup attempts, he was later rehabilitated because of his important role during the Carnation Revolution, but no longer played a political role. In 1981 he was awarded the honorary title of Marshal and in 1987 the Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and the Sword .

In 1996 Spínola died of a pulmonary embolism .

Works

  • 1970: Por Uma Guiné Melhor
  • 1971: Linha de Acção
  • 1972: No Caminho do Futuro
  • 1973: Por Uma Portugalidade Renovada
  • 1974: Portugal eo Futuro
  • 1976: Ao Serviço de Portugal
  • 1978: País sem Rumo - Contributo para a História de uma Revolução

literature

  • Douglas Porch: The Portuguese Armed Forces and the Revolution , London 1977.
  • John Cann: Counterinsurgency in Africa. The Portuguese Way of Warfare, 1961-1974 , Westport 1997.
  • de Spinola, Marshal Antonio Sebastiao Ribeiro (1910-1996) , in: Ian FW Beckett: Encyclopedia of Guerilla Warfare , New York 2001, pp. 54f.
  • António Ribeiro de Spínola , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 50/1996 of December 2, 1996, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of the article freely available)
  • Günter Wallraff , Hella Schlumberger: Uncovering a conspiracy. The Spinola Action . Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1976.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Quando Spínola quis invadir Portugal com ajuda do Brasil , Público , April 29, 2014
  2. ^ The General's sinister plans , NZZ, April 4, 2016
predecessor Office successor
Américo Tomás President of Portugal
1974 		Francisco da Costa Gomes
personal data
SURNAME Spínola, António de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spínola, António Sebastião Ribeiro de (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese general and politician
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Estremoz , Alto Alentejo
DATE OF DEATH August 13, 1996
Place of death Lisbon