The exhibition “Student Springs: From the 1962 Crisis to April 25” will be displayed in the main atrium of the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL) as part of the commemorative events marking the 50th anniversary of the military coup that ended Portugal’s dictatorship.
The 50 Years April 25th Commemorative Commission marks the day honoring students, which was officially recognized by Portugal’s Assembly of the Republic in 1987.
A revised and expanded version of the dossier prepared by the Commission on this topic, featuring information and photographs of the most significant moments from that period, will be published on the site dedicated to the celebrations.
Student protests, classroom strikes, clashes with police, and a hunger strike became defining moments in the fight for freedom.
“When the ‘Estado Novo’ regime attempted to eliminate any autonomy of student associations with decree-law 40.900 in 1956, which aimed to limit their activities and regulate their representation, it sent a clear message. Student freedom was problematic for the dictatorship,” the Commission states in its dossier on student struggles.
The decree that fueled the students’ anger stipulated that no organization could “initiate or maintain relations with international or foreign groups” except “through the appropriate services of the Ministry of National Education.”
Amidst the regime’s crackdown on opposition, the MUD-Juvenile, an entity that fought the dictatorship between 1947 and 1948, was outlawed.
The rejection of the decree by students prompted some retreat by the regime, but the student movement continued its course, and in 1962, the prohibition of Student Day triggered “the longest student protest against the ‘Estado Novo.'”
This journey is revisited in the exhibition, highlighting some of the key figures involved.
Police crackdowns and violence against moderate protests, according to the documents, served to awaken consciousness, marking a break with the regime led by university students and professors.
Many of these events are documented in photographs.
Following the clashes and police occupation of academic spaces, student associations in Lisbon and Coimbra declared “academic mourning” on March 26, which involved a strike from classes.
In April, the Minister of the Presidency, Correia de Oliveira, granted an audience that ultimately fueled the revolt by reading a written statement to students, stating, “The power should not be challenged, for it cannot be defeated.”
The struggle intensified with a hunger strike, demonstrations, arrests, and PIDE persecution until the regime was eventually overthrown on April 25, 1974.
