Nao Ao Fascismo - A Luta Continua

No to Fascism - The Struggle Continues, Commissioned by the United Trade Unions of Lisbon, 1974

Produced during the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal, initially a coup by anti-Government military officers, but joined by the masses, which overthrew the fascist dictatorship with very little bloodshed.

By April 1974, Portugal had suffered decades of fascist dictatorship and economically ruinous attempts to hold onto its colonies in the face of armed uprisings - demanding four years of national service of its young men. 

The start of the coup was signalled by disc jockey at the Rádio Voz de Lisboa playing Portugal's Eurovision Song Contest entry that year after the time signal at 10:55pm on 24 April. The police and military, with relatively few exceptions, either surrendered or joined the coup, and people turned out in the squares in Lisbon shouting anti-fascist slogans. Fascist Prime Minister Marcello Caetano surrendered to rebel military leaders promising to restore civil liberties.

In the period after the coup, known as the Processo Revolucionário Em Curso (Ongoing Revolutionary Process), the Communist Party aligned faction was out manoevred and Portugal became a democracy. Over the following year troops were withdrawn from the former colonies, which were declared independent (except Macau, which was later transferred to China).

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Fascism is fundamentally an alliance of big business corporations and the government with the primary objective of reducing the power and influence of the organised working class through violent oppression.

It emerges from crises of capitalism, and in its early stages, draws key support from the lower middle class—those economically threatened by both big business and the organized working class—while also appealing to reactionary elites, militarists and careerist grifters.

Fascist governments are characterised by extreme nationalism and centralised power around a dictatorship and use propaganda, mass mobilization, and violence to enforce ultranationalism, often scapegoating identifiable sections of society and promoting supremacist ideologies.

Meanwhile, opposition, intellectuals, artists, scientists and independent judiciary are all suppressed.

Our view is that fascism should be opposed by all means necessary and working-class organisations should take the lead.

Most of our posters are inherently anti-fascist but some are specifically anti-fascist posters.

We have deliberately made this poster lighter and cheaper than our other posters - please contact us directly by email for bulk orders: radical.posters1@gmail.com.