1. The Revolutionary Seed

1961 marks the beginning of the end of the Portuguese empire. It is in the confines of Guinea, Mozambique and Angola, on the combat fronts and on hot nights in the bush, that the revolutionary seed germinates. The captains, disgusted with the conditions under which they fought in a war they could not win, realize that the only way out is a political solution. And in the summer of 1973, the infamous decrees 353/73 and 409/73 proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. A wave of protest is progressing within the army, mainly among the captains of the permanent staff, and it is in Bissau that the first collective reaction appears. The officers posted there sent a letter signed by 53 officers to the political and military leadership, contesting the decrees. It was... "the stick in the elephant".