 In April 1974 a bloodless left-wing military coup in Lisbon, known as the Carnation Revolution, would lead the way for a modern democracy as well as the independence of the last colonies in Africa, after two years of a transitional period known as PREC ("Processo Revolucionário Em Curso", or On-Going Revolutionary Process), characterized by social turmoil and power disputes between left- and right-wing political forces.These events left Portugal on the brink of a civil war and made it a fertile ground for radicalism.Some factions, including Álvaro Cunhal's PCP, unsuccessfully tried to turn the country toward communism.