I will map the rise and fall of the Azorean independence movement, the Azorean Liberation Front, which arose as a conservative backlash to the liberal 1974 Portuguese Revolution. Although its short duration and conflicting features make it difficult to classify, I will chart the development models of three genres of political movements' radical right movements, secessionist movements, and social-based movements and map each of these onto the historical trajectory of the Azores. This way I hope to reveal that, while the movement does not fit neatly into any box, it contains elements of all three in differing amounts. I will tease out the elements most important to the movement's formation and those which ultimately led to its failure, paying special attention to the political environment of Portugal, the legacy of Azorean autonomy, the internal structure of the leadership, and the social and class divisions within the group.
