O Império Eterno

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New Leadership: 1918-1920

Hermes da Fonseca was nominated by the Empress in July 1918 to form a second cabinet. There were significant changes in the cabinet, which was no more a 'national unity' cabinet but rather a Liberal-oriented one. While the Conservatives, nominally led by Artur Bernardes, were considered to be in the opposition, Fonseca maintained support from Conservatives in some parts of the country, most notably the Governor of Rio, Nilo Peçanha.

JJ Seabra, a close confident of Fonseca, retained the Finances portfolio and became the government's second-in-command. José Accioli replaced Epitácio Pessoa in Justice, with Epitácio Pessoa becoming Foreign Minister in replacement of an aging Ruy Barbosa. To appease the more restless arantista Liberals, Arantes' ally, Pedro de Toledo, received the Infrastructure portfolio. The cabinet took a much more Liberal tone, with much fewer Conservatives.

Brazil stepped up its naval participation in World War I in early 1918, and captured some German merchant ships which were interned in Brazilian harbours. In 1914, Brazil had already seized around 80 German ships which had been in Brazilian ports. Germany signed the Armistice in Europe on November 11, 1918; ending World War I.

The Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 provided Brazil with an opportunity to assert itself as the regional leader of the South American continent. The high-profile Brazilian delegation to Paris included Epitácio Pessoa, Foreign Minister, who was accompanied by the elder and respected Barbosa.

In Paris, Brazil demanded from the victorious Allies the right to purchase the interned German ships, instead of having the ships split between the victorious nations on a criteria which would have deprived Brazil of them. Furthermore, Brazil demanded from Germany payment, at the 1914 level, of the coffee which had been stored in German ports and re-sold by the Germans. With support from US President Woodrow Wilson, Brazil was able to obtain satisfaction on its claims. Brazil also supported the creation of the League of Nations, advocating for the rights of fellow Latin American nations within the new organization's framework.

The end of the war signified a ripe time for the handing out of nobility titles all over the place. Former Prime Minister Venceslau Brás was made Baron of São Caetano, Ruy Barbosa was made Viscount of Bahia, Epitácio Pessoa became Viscount of Umbuzeiro, Altino Arantes was made Earl of Batatais (mostly to appease him). Former Prime Minister Rodrigues Alves was also in line for one, but he died of the Spanish Flu in 1919 before he could receive his title.

At home, however, the end of the war had ended, in the eyes of a number of Paulista Liberals, the legitimacy and use of Prime Minister Fonseca. To them, Fonseca had been appointed in 1915 as a national unity Prime Minister to break deadlock and provide unity during the conflict. The dominant Paulista wing of the Liberal Party, which dominated the Liberal caucus in the Chamber, had offered lukewarm support to Fonseca since 1917. The coffee interests which they represented were unhappy about a Riograndense Prime Minister, and by 1919, the Paulista Liberals and Governor Altino Arantes were openly voicing their disapproval in the cabinet.

Fonseca found himself in an increasingly precarious situation by late 1919, relying on the Northeastern and Riograndense Liberals and Barbosa's Radicals for support. The Northeastern Liberals remained dominant over Paulista Liberals in the Senate, which still represented the historical interests of the old Northeast more than the newer oligarchy of São Paulo and Minas Gerais.

Yet, Fonseca took little heed to cultivate his remaining bases of support and based his support on an extra-parliamentary organization, the Brazilian Army. He lavishly furnished favours and bribes to leading military officers, notably his fellow Riograndense officer and de-facto leader of the Brazilian force in Europe, Setembrino de Carvalho. Setembrino de Carvalho was named Marquis of Uruguaiana.

In January 1920, Fonseca, with support from the Army itself, pushed through a military build-up and army reform which would have effectively crushed the old National Guard. The National Guard a paramilitary militia created in 1831 was still dominated by the old landowners of the Northeast and its scope of activities in 1920 was limited to protecting the interests of the latifundios in the region. The reform, which would have killed the National Guard resulted in the Northeastern Liberals walking out of Fonseca's parliamentary support group. Even JJ Seabra walked out. He faced a backbench revolt within his own party, supported by an unholy alliance of the Northeast with São Paulo. With some Conservative support, they pushed through a confidence motion. Of the 105 Liberals in Parliament (83 deputies and 22 Senators), only 31 retained confidence in Fonseca.

Fonseca had lost parliamentary support, but he turned to the military in an attempt to impose himself as an extra-parliamentary ruler. However, the Empress stepped in and dismissed Fonseca in March 1920.

The Liberal Party, generally united in January 1920 against Fonseca, split over the choice of his successor. Two candidates emerged for Liberal leadership: JJ Seabra, the government's number two and the candidate of the Northeast; and Pedro de Toledo, Infrastructure Minister and the candidate of the arantistas. In a caucus vote in early March, Seabra won 54 votes (winning 15 Senators but only 39 deputies) against Toledo's 51 votes. JJ Seabra was named Prime Minister in mid-March 1920.

The Conservatives, which despite being largely in the opposition by 1917-1918, split in late 1918 and early 1919 over the question of confidence in the Fonseca cabinet (which retained majority support in Parliament at that point). The split in the Conservative Party was a classic rift between the oligarchy of Minas Gerais and 'the others'. Two Governors, Bernardes (MG) and Peçanha (RJ) emerged as the respective standard-bearers. Bernardes opposed Fonseca, but Peçanha enjoyed good relations with the military and Fonseca. The Conservative division became unusually violent in late 1919, and an informal ballot was held inside the Conservative Party's leadership. With support from the small but growing Paulista Conservatives, Bernardes defeated Peçanha rather handily, who could only rely on his own province and some Northeastern provinces (the 'internal solution' to the leadership question sidelined pro-Peçanha military officers). Peçanha grudgingly accepted the result, but by March 1920, he became increasingly supportive of Fonseca, who had also fallen from grace.

Ruy Barbosa, the aging Radical leader and Viscount of Bahia, retired from electoral politics unofficially in 1919 following the Peace Conference in France. His pro-Fonseca faction died out as he retired, and Lauro Müller, the left-wing anti-war Radical opponent of Barbosa, was able to impose himself as leader of a re-united Radical Party by 1920. Under Müller, the Radicals focused on shoring up support with German and Italian immigrants in the south of Brazil, notably in Müller's home province of Santa Catarina but also in Rio Grande do Sul.

JJ Seabra's short victory in the 1920 ballot split the Liberal Party down the middle. Pedro de Toledo and Altino Arantes signaled their disapproval in the government of JJ Seabra. Determined to obtain a popular mandate,  Seabra asked the Empress in May 1920 for an early dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies (elections were scheduled for June 1921) and snap elections in which he hoped to obtain a mandate.

However, the Conservatives under Bernardes were able to build off of Paulista discontent in the government and the Conservatives made inroads in the province. Aided by Arantes' retirement in favour of Pedro de Toledo in the 1920 provincial elections (to be held with the snap election in June 1920), the São Paulo Conservatives, led Washington Luís were growing at a rapid pace. Seabra couldn't keep up with the apparent alliance of São Paulo and Minas Gerais under the Conservative banner. Seabra could not gain the full support of Peçanha in Rio (Peçanha was candidate for re-election as an Independent as RJ Governor), and the military sat on the sidelines despite their little support for Bernardes. Furthermore, an upswing in Radical support nationally prevented Seabra's Liberals of gaining middle-class support.

In the end, the Conservatives won a majority of the seats. Seabra's Liberals struggled in the traditionally Liberal south and he obtained relatively weak support in the Northeast, outside of Bahia. However, the Liberals did resist better in Rio, where Peçanha's opposition to Bernardes likely helped them.

Chamber of Deputies

Conservative 86 (+22)
Liberal 56 (-27)
Radical 23 (+5)¹

Senate

Liberal 21 (-1)
Conservative 19 (+1)
Radical 3 (nc)



¹ The Radical results are compared to the combined strength of the Müller and Barbosa Radicals in 1918 (10 and 8 deputies respectively).

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Contestation: 1920-1923

Note on the 1920 provincial elections: Held on the same day as the general election, the provincial elections generally followed the pattern set by the general election. In Minas Gerais, the Conservatives led by Raul Soares won a strong majority. The major change came in São Paulo, where the Conservatives under Washington Luís broke 18 years of Liberal oligarchic rule. In Rio de Janeiro, Nilo Peçanha, running with Conservative and Liberal supported, defeated Radical opposition as well as a dissident pro-Bernardes Conservative. The Liberals maintained their hold on Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul.

Bernardes assumed power as Brazil's economy suffered a sharp decline following the coffee boom created by the Allied war demand. Exports fell rapidly, the country went under heavy debt and a tough budgetary deficit. Although he represented a more economically liberal view, Bernardes could not politically afford the costs of undertaking a tough orthodox policy like Campos Sales had attempted to do. He continued to support, officially, the valorization policy but turned over responsibility for the valorization policy to the provinces themselves.

Bernardes' government faced rising military discontent by 1920, military discontent which had been inexistent under the very pro-military Fonseca regime. Bernardes received only lukewarm support from senior officers in the military, though Bernardes was careful not to alienate senior officers. However, younger junior officers, just out of school, were inbred with idealist views of society, and talked in terms of equality, democracy, and national pride. They opposed what they saw as a corrupt, oligarchic and undemocratic system. Though they also opposed what they called an outdated system, they did not speak in the positivist tones of their predecessors in the 1880s: they opposed the parliamentary system, not the Empress.

Dona Isabel I died on November 14, 1921. Having never fully recovered from the death of her younger sons, Prince Antônio Gastão (who had died in a plane accident in 1918) and most recently Prince Luís who had died in 1920. Dom Pedro, Isabel's eldest son, acceded to the Imperial Throne of Brazil in November 1921 as Dom Pedro III.

The year 1922 marked the centenary of Brazilian independence from Portugal, and marked the development of a new intellectual and artistic movement in Brazil, which broke from the old European traditionalism. Led by Graça Aranha, Oswald de Andrade, and Plínio Salgado, this new movement, called Brazilian modernists, rejected old academicism and the pro-Portuguese view of Brazilian history. While they argued that Brazil was historically influenced by Portugal, it  needed to create its own history and art. Led by these modernist thinkers, the Modern Arts Weeks in São Paulo (February 1922) led to unforeseen introspection and ideas, which conflicted with the old Brazilian Academy of Letters.

At the same time, influenced by this intellectual movement, new political movements led by the clergy or radicals took a new interest in working-class politics. While the Catholic Church was becoming more concerned by the plight of the proletariat, a group of radicals founded the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) in March 1922 in Niterói.

At the same time, the junior officers in the military were growing restless. Isolated within their own ranks by the unwillingness of senior officers to take up the banner of reformism, their hopes for advancement were frustrated by the government. In July 1922, a small group took up arms at Igrejinha Fort on Copacabana Beach. However, lacking support from senior officers and suffering from their lack of organization, their quixotic struggle was quickly crushed.

However, the revolt of the officers in July 1922 was not an isolated incident and there was growing military and political opposition to the political system. Bernardes enforced a state of siege throughout Brazil following the revolt at Igrejinha Fort, but the new Emperor became increasingly worried by the rise of revolutionary activity, although he felt that he was not directly threatened.

Furthermore, Bernardes spearheaded the passage of legislation which banned the new PCB, as well as a law limiting freedom of expression under the state of siege and a law which enabled the government to expel any 'foreigner' found to be fermenting political revolution in Brazil. These moves were widely popular with the old political brokers of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, fearing now more than ever for their enshrined power.

Despite the intellectual, military and political contestation to the political regime, it remained solidly installed and Bernardes' Conservatives were favoured in the upcoming 1923 election. However, other events would soon change the Conservative Party.

In Rio Grande do Sul, ruled by Liberal Governor Borges de Medeiros since 1908, the Conservatives and Radicals were hoping to make important gains in the 1923 election, with their top candidate Joaquim Francisco de Assis Brasil. Assis Brasil, an old Republican from the late days of Dom Pedro II, had originally been out of the political game following the old Republican Party's decline following the failed 1889 coup. However, the Conservatives and Radicals had recruited the elder politician and respected local statesman to run, mostly to oppose Borges de Medeiros's authoritarian and controversial management of the province. Bernardes, whose relations with the leaders of the Riograndense Liberals (Borges de Medeiros, Fonseca and Machado) were terrible, quietly intervened in the province (violating the constitution and the 'federal reform' of the 1890s) in favour of Assis Brasil.

Nationally, however, the situation proved more peaceful, and Bernardes' Conservative government was popular with the Paulista and mineiros power-brokers and the Liberals were divided and leaderless since the 1920 defeat. The Radicals, still led by Müller, created a large alliance including the fledgling Brazilian radical left (including the banned PCB and the old Socialists) and the Brazilian modernist movement. In June, the Conservatives won a slightly larger majority.

Chamber of Deputies

Conservative 90 (+4)
Liberal 54 (-2)
Radical Alliance 21 (-2)

Senate

Conservative 22 (+3)
Liberal 20 (-1)
Radical Alliance 1 (-2)



In provincial elections, the situation in the main provinces remained similar to 1920. Raul Soares and Washington Luís won by landslide margins in their own provinces, and Nilo Peçanha once again narrowly held on. However, the main race was of course in Rio Grande do Sul. The results, tallied by the provincial government, gave Borges 49% of the vote against 47% for Assis Brasil' Conservative-Radical coalition.

With a poor economy and a dishonest election, the province rose in revolt. Supported by the middle class, a good number of German immigrants and most of the national government in Rio, Assis Brasil's partisans lacked organization and the crucial local military and oligarchic support. Meanwhile, in Rio, Bernardes was plotting with Assis Brasil's lieutenants to engineer a plot to assassinate Borges and install a Assis Brasil-led Conservative government in Porto Alegre. However, Bernardes' illegal intervention was noted by the Emperor, who for the first time in a very long time waged his moderating power in August 1923 by dismissing Bernardes and forcing a ceasefire in the Gaúcho province. Dom Pedro, a strict follower of the constitution, had not digested Bernardes' violation of the constitution in his intervention in Rio Grande do Sul and had wanted to flew imperial muscle partly to re-assert imperial control and final veto in a political system where contestation was rising.

In Rio Grande do Sul, a ceasefire was signed in August 1923 and was followed by a deal between the warring factions in September. Under the deal, Borges would remain as Governor until 1926 but would govern in a coalition with Assis Brasil's supporters and Borges' more authoritarian power blocks were removed.

NEXT: A new leader for Brazil... take guesses!

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Premiers:

Zacarias de Góis e Vasconcelos: 1866-1870
José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Visconde do Rio Branco: 1870-1875
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duque de Caxias: 1875-1878
José Antônio Saraiva: 1878-1884
Franklin Américo de Meneses Dória: 1884-1885
João Lustosa da Cunha Paranaguá, Marquês de Paranaguá: 1885
João Maurício Wanderley, Barão de Cotejipe: 1885-1887
João Alfredo Correia de Oliveira: 1887-1888
Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Visconde de Ouro Preto: 1888-1893
Lafayette Rodrigues Pereira: 1893-1897
Rodrigo Augusto da Silva: 1897-1901
Eduardo Ernesto da Gama Cerqueira:1901
Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves: 1901-1906
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena: 1906-1909
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes: 1909-1912
Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales: 1912-1913
Altino Arantes Marques: 1913-1915
Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca: 1915-1920
José Joaquim Seabra: 1920
Artur da Silva Bernardes: 1920-1923


Governors of Minas Gerais:

Francisco Silviano de Almeida Brandão: 1896-1901
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena: 1901-1906
João Pinheiro da Silva: 1906-1908
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes: 1908-1909
Júlio Bueno Brandão: 1909-1914
Artur da Silva Bernardes: 1914-1920
Raul Soares de Moura: 1920-

Governors of SP:

Pedro Vicente de Azevedo: 1896-1902
Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales: 1902-1912
Altino Arantes Marques: 1912-1913
Manuel Joaquim de Albuquerque Lins: 1913-1917
Altino Arantes Marques: 1917-1920
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa: 1920-

Governors of Rio de Janeiro:

José Bento de Araújo: 1896-1902
Quintino Antônio Ferreira de Sousa Bocaiúva: 1902-1908
Francisco Chaves de Oliveira Botelho: 1908-1911
Nilo Procópio Peçanha: 1911-1920
Nilo Procópio Peçanha: 1920-

Governors of Rio Grande do Sul:

Gaspar da Silveira Martins: 1896-1901
Justo de Azambuja Rangel: 1901-1902
Carlos Barbosa Gonçalves: 1902-1908
Antônio Augusto Borges de Medeiros: 1908-

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A Feeble Regime: 1923-1929

Following Bernardes' dismissal by the Emperor, the Conservative caucus elected the Governor of São Paulo, Washington Luís as President of the Council. Luís was a popular politician, and had good relations with Minas Gerais and other states. His accession to the top spot in government was greeted with optimism, and his first move was to lift the state of siege and declare a general amnesty for political prisoners. Carlos de Campos succeeded him as Governor of São Paulo.

However, Luís was soon faced with renewed troubles. The economic growth was slow, and the close alliance between the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais alienated other states, notably Rio Grande do Sul and certain Northeastern states such as Bahia and Pernambuco. Furthermore, the military remained skeptic of the Conservatives and offered only lukewarm support to Luís.

On July 5, the city of São Paulo broke out in revolt against the provincial government of Carlos de Campos, who had grown unpopular. Young military officers, led by General Isidoro Dias Lopes, occupied the city and the provincial government was forced to flee the city. However, government troops led by Colonel Fernando Prestes de Albuquerque (Provincial Secretary of Defense in the Campos government) and supported by light artillery and aviation from Minas Gerais, were able to successfully lay siege to the city and weakened the rebel's hold on the city through numerous bombing raids. Without aerial support, the rebels fled the city and marched towards to Três Lagoas on the border with Mato Grosso, where government backup troops were stationed. However, Isidoro's rebels were defeated by the governmental forces in Três Lagoas and forced to retreat, first towards Foz do Iguaçu in Paraná and later towards Rio Grande do Sul, where rebels led by the young Luis Carlos Prestes were leading a small-scale revolt. By August, São Paulo was pacified at the price of thousands of deaths and bombing raids. However, in October, Prestes' rebels in Rio Grande do Sul broke out in revolt, but they were forced to retreat. Prestes' rebels formed the Prestes Column, which marched through the lush jungle of inner Brazil and western Brazil, escaping imperial troops.

The Emperor, fearful for peace in Brazil as well as his own power, forced Carlos de Campos to resign as Governor in favour of a coalition led by Senator Antônio da Silva Prado and supported by Fernando Prestes de Albuquerque. He also forced Washington Luís to lift the state of siege in Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná and São Paulo as quickly as possible to allow for a return to order.

Raul Soares, the Governor of Minas Gerais died in August 1924 and was succeded by Fernando de Melo Viana, a close ally of Washington Luís.

To appease the growing urban working class, the Conservative government in 1925 decreed the right to 15 vacation days per year for industrial, commercial and bank workers in Brazil. Yet, anti-union legislation remained stringent and the number of 'foreigners' expelled from Brazil for alledgedly formenting revolt and workers' movements increased during Washington Luís' term in office.

On the foreign policy front, the Conservatives were far more isolationists than the Liberals had been once in power. It regarded the League and Europe with growing suspicion, and it was less keen on efforts at South American unity. Yet, Brazil attended the Pan-American Santiago Conference in 1923 and supported efforts to arbitrate conflicts and border disputes between American nations. In 1924, Brazil's Foreign Minister, José Félix Alves Pacheco, signed a treaty of cooperation with the United Kingdom. The Conservatives aligned themselves with Europe, especially London.

There was growing discontent with the political and economic system in Brazil, but the Liberal opposition could not take advantage of it. It remained divided, leader-less and its policy was extremely similar to that of the Conservatives in that it did not advocate any reforms of importance. Only the Radicals, led by the aging Lauro Müller, were the only ones able to capitalize on the unpopularity of the political system.

In the 1926 elections, thanks to their unorthodox methods and electoral deals with various states, the Conservatives were returned with a large majority. The Liberals won one of their worst results ever, while the Radicals won their best result ever.

Chamber of Deputies

Conservative 98 (+8)
Liberal 41 (-13)
Radical Alliance 26 (+5)

Senate

Conservative 24 (+2)
Liberal 16 (-4)
Radical Alliance 3 (+2)



In provincial elections, the Conservatives led by Fernando de Melo Viana won in Minas Gerais and Carlos de Campos won a stunning comeback in São Paulo following the retirement of Antônio da Silva Prado. In Rio de Janeiro, Prado's son, Antônio da Silva Prado Júnior finally defeated Peçanha, who failed to win sufficent Liberal and Radical support. In Rio Grande do Sul, Borges' forced retirement (as per the 1923 deal) led to the election of a young Liberal provincial deputy, Getúlio Vargas.

The second term of Washington Luís in government was relatively quiet compared to the first one. Between 1926 and 1929, Brazil's economic growth picked up and coffee exports reached new heights in 1926 and 1927. Industrial growth in the country was also picking up speed, notably with the opening of a General Motors (GM) car plant in the industrial hinterland around São Paulo. As a result of this industrial growth, the Confederação Geral do Trabalho (CGT) trade union was founded in 1927.

In São Paulo, Governor Campos died in 1927 and his death led to a succession crisis within the Paulista Conservative organization. On one side, Fernando Prestes de Albuquerque supported the candidacy of his son, Júlio Prestes agianst that of Antônio da Silva Prado. In the end, the young maverick Júlio Prestes defeated Antônio da Silva Prado. However, this led to an internal split in the party led by Antônio da Silva Prado and his son, the Governor of Rio, Prado Júnior. They became Independent Conservatives.

Yet, Washington Luís resisted calls for political reforms from the Radicals (led by Müller's ally, Antônio Pereira da Silva e Oliveira, following Müller's death in 1926) and some Liberals. The Conservatives insisted that electoral reform should be a provincial issue.

Between 1927 and 1929, Washington Luís' government became noted for its internal development policies, pushing for the construction and paving of a number of important roads between the coastal cities.

In June 1929, the Conservatives went into the electoral campaign as the heavy favourites, pushed by strong economic results and development inland. The Liberals were still weak and divided, and no figure could emerge as a national leader. The Conservatives won another term, their fourth electoral victory since 1920, but the Liberals picked up speed, most notably in Rio Grande do Sul, where Governor Getúlio Vargas proved extremely popular and a good vote machine for the party. Prado's Independent Conservatives allied with the Liberals, and won around 5 seats.

Chamber of Deputies

Conservative 87 (-11)
Liberal 50 (+9)
Radical Alliance 28 (+2)

Senate

Conservative 21 (-3)
Liberal 19 (+3)
Radical Alliance 3 (nc)



In provincial elections, Júlio Prestes won in São Paulo and Fernando de Melo Viana won in Minas Gerais. In Rio de Janeiro, Prado Júnior was re-elected in a landslide with Liberal support and the support of many Conservatives. Getúlio Vargas won over 60% of the votes running for re-election in Rio Grande do Sul, despite Assis Brasil's candidacy.

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Premiers:

Zacarias de Góis e Vasconcelos: 1866-1870
José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Visconde do Rio Branco: 1870-1875
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duque de Caxias: 1875-1878
José Antônio Saraiva: 1878-1884
Franklin Américo de Meneses Dória: 1884-1885
João Lustosa da Cunha Paranaguá, Marquês de Paranaguá: 1885
João Maurício Wanderley, Barão de Cotejipe: 1885-1887
João Alfredo Correia de Oliveira: 1887-1888
Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Visconde de Ouro Preto: 1888-1893
Lafayette Rodrigues Pereira: 1893-1897
Rodrigo Augusto da Silva: 1897-1901
Eduardo Ernesto da Gama Cerqueira:1901
Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves: 1901-1906
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena: 1906-1909
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes: 1909-1912
Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales: 1912-1913
Altino Arantes Marques: 1913-1915
Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca: 1915-1920
José Joaquim Seabra: 1920
Artur da Silva Bernardes: 1920-1923
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa: 1923-


Governors of Minas Gerais:

Francisco Silviano de Almeida Brandão: 1896-1901
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena: 1901-1906
João Pinheiro da Silva: 1906-1908
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes: 1908-1909
Júlio Bueno Brandão: 1909-1914
Artur da Silva Bernardes: 1914-1920
Raul Soares de Moura: 1920-1924
Fernando de Melo Viana: 1924-

Governors of SP:

Pedro Vicente de Azevedo: 1896-1902
Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales: 1902-1912
Altino Arantes Marques: 1912-1913
Manuel Joaquim de Albuquerque Lins: 1913-1917
Altino Arantes Marques: 1917-1920
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa: 1920-1923
Carlos de Campos: 1923-1924
Antônio da Silva Prado: 1924-1926
Carlos de Campos: 1924-1927
Júlio Prestes de Albuquerque: 1927-

Governors of Rio de Janeiro:

José Bento de Araújo: 1896-1902
Quintino Antônio Ferreira de Sousa Bocaiúva: 1902-1908
Francisco Chaves de Oliveira Botelho: 1908-1911
Nilo Procópio Peçanha: 1911-1920
Nilo Procópio Peçanha: 1920-1926
Antônio da Silva Prado Júnior: 1926-

Governors of Rio Grande do Sul:

Gaspar da Silveira Martins: 1896-1901
Justo de Azambuja Rangel: 1901-1902
Carlos Barbosa Gonçalves: 1902-1908
Antônio Augusto Borges de Medeiros: 1908-1926
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas: 1926-

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A New Beginning: 1930

In October 1929, Wall Street crashed, sending the economy of the United States and the quasi-entirety down with it. In Brazil, coffee exports in 1929 fell drastically, almost reaching a record low and the government's debt increased. The old policy of coffee valorization could not work and was ruining the government's finances. The major states, Minas Gerais and São Paulo were turning bankrupt.

Washington Luís tried to cut spending, but he was forced by his party to maintain the valorization policy, which won him the continued support of a shaky party but led to a general worsening of the economic situation by December 1929. Protests erupted, and the small states of the Northeast as well as Rio Grande do Sul were threatening violent action if the government did not resign and a new government formed. In late 1929, the Liberal Governor of Paraíba, João Pessoa, was assassinated in a mysterious fashion and led to outbreak of violent clashes in the Northeast between various warring armed factions.

In January 1930, the situation was deteriorating rapidly with an economy still in decline and the country on the brink of civil war. The Emperor called Washington Luís to Rio de Janeiro, where he forced him to resign.

On January 15, 1930; the Emperor nominated the Liberal Governor of Rio Grande do Sul Getúlio Vargas as Prime Minister of the Empire of Brazil. The same day, the Emperor dissolved Parliament and called for snap general elections in February 1930.

The campaign was held under weird circumstances. The Liberals campaigned as the de-facto incumbents, but Vargas himself did little campaigning except for unveiling the program of the Liberal Party in Rio de Janeiro in late January. The Liberal program promised economic reforms, political reforms, and promised increased provincial powers and increased rights for workers and trade unions. The major figures of the tenente movement now supported the Liberals (and not the Radicals) as did many influential provincial figures. The Conservatives did very little campaigning, and their efforts at campaigning were blocked by the strong-arm tactics of certain Liberal leaders.

The Liberals won a landslide victory, while Conservatives and Radicals suffered major loses.

Chamber of Deputies

Liberal 102 (+52)
Conservative 48 (-39)
Radical Alliance 15 (-13)

Senate

Liberal 21 (+5)
Conservative 19 (-2)
Radical Alliance 0 (-3)



Vargas was called to form a permanent cabinet the next day. He formed a cabinet of national unity, one which included Afrânio de Mello Franco, a former Conservative as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Osvaldo Aranha as Justice Minister, Lindolfo Collor at the head of a new Labour Ministry and Mauricio Lacerda, the new leader of the pro-Vargas Radicals as Education and Health Minister.

Vargas' main problem lay with the provinces, and especially São Paulo, the new Conservative power base. Governor Júlio Prestes remained a thorn in Vargas' side throughout 1930 by refusing to comply with national policies on coffee reform. Yet, Vargas was able to buy the support or tolerance of most provincial Conservative leaders by making smart promises and giving them assurances that he would not intervene directly into provincial affairs.

In 1930, the pressing issue was getting out of the economic spiral. Vargas decreed a policy of strict coffee burning by the government to destroy all surplus coffee in an attempt to increase coffee sales on the international market with more advantageous prices for a world hit hard by the Wall Street crash.

The ambitious Vargas saw his political future not in continuing the oligarchic politics of the pre-1929 era, but rather in nurturing the growing working classes as a political base. He knew, however, that such a base must be tightly controlled by the government if it was to be reliable and useful. In late 1930, Vargas passed a law formally recognizing trade unions but linking them to the Labour Ministry, and the office of the Prime Minister himself.

Júlio Prestes lost the confidence of the Conservatives in São Paulo because of his assertive policy against Rio. The Conservatives recognized Vargas' growing popularity and they forced him to resign in favour of Armando de Sales Oliveira. Meanwhile, however, Vargas set up a close ally of his, João Alberto Lins de Barros, as the leader of the Liberal Party in the province. João Alberto Lins de Barros' real job, however, was a game of political intrigues with the intention of setting up a reliable political network in São Paulo for Vargas.

next: 1931-1933

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Consolidating Power: 1931-1934

Even after the 1930 elections, few thought that Vargas would be more than a mediocre short-lived Prime Minister. The Conservatives saw him as an inoffensive compromise leader chosen by the Emperor and the voters to weather through what they saw as a short-term bust in the economic cycle. They were confident that a gaúcho Prime Minister would not be able to break the old domination of Minas Gerais and São Paulo, only temporarily broken by contemporary conditions. Most compared him to Hermes da Fonseca, only with less prestige and support.
 
However that was to sorely underestimate Vargas' power and to completely misunderstand the profound impact of the Depression on Brazilian society, economics and politics. Vargas moved to assert his control. In Minas Gerais, Vargas gained support from Olegário Maciel, a Conservative known for his fascist and nationalist tendencies. In other states, he won the support of the old oligarchic machines by promising not to make major reforms endangering their positions.
 
However, Vargas needed to please the other faction which had brought him to power in 1930. The burgeoning middle-classes, made up of largely liberal and democratic elements, had been dissatisfied by the old Liberal-Conservative system and they saw Vargas, a minor player outside the political arena, as their hope for change. Many of these one-time Radical voters switched to support the Liberals in the 1930 electoral confirmation of Vargas' new regime. Many of the old tenentistas, notably Juarez Távora, Eduardo Gomes and Juracy Magalhães also supported Vargas' new regime. To please this demanding but rather weak faction of his 1930 electorate, Vargas decreed (bypassing Parliament) in May 1931 an electoral reform, the first major reform of the kind since the 1888 Dória Law. The major facets of the new law was the secret ballot, women's suffrage, an expansion of the size of the Chamber from 165 (the number had not changed since 1906) to 250 and the Senate from 43 to 60. The illiterates retained the vote, but since most were easily led into voting for the candidates endorsed by the coronels, so it offered little hope for major social reform in the sertão.
 
In June 1931, he decreed a vast reform of the electoral system for the election of deputies. There were to be 130 single-member seats and 120 seats elected through a proportional list system. The electoral reform showed the political skill of Vargas: through single-member districts, locals coronels could 'own' a constituency or build up a local stronghold with a strong link to their voters (or regimented followers, as was often the case) but with the list seats, Vargas sent a clear message to the old Radicals in favour of political reform.
 
But Vargas also knew that he needed to assert his personal control over the country. He took to governing by decrees and developed an excellent working relation with Dom Pedro III, who shared some of Vargas' authoritarian and nationalist feelings. In 1931, as part of his electoral reform, Vargas also arranged for an unofficial transfers of powers from Parliament to the office of Prime Minister. Vargas' reform reduced parliamentary oversight and gave him exclusive authority to intervene in the provinces and removed the Parliament's right to dismiss cabinet ministers by a parliamentary vote. To an extent never seen before, Vargas made the office of Prime Minister the top position in the Brazilian political system. Vargas also built good relations with the clergy, assuring religious education in public schools.
 
Vargas, however, quickly came to the realization that the old tenentes were extremely demanding allies who in the end provided little electoral clientèle. General Isidoro Dias Lopes, the War Minister and famous leader of the 1924 Paulista revolt, fell out with Vargas over Vargas' over-reliance on government-by-decree. He was replaced in the cabinet by a Vargas loyalist, Góis Monteiro, who assured Vargas the full support of the army. Slowly, he freed himself from his old allies.
 
In terms of economic policy, Vargas' government decreed in 1931 a default on Brazil's foreign debt and renegotiated after a 3-years funding loan from abroad. Attempts at fiscal rigour (balanced budget) were cut short due to the government's purchase of coffee stocks and then by a drought in the northeast in 1932.
 
Vargas, in a method to assert his power over the country, was determined to build an electoral clientèle of his own within the divided and marginalized urban working-class. In 1931 and 1932, Parliament passed a number of populist laws which, among other things, prevented abusive bank interest rates or regulated women's labour. Yet, Vargas in 1932 remained a rather conservative leader. He cracked down as early on 1931 on the old trade unions, maintained the ban on the PCB despite decreeing a general amnesty for all other political prisoners, and led a very anti-communist policy overall. He would not tolerate the PCB as a rival for the votes and support of the Brazilian working-class.
 
Vargas faced opposition from factions of the old elite which he had sidelined in 1930. The Conservatives remained strong in a majority of provincial governments, thanks to the results of the 1929 provincial elections. In São Paulo, the Conservatives were still strong under the leadership of Governor Armando de Sales Oliveira, who, although more moderate than his aggressive predecessor Júlio Prestes, remained an opponent of Vargas, criticizing Vargas' authoritarian style of governance and the declining importance of Parliament. In his home state, the old oligarch Borges de Medeiros now opposed Vargas, but the power of General José Antônio Flores da Cunha and his local Riograndense militia prevented Borges from leading an armed revolt. Antônio Carlos de Andrada, who had originally been a Conservative ally of Vargas in 1930, criticized Vargas' style of governance and re-joined the opposition benches ahead of the 1932 provincial and 1933 general elections.
 
The 1932 provincial elections proved a major victory for Vargas' Liberals. The Conservatives, who were convinced that voters would now reject Vargas' new reforms and unusual authoritarian governance, were surprised that the voters continued to put their trust in the Liberals. The Conservatives did hold São Paulo, if only due to the unpopularity of the 'carpetbagger' João Alberto Lins de Barros. In Minas Gerais, however, the incumbent Conservatives, wrecked by deep internal divisions, were swept out of office in a massive landslide by the local Liberal-Conservative Party led by Olegário Maciel. Flores da Cunha established himself in Vargas' home province, while Juracy Magalhães won a landslide in Bahia. In Rio de Janeiro, Antônio da Silva Prado Júnior, now a Liberal ally of Vargas, won re-election. Borges de Medeiros' Gaúcho Front, allied to the Conservatives, did poorly in Rio Grande do Sul.

The Conservatives were convinced that Vargas would lose in 1933. But the strong Liberal victory in 1932, especially the symbolic landslide in Minas Gerais, forced the Conservatives to shed their unbridled optimism about 1933. During the campaign, the Conservatives put up a divided front, with two major figures vying for the spotlight. On one hand, Paulista Governor Armando de Sales Oliveira tried to appeal to the marginalized oligarchs but on the other hand, Antônio Carlos de Andrada tried to appeal to the reformers and democrats who had fallen out with Vargas. Neither worked, and Vargas' Liberals won a landslide victory.
 
Chamber of Deputies
 
Liberal and Liberal-Conservative 54.8% winning 145 seats (+43)
79 DS, 66 PLS
Conservative and Gaúcho Front 37.8% winning 92 seats (+44)
46 DS, 46 PLS
Radical Alliance 6.6% winning 13 seats (-2)
5 DS, 8 PLS
Others 0.8% winning 0 seats (nc)
 
Senate
 
Liberal 33 (+9)
Conservative 27 (+8)
 


Vargas was comfortably confirmed as Prime Minister, and his opposition was even more in disarray. In late 1933, he passed the first nationalist laws, limiting foreign ownership of land and companies. At the same time, he was quickly moving to kill the remnants of the fledgling Radical Alliance, whose support had been eaten up quasi-entirely by Vargas. He had the support of Maurício de Lacerda, Minister of Education and Health and the very pro-Vargas leader of the Radicals. Vargas' ultimate goal was a merger between Liberals and Radicals, and the creation of a new party which would serve as his personal electoral machine.

In late 1933, newly-elected Governor of Minas Gerais Olegário Maciel died. Instead of having the Liberal caucus in the provincial legislature elect his successor, Vargas intervened directly in the provincial politics of Minas Gerais and imposed a little-known deputy and former mayor, Benedito Valladares as Governor. His intervention in Minas Gerais showed that Vargas was intending to do likewise in other provinces if the situation arose.

Vargas' authority as Prime Minister, however, was soon to be threatened by extra-parliamentary organizations. On the right, the Brazilian Integralist Action (AIB), founded in late 1932 by modernist writer Plínio Salgado, was based in the reformist thoughts of the 1920s but Integralisms, influenced by Italian fascism, appealed to nationalist, conservative Christian values, and a respect for established authority and a strong traditional monarchist line. The Integralists were not organized as a political party and did not take part in the 1933 elections, but it organized as a party by 1934. The AIB was finding support from Italian and German Brazilians in the south as well as within the middle-class, showing that Vargas' original support with the middle-class was starting to weaken. On the left, the National Liberation Alliance (ALN), a coalition of communists, socialist, radicals and old tenentes but really a front for the banned PCB and allegedly under orders from Comintern in Moscow, was led clandestinely by Luís Carlos Prestes.

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Premiers:

Zacarias de Góis e Vasconcelos: 1866-1870
José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Visconde do Rio Branco: 1870-1875
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duque de Caxias: 1875-1878
José Antônio Saraiva: 1878-1884
Franklin Américo de Meneses Dória: 1884-1885
João Lustosa da Cunha Paranaguá, Marquês de Paranaguá: 1885
João Maurício Wanderley, Barão de Cotejipe: 1885-1887
João Alfredo Correia de Oliveira: 1887-1888
Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Visconde de Ouro Preto: 1888-1893
Lafayette Rodrigues Pereira: 1893-1897
Rodrigo Augusto da Silva: 1897-1901
Eduardo Ernesto da Gama Cerqueira:1901
Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves: 1901-1906
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena: 1906-1909
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes: 1909-1912
Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales: 1912-1913
Altino Arantes Marques: 1913-1915
Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca: 1915-1920
José Joaquim Seabra: 1920
Artur da Silva Bernardes: 1920-1923
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa: 1923-
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas: 1930-


Governors of Minas Gerais:

Francisco Silviano de Almeida Brandão: 1896-1901
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena: 1901-1906
João Pinheiro da Silva: 1906-1908
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes: 1908-1909
Júlio Bueno Brandão: 1909-1914
Artur da Silva Bernardes: 1914-1920
Raul Soares de Moura: 1920-1924
Fernando de Melo Viana: 1924-1932
Olegário Dias Maciel: 1932-1933
Benedito Valadares Ribeiro: 1933-

Governors of SP:

Pedro Vicente de Azevedo: 1896-1902
Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales: 1902-1912
Altino Arantes Marques: 1912-1913
Manuel Joaquim de Albuquerque Lins: 1913-1917
Altino Arantes Marques: 1917-1920
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa: 1920-1923
Carlos de Campos: 1923-1924
Antônio da Silva Prado: 1924-1926
Carlos de Campos: 1924-1927
Júlio Prestes de Albuquerque: 1927-1930
Armando de Sales Oliveira: 1930-

Governors of Rio de Janeiro:

José Bento de Araújo: 1896-1902
Quintino Antônio Ferreira de Sousa Bocaiúva: 1902-1908
Francisco Chaves de Oliveira Botelho: 1908-1911
Nilo Procópio Peçanha: 1911-1920
Nilo Procópio Peçanha: 1920-1926
Antônio da Silva Prado Júnior: 1926-1930
Antônio da Silva Prado Júnior: 1932-

Governors of Rio Grande do Sul:

Gaspar da Silveira Martins: 1896-1901
Justo de Azambuja Rangel: 1901-1902
Carlos Barbosa Gonçalves: 1902-1908
Antônio Augusto Borges de Medeiros: 1908-1926
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas: 1926-1930
José Antônio Flores da Cunha: 1930

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Turbulence and Assertion: 1935-1936

Street fighting broke out in São Paulo between the Integralists and ALN by October 1934, and Vargas' government was seemingly losing its grip over the country. His popularity was sliding, as he was losing middle-class reformist support to both left and right. In July 1935, Vargas moved and outlawed the ALN. He was taking a marked anti-communist path, and the Integralists saw his move against the ALN as a move in their favour. During the summer of 1935, Vargas also decreed a new Public Safety Law, which cracked down on 'subversive groups' and effectively centralized law enforcement in Brazil, removing considerable powers from the provinces.

In the 1935 provincial elections, the Liberals on average sustained only minor loses. Valladares was comforted in his new office of Governor of Minas Gerais with over 68% of the votes. In São Paulo, Sales de Oliveira was also re-elected by a large margin. In Bahia, Conservative candidate Octávio Mangabeira failed to unseat Juracy Magalhães. In Rio, Liberal Protógenes Guimarães was elected. Salgado's AIB made important gains, especially in the south, where it became the second party behind the Liberals. In Paraná, Salgado came within 2% of the Liberal incumbent.

Despite Vargas' moves in the summer, the ALN itself moved in late November 1935 by staging poorly-organized risings in Natal, Recife and Rio. Thanks in part to their poor coordination and organization, the communist revolts in the Northeast and Rio were crushed in a matter of days and their failure played into Vargas' hand to justify a consolidation of his power. On November 26, the Emperor allowed Vargas to decree a state of siege throughout the country, which allowed for a large number of arrests by the police. In December 1935, the government strengthened the Public Safety Law passed during the summer.

In terms of economic policy, Vargas' government felt that it had the necessary support to break from the coffee-driven economy. Brazil's dependence on one crop (which was imported to only a handful of countries, mostly in Europe and the US) had shown its dangers in the 1929 crash, which had led the old governmental coffee valorization schemes to go bankrupt and Brazil to accumulate a growing foreign debt. In early 1935, Vargas formally oriented his government's economic policy in favour of import-substitution industrialization (ISI). As with other Latin American countries, the depression had led to a shortage of materials and goods. Import-substitution industrialization was both for Vargas a pragmatic solution to the economic crisis but also a nationalist move, with the goal of moving Brazil away from reliance on foreign imports and the development of a strong Brazilian industry. In Brazil, the use of ISI was primarily focused on the local exploitation and use of Brazil's mineral resources, such as steel. With the shift towards ISI, Vargas' government clearly took an interventionist route never taken in the past by either Liberal or Conservative governments. Until 1930, the state acted primarily in response to the demands of the export sector. Now, Vargas' government was to lead the industrialization drive.

In early 1935, with a Democratic Congress in Washington D.C. favourable to lower tariffs, a trade agreement was signed between Brazil and the US, thereby reducing tariffs on certain Brazilian goods entering the US and on around 30 American products entering Brazil. While the move could have been seen as an economically liberal move, the trade agreement reduced tariffs on American products vital for industrialization, such as factory equipment or heavy machinery.

In January 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, and Nazi and fascist influence was already touching the Southern Cone, notably Argentina, where Uriburu's 1930 coup had been supported by the fascist Liga Patriótica Argentina. In Brazil, Nazi ideas were also finding fertile ground with the lower middle-class in the south of the country, notably in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, home to a number of German immigrants. Fascist influence was represented by the AIB, which remained strong in southern Brazil, especially in Salgado's home province of Paraná.

Nazis were finding increasing support high in the power structure, notably within the governing Liberal Party. The Chief of the Police in Rio, Filinto Müller, was the most notable Brazilian Nazi sympathizer in high standing. The Nazis fought with pro-American elements in Vargas' cabinet to decide Brazil's foreign policy. As Hitler's popularity grew in Germany and his power over Europe increased, the Liberal government slowly moved towards Germany for funding and materials. In response to the ANL revolts, Filinto Müller had been able to extradite Prestes' wife, the Jewish German communist Olga Benário, to Nazi Germany. Yet, the pro-American elements in the cabinet urged Vargas to steer clear of Germany, claiming that the United States had been Brazil's natural ally in the past decades. Vargas appreciated some of the authoritarian methods of Berlin, the corporatist methods of Rome but understood that Washington remained Brazil's best bet in terms of funding and support for Brazil's ambitious ISI.

After the crushing of the ALN revolts, Vargas moved further to assert his power. He created a Department of Public Safety, Information and Propaganda attached to the Ministry of the Interior. He continued to privilege government-by-decree and he increasingly ignored Parliament. Within the Liberal Party, he quashed internal opposition and asserted his authority over provincial sections of the party. In early 1936, he renamed the party as the Liberal Party of Brazil (Partido Liberal do Brasil, PLdoB) and moved further to crush the remnants of the Radical Alliance. Lacerda, the leader of the Radicals, himself joined the PLdoB in 1936.

The Conservatives remained divided, and their only figure of importance, Sales de Oliveira, preferred to turn his attention to governing his province. Only Octávio Mangabeira emerged as the leader of a weak and divided party. Vargas, still very popular, soared to one of the largest landslides in Brazilian history. The PLdoB won almost two-thirds of the seats.
 
Chamber of Deputies
 
Liberal Party of Brazil 54.7% winning 165 seats (+20)
98 DS, 67 PLS
Conservative and Gaúcho Front 31.0% winning 69 seats (-23)
31 DS, 38 PLS
Brazilian Integralist Action 10.6% winning 13 seats (+13)
1 DS, 12 PLS
Radical Alliance 3.1% winning 3 seats (-10)
0 DS, 3 PLS
Others 0.6% winning 0 seats (nc)
 
Senate
 
Liberal 35 (+2)
Conservative 23 (-4)
Brazilian Integralist Action 2 (+2)
 

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New Patterns in Brazilian Society and Politics: 1936-1939

Strong from winning nearly two-thirds of the seats in the Chamber, Vargas moved his attention by late 1936 to further assert his authority as the undisputed leader of Brazil. One institution lay in his way - the Council of State. Originally created by the 1824 Constitution as an executive body of advisors to a monarch who in 1824 ruled undisputed, but abolished by the liberal reforms of 1834 before being restored by a conservative reaction in 1844, the Council had progressively become an archaic body representing the descendants of the sugar barons of the Northeast and part of the new coffee elite of the Southeast. It had little power, most of it having been progressively unofficially transferred to the legislature. But by 1936, Vargas saw the Council of State as a danger to his authority and his strong relations with the Emperor. The Council of State was increasingly opposed to Vargas' social reforms and his push for an interventionist state in the economy, and the Emperor was giving the Council a larger role. Vargas moved quickly, before the Council could lead a conservative (or classical liberal, some would say) reaction to Vargas' reforms, but most importantly his authority.

In January 1937, Vargas' government proposed a wide-reaching constitutional reform embodied by the Second Additional Act (the first Additional Act had abolished the Council of State and led a wave of decentralization in 1834, but was repealed quasi-entirely in 1844). The Second Additional Act's major reforms included:

• Abolishing the Council of State
• Removing provincial oversight of local commerce, industry and public services
• Transferring authority for inter-provincial commerce and industrial development to the national government from provinces and independent bodies
• Institutionalizing the office of Prime Minister and granting the Prime Minister the authority to appoint ambassadors, diplomats, delegates, emissaries and public servants with the Emperor's consent
• A non-confidence motion in the government would take a three-fifths majority in both chambers to be carried
• Giving the Emperor (following consultation of the government) the authority to appoint caretaker interim governors, local officials or mayors in provinces, districts or towns prone to 'civil disturbances' and 'threats to public safety'
• Creation of a Tribunal of Public Safety with power to arrest and try those suspected or guilty of 'subversive acts' or 'acts against the Empire'

The Second Additional Act passed the Chamber of Deputies in the summer of 1937 with the support of almost all Liberal and Integralist deputies and limited support from Conservatives and one Radical. The Radicals denounced the reform as a move towards authoritarianism, the Conservatives decried the abolition of the Council of State and some Liberals, most notably Vargas' early tenentes allies broke with the government on the issue. Those Liberals who broke ranks with the government included Juracy Magalhães (Governor of Bahia), Juarez Távora (Minister of Transportation) and Eduardo Gomes (Liberal Senator), all prominent tenente leaders of the 1920s active in the Liberal Party. The passage of the Second Additional Act marked a definite break from the idealistic liberal views of the tenentes in favour of a more populist and authoritarian views of Vargas and his closest allies.

The Council of State had been the base of the sugar barons of the Northeast, and their support  remained vital for Vargas, whose coalition included a number of leading Northeasterners. In order to assuage their fears that Vargas would quash their regional and personal interests, Vargas allied with them to quash peasant rebellions and banditry.

While asserting his power, Vargas also moved to cultivate a new Brazilian identity and sense of nationalism. In the past, neither major parties had used much nationalist rhetoric and Brazil's economy was entirely dependent on the sale of one crop to a handful of markets and the importation of goods from abroad. The Modern Arts Week in 1922 had led to the birth of the first nationalist movements, but these were developments in the artistic community rather than in the political class. As in much of Latin America, the Great Depression, which resulted in a lack of foreign goods, led to the growth of local industry and this encouraged a nationalist sentiment. In 1937, Vargas' government pushed through additional laws limiting foreign ownership of land and companies, and Vargas' government intended to nationalize a number of existing Brazilian companies. In late 1938, the Parliament passed a law giving the national government full control of the exploitation, regulation and distribution of petroleum in Brazil. In 1939, oil was discovered in Bahia.

The development of the Brazilian interior (the centre-west, including the vast empty lands of Mato Grosso) was a vital point in Vargas' nationalist governance. His government inaugurated in late 1938 a road linking Bahia with Rio, further expanded to Recife by 1940. Rail links in the south and southeast doubled, and the government encouraged colonization of the interior and of undeveloped regions of the Northeast and Amazon, notably to develop the struggling rubber industry.

The 1938 provincial elections saw another landslide for the Liberals. In São Paulo, Salles de Oliveira's retirement led to the election of Ademar de Barros, a Liberal though originally an opponent of Vargas. In Rio, Vargas' son-in-law, Admiral Ernâni do Amaral Peixoto was elected Governor. The only disappointment was Juracy Magalhães' re-election as a Conservative in Bahia. In Rio Grande do Sul, Flores da Cunha, Vargas' former protege in his home province, had broken with the government in 1937 and was defeated for re-election by Osvaldo Cordeiro de Farias, a military officer close to Vargas.

Following the elections, Vargas proceeded to a cabinet shuffle. Osvaldo Aranha, the former Minister of Justice and incumbent Brazilian Ambassador in Washington, became Minister of Foreign Affairs while Francisco Campos became Minister of Justice. The Chief of the Police in Rio, Filinto Müller, became Interior Minister while General Eurico Gaspar Dutra replaced Góis Monteiro as War Minister.

The nomination of Aranha, a close friend of President Roosevelt and a keen pro-American element, was interpreted by some circles as a clear shift in the government's foreign policy. But Filinto Müller, a known fascist sympathizer and a guest of Heinrich Himmler in Berlin in 1937, received a major promotion as well. Campos also represented a pro-German and fascist-leaning wing of the government, and pro-German factions remained dominant in the military. Vargas continued to play both sides at the same time.

In the regional context, Vargas' government sought to establish Brazil as a regional leader. Brazil attended the 1938 and 1939 Pan-American Conferences. However, Argentina's Foreign Minister, Carlos Saveedra Lamas, had gained widespread notoriety and praise during his tenure (1932-1938) for his efforts to end the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and to spearhead efforts at collective security in the continent. Brazil watched Argentina's action with skepticism and an ounce of jealousy.

Vargas sought a fourth term in office in the 1939 election, and he faced a reinvigorated Conservative opposition, now led by Juracy Magalhães and renamed as the Conservative Democratic Union (UDC). The Conservatives hoped that Magalhães would be able to deliver the Northeast to them while doing well with the urban middle-classes and wealthy liberal elements in the southeast. However, Vargas remained popular and benefited from the support of the military as well as anti-communist right-leaning elements. The Liberals won a fourth straight victory, and they ended up with three-fifths of the seats in Parliament,

Chamber of Deputies
 
Liberal Party of Brazil 51.9% winning 150 seats (-15)
87 DS, 63 PLS
Conservative Democratic Union 34.7% winning 84 seats (+15)
42 DS, 42 PLS
Brazilian Integralist Action 10.9% winning 14 seats (+1)
1 DS, 13 PLS
Radical Alliance 1.8% winning 2 seats (-1)
0 DS, 2 PLS
Others 0.7% winning 0 seats (nc)
 
Senate
 
Liberal Party of Brazil 32 (-3)
Conservative Democratic Union 25 (+2)
Brazilian Integralist Action 3 (+1)
 

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World at War: 1939-1942

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, plunging Europe and most of the world into a second world war. Unlike in 1914, when Brazil had quickly entered the war thanks to the strong pro-Allied sentiment in the Imperial Family and political class, there was no desire for Brazil to enter the war in September 1939. By September 3, 1939; when Britain and France declared war on Germany; the Parliament passed a resolution proclaiming Brazil's neutrality in the conflict. The government saw neutrality as the most advantageous position for Brazil, as it would allow Brazil to trade with both the Axis and Allies and reap the benefits of trading with both. Only certain pro-Allied Conservatives wished for a declaration of war on Germany, and the Integralists, secretly funded by Rome, were supportive of declaration of war on the Allied powers.

Almost all other American nations declared their neutrality by 1939 as well. While Argentina's government was close to Great Britain and had an economy largely dependent on British attitudes, its military's pro-German attitude prevented the government from declaring war on the Axis.

In mid-1940, the members of the Pan American Union formed a mutual defense pact during a meeting in Havana. The pact was aimed at guaranteeing collective security in the Americas, and Brazil was represented by Osvaldo Aranha.

At home, the government continued a policy of industrialization and internal development aided by increasing American investment or funding. On May 1, 1940 the government announced the creation of a minimum wage and Parliament passed a law guaranteeing employment stability after ten years of employment. At the same time, the government pushed for the creation of a Brazilian steel industry. However, the growth of Brazilian industry, especially the steel working and mining industry, required foreign investment.

Emperor Dom Pedro III died on January 29, 1940 at the age of 65. The late Emperor was buried in the Imperial crypt of the Cathedral of São Pedro de Alcântara, in a solemn ceremony attended notably by US Secretary of State Cordell Hull. He was succeeded by Prince Imperial Pedro Gastão as Dom Pedro IV, Emperor of Brazil.

Foreign investment pushed Rio closer and closer to Washington over the year 1940 and 1941, thanks largely to the pro-American policies of Osvaldo Aranha, the Foreign Minister. In early 1941, the Washington Accords were signed between Brazil and the United States, giving Brazil over $100 million dollars in loans for the development of Brazilian industry.

The 1941 provincial elections were remarkably stable, although the Liberals made slight gains, mainly at the expense of the AIB, whose positions in the south slowly receded. In Bahia, Magalhães was defeated for re-elected by Renato Onofre Pinto Aleixo, a close ally of Vargas and leader of the provincial Liberals.

On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor, leading the United States into the war in Asia and Europe. The United States, enjoying great influence over most smaller South American nations, pushed them to join Washington in declaring war on the Axis. Minor nations including Panama, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Cuba declared war on the Axis only a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, continental South America remained largely neutral.

At the Pan American Conference held in Rio de Janeiro in January 1942, the United States was able to push Brazil and most other South American nations except Argentina and Chile to condemn the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and push towards a break in diplomatic relations between the Americas and the Axis.

The Vargas government remained opposed to war, even by early 1942, but under the influence of Aranha and Washington's diplomatic and economic pressure, the government acquiesced to a secret pact with Washington which secured American investment in the construction of a major steel mill in Volta Redonda (RJ) in return for Brazilian support of the American war effort and the concession to Washington of strategic military bases in the Northeast. Ahead of the June elections, the government cracked down slowly on internal pro-Axis movements and fascist sympathizers. In April 1942, in a further move to please Washington, the government banned the Integralist Action (AIB).

The 1942 elections were not fought over the issue of Brazilian participation in the war effort, but mostly on internal issues. The Conservatives remained divided, demoralized and unable to attack the incumbent government on any major front. The Liberals won a fifth term in office

Chamber of Deputies
 
Liberal Party of Brazil 53.7% winning 147 seats (-3)
82 DS, 65 PLS
Conservative Democratic Union 37.8% winning 92 seats (+8)
46 DS, 46 PLS
Others and Independents 4.9% winning 6 seats (+6)
1 DS, 5 PLS
Radical Alliance 3.6% winning 5 seats (+3)
1 DS, 4 PLS
 
Senate
 
Liberal Party of Brazil 33 (+1)
Conservative Democratic Union 27 (+2)
 

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Are there any socialist/social democratic/labor movements in the Empire?

Yes, and I've already given a passing mention in the past posts (well, not the most recent ones) to some of them. Basically, trade unions were independent in the 1910-1930 era, and were divided, small, weak and repressed by governments. Vargas and his allies took them over and slowly corporatized them starting in 1930. The working-class is staunchly Liberal, obviously, and actual socialist parties are either banned or tiny.

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Brazil at War: 1942-1945

During the month of August 1942, German and Italian submarine attacks on Brazilian shipping increased drastically, as a result of worsening relations between Rio and Berlin as well as the Rio Declaration in January 1942. Between August 15 and 17, the U-507 sank five Brazilian merchant and passenger vessels in a row. In Rio, anti-German sentiment increased with news of the sinking of the five ships and police needed to be called in to quell rioters who were attacking and looting German-owned shops and homes in downtown Rio.

On August 22, Prime Minister Vargas addressed a joint session of Parliament in Rio.

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Vargas concluded his speech to thunderous acclamation from the government and opposition benches alike, and the joint session of Parliament voted 299 against 9 for a declaration of war against Germany and Italy. Only five Independents and four Radicals voted against the resolution.

Yet, despite the vast popularity of the war in Parliament, Vargas had needed to convince the last reticent figures in his government about the need for a declaration of war. In late July, he had already silently dismissed the two leading fascist sympathizers in his government; Justice Minister Francisco Campos, replaced by Alexandre Marcondes Machado Filho and Interior Minister Filinto Müller, who was not replaced. General Eurico Gaspar Dutra, also a leading pro-German figure, was finally convinced to support the war.

Upon declaration of war, the government set about assembling the fighting force which Vargas had talked about in his August 22 address. Under War Minister Dutra, the government aimed to build a force of 100,000 men to fight in Italy by 1943-1944.

The government also increased cooperation with the United States. Complementing the 1941 Washington Accords, the Brazilian government in December 1942 allowed the United States to build a number of air bases in the Nordeste, a key strategic region for the US air force flying to Europe. In January 1943, Brazil signed the Atlantic Charter and adhered to the Organization of the United Nations and on January 29, Vargas met with US President Roosevelt, going to Casablanca, in Natal. Vargas declared himself absolutely certain of victory, judging that "Germany's military power... was collapsing... slowly but surely, and the combined might of Brazil, the United States and the Allied powers will bring it down".


Prime Minister Vargas with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Natal 1943.

The war also led to an outburst of Brazilian nationalism and a boom in the Brazilian economy, pushed by a new rubber boom in the Nordeste and Amazon to feed the Allies with an alternative source of rubber now that rubber plantations in southeast Asia were occupied by Japan. The government also encouraged nationalism, but the new nationalism was different than the old 'European' nationalism of the 1920s in that more and more intellectuals recognized the contributions of Native Americans to the Brazilian culture and psyche. In fact, the government decreed April 19, 1944 as the "Day of the Indian".

At home, the marking event of 1943 was the passage by Parliament of the Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho, a set of laws consolidating all past labour laws passed, including minimum wage increases, unemployment insurance and working hours regulations, into a single law and creating a special tribunal to deal with labour disputes.

In late 1943, the Imperial Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEIB) was created and placed under the command of Dutra in Rio and Generals Mascarenhas de Moraes and Zenóbio da Costa (in charge of the infantry, or the 1st Imperial Brazilian Division). The force, which ended up compromising of only 41,000 men embarked for Italy for frontline combat on the Gothic Line as part of the 15th Army Group under Field Marshal Harold Alexander, within the U.S. Fifth Army, IV Corps commanded by Major-General Willis D. Crittenberger. In late 1944 and early 1945, the Brazilians won a major victory directly against the Nazis at Monte Castello. Between February and March 1945, the Brazilian Division and the U.S. 10th Mountain Division captured important positions on the Apennines, which deprived the Germans of key artillery positions on the mountains. The Brazilians entered Bologna with other Allied troops on April 21, and marched into Parma on April 25. From there, the FEIB marched into German territory around the Taro River and liberated Fornovo di Taro on April 29. The FEIB reached Turin and the French border as Germany surrendered in early May 1945. The small Imperial Air Force also participated in combat in Italy, while the Imperial Navy engaged in operations in the Atlantic along the Brazilian coast but also in the zone between the south Atlantic and the Straits of Gibraltar.

At home, the government's nationalist movements were unable to contain a genuine democratic and liberal movement which demanded more civil liberties, democratic reforms and an end to the Vargas Liberal regime, judged to be growing more authoritarian and archaic by the day. In the 1944 provincial elections, the Liberals suffered their first real setbacks. In Minas Gerais, Benedito Valadares retired to run in the 1945 elections, and it was a Conservative, Milton Campos, who was elected on a liberal platform supported by former Prime Minister Artur Bernardes, Afonso Arinos de Melo Franco and José de Magalhães Pinto. José Américo de Almeida, a Liberal dissident also running on a liberal platform won in Paraíba. While Adhemar, who built a clientelist network and was distancing himself from Vargas, held on in São Paulo, and Ernesto Dorneles (Governor since 1943, when Cordeiro de Farias left office to fight in Europe) also won a full term outright in Rio Grande do Sul, the Liberals lost control of the provincial base which Vargas had so keenly and smartly built starting in 1930.

The Conservative opposition, energized by the results, pressured the government to proclaim a general amnesty in April 1945, notably freeing Luís Carlos Prestes. In May 1945, the government removed the ban on the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) and the Brazilian Integralist Action (AIB). The Conservative opposition, still known formally as the Conservative Democratic Union (UDC), fell under the leadership of the generation of the tenentes, notably Eduardo Gomes, who won the party leadership in late 1945. Other members of the UDC included Carlos Lacerda, José de Magalhães Pinto and Milton Campos. In the 1945 campaign, despite the strong Getulist organizations around Hugo Borghi, there was a clear shift in the popular mood. The economy was very strong, the war was won; but Vargas' regime was seen as old, stale, archaic and authoritarian. Gomes' Conservatives campaigned on a platform calling for democratic reforms, a more liberal economic policy (Gomes fell short of calling for the abolition of the minimum wage) and a stringently anti-communist foreign policy. On the far-left, the newly legalized PCB attracted a good share of previously Liberal urban voters, while the newly re-legalized far-right led by Salgado was struggling to regain its pre-war electorate, with voters wary of authoritarianism and fascism discredited by the war (though Salgado insisted he was not fascist). The military (which could not vote), which had supported Vargas beginning in 1930, turned, out of opportunism, against the Liberals in 1945. Dutra resigned from the War Ministry in April 1945 to run for Senate, while Góis Monteiro, Vargas' other main high-ranking military ally, was conspicuously absent and fell short of supporting Vargas. A new Socialist Party (PSB) was founded, close to the Conservatives, and stringently opposed to Vargas' corporatist union structure. It was led by João Mangabeira, the brother of the former Conservative Governor of Bahia. In the end, the Conservatives won extremely narrowly, but fell quite short of the 126 seats needed for a majority.

Chamber of Deputies

Conservative Democratic Union 40.1% winning 112 seats (+20)
62 DS, 50 PLS
Liberal Party of Brazil 38.4% winning 109 seats (-38)
62 DS, 47 PLS
Brazilian Communist Party 10.1% winning 18 seats (+18)
6 DS, 12 PLS
Brazilian Integralist Action 4.8% winning 5 seats (+5)¹
0 DS, 5 PLS
Radical Alliance 4.5% winning 5 seats (nc)
0 DS, 5 PLS
Brazilian Socialist Party 1.2% winning 1 seat (+1)
0 DS, 1 PLS
Others 0.9% winning 0 seats (-6)
0 DS, 0 PLS

Senate
 
Conservative Democratic Union 30 (+3)
Liberal Party of Brazil 29 (-4)
Brazilian Communist Party 1 (+1)
 


¹ Independents, mostly banned Integralists, had won 6 seats in 1942, so the correct figure would be a net loss of one seat for the Integralists

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Interlude: 1945-1948

Eduardo Gomes took office on July 1, 1945; marking the end of fifteen years of Liberal Getulist dominance over Brazilian politics and the election of a conservative alternative, one based around the old liberal reformist values of the tenentes. Gomes' Conservative government was a minority cabinet, though it received official supports from the Radicals and the PSB in addition to the unofficial support of Salgado's Integralists and a few Liberals.

Gomes' cabinet expanded to include left-wingers and former Liberals. Former Liberal Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Osvaldo Cordeiro de Farias, became War Minister. Octávio Mangabeira, the Bahian Conservative, became Foreign Minister. Juarez Távora became Minister of Infrastructure and Development, Virgílio de Melo Franco became Minister of Justice, José Eduardo do Prado Kelly was given the Finance portfolio while Pedro Aleixo got Health and Education and Juracy Magalhães became Minister of Labour. João Mangabeira, the brother of the new Foreign Minister and the leader of the PSB, refused any cabinet position but vowed to support the government.

The Liberals were not in disarray. They remained under the leadership of Vargas, who installed himself as Leader of the Opposition in Rio. It was the first time that Vargas sat in the opposition.

Gomes announced to the new Parliament that his goal was to "undo the wrongs done to democracy by Vargas' fascistic government in the past fifteen years." The top wrong was, of course, the 1937 Second Additional Act. As in 1844, the new government pushed through a Clarification Act in January 1946. The Clarification Act returned some powers to provinces, such as the right to local policing and oversight over local commerce and public services, but most notably removed the so-called 'three-fifths clause' which prevented a non-confidence motion from passing unless it received three-fifths support in both chambers. The Tribunal of Public Safety was finally abolished, though Vargas had progressively sidelined it after 1942, and the Emperor's power to appoint caretaker administrators in provinces, communities or districts was removed. The Clarification Act passed with unanimous Conservative, Communist, Radical, Integralist and Socialist support in the Chamber of Deputies.

In terms of foreign policy, the United States and Brazil continued to enjoy close relations. With the emerging Cold War, the military and the government took a conservative turn in favour of Washington DC, rejecting communism. Rio de Janeiro did not break diplomatic relations with Moscow, however, nor did it ban the PCB like a number of American Senators had been lobbying for it to do. Local political considerations played into Gomes' decision to keep the PCB legal.

The post-war era had given Brazil a large stock of foreign cash reserves, and the government's policy had been to make use of them. In order to fund development projects, such as the construction of new roads, the government dove into the reserves, which resulted in the rapid depletion of the country's rich foreign assets. Inflation started to rise, as the government printed money to cover the high budget cuts. Some neoliberal thinkers within the Conservative Party attacked the government over its failure to follow through with its promise to make cuts in spending. However, the new goal of the Conservative government was in fact to kill Vargas' working-class base. Gomes wished to harvest the votes of workers by not repealing the social legislation passed by the Liberals, but at the same time he slowly picked away at the corporatist trade union structure, which remained closely linked to the Liberals. In addition, Gomes resisted calls by some Liberals and Conservatives to ban the PCB outright, as Gomes saw the PCB as a major up-and-coming rival for the traditionally Liberal working-class.


Prime Minister Eduardo Gomes

Gomes' attempts to court the working-class were quite short-lived. In a by-election for a working-class district in the industrial hinterland around São Paulo, the Conservative candidate polled extremely poorly - 19% against 26% for the Communist and 48% for the winning Liberal candidate. At the same time, Vargas was moving to re-organize the Liberal Party. An analysis of the 1945 results showed that the working-class voters which had delivered a landslide to Getulio starting in 1933 had either not voted or gone over to the PCB. Vargas' new strategy was to directly court the working-class. At an extraordinary party congress in late 1946 ahead of the 1947 provincial ballot, the Liberal Party renamed itself the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB). From the opposition benches, Vargas attacked the Conservative government on a markedly left-wing nationalist tone. Yet, behind the left-wing PTB, an internal division appeared within the party between Vargas' more conservative supporters and his left-wing urban union supporters.

The 1947 provincial elections were to be a major test for the Conservatives as well as Vargas' new left-wing nationalist rhetoric, and his new PTB. In Minas Gerais, a PTB rising star, Juscelino Kubitschek, won in the country's most watched contest against incumbent Conservative Governor Milton Campos. In Rio de Janeiro, Ernani do Amaral Peixoto held on for another term, facing tough PCB and Conservative opposition. In São Paulo, Adhemar de Barros, who had broken with the Liberals by 1946, was re-elected as an Independent through an alliance with the PCB against Hugo Borghi (PTB). Adhemar's victory showed the strength of his clientelistic network and his appeal to working-class voters. In Rio Grande do Sul, Ernesto Dorneles won a second outright term.

The 1948 general election was to be key. The Conservatives promised more reforms, a tough fight against inflation (which neoliberal thinkers derided in the absence of commitments to cut spending) and a close alliance with the United States. The PTB, led by Vargas and running on his personal popularity and image, attacked the government's economic policies as overtly pro-rich and 'unfair', and also called on Brazil to take ownership of its rich mineral and economic wealth instead of "living in dependency, as in 1920, on the good wills of foreign investors and states". The PTB's campaign was stringently nationalistic, and was axed towards working-class voters and unions. The PTB and Conservatives both attacked the PCB as being the root of political instability and accused of it of being the pawns of Moscow. However, the PCB was helped by Luís Carlos Prestes' candidacy to the Senate.

Chamber of Deputies

Brazilian Labour Party 39.8% winning 114 seats (+5)
65 DS, 49 PLS
Conservative Democratic Union 38.0% winning 102 seats (-10)
56 DS, 46 PLS
Brazilian Communist Party 11.8% winning 22 seats (+4)
8 DS, 14 PLS
Brazilian Integralist Action 5.8% winning 8 seats (+3)
1 DS, 7 PLS
Radical Alliance 3.1% winning 3 seats (-2)
0 DS, 3 PLS
Brazilian Socialist Party 0.9% winning 1 seat (nc)
0 DS, 1 PLS
Others 0.6% winning 0 seats (nc)
0 DS, 0 PLS

Senate
 
Brazilian Labour Party 31 seats (+2)
Conservative Democratic Union 27 (-3)
Brazilian Communist Party 2 (+1)
 


next: Vargista return...

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It should be "Varguista" and not "Vargista", no?

Both terms are correct, as is Getulist (which is used by most historians).

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Is there any real liberal party now? A rough outline of parties beliefs would be nice

Well, Brazil has always had a lax attitude towards parties, ideology and that, and personality and $ matters more than ideology. But here's a rundown:

Conservatives/UDC: anti-Vargas is their main shtick, outside of that they're rabidly anti-communist, claims to be neoliberal (mostly meaning they're open to foreign investment), and against the labour reforms passed by Vargas.
PTB: pro-Vargas, supports corporatist union structure, left-wing nationalist, moderately anti-communist, extremely statist.
PCB: The party closely follows the Moscow line. It remains pro-Stalin, anti-Vargas and all that.
AIB: as described earlier, traditionalist Catholic, nationalist, rabidly anti-Vargas and anti-communist. Borderline fascist.
Radical: lost its cause with the advent of Vargas in 1930. Remains in favour of civil liberties, centrist economic policies, and major government reform. Would like to remove the Catholic Church as the state church.
PSB: anti-Vargas, supports independent grassroots non-corporatist union structure, left-wing nationalist. Close to the Conservatives by virtue of shared anti-Getulismo.

All parties except the PCB and parts of the PSB support the monarchy, the Conservatives more strongly so than the others.

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Update this, you lazy piece of hash.

If you update your other international timelines, I might.

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Update this, you lazy piece of hash.

If you update your other international timelines, I might.

I don't have ones, lol.

Yes, you do.

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Premiers:

Zacarias de Góis e Vasconcelos: 1866-1870
José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Visconde do Rio Branco: 1870-1875
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duque de Caxias: 1875-1878
José Antônio Saraiva: 1878-1884
Franklin Américo de Meneses Dória: 1884-1885
João Lustosa da Cunha Paranaguá, Marquês de Paranaguá: 1885
João Maurício Wanderley, Barão de Cotejipe: 1885-1887
João Alfredo Correia de Oliveira: 1887-1888
Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Visconde de Ouro Preto: 1888-1893
Lafayette Rodrigues Pereira: 1893-1897
Rodrigo Augusto da Silva: 1897-1901
Eduardo Ernesto da Gama Cerqueira: 1901
Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves: 1901-1906
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena: 1906-1909
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes: 1909-1912
Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales: 1912-1913
Altino Arantes Marques: 1913-1915
Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca: 1915-1920
José Joaquim Seabra: 1920
Artur da Silva Bernardes: 1920-1923
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa: 1923-1930
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas: 1930-1945
Eduardo Gomes, Barão de Petrópolis: 1945-1948
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, Marquês de São Borja: 1948-


Governors of Minas Gerais:

Francisco Silviano de Almeida Brandão: 1896-1901
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena: 1901-1906
João Pinheiro da Silva: 1906-1908
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes: 1908-1909
Júlio Bueno Brandão: 1909-1914
Artur da Silva Bernardes: 1914-1920
Raul Soares de Moura: 1920-1924
Fernando de Melo Viana: 1924-1932
Olegário Dias Maciel: 1932-1933
Benedito Valadares Ribeiro: 1933-1945
Milton Campos: 1944-1947
Juscelino Kubitschek: 1947-

Governors of SP:

Pedro Vicente de Azevedo: 1896-1902
Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales: 1902-1912
Altino Arantes Marques: 1912-1913
Manuel Joaquim de Albuquerque Lins: 1913-1917
Altino Arantes Marques: 1917-1920
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa: 1920-1923
Carlos de Campos: 1923-1924
Antônio da Silva Prado: 1924-1926
Carlos de Campos: 1924-1927
Júlio Prestes de Albuquerque: 1927-1930
Armando de Sales Oliveira: 1930-1938
Ademar de Barros: 1938-1947
Adhemar de Barros: 1947-

Governors of Rio de Janeiro:

José Bento de Araújo: 1896-1902
Quintino Antônio Ferreira de Sousa Bocaiúva: 1902-1908
Francisco Chaves de Oliveira Botelho: 1908-1911
Nilo Procópio Peçanha: 1911-1920
Nilo Procópio Peçanha: 1920-1926
Antônio da Silva Prado Júnior: 1926-1930
Antônio da Silva Prado Júnior: 1932-1935
Protógenes Guimarães: 1935-1938
Ernâni do Amaral Peixoto: 1938-

Governors of Rio Grande do Sul:

Gaspar da Silveira Martins: 1896-1901
Justo de Azambuja Rangel: 1901-1902
Carlos Barbosa Gonçalves: 1902-1908
Antônio Augusto Borges de Medeiros: 1908-1926
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas: 1926-1930
José Antônio Flores da Cunha: 1930-1938
Osvaldo Cordeiro de Farias: 1938-1943
Ernesto Dorneles: 1943-

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Nationalist Tide: 1948-1950

Vargas returned to his old office in early July 1948, but this time his government had the official backing of only a minority of the Chamber and faced a strong Conservative opposition caucus. This meant that Vargas would be reliant on the Communists' 22 seats for a majority. Though Vargas maintained amicable links with certain prominent Conservatives, notably Pernambucan Conservatives such as João Cleofas, the nationalist policy which the government intended to lead meant that being friendly with the growing PCB was more important than old friendships with Conservatives. Furthermore, the PTB's leadership wished to involve the PCB in the government and break the party's image as a 'separate independent party' and use the opportunity to weaken the PCB.

Vargas' cabinet, while moderate, was also made acceptable, somewhat, to the PCB. Horácio Lafer, a moderate, became Finance Minister. General Mascarenhas de Morais, a popular hero of World War II, became War Minister and was acceptable to most of the military. João Neves da Fontoura became Justice Minister while Vargas' old right-hand man, Osvaldo Aranha, was made Foreign Minister.

Vargas moved to undo most of Eduardo Gomes' liberal economic reforms. In the fall of 1948, the Parliament passed a tariff reform which increased tariffs on foreign good which were not widely used by consumers. As much as Gomes' government had welcome foreign investment, Vargas' government passed new laws limiting profit remittances and limited full foreign control of major companies in telecommunications and infrastructure (such as public transportation, streetcars notably).

Although Vargas appealed to Brazilian nationalism in the working-class and the military, he maintained an eclectic and slightly hypocritical foreign policy which still kept Brazil within the United State's circle. Vargas knew that an alliance with Moscow would be a disastrous idea politically and economically, and the beginnings of the Cold War by 1949 prevented any kind of independent foreign policy. The United States remained the power broker of the Americas and no country in the region could alienate the United States. Of course, Washington also needed Rio de Janeiro's support in its new anti-communist policy and also benefited from Brazilian exports of natural resources and oil. In addition, Vargas' government understood that his industrial development policies and economic modernization required US private and public investment. Aranha's position as Foreign Minister ensured that Rio would remain within the American circle.

The Democratic administration, and since 1948, Congress, in Washington was also favourable to Brazilian interests and keen on exploring the funneling of American public investment into Brazil. In late 1948, both governments agreed to the creation of a joint American-Brazilian commission which was to prepare a report on economic conditions in Brazil and the country's economic future.

Inflation was slowly creeping up, but was still as appropriate levels in 1948 (it even declined slightly between 1947 and 1949). With no apparent social and economic ills, there was a climate of restrained euphoria in Brazil in 1949 and 1950. Public confidence in the government remained high, the military was quietly satisfied with its position and the paternal figure of the old Prime Minister worked. While the Conservatives were struggling to find a voice, Vargas was riding high and was hailed as a great modernizer. His much publicized trip to Washington DC in 1949, during which he meet President Harry Truman, increased his image abroad and his more authoritarian leanings pre-1945 were forgotten. The Emperor named Vargas Marquis of São Borja, and also conferred titles of nobility on other prominent politicians on both sides of the aisle (former Prime Minister Eduardo Gomes was made Baron of Petrópolis, Aranha became Viscount of Alegrete). In July 1950, Brazil hosted the FIFA World Cup, and a mood of euphoria swept the country as it toped its group, trounced Sweden and Spain in the final rounds and advanced to the finals against Uruguay at the Estádio do Maracanã on July 16. Despite a tough Uruguayan attack, Brazil won its first World Cup title with a 2-0 win over Uruguay, on the backs of goals by Friaça and Ademir. Wild, euphoric celebrations erupted throughout Brazil

The 1950 provincial elections were delayed until after the World Cup, partly to shift focus in June from politics to football and later as a goon by the government to benefit from the likely victory of the Brazilian team. The ploy worked and the PTB swept to a landslide win in the provincial elections. Juscelino Kubitschek, the young and popular governor of Minas Gerais was re-elected easily, while Hugo Borghi unseated São Paulo Governor Adhemar de Barros, a thorn in Vargas' side. Ernâni do Amaral Peixoto and Vargas' cousin, Ernesto Dorneles, were easily re-elected in their home provinces. As much as the Conservatives and Communists wanted to overthrow the government before the World Cup, the provincial elections stopped them from doing so.

With euphoria from July 16 wearing off a bit, but still present, the government decided to keep nationalist moods high (likely to cover a rise in the cost of living in 1950) and push through a issue key to nationalists: oil. Brazilian oil, discovered in 1939, was being controlled and explored by foreign corporations, a fact which angered nationalists in the civilian and military strata of society. Gomes' cabinet had ordered a report on oil in 1946 which basically stated that nationalization or state control of oil exploration was unfeasible because of Brazil's lack of funds, expertise and appropriate economic conditions. The report had angered nationalist sentiments in Brazil and had played a major part in the Conservative Party's defeat in the 1947 and 1948 elections. The PTB, in 1948, had promised, vaguely, to 'reform' the oil industry while only the PCB supported nationalization of the oil industry.

Vargas' new political strategy in 1950 was aimed at weakening the PCB, which was still gaining strength in the unions and poor working-class neighborhoods. The Conservatives, the PTB's leadership argued, were easier to defeat than the PCB because the Conservative Party badly lacked real men of talent and its base in the elite and middle-class was too weak in a country which remained predominantly poor and rural. The nationalization of the oil industry was one of the best methods of striking at the PCB's base.

In August 1950, the government proposed to Parliament a bill which proposed the creation of Petrobras, a public company which would be controlled in majority by the state but which still allowed foreign investment and foreign control of old refineries. The PCB and some Conservatives opposed the bill, which lacked a state monopoly dear to the Communists. A long debate between the PTB and PCB could hurt the government and give credibility to the Communists and even the Conservatives. There was only one solution in Vargas' eyes, forcing a snap election on the issue.

On September 5, 1950; Vargas went to the Emperor to ask for a dissolution of Parliament, arguing that the government's nationalist oil legislation had been hijacked by the agents of foreign profiteers and speculators. Would Vargas' ploy work? 

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O petróleo é nosso!: 1950-1952

The Conservatives and Communists had been preempted by Vargas in their political games. The Conservatives and Communists had hoped to derail Vargas' nationalist games in Parliament and take credit for any oil reform for themselves. Vargas, who despite his 68 years of age, was still as politically cunning as ever, took the initiative from them and decided to fight the 1950 election on the issue of oil. He made it extremely clear that if his government was re-elected, he would, at all costs, push through nationalization of the oil industry and limit foreign control of Brazilian oil. Against such a popular message, the Conservatives found themselves in a tough situation. A wing of the party supported oil nationalization as well, though the party's dominant wing was predominantly liberal and opposed the state monopoly. The Conservatives criticized Vargas' plan under a sober economic angle, arguing, as Gomes' government had done in 1946, that Brazil lacked the funds and expertise to take control of its oil for itself. Nationalization and Petrobras, the Conservatives argued, would lead the country to economic ruin and would kill the petroleum industry. Furthermore, they warned, picking fights with the United States - most foreign corporations were either Canadian or American - would be disastrous for Brazil's standing on the world stage. As much as the Conservative attacks had merit and factual backing, it was not fit for the times and could not compete with Vargas' charismatic populist rhetoric. Touring Brazil, targeting poor and working-class towns in particular, Vargas and the PTB leadership led violent attacks on the Conservatives, calling them the agents of foreign speculators and profiteers and questioning the patriotism of the party's small classical liberal wing - which was violently opposed to nationalization. The Communists, on the other hand, found little room in the polarized debate to argue that Vargas was himself an profiteer and nothing more than an imperialist lackey.

Vargas' trick worked. The PTB won a one-seat majority in the Chamber and increased its Senate majority by three additional seats. While the Conservatives held their ground well, all small parties except the PSB lost ground. The Communists lost seven seats in the Chamber and held only four district seats; the Integralists lost half their caucus and the Radicals won their worst result since 1939. Only the PSB, growing stronger in Bahia and especially Recife under the leadership Pelópidas da Silveira, won more votes and seats in 1950 than in 1948.

Chamber of Deputies

Brazilian Labour Party 43.6% winning 127 seats (+13)
73 DS, 54 PLS
Conservative Party 38.1% winning 99 seats (-3)
52 DS, 47 PLS
Brazilian Communist Party 9.3% winning 15 seats (-7)
4 DS, 11 PLS
Brazilian Integralist Action 3.5% winning 4 seats (-4)
0 DS, 4 PLS
Radical Alliance 2.4% winning 2 seats (-1)
0 DS, 2 PLS
Brazilian Socialist Party 2.1% winning 3 seats (+2)
1 DS, 2 PLS
Others 1.0% winning 0 seats (nc)
0 DS, 0 PLS

Senate
 
Brazilian Labour Party 34 seats (+3)
Conservative Party 25 (-2)
Brazilian Communist Party 1 (-1)



Vargas now had a majority and did not need, for the moment, to play along with the Communists or the Conservatives. Except for the replacement of Mascarenhas de Morais by nationalist General Newton Estillac Leal in the War Ministry, the new cabinet did not change much, though it would change more dramatically later.

Freshly re-elected, the government re-introduced tougher Petrobras legislation which now included full state monopoly. In the Chamber, the legislation passed rather easily with quasi-unanimous PTB support (the PTB's more conservative wing, the old Liberals, were enticed into voting in favour by promises of pork for their constituencies), as well as support from Communists, Socialists, Integralists and even a dozen or so Conservatives. Overall, 155 deputies voted in favour, which gave the legislation three-fifths backing. In the Senate, the legislation faced a tougher time, despite the PTB's large majority, because the PTB's old Liberal wing was especially strong in a house where old rural elitist interests were still important. The Conservatives allied with the conservative PTB Senators to force a re-draft of the bill to protect foreign control of existing oil refineries and private participation in the distribution of oil, and the amended version was passed easily in the Senate, even though radical nationalist PTB Senators voted against. Back in the Chamber, the Senate's 'conservative' amendments which would have allowed some private control and limited the state's oversight of Petrobras were struck down and finally a version which kept the state monopoly but included the Senate's key amendments concerning refineries and distribution was passed. The legislation received Imperial Assent in January 1951.

The new euphoria surrounding the victory of the nationalist current in the oil debate hid the true economic situation which Brazil was in. Inflation was still slowly rising, and, worryingly, wages were not rising fast enough to keep up with inflation. The Brazilian's currency favourable exchange rate vis-a-vis the US dollar hurt exports but did help production for the internal market. Rising inflation between 1950 and 1953 meant that Vargas' government would be left in an uneasy situation where it would need to pass unpopular measures to limit inflation while at the same time attempting to keep the union movement and the PTB's working-class base under their control.

Keeping the union movement under control was becoming harder. Eduardo Gomes' government had passed legislation in 1947 which liberalized unions and reduced the Labour Ministry's oversight of unions. Furthermore, as Gomes had sought to use the PCB as a check on the PTB's rising influence, it had quietly allowed and even encouraged communists to gain footholds in the unions. While the union movement was quiet in 1951 and 1952, activity sprung up in 1953 as inflation reached nearly 20% that year.

In terms of foreign policy, the Korean War's beginnings in the summer of 1950 and American-led UN intervention in support of South Korea was the first major foreign policy crisis which the government faced. Unlike in 1943, there was little military backing for intervention in Korea and Osvaldo Aranha sought to maneuver through dangerous waters by trying to disassociate military aid to the US-led intervention in Korea to American aid to Brazil as part of the joint commission's report. Aranha found himself resigned to pledge Brazilian material and economic aid to the American efforts in Korea, a move which angered nationalists but which was able to keep the military's growing pro-American anti-communist hardline led by Generals Cordeiro de Farias, Etchegoyen and Nelson de Melo.

Despite the tough negotiations with Washington over Brazil's attitude vis-a-vis the Korean War, relations between both countries were still bright. In June 1952, the joint commission's report into the Brazilian economy was released and the Truman administration showed interest in funneling public money into Brazil's deficient energy and transportation sector.

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Downhill: 1953

Things went downhill in late 1952. It started with Dwight D. Eisenhower's election as President in the United States in 1952, ushering in a new Republican-led administration. The Republicans were far more skeptic towards the utility of funneling public funding to Brazil's economy and were even more stringently anti-communist than the Democrats were. Eisenhower's inauguration in January 1953 put American investments in doubt. Part of the reason why the Americans were now skeptic towards investing in Brazil was the country's rising inflation problem. Inflation reached 20% in 1953 and wages could not keep up with the rising rate of inflation. Social problems brewed and the liberalized unions escaped from the PTB's grasp as they mounted unforeseen strikes in February-March 1953, months away from the 1953 provincial and general elections. Joined by non-unionized workers, light manufacturing employees went on strike in São Paulo in the spring of 1953. Strikes erupted in Rio, Recife, Salvador and Belem throughout the spring of 1953 as well. They were demanding better working conditions and especially an increase in the minimum wage.

The strikes showed the beginnings of crack in Vargas' PTB system, with old union bosses and their PTB allies losing their power slowly.

In May 1953, Vargas shuffled his cabinet and indicated a new line, right before the elections. Danton Coehlo, the PTB Labour Minister, was fired. He had failed Vargas during the strikes and the government needed a minister who was popular with the unions and could re-build the PTB's dwindling union base. He called on another native of São Borja, João 'Jango' Goulart, a young PTB stalwart who had worked in the PTB's 1948 and 1950 campaigns and was a prominent leader of the PTB's new left-wing in the Chamber. At the same time, to deal with inflation, Osvaldo Aranha, the trusted friend, was promoted to the Finance Ministry. Francisco Negrão de Lima replaced Aranha in the Foreign Ministry, while João Neves da Fontoura was dumped from the government and replaced by Tancredo Neves as Justice Minister.

Vargas did not go to the Emperor in May 1953 to dissolve Parliament in order to have new elections coincide with provincial elections. Vargas feared that the government might suffer in the June provincials but would have time to recover before general elections tentatively scheduled for October 1953. In the provincial elections, the Conservatives performed well but their hopes at gaining São Paulo fell flat when the PCB did extremely well in the state and the Conservatives were resigned to support Lucas Nogueira Garcez, an Independent close to former Governor Adhemar de Barros. However, the Conservative-endorsed candidate for mayor of São Paulo, a little-known man by the name of Jânio Quadros running on an anti-corruption platform, won. In Minas Gerais, Kubitschek managed to win a third-term on his own record but the PTB suffered badly in Rio Grande do Sul, where Vargas' home-turf PTB machine led by his cousin Ernesto had to contend with a strong Conservative-backed opposition led by Ildo Meneghetti and Walter Só Jobim. Ernesto Dorneles ended up by holding on, as did Ernâni do Amaral Peixoto, in power since 15 years. Amaral Peixoto narrowly defeated Macedo Soares, a Conservative-backed independent. In the city of Recife, a PSB-Radical-PCB coalition was formed with Pelópidas da Silveira (PSB) as mayor. The conquest of Recife, a Communist stronghold, gave the small PSB a big boost ahead of October.

The focus then shifted to the big general elections to be held in early October. Vargas campaigned on his popular personality but also promised to increase the minimum wage, keep the country stable and continue fighting against the fabled foreign profiteers and speculators. He invoked the success of the new Petrobras and idealized the PTB's fight against the 'foreign agents' who were determined to 'prevent Brazilian control of Brazilian resources'. The Conservatives attacked rising inflation, wasteful spending, and worsening US-Brazil relations. The Conservatives, now led by Juarez Távora, a former 1920s revolutionary, distanced themselves from the neoliberals in the party. The Conservatives still struggled to win in district seats because they lacked a strong party base and machine in many provinces. Indeed, their campaign was hurt when the new popular mayor of São Paulo, Jânio Quadros, refused to campaign for them. The PCB and the PSB, the PTB's rivals to its left, hoped to benefit from lingering working-class discontent with rising prices and still-low wages. The Radical Alliance had finally merged with the PSB to create the Popular Front, or Frente Popular (on 1950 results, the new alliance represented 4.5% of the electorate and held 5 seats in the Chamber).

Chamber of Deputies

Brazilian Labour Party 40.5% winning 112 seats (-15)
62 DS, 50 PLS
Conservative Party 39.5% winning 106 seats (+7)
58 DS, 48 PLS
Brazilian Communist Party 10.5% winning 18 seats (+3)
6 DS, 12 PLS
Popular Front — Radical-Socialist Alliance 5.1% winning 10 seats (+5)¹
4 DS, 6 PLS
Brazilian Integralist Action 3.3% winning 4 seats (nc)
0 DS, 4 PLS
Others 1.1% winning 0 seats (nc)
0 DS, 0 PLS

Senate
 
Brazilian Labour Party 30 seats (-4)
Conservative Party 28 seats (+3)
Brazilian Communist Party 2 seats (+1)




¹ Compared to the sum of the 1950 results of the Radical Alliance (2 seats) and the Brazilian Socialist Party (3 seats)

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Crisis Point: 1953-1955

Vargas' prestige was slowly slipping away. While the PTB maintained a minority and could count on a majority through the support of the PCB and FP, the government was weakened and the spring 1953 strikes in São Paulo had seriously shaken the PTB's leadership and the union bosses close to Vargas. If the PTB lost the support of urban workers in a climate of rising insecurity and inflation, its status as the dominant party of imperial politics would be weakened considerably. Yet, the Conservatives failed to benefit from the obvious weakening of the PTB and still struggled from leadership problems of its own. Its old stock of 1920-style tenentes in the mold of former Prime Minister Eduardo Gomes and incumbent leader Juarez Távora lacked charisma or any type of appeal to the rising middle-classes. It was desperately on the lookout for a new kind of leader which could generate the enthusiasm if not euphoria that Vargas personally could still create.

Vargas' new cabinet, named before the October elections, sought to solidify the PTB's urban base while at the same time reducing inflation. In January 1954, Osvaldo Aranha, Minister of Finances and Deputy Prime Minister, presented to the Chamber of Deputies his Plano Aranha to combat inflation, which was estimated at 20% in 1953. The plan would attempt to limit credit, control the exchange rate and cut public spending. Aranha hoped to limit Parliament's liberal attitude towards patronage and pork-barrel spending, as well as trim on unnecessary government expenditures. Yet, at the same time, Vargas was being pulled by the trade unions and the Labour Ministry, led by his presumed dauphin João Goulart. The unions, representing the PTB's urban working-class base, were opposed to spending cuts which would endanger generous government handouts to unionized workers and potentially endanger the welfare system dear to them. Furthermore, the unions, who had found a key ally in Goulart, kept pushing for a hike in the minimum wage, at least to cover the rise in inflation. Aranha knew that any major increase in the minimum wage or generous handouts to unions would kill his program and alerted Parliament of it.

Parliament approved the key points of Aranha's plan in February 1954, notably the exchange controls and attempts to limit credit. They were reluctant to cut back on their old pork-barrel spending traditions and only halfheartedly backed the spending cuts. Despite all this, MPs and Senators continued their old ways and kept on spending. They weren't stopped by the Central Bank, which loosened credit and printed out money. Aranha was growingly frustrated by the slow progress of his plan by the summer of 1954.

At a Labour Day rally on May 1, Vargas had announced, to the cheers of the crowd, that the minimum wage would be increased by year's end, but he never specified by how much it would be increased. Goulart and the unions wanted an increase of roughly 65%. Vargas was about to settle for approving a 65% hike when a by-election in a key PTB-held working-class district of Rio was held in July 1954. The PCB won 39% to the PTB's 27%, a major defeat for the PTB. If repeated nationally, these results would mean that the PTB would lose by a wide margin. In August 1954, Vargas took the key move of announcing to Parliament a 100% increase in the minimum wage.


Labour Minister João Goulart

The Conservatives were united in their opposition and found themselves supported by a young, radical right-wing editor, Carlos Lacerda, who owned a newspaper in Rio. In long diatribes against the government, Lacerda accused Vargas of being a corrupt authoritarian communist and gave weight to the popular rumour that Vargas sought to create a strategic Brazilian-Argentine alliance with Argentine President Juan Perón. Yet, the minimum wage increase was passed in the Chamber with a bare majority of 127 votes in favour (the PCB and FP voted in favour). In the Senate, the bill, to which were attached various pork-barrel spending projects, passed with 31 votes in favour and many abstentions.

While the unions and Aranha were each pulling Vargas to their side, the military was increasingly wary of the government's left-wing turn with Goulart. Influenced by America's anti-communist crusade and the rumours of a Getulist-Peronist alliance, the military, especially the Navy and Air Force, became radically anti-communist and growingly opposed to the left-nationalism preached by the PTB. Already in February 1954, War Minister Estillac Leal resigned and was named ambassador. He was replaced by General Ciro do Espírito Santo Cardoso, another ally of Vargas within the military. Cardoso was broken by dissidence with the officer corps in the summer of 1954, when Vargas was to announce a hike in the minimum wage. In July 1954, a group of young middle-class colonels signed a manifesto which condemned the increase in the minimum wage (announced in May) and decried the lack of funding for the military. Vargas was angry that Cardoso hadn't managed to alert him of the colonel's dissidence. He was dismissed in August 1954 and replaced by General Zenóbio da Costa. Zenóbio da Costa had the task of restoring order and military discipline within the army, and controlling radical tendencies within the officer corps.

Radicalism continued to mount as the Conservatives fell more and more under the influence of Carlos Lacerda's violent diatribes against Vargas and the PTB was growingly left-wing and nationalist. Rumours of a military coup abounded, but Dom Pedro IV kept his confidence in Vargas' elected government. The Conservatives pleaded to the Emperor for an early dissolution of Parliament or urged the Emperor to use his now rarely utilized poder moderador to remove what they perceived to be a radical government.

Hindered by the increase in the minimum wage, Aranha's anti-inflation plan failed to produce any major results. Inflation in 1954-1955 did not go down by much, and the Central Bank's continuous attempts to loosen credit while Aranha tightened it effectively doomed the plan. Vargas was not supportive of Aranha and was unwilling to spend what remaining political capital he had left in supporting a tough austerity-minded anti-inflation plan, especially one year out from the 1956 elections in which the PTB's situation was increasingly shaky. Vargas and the PTB leadership saw more use in continuing the party's shift to the left and towards unionized workers, with the aim of limiting the PCB-FP's pull in the 1956 elections and stabilizing the PTB's main electorate.

In May 1955, Zenóbio da Costa stepped down from the War Ministry, citing his inability to deal with the pressure the military placed on him. Henrique Teixeira Lott was named War Minister in June 1955.

On October 31, right-wing General Canrobert Pereira da Costa died and was buried in early November 1955. At his burial, Colonel Jurandir Mamede used the opportunity to launch a vocal attack on the government, which he called dangerously communist and said that the government threatened the Brazilian Empire. The War Ministry was incensed. Colonel Mamede's act, while in uniform, was a clear and obvious breach of military discipline and misconduct. Lott moved, with Vargas' support, to dismiss Mamede. In turn, the press, led by Lacerda, seized on the dismissal of Mamede by the government as a breach of the military's independence. The far-right sectors in the Imperial Air Force moved in support of Mamede, who had been turned into a martyr by the far-right. Led by Major Haroldo Veloso a group of radical Air Forces officers in the night of November 12, 1955 flew to an isolate air base in Amazonia, located in the town of Jacareacanga while others set up base in Aragarças (Goiás) and small towns in Minas Gerais.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Vargas was scheduled to visit a large farm in rural Goiás on November 13. Arriving early, Vargas' cortège was greeted by a large crowd of peasants and small farmers and the old man mingled with the crowds assembled along the roads. Smiling widely as he was shaking the hands of the assembled crowds, a man in a Air Force major's uniform, aged 33 and named Rubens Vaz, stepped out and aimed a gun at Vargas' head before pulling the trigger within seconds. The bullet hit Vargas in the head just as Vargas was shaking hands. The panicked crowds grabbed on to the man and controlled him while frantic bodyguards and military officers moved to check on Vargas.

Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, Marquis of São Borja, was pronounced dead at 11:19 on November 13, 1955.

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Why are you never writting about the Emperors?

Basically for the same reason that histories of contemporary Sweden, Netherlands or Norway don't spend lengths on the monarch since they're largely irrelevant in the constitutional framework of things. Unless the reigning family is insane or crazy, like the Windsors or the people in Belgium.

Why are you never writting about the Emperors?

Great TL!!! I was also wondering how the Royals are doing. Did Pedro III and Pedro IV marry the same women as in RL? Where do the Royals live in the country?

I covered Dom Pedro III's pre-coronation marriage, the same as in real life, except that in this timeline he was not forced 'out' of the 'game' by Isabel. He married Countess Elisabeth Dobržensky de Dobrženicz of Bohemia, they had 5 kids, including reigning Emperor Dom Pedro IV (otl Pedro Gastão). I don't know if he still married Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, because of butterflies, but since it's irrelevant to the story line, we could assume that he did.

The royals alternate between Petrópolis and Rio, the former being the summer residence of choice.

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Resolution: 1955-1956

Upon hearing the news of Vargas' death, the radical dissident air force officers stationed in Jacareacanga and Aragarças moved to occupy ground in the respective regions and in some cases counted on support from the local population. Meanwhile, in the evening of November 13, a car bomb exploded in front of the Prime Minister's residence, the Catete, in Rio. In Minas Gerais, small and isolated pockets of rebellion were encountered by local troops under the command of Governor Kubitschek, and they were rapidly crushed. Rumours of an imminent coup abounded after the car bomb in Rio, but the provincial government, loyal to Vargas, had moved quicker and had started cracking down on radical officers' clubs.

As the country woke up on November 14, still in shock from the previous day, the Emperor called on the main political leaders, military officers and Governors Kubitschek (MG), Garcez (SP) Amaral Peixoto (RJ) and Dornelles (RS) for an extraordinary meeting in Petrópolis in the afternoon of November 14. The whole political class remained shocked at the events, and all parties were united to condemn the assassination:

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At the meeting, the Emperor told participants that the extraordinary circumstances demanded use of the imperial poder moderador and a suspension of civil liberties. Late that evening, the Emperor called on Vargas' War Minister, Marshall Henrique Lott, to form a cabinet in his name.

The next day, Lott's extra-parliamentary cabinet composed in majority of military officers, was confirmed in the Chamber with the PTB, Conservatives, Popular Front and Integralists voting in favour and only the Communists voting against his government. That evening, the Emperor issued a decree which prorogued Parliament, suspended habeas corpus and constitutional guarantees and gave the military full authority over national security in provinces. The Emperor was setting the stage for a crackdown on far-right dissident officers in the rebellious Air Force.

Meanwhile, the backwater revolts in Jacareacanga and Aragarças had spread to the sparsely populated areas surrounding these areas, but as early as November 15, the army and local provincial militias had moved in on the revolts and crushed the remaining rebels, who were arrested.

The tough decree did not stop massive outpouring of grief towards Brazil. Huge rallies lamenting Vargas' death and violently attacking the opposition broke out and, at times, turned violent. Conservative Party headquarters in major states were torched, right-wing newspapers were attacked by protesters as the police struggled to control the massive crowds. Carlos Lacerda fled to Fulgencio Batista's Cuba for safety, fearing for his life if he stayed in Brazil.

Vargas was laid to rest at a small albeit emotional ceremony in São Borja in mid-November. Foreign dignitaries in attendance included President Eisenhower, General Stroessner of Paraguay, President Odría of Peru, President Paz Estenssoro of Bolivia as well as delegates from other South American and European nations. Absent was Argentina's new government, led by right-wing anti-Peronist President Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, who had participated in a fall 1955 coup which overthrew Perón. At the funeral, Goulart and Aranha both gave a moving hommage to Vargas' service to his nation.

Starting on November 15 and lasting up until mid-January 1956, Lott's government had made wide use of the imperial decree granting it unlimited powers and had arrested several radical air force officers. Throughout December 1955, General Odílio Denys, commanding officer in Rio, led the crackdown on isolated pockets of support for the November plotters and suspected far-right members. The assassin, Major Rubens Vaz was condemned to death in a speedy trial in January 1956, and the Emperor decided not to commute the sentence as the Emperor usually did when courts invoked the death sentence, which they rarely did. Far-right organizations, such as the Lantern Club led by Amaral Netto was shut down. The PTB expelled its more conservative members, such as Carlos Luz and João Café Filho who had been vocally critical of Vargas in 1954 and 1955.

In February 1956, as normalcy returned and the crackdowns stopped, the PTB moved to elect a successor to Vargas who would lead the party into the 1956 election, and, if the party won, become Prime Minister following the election, scheduled for October (with provincial elections in June). The two main contenders were Governor Juscelino Kubitschek of Minas Gerais and Governor Ernâni do Amaral Peixoto of Rio, who was also Vargas' son-in-law. Kubitschek, who largely lacked support from the PTB's national caucus and the dominant left-wing factions, ran on a left-wing oriented program stressing economic growth and continuing Vargas' policies. His young and charismatic personality appealed to voters, but he had little base within the party. While Amaral Peixoto also ran on continuing Vargas' policies, he was perceived to be closer to the pro-PTB rural elites and to the party's conservative wing. In the leadership election, where the PTB's office holders at the national, provincial and municipal levels were qualified voters, Amaral Peixoto was the favourite as he had the backing of the PTB factions in Rio and in many small states, though the party's left-wing factions, strong at lower levels and in the big states, were lukewarm towards him. Finally, Kubitschek allied with Goulart, who enjoyed great popularity in union circles and with the PTB's left, and was perceived by many to be Vargas' political heir. Running on a JK-Jango slate which vocally invoked Vargas' legacy, Kubitschek, still the underdog, won narrowly over Peixoto. Kubitschek won roughly 51% at the PTB Congress, against 49% for Amaral Peixoto. Kubitschek immediately announced that Goulart would be his Deputy Prime Minister while Amaral Peixoto would have a senior cabinet position.

The 1956 provincial elections were to be a test for the post-Vargas PTB and the viability of the Kubitschek-Goulart leadership. In Minas Gerais, Kubitschek's lieutenant Clóvis Salgado da Gama (PTB) was easily elected against a divided Conservative Party. In Rio, Amaral Peixoto was replaced by Roberto Silveira (PTB). However, the PTB was against shut out from the top spot in São Paulo, where the Conservatives won a large majority under the leadership of mayor Jânio Quadros. Ernesto Dornelles was re-elected in Rio Grande do Sul, winning a crushing victory, likely on the back of sympathy for Vargas in his home-province.

Encouraged by the PTB's strong showing in the provincial elections and the stabilization of the political situation, the PTB leadership lobbied the Emperor for snap elections in August instead of October. The Emperor cautiously consulted Lott, who agreed that precipitating elections would be best for a return to constitutional guarantees, and thus acquiesced to the PTB's request. The PTB went into the election with a strong, new leadership which invoked the past through Vargas' idolized legacy but also campaigned on a message of hope for a calm and positive future. Kubitschek promised rapid progress, economic growth, social guarantees, political reform and the construction of a new capital. The Conservatives, still led by an ageing and uninspiring Távora were no match to Kubitschek's new message. Jânio Quadros helped matters a bit in São Paulo, but he was reticent to campaign for the party outside his province. The PTB nearly matched Vargas' 1950 showing, but lacked a majority, though the support of the FP and the PCB, which were keener on cooperating with Kubitschek than they were with Vargas, guaranteed the PTB a majority. The Conservatives, desperate, decried a victory for sentimentalism and vague aspirations, but they lacked a leader to inspire people like Vargas and Kubitschek had been able to do.

Chamber of Deputies

Brazilian Labour Party 42.0% winning 121 seats (+9)
69 DS, 52 PLS
Conservative Party 38.7% winning 101 seats (-5)
54 DS, 47 PLS
Brazilian Communist Party 9.6% winning 16 seats (-2)
5 DS, 11 PLS
Popular Front — Radical-Socialist Alliance 4.7% winning 7 seats (-3)
2 DS, 5 PLS
Brazilian Integralist Action 4.1% winning 5 seats (+1)
0 DS, 5 PLS
Others 0.9% winning 0 seats (nc)
0 DS, 0 PLS

Senate
 
Brazilian Labour Party 34 seats (+4)
Conservative Party 24 seats (-4)
Brazilian Communist Party 2 seats (nc)