Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Resistance to the Republic
Not everyone was happy with the new republic. In 1893 the
Federalist Riograndense
Revolution
erupted in Rio Grande do Sul, a bloody struggle by monarchists and
separatists that lasted two-and-a-half years. In the late 1890s the autonomous
community of
Canudos
(see box, p.244), comprised of landless farmers, former slaves,
indigenous people and
cangaceiros
, was brutally crushed by the Republican
government as well. The
Contestado War
raged in the South between 1912 and 1916
as settlers and landowners fought over land rights (inspired by itinerant preachers),
and in the 1920s bandit leader
Lampião
roved the Northeast as (rather tenuously)
Brazil's “Robin Hood” (see box, p.260).
The revolution of 1930
Revolution in 1930 brought
Getúlio Vargas
(1882-1954) to power, the wealthy son of
a
gaúcho
, pro-industrial nationalist and anti-communist governor of Rio Grande do
Sul. Vargas dominated Brazilian politics for the next quarter-century. He had much in
common with his Argentine contemporary, Juan Perón: both were charismatic but also
cunning and ruthless, and created new power bases in their countries rooted in the
urban working class.
It was the
working class
, combined with disillusion in the junior ranks of the military,
which swept Vargas to power. Younger o
cers, accustomed to seeing the armed forces
as the guardian of the national conscience, were disgusted by the corruption of the
military hierarchy. When the
Great Depression
hit, the government spent millions
protecting coffee growers by buying crops at a guaranteed price; the coffee was then
burnt, as the export market had collapsed. Workers in the cities and countryside were
appalled, seeing themselves frozen out while vast sums were spent on landowners, and
as the economic outlook worsened the pressure started building up from other states
to end the São Paulo and Minas grip on power. This time the transition was violent.
In 1926,
Washington Luís
(1869-1957) was made president without a proper
election, as the elite contrived an unopposed nomination. When Luís appeared set
to do the same thing in 1930, an unstoppable
popular revolution
developed, first in
Vargas's home state of Rio Grande do Sul, then in Rio, then in the Northeast. There
was some resistance in São Paulo, but the worst fighting was in the Northeast, where
street battles left scores dead. Although São Paulo rose briefly against Vargas in 1932,
the revolt was swiftly crushed.
Vargas and the Estado Novo (1930-45)
It was not just
Vargas
who took power in 1930, but a new generation of young,
energetic administrators who set about transforming the economy and the political
system. Vargas nationalized the oil, electricity and steel industries, and set up a health
and social welfare system that earned him unwavering working-class support even
after his death. Reforms this fundamental could not be carried out under the old
constitutional framework. Vargas simplified things by declaring himself
dictator
in
1937 and imprisoning political opponents - most of whom were in the trade union
movement, the Communist Party or the
Integralistas
(the Brazilian Fascists). He called
1912-16
1922-38
1930
1938
Contestado War;
guerrilla revolt in
the South
Bandit leader
Lampião terrorizes
the Northeast
Getúlio Vargas
becomes president
after military revolt
Lampião killed in
shoot-out with police
