The 1917 general strike where 20,000 workers were on strike in São Paulo, lack of suffrage for 64% of Brazilians due to illiteracy, mass disease, and the "tenente" revolts made clear the rising unrest within the Republic. World coffee prices crashed in October 1929 and, with it, the Brazilian economy. In the midst of unrest and the collapse of the economy, President Luís broke the coffee and milk agreement, declaring Júlio Prestes (a politician from São Paulo) his successor instead of a person from Minas Gerais, violating the four-decade old oligarchy.