page_title: Getúlio Vargas
section_title: Vargas and the Revolution of 1930
hierarchical_section_title: Getúlio Vargas / First presidency / Vargas and the Revolution of 1930
caption_attribution_description: English: Getúlio Vargas (center) and his followers pictured by Claro Jansson during their short stay in Itararé (São Paulo) on the way to Rio de Janeiro after the successful Brazilian Revolution of 1930. Português: Comitiva de Getúlio Vargas (ao centro) fotografada por Claro Jansson durante sua passagem por Itararé (São Paulo) a caminho do Rio de Janeiro após a vitoriosa Revolução de 1930.
context_page_description: Getúlio Dornelles Vargas was a Brazilian lawyer and politician, who served as president during two periods: the first was from 1930 to 1945, when he served as interim president from 1930 to 1934, constitutional president from 1934 to 1937, and dictator from 1937 to 1945. After resigning in 1945, Vargas returned to power as the democratically elected president in 1951, serving until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the longest of any president, and second in Brazilian history only to Emperor Pedro II among heads of state. He favored nationalism, industrialization, centralization, social welfare and populism – for the latter, Vargas won the nickname, "the father of the poor". Vargas is one of a number of populists who arose during the 1930s in Latin America, including Lázaro Cárdenas and Juan Perón, who promoted nationalism and pursued social reform. He was a proponent of workers' rights as well as a staunch anti-communist.
  Vargas was brought to power by political outsiders and the rank-and-file of the Armed Forces in the Revolution of 1930; this was a reaction to his loss in the presidential election earlier that year.
context_section_description: The Great Depression set off the tensions that had been building in Brazilian society for some time, spurring revolutionary leaders to action.
  The elections of 1930 pitted Júlio Prestes of the establishment, São Paulo-faction, against Vargas, who led a broad coalition of middle-class industrialists, planters from outside São Paulo, and the reformist faction of the military known as the tenentes. The middle class resented free market and café com leite policies that let foreign companies out-compete them and restricted industrialization. The non-São Paulo landowners feared radical change and had no desire for the economic nationalism advocated by the bourgeoisie, but did want to end the dominance of São Paulo. The tenentes had been led through the Brazilian countryside by Luis Carlos Prestes to rally support for a military coup, and though they failed to find support, they had become exposed to rural poverty and now favored social reform.
  Together, these disparate groups made up the Liberal Alliance. Support was especially strong in the provinces of Minas Gerais, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Sul, because in nominating another Paulista to succeed himself, Washington Luis had violated the traditional alteration between Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Vargas campaigned carefully, needing to please a large range of supporters. He used populist rhetoric and promoted bourgeois concerns. He opposed the primacy of São Paulo, but did not challenge the planters' legitimacy and kept his calls for social reform moderate. The election itself was plagued by corruption and denounced by both sides, and when it had become clear that the São Paulo candidate, Júlio Prestes, had won the election, tensions were high. When the vice-presidential candidate of the Liberal Alliance was assassinated, the military decided to initiate a bloodless coup. On October 24, 1930, they ousted President Washington Luís and the president-elect Júlio Prestes, installing Vargas as 'interim president'.
caption: Getúlio Vargas with other leaders of the Revolution of 1930 in Itararé, shortly after the overthrow of President Washington Luís.
exif: {}