Empire of Brazil

### Government

Authoritarian dictatorship with totalitarian tendencies under a Constitutional Monarchy

### Sub-divisons

Brazil
Peru
Bolivia
Paraguay
Uruguay

The Empire of Brazil is a large Empire located in South America that is the largest nation in all of South America.

## History

### Early History

The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pedro I and his son Dom Pedro II. A colony of the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese colonial Empire in 1808, when the Portuguese Prince regent, later King Dom João VI, fled from Napoleon's invasion of Portugal and established himself and his government in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. João VI later returned to Portugal, leaving his eldest son and heir, Pedro, to rule the Kingdom of Brazil as regent. On 7 September 1822, Pedro declared the independence of Brazil and, after waging a successful war against his father's kingdom, was acclaimed on 12 October as Pedro I, the first Emperor of Brazil. The new country was huge, sparsely populated and ethnically diverse.

Unlike most of the neighboring Hispanic American republics, Brazil had political stability, vibrant economic growth, constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech, and respect for civil rights of its subjects, albeit with legal restrictions on women and slaves, the latter regarded as property and not citizens. The empire's bicameral parliament was elected under comparatively democratic methods for the era, as were the provincial and local legislatures. This led to a long ideological conflict between Pedro I and a sizable parliamentary faction over the role of the monarch in the government. He faced other obstacles. The unsuccessful Cisplatine War against the neighboring United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1828 led to the secession of the province of Cisplatina (later to become Uruguay). In 1826, despite his role in Brazilian independence, he became the king of Portugal; he immediately abdicated the Portuguese throne in favor of his eldest daughter. Two years later, she was usurped by Pedro I's younger brother Miguel. Unable to deal with both Brazilian and Portuguese affairs, Pedro I abdicated his Brazilian throne on 7 April 1831 and immediately departed for Europe to restore his daughter to the Portuguese throne.

Pedro I's successor in Brazil was his five-year-old son, Pedro II. As the latter was still a minor, a weak regency was created. The power vacuum resulting from the absence of a ruling monarch as the ultimate arbiter in political disputes led to regional civil wars between local factions. Having inherited an empire on the verge of disintegration, Pedro II, once he was declared of age, managed to bring peace and stability to the country, which eventually became an emerging international power. Brazil was victorious in three international conflicts (the Platine War, the Uruguayan War and the Paraguayan War) under Pedro II's rule, and the Empire prevailed in several other international disputes and outbreaks of domestic strife. With prosperity and economic development came an influx of European immigration, including Protestants and Jews, although Brazil remained mostly Catholic. Slavery, which had initially been widespread, was restricted by successive legislation until its final abolition in 1888. Brazilian visual arts, literature and theater developed during this time of progress. Although heavily influenced by European styles that ranged from Neoclassicism to Romanticism, each concept was adapted to create a culture that was uniquely Brazilian.

Even though the last four decades of Pedro II's reign were marked by continuous internal peace and economic prosperity, he had no desire to see the monarchy survive beyond his lifetime and made no effort to maintain support for the institution. The next in line to the throne was his daughter Isabel, but neither Pedro II nor the ruling classes considered a female monarch acceptable. Lacking any viable heir, the Empire's political leaders saw no reason to defend the monarchy. After a 58-year reign, on 15 November 1889 the Emperor was overthrown in a sudden *coup d'état* led by a clique of military leaders whose goal was the formation of a republic headed by a dictator, forming the First Brazilian Republic.

### Republic in Turmoil

After the abolition of slavery in 1888, the ideals of Republicanism gained much support from across all regions of the Brazilian Empire and created political tension due to the elites who had lost much in the Abolition. This culminated in the militarily-supported declaration of the Republic of Brazil, in 1889, despite the popularity of the monarchy among most of the common folk. The 1891 constitution was based on the US constitution, granting considerable autonomy to the states and, under the first elected presidents, the domestic situation stabilized under the agreement of the oligarchical leaders of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, in what was deemed the *Coffee and Milk* policy, for Cattle ranchers and Coffee plantation owners were the true power behind the young republic.

In an effort to alleviate the public standing of the new government, Brazil's foreign minister, José Maria da Silva Paranhos Júnior, the last Baron of Rio Branco, oversaw the extension of the Brazilian territory through a series of treaties with Britain, France, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Uruguay, which saw the country's territory grow by over 250000 square miles. The presumed gain with Acre and other rubber-rich areas was greatly mitigated by the increased production of that commodity by Great Britain in the same period of time.

The Republic was also fraught with systemic weaknesses. Many revolts, some pro-monarchy, others pro-provincial autonomy, happened during the Old Republic, such as the Federalist Riograndense Revolution and the Great Navy Revolt. The system of non-secret ballots meant that local leadership could easily and trivially force their constituents to vote for a candidate of their choosing, and effectively made elections a formality, with establishment candidates often reaching more than 80% of valid votes. The population was, therefore, largely unrepresented by democratic institutions.

In addition, during this period Brazil engaged in a major naval race with Chile and Argentina, the other major military powers of South America, the so-called South American dreadnought race. The purchase of the Minas Gerais class battleships, *São Paulo* and *Minas Gerais*, created immense regional tension and contributed to increasing distrust between the ABC nations.

### Old Republic falls

During World War I Brazil kept a policy of strict neutrality. There were worries that if one of the ABC nations joined the war, one of the others would join the opposing side. In addition, then-foreign minister Lauro Müller saw cooperation with Germany as preferable to the Entente. Throughout the 1920s, the Old Republic suffered a deep wear due to demonstrations of opposition from the urban middle class, the lieutenants' and workers' movements and dissident oligarchies. Early in his administration, came to an end the Prestes Column, with 620 men who went into Bolivian territory and subsequently dissolved. The government of Washington Luís was no longer threatened by the lieutenants' rebellions and for the advancement of the labor movement, however, to restrain new opposition movements he created Celerada Act in 1927, which imposed press censorship and restricted the right of assembly, leading to underground the Brazilian Communist Party, which had been recognized by the government earlier that year.

However there was some instability as monarchists rioted in Brazil, after the news of the Portuguese Monarchy's return to power in the Kingdom of Portugal and the return of the Hapsburg Emperors as rulers of Mexico which resulted in mass monarchist protests. Under the system of coffee with milk politics that prevailed for most of the Old Republic, a man from Minas Gerais should have succeeded Washington Luís as president. However, Washington Luís supported another *paulista*, his friend Júlio Prestes, for president in 1930.

Prestes' victory in the presidential elections of 1 March 1930 was questioned on suspicion of fraud. The assassination of João Pessoa, governor of Paraíba and candidate for vice president on the plate of Getúlio Vargas on 26 July 1930, was a decisive factor for the worsening of movements opposed to the government of Washington Luís, already strained by the coffee crisis. The assassination, later proved, did not have any political purposes. Reassuming the government of Rio Grande do Sul, Vargas and other politician such as Osvaldo Aranha began the political conspiracy that led to the movement of 3 October 1930, the Revolution of 1930, as became known the episode. President Washington Luís was deposed on 24 October by the heads of the armed forces, and a provisional government junta took power, composed of generals Tasso Fragoso and Mena Barreto and by admiral Isaías de Noronha. After this the Old Republic of Brazil had fallen and the dictatorship had risen.

### Aftermath of the Old Republic's fall

Vargas and the Monarchists ousted the Junta in 1930 and they then declared the restoration of the Brazilian Empire as *Dom* Pedro de Alcântara of Orléans-Braganza, Prince of Grão Pará maternal Grandson of Pedro II with his family returned to Brazil and they crowned themselves the monarchs of Brazil as the Brazilian Empire was restored.

The Empire then waged war against all the other countries who saw the return of Brazil's monarchy returning as a threat to South American stability and their interests. Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Equador, the European territories in South America (British Guiana, French Guiana and Suriname) and annexed them under the Brazilian flag as they ended the war. This angered Gran-Colombia, Chile and Argentina who would wage war against Brazil constantly.

## Government

The Emperor is the head of both the moderating and executive branches (being aided by the Council of State and the Council of Ministers, respectively); he has the final say and held ultimate control over the national government. He is tasked with ensuring national independence and stability. The Constitution (Article 101) gives him very few avenues for imposing his will upon the General Assembly. His main recourse is the right to dissolve or extend legislative sessions. In the Senate, an emperor's authority to appoint senators does not necessarily give him added influence since senators hold their offices for life and were thus freed from government pressure once confirmed. On those occasions when the Chamber of Deputies was dissolved, new elections are required to be held immediately and the new Chamber seated. "This power was effective when held in reserve as a threat. It could not be employed repeatedly, nor would its use work to the emperor's advantage."

During the reign of Pedro I the Chamber of Deputies was never dissolved and legislative sessions were never extended or postponed. Under Pedro II, the Chamber of Deputies was only ever dissolved at the request of the President of the Council of Ministers (Prime minister). There were eleven dissolutions during Pedro II's reign and, of these, ten occurred after consultation with the Council of State, which was beyond what was required by the Constitution. A Constitutional balance of power existed between the General Assembly and the executive branch under the Emperor. The legislature could not operate alone and the monarch could not force his will upon the Assembly. The system functioned smoothly only when both Assembly and Emperor acted in a spirit of cooperation for the national good.

A new element was added when the office of "President of the Council of Ministers" was officially created in 1847—although it had existed in practice since 1843. The president of the Council owed his position to both his party and to the Emperor and these could sometimes come into conflict. 19th-century abolitionist leader and historian Joaquim Nabuco said that the "President of the Council in Brazil was no Russian Chancellor, Sovereign's creature, nor a British Prime Minister, made only by the trust of the [House of] Commons: the delegation of the Crown was to him as necessary and important as the delegation of the Chamber, and, to exert with safety his functions, he had to dominate the caprice, the oscillations and ambitions of the Parliament, as well as to preserve always unalterable the favor, the good will of the emperor.

## Military

### Army

Brazil's army can be more accurately described as twenty or so different state militias, all armed by their state governments. They all have invested in buying new equipment after the end of the civil war, for many fear that it could happen again. However, the federal army still formally exists, and any potential invader will soon find that Brazil can quickly unite if pressed to fight for its independence. In conventional terms, only 7 divisions are currently combat-able under Brazil's army.

### Navy

Brazil's navy has always been the nation's pride. The two Minas Gerais battleships are, in turn, the Navy's pride, and they almost single-handedly kickstarted the South American Dreadnought Race. The navy is quite capable when it comes to fighting other threatening states in South America, but cannot be compared to that of Major Powers

### Air Force

The Brazilian Air Force is the strongest Air Force in South America before both Grand-Colombia, Argentina and Chile.

## Foreign Relations

* Great Relations with the Kingdom of Portugal, it's former master state and kin and the Empire of Japan.
* Bad Relations with Gran-Colombia, Argentina and Chile.