Brazilian Civil War

The (Second) Brazilian Civil War is by far the deadliest war in the history of South America with over 6 million casualties over the span of 8 years making it last around the same amount of time as the Second Weltkrieg. This conflict was fought mostly between a monarchist government in Rio hoping to establish a new Integralist Monarchy, and a Republican faction who had its base of operations in Manaus. In the end however foreign support from the Entente and Reichspakt would end up allowing the Republicans to win against the Russo-Japanese backed Second Brazilian Empire. Despite the relative uselessness of the Amazon it would provide a good hiding spot for the rebels and provided a near impassible barrier. Many analayists and historians also point out that the Monarch being put on the throne didn't even support the Integralist government and likely the Empire would have failed on its own anyways.

## Prelude

The causes of the Second Brazilian Civil War are numerous in number and stem from several causes that would shake Brazil to its core. Brazil had an earlier civil war only a decade earlier caused by economic rivalry between Sao Paulo and Rio De Janerio witch destabilized Brazil, this instability was still present seen quite clearly in election results. While Brazil was still recovering from this civil war the Black Monday Crisis would hit Brazil with its bitter fruits causing an economic crisis within the country. However unlike other nations around the globe the people of Brazil would turn to their religion instead of Socialism as a conservative wave would strike South America causing far right parties to be popular all across Brazil. This was prominent in Brazil's south more than anything however the North would in-fact turn to liberalism and socialism as the economic crisis would hit them as well. This was caused by the major economic differenced between the urbanized south and the poor north as the cities had a massive radicalized middle class while the rural regions had a radical working and lower classes. This all would cause a very convoluted election in 1936 with the Far-Right and Monarchist party under general Barosso winning the election. Soon the Integralist government would seize control over the country and would begin enacting and repealing laws as they would allow for the return of the Monarchy. Soon Cândido Rondon a well known explorer and general within the Brazilian Military became increasingly concerned with the actions of Barosso and would soon begin challenging him publicly. This was soon followed by several other activists as quickly it became clear that the loyalties of the Population had turned against the government. However Barosso would end up ignoring this and through a historic vote in the parliament would announce the return of the Monarchy. This would cause several protests witch would be responded with gunfire. Brazil would begin to dissolve into anarchy and Barosso would declare a state of emergency and several states all across the north to be in open rebellion. Thus Barosso would dissolve Parliament for the time being as he seized full power over the government. This cause the ini-tally ecstatic emperor to be disillusioned with his side as Barosso would show a face similar to McArthur in America, and later Savinkov in Russia, This would cause him to leave his faction later on in the war. Barosso would soon pass a law to arrest any dissenters as he began cracking down hard upon protestors and would call for the arrest of Cândido Rondon. Rondon would soon flee to the north meting up with the poor rural population of the north as he and several leaders and governors of the northern province would declare that the new Second Empire of Brazil was in fact an illegitimate government. Rondon's support of Indigenous groups would soon cause the Amazon to also rebel along with them. They would declare the Third Republic of Brazil in the city of Manaus as soon even more provinces would rebel including Sau Paulo. Thus with chaos spreading and militias being called up and organized the Second Brazilian Civil War would begin.

## 1937

### February-June

The early months of the Civil War were filled with insurrections galore and both sides trying to consolidate territory. Several states had joined the Republican movement in the far south and in other areas were they were cut off from the main body of the republic in the Amazon. This would lead to an unfortunate situation for most of the republican forces as they were caught so far behind enemy lines that their was little hope of linking them back up. After Imperial forces rallies they would soon take out the republican state of Sau Paulo and the one in Paraiba. However other republican armies and their insurrections were more fortunate than others and soon a process would begin called the "March to the Equator" this was when hundreds of thousands of republican forces would go towards the equator hoping to re-organize and be able to hold out in the Amazon. This march would end up taking the majority of March and April as continuous harassment by Imperial forces would take place. In several instances armies were caught and destroyed or scattered however one way or another troops would usually make it to the Amazon. It was during this process that the last major battle in the Sao Paulo theater would take place. The Battle of Ribeirao Preto would see 240,000 republican troops having retreated from pro-Imperial revolts in Sau Paulo would make their final stand in the city. Imperial forces would end up taking large swaths of the city however would end up struggling trying to take more of the city as house to house fighting would cause massive amounts of casualties. Civilian casualties in this battle would only be matched by the Battle of Rio De Janerio in 1945. This battle would last into June in witch while organized resistance would end their would still be an insurgency in the state witch would last for the entirety of the war. The sacrifice of all of these southern armies would allow the main body of the Republican forces to reorganize and defend the routes into the Amazon. The Imperial forces were now tasked with the difficult mission of trying to defeat an intrenched enemy in a seemingly unending rainforest with lots of cover and little infrastructure to be able to use. The first step in this however would need to be securing the port of Belem and the mouth of the Amazon. And as the year rolled into July the First battle of Belem would begin.

### July-December

The latter half of 1937 would mostly be spent in the area around Belem as the Rebels and imperials continued to try and reinforce the region as it would become a major sector for conflict throughout the entire war. The First Battle of Belem as it was called would begin with the Rebels being stopped just on the outskirts of the city as Imperial forces would entrench into the city. This would prompt the rebels to siege the town and would initially see the city be taken with only a few blocks being still left. However the Imperial forces were ordered to go back into the city due to fears that the Rebels could cross the Marajo Bay and be able to force the Imperials off of entrenched positions. This sudden offensive into the city would force the rebels back onto the Island of Marajo and the greater Marajo Archipelago. While not technically in the city the whole thing is called the Belem campaign and is categorized similar to the Battle of Somme witch had a lot of mini battles within it. The battle would continue as Imperial forces wished to cut off any major ports for the Republican forces and thus would launch an offensive into the archipelago. This would see the islands of the archipelago become wastelands as thousands of artillery shells and landmines would be placed on the island witch would only be removed in 1947 after years of cleanup starting in 1942. There are believed to still be over 40,000 unexploded munitions still on the islands. However the Republican forces still had a port all the way up in the north of Para and they were still getting foreign munitions from a dizzying array of countries. So the Imperials with the last vestiges of the offensive would turn the direction of it from the West to the North and the Battle of Macapa would see the last major port stripped from the Republicans. However this would use up most of the resources allocated to the imperial troops and with little hope of such fortunes continuing further into the jungle the Imperials would stop their offensives. This would give the Republicans time to reorganize and they would begin probing the frontline around Mato Grasso witch would become the second major theater of the war. This culminated with the start of an insurgency in Espirito Santo witch would begin attacking food supplies to Rio De Janerio witch would worsen the already horrible rationing situation across much of Brazil. This would end up causing several other insurgencies witch would begin operations at the end of the year with most of them being in and around Goias and Bahia. Most of these insurgencies were non-affiliated with either party with several being socialist or even Anarchist. With the wave of insurgencies we enter into the year 1938 where the Imperials will attempt to take the Amazon River and the insurgency situation gets even worse...

## 1938

### January-June

The first few months of 1938 were mostly spent by the Imperial army recuperating and drawing up a plan. Due to the Amazon River being navigable the plan was to seize the banks of the Amazon river, establish supply posts, and do this continuously until they reached Manaus. Thus in March after 2 months of relative inaction the Santarém Offensive, named after the city in witch it would all go wrong. The first battle of this offensive is called the Battle of Almeririm where the Republicans had dug into defensive positions and had effectively turned the city into a labyrinth of traps and trenches. The battle would several slow down the offensive as week after week were spent trying to force a break through the line. This however would fail and the Republican forces had begun to strike at Imperial supply bases were millions of artillery shells, food stocks, and other supplies were located, This only increased the desperation of Imperial forces who would launch an all out offensive in May. This would mostly be a success however the offensive to Santarém would be even more grueling. Defensive line after defensive line would have to be forced to be broken as guerrilla fighters would strike lines and try and forced the Imperials to withdrawal just out of supply constraints. However despite all of their efforts the Imperials kept going and by the tail end of June Santarém was reached. On other theaters of the war the Sapezal offensive would take place in witch the Republican forces would attempt a small offensive to take a bit of land to distract imperial forces. However this would end up mostly being inconsequential. However within Imperial controlled territory the insurgencies began to spread to other regions of the Empire and one of these insurgents would rally up his fellow anarchists and would form an army similar to Makhno in Ukraine. After organizing his army he would launch a march to Rio De Janerio. However this would end up being a massive failure after he got caught in the city of Belo Horizonte. Thousands of casualties would be inflicted on both sides and as we enter into the second half of 1938, the already bad Santarém and Insurgent issues would only get worse...

### July-December

The start of the latter half of 1938 would see one of the largest disasters for the Imperial army as they arrived in Santarém. The Imperial army would initially try and envelop the city but the marshy terrain and diseases they had no idea how to treat would ravage their front lines. Meanwhile with indigenous help the Rebels were able to soon occupy these areas making the precarious situation even worse. Despite all of these disadvantages the Imperials would launch an offensive into the city anyways were house to house street fighting would take place and the ground would be churned to mud. But then something unexpected would happen, the Amazon River would flood and would end up forcing the Imperials back while the Rebels would temporarily abandon positions. But the city already ravaged by urban warfare would have most of the rubble flushed out of it and most objects left over from the civilian evacuation were lost. However the Rebels were used to this sort of thing and with knowledge of said floods and with their skill they were quickly able to retake much of the city witch had previously been lost. However the Imperial forces had lost their communication and supply lines and the rebels were quick to take this opportunity. They were able through secret operations, envelop the Imperial force and squeeze in from all sides. With no way to call for help they were stuck and slowly but surely they were worn down until they were forced to surrender due to water supplies. This would force the Imperials to abandon most of the territory it had lost and it would end up having to lick its wounds on this theater until 1940. However in other regions of brazil the march had inspired several other communist and anarchist revolutionaries who officially sided with the Republican forces after some reforms were made. This would see a wave of insurrection witch would plauge the north and make rebel offensives here much easier should they arrive. Several armies attempted their own marches to try and take key cities and supply lines and while most would fail. Some would become notorious for their raiding with around 8 major groups surviving long enough to link up with Rebel forces in 1943. As the year turned into 1939 and the dry season returned, little would expect how quiet the front would be in comparison to this year, however the other front would soon gain some serious action...

## 1939

### January-June

The start of the year 1939 was relatively quiet as both sides were licking their wounds and dealing with internal issues related to the civil war, but not caused directly by it. The Republicans were dealing with a manpower shortage and were having to draft people in order to man the jungle and keep the guerrilla warfare going across much of the north. This started causing a crisis internally within Manaus as the wording on the provisional constitution was a little vague on wether or not the government was allowed to do this. This would spark a true convention who would end up completely rewriting the constitution and end up formulating a new style of governance. This would also increase the legitimacy of the republican government in the eyes of the populace and around the globe as the Imperial government ignored any pretense of having a constitution. The Imperials meanwhile had to deal with a combination of several things all at once. The immediate issue was that the army was in complete disarray after the disastrous battle at Santarém and the amount of casualties placed on the Amazon army being so high that new divisions had to be made as previous ones had near 100% casualty rates or had been captured. But also the insurgents were still causing issues as the Marches began to take quite a toll on the Imperial Government, in fact most of the action for the first part of 1939 would be the insurgents and their battles with the Imperial Government. But the Imperial government had to deal with internal issues as well. As mentioned before the Imperial Government had a basic constitution that left a lot of things up to interpretation. But the biggest issue was wether or not Barosso was even allowed to have full authority during war. But even more concerning for everyday citizens was the lack of power checks against the emperor and the question of wether or not an Absolute Monarchy was in the constitution sparked a constitutional crisis that wouldn't be solved until 1943. But also a secret crisis was looming as both leaders of the war were getting tired of the destruction. Rondon was horrified at the casualty estimates for the Imperials and personally began to state his distaste of the war, while still recognizing its necessity. But also Barosso was having similar sentiments as he wished to end the civil war and with no easy way to do so he began to slowly go mad. Meanwhile the emperor was beginning to doubt the way he got into power and slowly began to despise the very government that put him into power for its very blatant oppression of the people's wishes. However in the west one of the Imperial generals had a plan to win the war in only a few months and he was about to execute his plan without orders from the imperial government...

### July-December

The Porto Velho offensive would be launched in 1939 as part of a multi-stage operation planed from the lead general on the Mato Grosso theater. His plan was simple, take the territory owned by the Rebels in the west and occupy one of the major tributaries to the Amazon. Then to dam up the river only to purposely have it break, his plan was to induce several floods of Manaus and to continue doing this to disrupt rebel lines and hopefully get them to surrender. This plan was obviously against international law and is why the Imperial government completely dismissed it. But he decided against orders and launched his offensive. However he would quickly find himself bogged down in several battles all across the front line and soon he would be dismissed by the Imperial government. The government decided to alter his plan to being to do the same thing that they tried in the east where they established forward operation bases and using the rivers as there routes. Soon with the plan more fleshed out and no longer committing heinous war crimes the Imperials would win several battles and would take the entirety of the rebel occupied Mato Grosso. Aside from Porto Velho witch had been fortified and was the main base of operations for the Republican cause in the region. It would be here where the offensive would culminate in a large scale battle that would end up reversing all of the gains made in the last few months. The Imperials attempted to seize full control over the city however it quickly became clear that the Republicans had fortified the town well. Despite the relative small size of the town the rebels defended it fiercely as it became a symbol of resistance for the republican cause and they would continue to bleed the west dry as they had done in the east before. This would result in the Imperials being forced to withdrawal unless they were willing to take 33% casualties on the entire army of the west. This would end up giving the Republicans an opportunity to strike as the Imperial army was far too weakened to hold back an offensive. Soon all territory lost would be retaken and the offensive would be regarded by the Imperial government as pointless. And as we go into 1940 these pointless offensives would only get worse as the Imperial try and launch an offensive through some of the harshest terrain on earth, again.

## 1940

### January-June

January of 1940 would come on the cusp of another large scale defeat for Imperial forces as morale among both sides began to massively decrease. The war was entering into its 4th year and at this point both sides were tired of killing each other. This was prevalent in the Imperial army more than the Republican one and desperately morale needed to be recovered. Thus at the expense of the state the rations among soldiers were massively improved and several units that had suffered recently were allowed to take a siesta in Rio De Janerio and Sau Paulo. However this would have an unindented affect of making civilian life worse as soldiers told bloody tidings of the war witch was covered up by the state via copious amounts of propaganda. However one imperial officer in Mato Grasso had a stupid but still interesting proposal. His proposal was that the Imperials should launch an offensive into the Amazon Rainforest through harsh terrain, making roads and infrastructure along the way until they advanced to Manaus. He also stated that this style would eventually reach the republican capital by March of 1941. After considering other options on other front lines, after the rebels would launch an offensive to Belém closing options on that front the Imperials would divert troops from the west to this new offensive. This offensive, the only one to occur in the central theater, is what gave the Brazilian civil war it's distinctness for its brutality. The Offensive quickly began to stall as the given timetable was nowhere near accurate for the true herculean task of marching through the amazon. This would give Republican spies enough time to warn the Manaus government who would quickly send in elite guerrilla fighters into the region. There they would dig tunnels and other bases well hidden in the jungle. And just like insurrections in German East Asia, the jungle became the perfect spot to hide from a force much stronger than the guerrilla's. This would lead to several traps and ambushes becoming daily life causing the offensive to be unable to advance past the Tapajós. This sort of thing would continue into the later half of 1940 as the war would continue on and the Imperials were getting desperate for the offensive to give positive results...

### July-December

In July the Imperials held a meeting about the offensive and decided that a few new toys were needed to be able to continue the offensive. These came in three forms, bombers who were stacked with napalm to clear resistance out before Imperial forces advanced into an area. Flame Tanks were also to be developed to clear out resistance in active engagements. However these would be quite expensive and would end up being highly explosive. Then came the most horrific of all, chemical weaponry. Similar to the chemicals that the Russians used on the fields around Odessa the chemicals developed by the Imperial forces would cause significant deforestation and render entire areas uninhabitable. With these new toys the offensive would make slow but steady progress with the forest undergoing heavy deforestation witch it is projected that the forest will only begin to recover in the 2060s. However this would force innovation on the Republican side and they would end up developing slow firing but accurate, for the time, Anti-Aircraft vehicles. They also would end up making traps specifically to cause the flame tanks to blow up witch would cause the offensive to stall again. They also were able to make contact with insurgent groups and target chemical factories producing the chemicals used by the Imperials witch would halt the production of said materials. The Republicans would soon respond with their own innovation, proximity fuses. Developed from Entente weaponry the Republicans developed a shell so much more reliable than the Imperials that it allowed them to waste less ammo when in artillery duels. This would end up allowing the Republicans to advance and retake the rather meager gains of the Imperial forces. As we enter into 1941 the front entered into a true stalemate as nether side is able to dislodge the other, similar to the western front of the Second Weltkrieg in 1943.

## 1941

### January-June

Pretty quickly into 1941 the Imperial government decided on a plan of action for the year. It was simple, there would be no large scale offensives this year as all previous ones had failed. Rather the Imperials planned to dig in for the year and wait for ethier the rebels to attack them and bleed themselves out, or that there would simply be a relatively inactive year while the Imperials would focus on a large threat, the insurgents. The Imperials planned to try and knockout the nearly 40 insurgent groups all across Southern Brazil in order to keep their supply lines stable and also in order to try and remove one of the biggest threats to the city of Rio De Janeiro. The Republicans meanwhile had the same plan as the last few years, hold out in the amazon and try and wait for the Imperials to do something stupid. Thus the first half of 1941 was eerily quiet rising moods on both sides of the front. There were several instances of soldiers meeting and deciding to truce and ended up causing events similar to the Christmas truces in the Second American Civil War. However the south of Brazil was a different story with the imperials going through much of their territory and trying to cleanse out insurgents. This would lead to the destruction of 20 or so groups within a few months, but this was not without a high cost as the ability for the insurgents to not only hide amongst civilians, but also in the wilderness made this feat seem nearly impossible to everyone that heard about it. However one of these insurgent groups would see the danger done to it and it would organize another march but this time Rio De Janerio would not be the target. Rather it would be Sau Paulo witch was known for having a lot of gang warfare as different gangs took different sides in the civil war. This march is called the "Great March" as it was not only the longest of such events but also the largest of such events. This march would see several major battles and would even see Sau Paulo put under siege. However the Imperial government was quickly able to reverse the progress of the March and was able to encircle and destroy its 21st group. However this diverted enough attention that several groups were able to get to the far north of Imperial territory moving bases of operations. And as we enter into the later half we'll see the second spring of insurgents and also the reduction of the insurgent groups to 8...

### July-December

The second half of 1941 would begin with Black Thursday within the Imperial government. This is when one of the insurgent groups would end up launching operations within Sau Paulo. This would see a range of attacks all across the city and the near assassination of Barosso and the emperor. This would cause gang warfare to take over daily life within the city and would get so bad by the end of the year that Barosso needed an armed escort to simply go to a restaurant. However this was only part of a much larger event called the second spring. This is when the remnants of insurgent groups were able to stick themselves back together and form up new groups to try and put pressure back in southern Brazil. However the Imperial government after Black Thursday would be quick in its response launching a wave of reprisals and purges witch are believed to have killed 2 civilians for every insurgent. This would remove several insurgent groups but would alienate several of the disadvantaged communities in brazil, especially those of non-european dissent witch were targeted. This would sometimes be called the "Goiás Massacares" witch would draw the ire of the international community. This was so bad that even the Third Internationale and Reichspakt took the same stance on the conflict, even while they were actively at war with each other. This also cut out any limited support by the Entente who immediately began suppling the Republicans through Guyana. Having lost international support and with unrest all across its territory the Imperial government would begin it's decline as slowly but surely it would begin the collapse on the inside...

## 1942

### January-June

1942 began like any other year with another lull in the fighting as both sides debated on what to do next. The Imperial military decided on a plan of action to finally try another push from Belém and see wether or not a victory on that front was possible. However international support was waining and it was clear that the empire needed to strike now before it became impossible. Thus began the second Santarém Offensive witch would be a repeat of the first. The Imperial forces would make it to the war torn city quite a bit quicker than they had initially however it had been turned into a fortress in the intervening years and the Imperials were stopped just outside the city. With little other choice the imperials tried to seize the city and continue the advance. Unlike the first time they successfully took the city. However this came at the price of most of the offensive force and would force the Imperials to withdraw from the city as the Republicans amassed a large counter-offensive force. Internally the situation within Imperial Occupied territories would reach famine conditions over much the country and the insurgent groups would continue to grow and slowly but surely they became the main providers of food for the people, not the government. This combined with other factos began to slowly erode the Imperial influence and would make the countryside increasingly dangerous for officers going to the front lines. It would be this that would doom the commander on the western front. He decided to go hunting on June 27th however he would be ambushed by anarchists and ultimately killed. This would throw the western front into a chaos unseen before during the war and the Republicans would take full advantage of this in the next half of the year.

### July-December

Beginning in July the Mato Grosso offensive also called the Rondon offensive was launched with little pre-planning in its initial stages. However the death of the lead general would lead to a rapid advance as in only 1 month nearly half of the entire province was taken by Republican forces as the imperial lines were in complete disarray. The Imperial field generals would make several attempts to make last stands however each one failed until a new general was assigned by the Imperial Government. He would rally the remaining forces into the city of Cuiaba where he would make his stand in a last ditch attempt to try and salvage the absolutely horrible position he was in. However this would be in vain and he too like all others before him would fail to delay the rebel advance. However he personally would survive and would request a large portion of the anti-insurgent forces to try and stabilize the lines. While this would work it would end up forcing Belém to be dangerously undermanned as the Imperials didn't have the forces to man all fronts anymore. He would attempt another line in the city of Coxim and here he would actually succeed in defeating the Republicans and would end up advancing back to Cuiaba. However he was unable to advance into the city and large swaths of territories had been permanently lost to the Manaus government. After the offensive ended the lines would stabilize once again but the morale damage this caused along with the window it gave Insurgents would end up haunting the Imperials in the long run as of next year, Belém would be republican once again...

## 1943

### January-June

The Start of 1943 would begin with meetings in not just the Imperial, but Republican war offices. The Imperials had lost a lot of territory last year and were noting the manpower deficiencies on all frontlines, but also the worsening supply situation at Belém. The Imperial officers debated about possible withdrawal from the city but soon one of the soldiers from the front spoke up. Saying that Belém was going to fall to the republicans regardless as either they fight for it and would take it due to the bad state of Imperial troops, or due to the Imperial's withdrawing from the city. However Barosso would end up ordering several of the anti-insurgency groups to head to Belém while leaving the central front dangerously undermanned in order to hold the city that was crucial to stopping the Republicans from getting foreign support. The Republicans also recognized that this was the year that the fate of Brazil would be decided in Belém and they would take men off of the Western and Middle fronts in order to try and capture the city. However one of the rebel officers pointed out that with some luck and good strategy they could seize control over the entire northern coast. This also came with an internal reorganization within the Republic as new borders were drawn. Thus with both sides reinforcing the city the most crucial battle of the war would be fought as the Second Battle of Belém would commence. Republican forces would quickly seize the islands and Amapá witch was integrated into the union. Soon they would cross the bay and would enter into Belém. There 400,000 troops on both sides would fight it out in the streets as the city was lain to waste like the cities of Frankfurt and Stuttgart on the Western Front of the Second Weltkrieg. However Republican troops would slowly take street after street however advancement was too slow and it was clear that the more Imperial troops that arrived the more likelier it was that they would fail to take Belém. One of the officers within the Republican troops would end up taking his forces through the underground of the city and there he would end up surfacing behind enemy lines. There he would strike from behind causing a massive rout out of much of Belém and soon the city would fall and he would be promoted to control the Eastern Front. There was still 1 month left of the second half of the war and in that time the new leader would plan to try and take the entirety of Pará. This would succeed massively and large swaths of territory where taken as the advance would continue into the latter half of 1943.

### July-December

The latter half of 1943 would begin with the massive offensive to São Luís an attempt to not only take the city but probe the strength of Imperial forces. This offensive would be successful in not only taking the city, but the entire state of Maranahão as the weaknesses within the Imperial army became very apparent. Thus it was decided to continue the offensive to the city of Natal hoping to seize the entire northern coast, and then drive south to begin to etch ever closer to Rio De Janeiro. This plan would be carried into 1944 and if all went well the war should have been over by September of 1944. The Battle of Fortazela would be a resounding success with thousands of Imperial troops encircled and destroyed. Then several weeks before schedule the city of Natal would fall without too much resistance. The Imperials meanwhile were freaking out as they had to man a much larger frontline with nearly half the divisions they had before the battle of Belém, this was the main cause for the resounding success of Republican offensives and the Imperials were forced to reconvene and make a desperate plan. Their they decided to build a massive trench system along the São Francisco river and defend their for as long as possible. The Republicans would quickly seize all territory north of this river however it quickly became clear that the trenches of the Imperial forces could not be breached in the East. This would force the Republicans to change their plan as they would launch an offensive farther west than intended. However this was still enough to cause the defensive lines to break as large swaths of the state of Bahia would be taken by the Republicans. But the Imperials had planned a far better defensive line and had turned the city of Salvador into a large scale fortress. And it would be here in the trenches that the last hurrah of the Imperials would take place next year as we see the selling of territory to Argentina, and the Imperials hold off their demise until the year of 1945....

## 1944

### January-June

1944 started off on the heels of the massive blow given to Imperial forces in 1943 and the Imperial forces were beginning to plan out their defensive operations for the year. The blazing heat of summer made fighting difficult in January and provided a temporary lull in the fighting. The Imperials used the opportunity to improve their defensive lines and to design kill boxes and other structures to make advancement difficult for Republican forces. However when fighting picked back up in late February it became very clear very quickly that the Republicans were going to break through. And this was due to the fact that the Imperials didn't have the equipment nor manpower to successfully control the entire line and it would likely only last into May. However Barosso had a plan and he contacted the Argentine Dictator for a possible deal. In return for temporarily taking some Argentine units and some equipment, the Imperial government would give some territory to Argentina. The Argentine government seeing an opportunity to gain another ally would gladly accept and would begin openly supporting the Imperial Brazilians. Russia would also begin supporting the Imperials however this was mostly a formality as Russia couldn't afford to send much more than designs for tanks. However this support from Argentina and Russia would be enough for the Imperials to arm their forces with good equipment and with the Argentine units having been temporarily transferred, Brazil was able to hold the defensive line. This sudden shift in capabilities of Imperial forces would shock the republicans as they expected the line to fold in quite quickly. However two could play at the game of foreign support. The Republicans would contact the Pacific States of America and the Entente who had a lot of old 2ACW equipment that was in storage that wasn't being used for anything and thus the Manaus government asked if they could be given the old equipment. The P.S.A accepted while the Entente sent over the pre 1941 equipment keeping the post 1941 equipment for the homecoming. Thus sudden volume of 2ACW equipment along with their quality would give the Republicans parity with Argentina and Russian equipment and would also give the Republicans the ability to use Tanks. Suddenly the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, and Bahia would become blazing warzones as stalemate would set in. However this would be a stalemate that the Republicans believed they would lose given the manpower advantage of the Imperials. So in an attempt to break the stalemate the Republicans on June 17th 1944 would launch an offensive to take the city of Salvador.

### July-December

The Battle of Salvador would break the long stalemate that defined this stage of the Brazilian Civil War. As Republican forces entered in around the city they would quickly encircle it and use their artillery to prevent reinforcement from across the water. Salvador was where a large amount of Imperial troops and equipment were being stored for the frontlines so the sudden cut off from the rest of the frontline would cripple it in several locations. This would turn what should have been an Imperial victory on several parts of the front, into catastrophes as supplies could no longer be sent for the new equipment. This would cause the front in Goiás to collapse for the Imperials witch would later be stopped in the highlands of the Minas Gerais province. Salvador itself would undergo several long weeks of siege and in October the city would finally fall after an assault into the core of the city was made and the horribly weakened and undersupplied Imperial Forces would surrender as their lines collapsed. With large amounts of equipment coming in for the Republican forces they decided to continue the advance after a meeting in the ruins of Belém, who's port had been rebuilt to take in all of this new equipment. This offensive would continue to the base of the Espinhaço mountains witch now served as the last place were major Imperial resistance could hope to hold the frontline. This offensive would go well with several Imperial forces breaking and the last of the still active insurgent groups meeting up with the Republican forces and being turned into an actual unit. The Imperial army was panicking and in a last ditch attempt to prevent their fall by the end of the year, they would launch a desperate counterattack despite their deficiencies. This would drive back the Republicans for a time however it would stall the offensive. And as the Imperial forces begin their last stands all of the issues and problems that plagued the Imperial government began to rear their heads and as we head into the final year of the war. We will see how the Imperial collapse was not a glorious last stand, but rather a slow death that was always there to await the Second Empire of Brazil.

## 1945

### January-May

The year of 1945 began with the last point of true resistance for imperial forces as they attempted to hold out in the Mountains to eventually bleed out the Republic. However these were done with more and more brutal methods and already disillusioned with the ideals of the state he ruled, Emperor Pedro the III would eventually decide that if he wanted to be king this was not the way to go about it. And thus he abandoned the Empire and fled to the Kingdom of Portugal, later heading to Budapest in Danubia. This would send the Imperial Government in chaos and would essentiality leave it as a military dictatorship ruled by Barosso, However this would end up causing a collapse in Imperial morale and several units switching sides or collapsing after only after 30 minutes of Battle. With the Imperial government and army in chaos the Republicans would launch a final offensive and by March they were on the outskirts of Rio De Janeiro, thus would begin the Battle of Rio De Janeiro where the final organized army of the Imperial government under direct control of Barosso would hold out until April with them turning the city into a veritable fortress. Barosso would end up losing the Christ the Redeemer statue where artillery cannons had been placed to fire onto Republican forces. The Republicans would then put their own artillery on the hill and would begin firing artillery into the city and causing the lines of the Imperials to collapse almost entirely. Barosso's lines would collapse and he would make his own final stand in a small apartment complex. It is said that he died in a firefight and it is unknown exactly what or who killed him, with some speculating he had been poisoned and simply died in the building. With the fall of Rio De Janerio the last organized government of Imperial forces would be destroyed however the remnants of Imperial forces in the south would attempt to form their own Integrelist state in the Rio Grande Do Sul. However it would only last into may with it being destroyed after a large scale offensive. There would be no treaty to end the war as there was no government to sign a treaty with, and like in the First American Civil War, the long road of reconstruction would begin...

## Aftermath

The Aftermath of the Second Brazilian Civil War was an absolute travesty for the Brazilian people. Their country was in ruins with several cities like Belem, Salvador, Sao Paulo, and Rio De Janeiro being mostly destroyed. On top of that the Imperial government had sold land to the Argentines, land that would be too costly to take back. The lack of Brazilian presence on the continent would leave massive scars across it with Chile having had its government overthrown and Patagonia no longer existing, Paraguay was a puppet, Several new countries had fallen into the trap of Integralisim, and there were rising tensions between Peru and Ecuador. Brazil is still recovering from the war and it still cannot challenge Argentina due to the economic impacts of the war. However when Brazil recovers it will be a true powerhouse on the continent.