Brazil

(Federative Republic of Brazil)

2nd Republic: 21 of April 1939

The Federative Republic of Brazil, also known as the Second Brazilian Republic, is a regional power in South America. The state was established in 1939 and functions as a semi-presidential federal republic.

Brazil is neighbored by two other regional powers; The Argentinian Republic and the State of Peru. Brazil maintains hostile relations with both of these powers.

## History

### The Fall of the Republic (1936)

The First Brazilian Republic, often referred to as the "República Velha" (old republic), was built on a very fragile foundation. Although a foreigner or tourist might have appreciated the state for its appearance, the trappings of an open and democratic regime were nothing more than that; an appearance.

Underneath the façade lay the machinations of powerful oligarchs who controlled the country through a fraudulent electoral system. No matter who was the president, it was the interests of these oligarchs that found itself over-represented. The result was a network of badly concealed corruption and nepotism. In addition this fueled growing wealth inequality.

The Brazilian bourgeoise's wake up call would come in the same way it always did, with a market crash. The system that had held for almost three decades found itself on the verge of total collapse. The fallout of the crisis in the United States and the dismemberment of the British Empire had spelled utter doom for the economy.

Class antagonisms became stark, apparent, and intolerable almost instantly. Antagonisms would rear their head in the form of military rebellions and riots. These military rebellions would become particularly important. Their organizers tended to be recruits who were dissatisfied with the oligarchic nature of the republic, and carried a streak of militant isolationism. According to them Brazil should never again be economically dependent on foreign powers.

Despite such shockwaves there existed no sufficient left wing organization to harness the popular rhythm. The elites of the nation would suppress one disorganized rebellion after another, and just barely managed to retain their hold on power.

However ineffectual these uprising were, they were not entirely fruitless. Such militant stirrings upset the native bourgeoise and struck deep fear into their hearts. Crackdowns had been tried, and now the strategy would shift to electoral politics.

President Flores Da Cunha was pitched to the people as a sensible man. Though conservative, his administration promised to reign in the economy and return normalcy to the country. Though for most said normalcy was untenable, the gambit appealed to slightly better off demographics of Brazillian society.

The "victory" of President Da Cunha was in fact a pyhric one. It was true that the administration had managed to stabilize and regain control of the economy, that economy still functioned for none but those at the top. The meager scraps were not enough. Public pressure continued to mount; more protests, more bombings, more small scale mutinies.

The elites of the nation would finally relent slightly, leading to new electoral amendments known as the "Da Cunha Enfranchisement Reforms". It was these reforms to the democratic process that energized a once apolitical electorate. Thus, the 1932 election would yield Brazil's first non-oligarchy backed President; Otavio Mangabeira.

Mangabeira's administration was defined by the further stabilization of the economy and the opening of markets in Japan, the German empire, Russia and the entente cordiale nations. Brazilian commodities and raw materials began to be exported en masse.

Domestically the 4 years of his presidency oversaw the end of the political dominance of the oligarchic Republican party, and the birth of many new political parties and social movements. The elites were startled at this development and felt that something had to be done, less the country fall into disunity and mob rule. In their panic, they turned to the final weapon in their aresenal; Nationalism.

This decision would spell doom for the republic right at the beginning of its nascent political development. The many new parties bickered amongst each other, while the Integralists relied heavily on a massive influx of capital from the ruling classes as well as a relative unity in the face of debate.

The 1936 election brought the *Ação Integralista Brasileira (Brazilian Integralist Action)* the presidency with a mere 35.75 percent of the vote. It was enough to secure victory no matter how unpopular.

### The Integralist Trienium (1937-1939)

The Brazilian Integralist Action was a reactionary traditionalist movement that adapted the integralist ideology of the Hipólito Raposo's regime in Portugal. Integralists supported catholic fundamentalism and the establishment of a corporatist "organic" monarchy modeled on the Portuguese monarchical restoration*.* It's leader was Gustavo Dodt Barroso, a lawyer and poet who held an extremely aristocratic and anti-semetic view of the world.

When Barroso and his integralists won the presidency they found themselves with a dilema. Although alone they stood as the largest party in members and votes, when compared to all the other now legal parties combined, they were a definite minority. The first step in cementing Integralist ideology in Brazil would have to be the elimination of any movement that was hostile to their goals. Yet to embark on such a task right away would have been suicide, and so Barroso bided his time.

Throughout their first year in office an electoral impasse formed. The once bickering parties began to recognize the threat that the reactionary movement posed to democracy itself. With a stronger sense of unity the disparate parties formed into a bloc, using their power in the congress to block any and all measures proposed by the new government. Barroso was limited to weak executive measures, which could then be correctly labeled as tyranical.

The strategy held for the entire year of 1937, and had the intended affect amongst the Integralist ranks. Huge levels of dissastisfaction could be monitored amongst the lower ranking members of the AIB and its paramilitary organisation known as the "Camisas Verdes" (Green Shirts). The anti-integralist bloc had hoped to weaken faith amongst the support base to critical levels, and it seemed to be working.

Yet the defenders of Democracy had vastly underestimated the lengths to which the reactionary movement would go. With continued backing from their overlords the Camisas Verdes began to draft a vile plot. To "Fix" the situation they would have to end the Republic.

On the last weeks of February 1938, as the Carnaval celebrations were held across the nation mobilisation began. Under the cover of night and crowd gangs of green shirts stormed the streets and hunted down their targets. Prominent members of the opposistion were murdered, and the headquarters of their parties torched. If their supporters attempted to resist they were brutally beaten to death or unconsciousness in the streets. In many cases the female spouses of political leaders as well as a few female activists themselves were violently raped while their male counterparts were dragged outside kicking and screaming. In other cases homes were burned down with the occupants inside still alive.The attacks lasted two weeks and would come to be known as the "Quinzena Trágica" (Tragic Fortnight).

Although there are no indications and proof that Barroso himself orchestrated the incident, he did nothing to stop it, explicitly ordering the Brazilian army to remain in the barracks and let the green shirts "do their good work".

After the "Quinzena Trágica" the Brazilian legislative would no longer would be a problem to the integralists. Key leadership lay dead, and those of the opposition that remained had either gone into hiding or fled the country. There would be no more obstacle to integralist policy any longer.

On September 7th of 1937 Barroso made his infamous declaration that Brazil would be reorganized. His government now was officially a "Royal Regency" and preparations to restore the Monarchy began. Yet when all hope seemed lost small nuggets of dissent remained.

The Brazillian Army was largely comprised of the poor and disenfranchised, and had chafed hard against being forced to remain inactive during the Tragic Fortnight. The Rank and File was not alone in their distaste for the integralists. The High Command was infurriated with the fact that barroso had ordered them to allow the anarchy and the violence to take place without interference. To make matters worse there were two high profile military casualties. Generals Miguel Costa and Isidoro Dias Lopes, victims of collateral damage and outright targeting respectively proved powerful motivators for top brass of the armed forces.

The integralists could not be allowed to erase the republic from this earth, a nation that had been founded by and supportive of the Brazilian army, Order would be restaured.

Inspired by a manifesto written by Marshall Rondon, a disciple of Benjamin Constant (one of the founders of the Brazilian republic), Army high command ordered the soldiers to take to the streets. On the 21st of April 1939 tanks rolled true the avenues while infantry detachments took over government buildings all around the country. The Green shirts put up violent resistance and yet they remained no match for professional training.

As soon as it began the integralist experiment was over.

### The Provisional Government (1939 -1940)

The Army High Command planned the coup against the integralists as an "surgical operation" where they would take over bring the nation back to order and leave power in a year. Giving it back to the civilian authorities.

Their first act was the ordering of the arrests of the integralist leadership and the heads of the green shirts, while some green shirt groups tried to violently resist, they were no match for the military. While Barroso and the rest of the Integralist leadership were publicly tried on the charges of High Treason, the Aptempt to abolish the Republic and subvert Democracy, among other charges. They were found guilty and publically executed to serve as an example to their followers. some went into hiding in the country side and would start a mild terror campaign against the government.

Their second act was to call for a constitutional convention. Their logic wwas that they would not only bring down the chaos, but eliminate every chance that something symilar could possibly rise again. The constitutional convention was composed by what remained of the brazilian political class and some new faces. it ellected Osvaldo Aranha, the Interior minister of the provisional government and previously one of the most vocal congressmen in their oposition to the integralists, as the chair of the convention. The convetion reached the conclusion that the cause for the integralist excesses laid at the presidential nature of the old republic that gave too much power too the excutive, thus the new constition would change brazil into a Semi-Presidential system, crating the position of Premier (Head ofthe Cabinet), while the president might sudgest a premier and cabinet, it can only take power with the aproval of the legislative majority. Meaning that from then on there would be no absolute way for the president to cricunvent congress like the integralists did. To prevent such a crisis even further, the new constitution made ilegal any political party or movement that has as a doctrine or was based on an ideology that proposed and advocated the overthrow of the republic and its democratic system. On other hand the new constitution also made new changes and reforms that had been wanted since the collapse of the old republic in the 1920s and 1930s, provinding the vote for women and the iliterate, legalizing civil marriage and divorce, strenghtening public education, starting a national healthcare system alongside an insurrance and pension system to both the elderly and the un-employed, nationalizing land and starting a slow land reform program on a georgist basis, and finally the nationalization of all naturall resaources including mineral, oil and gas.

The constitutional covention took the entire second half of the year of 1939, at the end of it the new 1939 constitution was aproved and put into effect, by decree new presidential and legislative ellections to happen on the second half of the next year. However the military found a problem the political class and parties had not fully recovered from the "Tragic Fortnight" meaning that there were very few candidates and politcal parties that could succesfully take the helm of the country after they eventually left. After a very long discussions the military decided to support the person that was elected to be the chairman of the constitional convention and one of the ideological fathers of the 1939 constitution, the ex governor and experienced politician, Getulio Vargas for the presidency.

Vargas, who had at that point a long career in brazilian politics, was one of the few prominent politicians who by sheer luck managed to survive the "Tragic Fortnight", and thus one of the chief civilian conspirators of the coup against the integralists and one of its most vocal oponents, due to his oratory skills and the fact that he chose to remain in the country instead of fleeing made him one of the most popular politicians of the time.

Due to the weakness of the political parties at the time. Vargas ran as an independent on a platform of an all party national unity government to heal the countrys wounds. and on that tivket he was ellected.