1918-1930 1945-1964







Dictatorship : 1930-1945



In 1930 Getulio Vargas seized power in a coup d'etat. He dissolved assembly and senate, terminating the Old Republic. He appointed a cabinet of able ministers and integrated regional militias into the regular army.

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 lead to an immediate, drastic fall of coffee prices. Export revenues decreases rapidly; unemployment rose; the Brazilian currency, overall, remained remarkably stable throughout the Vargas administration. In order to stabilize coffee prices, the Vargas administration bought up part of the harvest and destroyed it, a policy discontinued only in 1944.
On October 12th 1931, the statue of Christ the Redeemer, overlooking the port of Rio de Janeiro, was unveiled. Vargas improved relations with the Catholic church; religious education was introduced in state schools (1931). The Vargas administration passed laws regulating trade unions, to limit the influence of leftist groups. She also promoted the development of higher education; the University of Sao Paulo was founded in 1934, the University of the Federal District (Rio) in 1935. Vargas increased the defense budget.

The Sao Paulo Revolt July-October 1932 failed. A National Constituent Assemby was convened in May 1933, a new constitution adopted in July 1934; Vargas was formally elected president.
In 1934, Brazil's communists, whose meetings frequently were attacked by the ultraright Integralistas, founded the ANL (Alliance for National Liberation; in 1935 Brazil passed the National Security Law, permitting the state to take actions against radical political organizations willing to use violence. In 1936 the National Security Tribunal was created, an organization which was used to silence the political opposition. In 1937, based on planted, false information about an Integralista coup, Vargas accepted the suggestion by a numbr of state governors to continue to rule in a time of political turmoil; from now on he ruled in autoritarian style, without the limitations placed on him by a republican constitution and her institutions. On November 10th 1937 Vargas had Congress surrounded by police. He announced the establishment of the Estado Novo, the new state, in essence the Vargas dictatorship. Political parties were dissolved, a step also affecting the ultraright integralistas. A May 1938 integralista coup failed; the coupists sought refuge in the Italian Embassy.
The Vargas policies of 1930-1937 were continued; industrialization emphasized. In 1938 Vargas nationalized the oil refineries. The state took on the function of the protector of the workers (1939-1940), following policies implemented in Mussolini's Italy. Political parties were banned, among the, the Integralistas (ultrarights).

By 1938, Germany had become Brazil's leading foreign trade partner. This trade collapsed with the British Blockade of Germany beginning in 1939, and the USA filled the gap. In 1941, universal womanhood suffrage was introduced.
In World War II, Brazil joined the allies in August 1942. The war boosted Brazil's economy, as demand for Brazilean rubber picked up (the Far East was occupied by Japan). The US established military bases in Brazil's northeast. On June 30th 1944 Brazil did sent an expeditionary corps, 20,000 men strong, which fought alongside American units in Italy; of them 454 died.
Brazil, under the leadership of President Vargas, had joined the Alliance against the Axis; yet the Vargas regime was not democratic, but rather resembled Fascist Italy. Brazilians resented press censorship most of all; in 1943 protest actions were undertaken against it.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Brazil, from Wikipedia (Engl., Port.)
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE Boris Fausto, A Concise History of Brazil, Cambridge Concise Histories, 1999
Donald E. Worcester, Brazil, from Colony to World Power, NY : Scribner 1973
Mitsuru Shimpo, Indentured Migrants from Japan, pp.48-50 in : Robin Cohen, The Cambridge Survey of World Migration, Cambridge : UP 1995, KMLA Lib.Sign. 304.809 C678c
Brazil, in : Jasper H. Stembridge, The Oxford War Atlas Volume II, 1 September 1941 to 1 January 1943, Oxford : UP 1943 [G]
Chapter XXIII : Getulio Vargas, pp.350-369; Chapter XXIV : Behold Brazil, pp.370-390; Chapter XXV : About Commodities, pp.391-399, Chapter XXVI : Brazilian Roll Call, pp.400-410, in : John Gunther, Inside Latin America, NY : Harper & Bros. [G]
Article : Brazil, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1932 pp.702-714, 1937 pp.736-747, 1942 pp.742-754, 1943 pp.739-758 [G]
Article : Brazil, in : Americana Annual 1932 pp.116-118, 1933 pp.104-107, 1934 pp.114-116, 1935 pp.107-109, 1936 pp.97-99, 1937 pp.85-86, 1938 pp.87-88, 1939 pp.92-95, 1940 pp.81-83, 1943 pp.109-112, 1944 pp.102-107, 1945 pp.104-109, 1946 pp.111-117 [G]
Article : Brazil, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1944 pp.120-123, 1945 pp.117-119 [G]
Article : Brazil, in : New International Year Book 1931 pp.114-117, 1932 pp.107-110, 1933 pp.104-107, 1934 pp.95-97, 1935 pp.96-99, 1938 pp.100-104, 1939 pp.87-90, Events of 1940 pp.83-86, 1941 pp.75-78, 1942 pp.85-89, 1943 pp.73-78, 1944 pp.76-80, 1945 pp.73-76 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on June 17th 2008

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