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Not everyone agreed with the republic. There was some monarchist sentiment. Regionalism was a serious problem. Very few people had the power to make political decisions, for the electorate had always been tiny and the Republic disenfranchised illiterates. Even military men disagreed. Elements of the navy revolted unsuccessfully against the Republic in the 1890s and army elements would revolt in the 1920s.

The Old Republic, 1890-1930

Deodoro Fonseca became the first President by default although he was not very popular. He was reluctantly elected by the Congress with Floriano Peixoto selected as Vice President. Peixoto received more votes than Deodoro, a fact that irked the latter. He only served from November 15, 1889 to November 23, 1891 because he tried to conduct the public business as if the state were a military unit. Deodoro had very strong emotions and was impulsive. He saw criticisms of his government as personal. He relied upon army men, including young officers, to head government departments. He sent young officers to be state governors when he replaced the Imperial governors. Before 1891 ended, he dissolved Congress and put the country under martial law. Protests forced him to resign on November 23, 1891.

Vice President Marshall Floriano Peixoto took over, claiming that the constitutional requirement to hold new elections did not apply because he and Deodoro Fonseca had been elected by the Congress, not the electorate. President Floriano removed Fonseca's loyal men and ruled dictatorially. By early 1892, six states were revolting against him. His government suppressed them. In June, 1892, a monarchist revolt erupted in Rio Grande do Sul. Floriano's government suppressed it as well. Then a navy revolt broke out in September, 1892, which was also put down. Although he held the nation together, he was disliked. When he ran for election in 1894, he was defeated.

Brazilian politics was run by state political machines. Coroneis (local political bosses) under the leadership of the state president (governor) dispensed favors and made sure the vote, such as it was, went to the "right" man. All states were not equal, however, for Sâo Paulo and Minas Gerais dominated, sharing the presidency most of the time between 1894 and 1930 (See the table).

State Origins of Presidents (1894-1930)

The 1891 constitution, creating the United States of Brazil, was modeled on that of the United States and was the work of Ruy Barbosa. It did, however, provide for a system of interventors, national government officials sent to take over a state government, something akin to the Moderating Power enjoyed by the Emperors. Under its provisions, literate males 21 and over could vote; most Brazilians were illiterate. The President and Vice President were elected for four year terms. Each state had 3 senators, elected for 9 year terms. Deputies were elected for 3 year terms. The Supreme Court had 15 persons. It included a bill of rights and provided for the separation of church and state. The President had enormous powers, perhaps necessary else the republic splinter.

Deodoro de Fonseca and Peixoto had trouble with frequent military revolts. In the 1894-1930 period, Brazil had civilian presidents (Hermes Fonseca had taken off his uniform) but did it make any difference? Were they truly civilian? The first civilian president, Prudente de Moraes Barros was faced with the Canudos Rebellion (1896-97) led by Antônio Maciel, O Conselheiro or "the Counselor." Antônio was a religious fanatic who preached to the poor and rejected the central government of Brazil. This encouraged monarchists but even if it had not, the central government could not tolerate disobedience even in the back country (sertão) of the northeastern state of Bahía. When local and state authorities were defeated by the people of Canudos, the federal government sent troops against defeat only to be met by defeat until a national army of five thousand laid siege to the village and, in house-to-house combat, destroyed the village. The event certainly strengthened the military's assertion that it was critical to the republic but needed more funds.

State political machines were the heart of political power in Brazil based on land ownership. Fazendas (large estates) were the economic, social, and political loci of power in the nation. The public lands of the Empire were given to states, who distributed them to the powerful people in the state. States had the ability to levy export taxes and did, thus discouraging national trade and encouraging self-sufficiency , except for luxury items which only the wealthy could afford.

The growth of Sâo Paulo, city and state, from the production of coffee and industrialization came to dominate Brazilian life beforev1930. As Paulistas liked to say, their state was like a locomotive pulling 20 empty freight cars. Coffee was becoming king, which meant the rise of Sâo Paulo to prominence and wealth. It was the largest producer of the three "coffee states, "Sâo Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Río de Janeiro. By 1930, Sâo Paulo state was dominant economically. Its strength and awareness thereof was part of the 1930 revolt as state leaders tried to retain their power over the nation. By 1906, all Brazilians were indirectly taxed to take coffee surplus off the market and store in warehouses, the valorization plan. In 1912, the federal government prohibited further planting of coffee trees, but couldn't stop entirely because it didn't have the security forces sufficient to do it. Besides, earlier plantings guaranteed a bumper crop. There was the tremendous population growth of the city of Sâo Paulo from 64,935 in 1890 to 579,033 by 1920.

The economic interests of Paulistas were becoming very entangled with the growth of industry and finance. There were enough industrialists to lobby for protectionism. They did not get much. Ruy Barbosa, a leading statesman and a 1910 presidential candidate, was interested in developing and protecting industry, but his advocacy didn't endear himself to coffee growers. The Martinho Tariff of 1900 was a revenue tariff but there was a big fuss about it because it established that economic interests other than coffee growers should be protected by the national government.

The Old Republic also saw the growth of national boundaries which were expanded by the diplomatic team headed by the Baron of Río Branco (José Maria da Silva Paranhos) who headed the Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty) from 1902 to 1912.

World War I had a nationalistic effect as well as the wartime stimulus of some industry, but industry was still potatoes. In 1913, Brazil was still importing 85% of the cotton textiles it used, significant because textile are one of the first manufacturing sectors to be created when industrialization begins. Almost all iron, steel, and coals was imported. Between 1913 and 1945, however, there was a tremendous growth in industry.

In this period the growth of the South, the three southern states of Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Río Grande do Sul. This was the region to which colonists went, for their was economic opportunity. Railroads were penetrating the region by the early 20^th century, bringing with them a multitude of business and industry. The cultivation of wheat began in begin 1891. The lumber industry became important.

Brazilian labor

The organization of labor and passage of pro-labor decree legislation more important after 193o and especially after 1945. The planter class was hostile to labor, in general, and in labor organizations, in particular. There were some labor organization before with two--anarcho-syndicalism and socialism. The Socialist Party, founded in 1916, never amounted to much.

There were some revolutionists in the country. Carlos Luis Prestes was a notable one but politicians were opportunists and not ideological for the most part.

Election of 1910

Marshal Hermes da Fonseca [nephew of Deodoro), the administration candidate, ran against Ruy Barbosa, a liberal statesman from Bahía who had played such important roles in Brazilian public life. He was the candidate of the civilista party and was democratically selected, unlike all other candidates. The main issue was the military in politics. Hermes da Fonseca won and gave conservatives and the military lots of power. Ruy Barbosa got a good many votes, 35% as announced, more than any other defeated candidates had gotten to that time. He argued for more democracy and the end of corruption by the handful of bosses who ran Brazil. What cost him the election was his severe criticism of the military in politics. Even military men who cared little for Hermes gave him their support.

After World War I, Epitácio Pessôa vetoed a military pay raise bill and appointed civilians to the Ministries of War and Navy. The military was furious because, under the Republic, these positions had always been held by military men. They pulled back from the government.

In the1922 presidential election, Hermes da Fonseca, back from six years in Europe and elected president of the Clube Militar, intervened. He asserted that Artur da Silva Bernardes, the candidate selected by Minas Gerais and Sâo Paulo, had written a letter with strong anti-military overtones. Much of the military threw its support behind Nilo Peçanha, the candidate of the other states. Bernardes won and Hermes tried to overturn the election. When he failed, he sent telegrams to commanders saying that they should act according to their consciences, clearly call for action. He sent a telegram to the commander in Recife to disobey the government's order. He was arrested and the Clube Militar closed for six months

The alienation of the military was a factor in the 1922 Copacabana revolt by young officers, tenentes, who wanted to use the military to modernize the nation and were opposed to the domination of the planter-dominated system. The revolt was put down but it showed how easy it was to revolt. Segments of the military had revolted periodically and put down easily except for Fort Copacabana. There, eighteen refused to surrender and marched onto the beach, fighting until they were killed or overwhelmed. The survivors, Eduardo Gomes, became folk heroes.

The 1924 São Paulo revolt, a manifestation of Paulista nationalism, was opposed by military forces and put down. Remnants of it joined with the losers of the Revolt of the Tenentes. The tenentes were also defeated but about 1,000 fled to the interior. They evaded capture until 1927, leading the army on a 15,000-mile wild goose chase from the extreme south to the northeast and through the interior. Those who survived went into exile. The tenente leaders, especially Luis Carlos Prestes, became popular heroes. Prestes went to Europe finally, came back as a Communist and headed the Communist Party. He was an important political figure after 1945.

The New Republic, 1930-1964

The 1930 Revolt:

Lots of reasons:

• Revolt against São Paulo dominance.
• Desire to modernize Brazil (tenentes)
• Military interest in politics
• Some fascination with fascist movements in Europe
• Crisis of Great Depression

The Great Depression was the big event of the late 20's and early 30's. Like many others, the Brazilian economy went into a tailspin. The coffee "motor" sputtered, for coffee made up about seventy percent of Brazil's exports during the 1920's but dropped with the great Depression. Coffee prices plummeted from 22.5 cents a pound in 1929 to 8 cents in 1931. Coffee beans were warehoused because they could not be sold; by 1930, São Paulo's warehouses groaned under the weight of 26 million bags of coffee beans--more than the world consumed in an entire year. With the decline of coffee came the decline of the São Paulo's influence. National policy would no longer be determined solely by the coffee interests.

President Washington Luis Pereira de Souza (1926-30) decided to have another Paulista, Julio Prestes, succeed him. Pre-1945 parties were alliances of state political bosses. Minas Gerais leaders were unhappy about two Paulistas in row as president. After some jockeying by the leaders of the disaffected state, the Mineiros ran Getulio Vargas, governor of Rio Grande do Sul, as their candidate. Getulio had served in national cabinet. He was clearly a Brazilian patriot. They created the Liberal Alliance, which was more nomenclature than anything else. It did promise some social reforms. His vice-presidential candidate was João Pessôa of Paraíba.

Initially, the Liberal Alliance had made deals with the administration's political machine, had Getulio accepted defeat after making the obligatory charges of fraud. But then João Pessôa was assassinated in July. The murder plot seemed to lead to the administration of President Washington Luis. The Liberal Alliance mobilized. It formed a conspiracy to oust the president.

It was a military coup against government. The military side was entrusted to two military officers, one of whom was Colonel Góes Monteiro, a fascinating character who was a lush. The tenentes joined the battle, seeing this as an opportunity to destroy the old regime. The civilian side headed by Garça Aranha. The government was quickly overthrown. When troops arrived in the city, even São Paulo supported the rebels. Getulio rode a triumphant train from Rio Grande. The military had chosen, once again, that it was the most important force in politics.

The military junta quickly turned power over to Vargas but retained its interest in politics. Some officers advocated version of European fascism but got no where. Vargas was not an ideologue.

He was born in 1883 in Río Grande do Sul near the Argentine border. He grew into a short (5'4") bespeckled man. He served as an army officer but gave up that career to attend law school. He served in state offices, as governor of Río do Sul, in the national congress, and in the national cabinet. He was 47 when took power. He had an unassuming, outwardly democratic demeanor.

His government was founded on two bases: (1) military support--which vacillated and (2) social welfare measures. He issued a decree suspending the 1891 constitution and kept discretionary power in his hands. He sent interventors to take over the states, which they did for the 1930-34 period. There was no interventor in Minas Gerais because Vargas could get along with that governor. He used military men in government, as interventors and other officials. For a few years, tenentismo (lieutenants but the term meant junior officers). Vargas did appoint a lot of good men to top posts, but point is that he kept so much power to himself. He played groups against each other and allowed people to joke about it and him. He was persistent.

Vargas changed Brazil. He was nationalistic, including in economics. He gave labor a role in politics, using working men as one bulwark of his regime, the first time any Latin American government had paid any attention to them. Vargas increased government activity--including in the social and economic spheres, statism in economics, and spurred the growth of industry, especially, by protective tariffs and other forms of state aid. This growth did signify some reduction in power of the coffee industry. The period saw the growth of nationalistic sentiment which was related to the growth of economic statism. During WWII, he supported the Allies, using this support to acquire a steel mill, other industrial plants, and aid from the United States. He was a dictator with a sense of humor. And he was wise. Vargas granted amnesty to the Paulistas who revolted 1932. São Paulo revolted in 1932, partly as result of not keeping control of the presidency. The other states rallied around the national government, much to the surprise of São Paulo, and the revolt was stifled. Vargas granted general amnesty to the rebels but realized that he had to make changes. In 1933, he called together a Constitutional convention

Constitution of 1934

It made the federal government stronger. In its representation system, the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) had 350 elected members and 50 other members representing interest groups in the population. It had an element of parliamentary government which seemed to reduce the power of the President in that it gave some power to ministers and made them responsible, in part, to the Chamber. This didn't work very well. The president gained power. It gave some attention to collectivism; sometimes it is described as paternalistic constitution. The presidency was for a four-year term with no reelection. Vargas was elected President, arguing that he was not the president in 1930-34 but a caretaker.

Battles by extreme political groups, the Communists and the Integralistas, helped Vargas because it convinced many that Brazil needed as strong man. Vargas, of course, encouraged that belief.

The Communist organized a popular front, the National Liberation Alliance (Aliança Nacional Libertadora), with Luis Carlos Prestes as nominal head. Prestes called for a revolution in favor of the Alliance in July, 1935. Vargas outlawed it and arrested the leaders. The Chamber granted Vargas emergency powers. A state of siege was declared. When Communists tried to incite mutiny in the military, Vargas was given even broader powers. In September, 1936, he created a National Security Tribunal to handle political crimes. Naturally, the Integralistas were ecstatic that their arch-enemies were being destroyed politically.

The Integralistas challenged Vargas. They were extremely nationalistic and Christian-oriented, whose slogan was God, Country, and Family. Their storm troopers wore green shirts, much like the black shirts of Nazi Germany. In fact, they had financial support from the German embassy. During the very hard economic times and with a president who seemed fascist, they had a strong appeal to the masses. Plinio Salgado, their leader, decided to run for president.

The campaign for the 1938-42 presidency began in 1937. In addition to Salgado, the other two campaigning hard for the job were Jose Americo de Almeida from northeastern Brazil, and Amando Sales de Oliveira of São Paulo. In a free election, Sales de Oliveira would have won, given the weight of São Paulo.

But there was no free election; Vargas overthrew his own government on November 10, 1937. He claimed a vast Communist conspiracy, detailed in a false document, and called the election off. He said "In response to public opinion and with support of the armed forces," he dismissed Congress and took power for himself. Communists were arrested or forced into exile. Then in December, he outlawed the political parties. He was using the Communists and, eventually, the Integralistas as the excuse. He did as much from the desire to stay President as anything else.

Then he trotted out a new Constitution which created the Estado Novo (New State). The Estado Novo constitution was a ghost constitution. Article 187 says that it was "to take effect with a plebiscite, " but Article 186 says it is suspended. Vargas was no fanatic; the Estado Novo constitution had a heavy socio-economic content, including provisions for the protection of the family and statements that work was a social duty. It had strong nationalistic elements, including the state claiming ownership of subsoil mineral rights and protection of nonrenewable natural resources. In some respects, it was the culmination of the dreams of many tenentes. Integralistas thought Vargas was creating a fascist state.

When they realized they were wrong, they tried revolt, storming the presidential residence during the night of May 10-11, 1938. Vargas used his pistols and, with the aid of family and staff, held the attackers at bay until the army arrived. Vargas was a hero. His enhanced reputation made it easier to rule. And, of course, he destroyed the Integralistas.

The administration of Justice under Vargas was that of a dictator which included torture and imprisonment but the Estado Novo was no police state and there were no concentration camps. Brazilians are proud of their law schools and legal codes. The Constitution of 1937 included judicial review but it had no practical effect. In a case when the Supreme Court declared a part of a Vargas decree unconstitutional, Vargas issued another decree. Court objected, claiming the right of judicial review. The press picked up the story and public interest was generating. Vargas did not confront the Court; he went around the problem.

Federal-State relations were highly complex with Vargas using interventors and prefects. An administrative department was set up in each state, a supervising agency above the interventors, reporting directly to fed government.

Many independent federal agencies were created. There was a tremendous proliferation of bureaucracy, partly to provide jobs for supporters, partly because the activist national government was doing so much more and needed personnel to do it. Vargas tried to do something about bureaucracy but no efforts made much difference. He tried to prevent multiple office holding (common because the government pay was so low); raised salaries a little; and used exams to screen out unqualified people. Nothing worked. Too many people had a vested interest in the growth of the bureaucracy.

Tax morality was not improved a bit during the Vargas regime. People avoided paying taxes or cheated. Tax evasion was one of the things about which Vargas said he was going to do something but the mores could not be overcome.

Labor benefitted under Vargas. There was lots of organizing unions and other labor associations taking place. Although there was some prior to Getulio, he encouraged and helped bring working people together into syndicates. The syndicates were heavily political and part of the Vargas machine. Labor was one of the non-military props of the regime, a lesson seen by Juan Domingo Perón of Argentina when he served as a military attaché during this period.

Quite a bit was done in education but progress slow. The task was difficult because of the low level of education when he assumed power. In 1920, 35% of the population was literate; in 1940, 45% was. The Vargas regime required instruction to be in Portuguese. This was nationalism much like the desire of some people in the US to limit instruction in the US to English. Similarly, Vargas wanted to counteract the Germans in the south just as some Americans want to counteract the Spanish speakers and other non-English speakers in the South, Southwest, and California.

Vargas was a political opportunist not a fascist. When WWII came, Vargas quickly joined the Allies. The war may have been saved Vargas politically, for Brazilians rallied around the flag. Brazil sent an army unit to Italy; patrolled the Atlantic with its navy; lost many ships to the Axis; provided military bases in the Northeast (which was the closest point to the Eastern Hemisphere); and rearranged its economy for the war effort. Although Germany had been one of its largest trading partners between 1933 and 1941, Brazil dropped the trade but more than made up for it with Allied (principally US) trade.

When the war ended in 1945, it seemed that everybody in Brazil wanted Vargas out. Vargas, faced with the pressure to return Brazil to democracy (after all, WWII had been fought for democracy), called for elections in December, 1945. He relaxed the political controls and a number of political parties emerged. The three most important were the Partido Social Democratico (Social Democratic Party, PSD), founded by Vargas himself, which represented the urban, moderate, middle-class interests. The Uñiao Democrática Nacional (National Democratic Union, UDN), was created to oppose Vargas; it was more conservative and favored the traditional oligarchy. The Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro (Brazilian Labor Party, PTB) was also created by Vargas and sought worker support. It had a leftist ideology, being concerned for the welfare of the majority of Brazilians. It was very nationalistic.

Fearing that Vargas would cancel the elections, the military overthrew him. One sign of his intention to stay was his firing of the Río police chief in October and replacing him with his brother, Benjamin, who was known for his thievery and involvement in prostitution and gambling. This was an insult to the nation and the military, which demanded that Getulio resign. He left peacefully, but tried to put a caretaker in his place. The military said no and installed their choice, José Linhares. Linhares held office from October 29, 1945 until January 31, 1946 when the newly-elected president, General Eurico Gaspar Dutra (PSD) took office. He had beaten the UDN candidate, Eduardo Gomes. There had been 7½ million registered voters, and, for the first time, non-working women voted. Vargas had supported Dutra.

Female suffrage has meant bigger parties and more socio-economic legislation but military still intervened.

The military created a new constitution in 1946. It created a centralized government under the guise of federalism. The military wanted order. Dutra squandered public capital and adopted an anti-working man policy. As James Cockcroft in Neighbors in Turmoil says:

General Eurico Dutra, a coup leader, won the elections and served as president from 1945 to 1951. Dutra's government broke relations with the Soviet Union, outlawed the PCB, purged the military of nationalist elements, and launched a witch-hunt against reformers and leftists. It sent "interventors" to take over trade unions. It squandered Brazil's foreign exchange reserves that were accumulated during the war by allowing unchecked imports of consumer and luxury goods. It threw open the doors to foreign capital. Direct U.S. investments tripled to nearly a billion dollars by 1951."

Dutra did not handle the structural problems or Brazilian assets well. In 1947, Brazil had an unfavorable balance of payments of $200 million. It has recurrent balance of payment crises and has tended to issue currency to overcome. It had a build-up of huge US trade in post-war period. The price and supply of ordinary commodities was a problem--too high and not enough. This hurt the poor people but Dutra believed the government should do nothing. Wages lagged behind prices. Rents increased 300% in 1946-47, a two year period. Dutra's Brazil was for the upper reaches of society. There was speculation in foodstuffs. The military was embarrassed by an army scandal whereby money to be used to buy foodstuffs for the poor was misappropriated. A lot of problems were due to the poor distribution system. It was costly to move goods through most of the nation. It is better now because of highway building. A large share of the Brazilian merchant marine had been destroyed during WWII.

Dutra's regime was democratic in the beginning and initially allowed the growth of the Brazilian Communist Party until it perceived it as a threat. There had not been many Communists in Brazil before 1930 and not many more before 1945. The Communist had organized the National Liberating Alliance in 1934 as part of the Third International. Luis Carlos Prestes came back from the USSR in 1935. Vargas jailed him and drove party underground until 1945. That year, Vargas declared a political amnesty and the party emerged. In November, 1945, it got political recognition. Before registration claimed 3,000 members but, in the election of December, 1945, it pulled 600,000 votes or 10% of the total presidential votes. This apparently made it the fourth largest political party in Brazil. It got one senator and 14 deputies. It began showing all kinds of strength in local elections. It published newspapers. The Communist strength frightened conservatives. Just before January, 1947, Dutra says that a vote for Communists was a vote for foreign power and condemned other parties for dealing with them. In the elections in January, 1947, the Communists got 800,000 votes and elected a number of people to office. The next month, the public prosecutor asked the Supreme Electoral Commission to withdraw recognition. The upper governmental administrations, the military, and, some say, the United States government, were behind this outlawing. The Party howled that this was a result of US imperialism in Brazilian affairs. There was frequent collaboration between the Communists and ultra-nationalists, for the Communist often took a strong nationalistic posture. They howled about US troops in Brazil and asserted that the US was also dumping goods in Brazil in an effort to destroy the economy. In March, 1947, the US pulled it troops out. Dutra suspended the Communist Youth Union. On May 7, 1947, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal voted 3-2 to outlaw the Communist Party. The police immediately began closing up offices, clubs, and other Communist organizations. What to do about their elected politicians? This was a big debate for months. In July, 1947, the Supreme Electoral Commission said, 4-2, that it wasn't in their jurisdiction. This began a diplomatic issue; the USSR was upset. In October, 1947, the Communist mandates were canceled by Senate. Debate dragged on in the House, which finally passed revocation in January, 1948, 181-74. Rumors flew that there would be Communist mob revolts, but there weren't.

Vargas, who returned immediately in 1946 to national government as a senator from Río Grande do Sul, was nationalistic and anti-Yankee. He used the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB) as his chief support. In his maiden speech to Congress in 1946, he justified his regime. He would eventually charge that Spruille Braden, US Ambassador to Argentina, and Adolf A. Berle, Jr., the US ambassador to Brazil, had inspired the military coup against him. He said his economic policy was nationalism, that he was trying to promote domestic industry. Braden and Berle answered both charges saying Vargas wanted Communist support on the eve of the presidential election. Brazilian generals said that the US had not been involved.

In 1950, Vargas was elected president, winning almost half of the votes against the Eduardo Gomes of Fort Copacabana fame and the candidate of the UDN and Cristian Machado of the PSD. The former dictator seen dynamic and caring compared to the other two. He was much more nationalistic and concerned with social justice. This was the Cold War period and right-wing nationalists don't like his social justice views. He created Petrobras, the government petroleum company, and attempted to extend government control over energy and power resources. He created a national development council to foment economic, especially, industrial growth. He was no better than Dutra at handling the chronic problems of inflation, excessive imports, slow exports, and poor productivity. By 1953, his regime was in serious trouble and with age, he had lost much of his cleverness. When workers rioted for better pay in 1954, his minister of labor, João (Jango) Goulart, a PTB cohort, proposed a big increase in the minimum wage. Vargas fired Goulart because too many did not like his pro-labor stance. Moreover, many military officers did not trust him.

His downfall came partly because he involved himself in the internal politics of the Clube Militar. Since 1950, there had been pretty nasty competition among officers, a competition which most obviously manifested itself in the competition for the club presidency. In 1950, there was a split in the club over the election to its presidency. Candidates since 1950 have always campaigned on national political affairs. Vargas intervened in the 1950 election by promising one candidate, General Newton Estillac Leal, the Ministry of War. Estillac Leal was an anti-Yankee, ultra-nationalistic person but not a Communist. He had a nationalistic solution to the petroleum problem. The opposition candidate had spent a lot of time in non-military jobs. The issue was complicated by the Korean War. Before the decision was made, an article was published in military club review, a long article which followed the Communist line. The result was that Estillac Leal was defeated handily for re-election in 1952. A well-known moderate won. Vargas, abandoned Estillac Leal.

All this disturbance led to military talk that maybe Vargas would have to go. Vargas changed ministers and went back to the Estillac Leal tine. In the 1954 Clube Militar election, a moderate won again. This contributed to the overthrow of Vargas in August, 1954, among over things.

The end of the Vargas regime came for a number if reasons. There was rising discontent over inflation and corrupt government. Vargas got mixed up in a fight over Petrobras, a 2½ years debate. "The Petroleum is Ours" might have been a nice nationalistic slogan but it ignored the reality that Brazil could not exploit its oil reserves without foreign companies. The voices of political economists were drowned out. The final straw was the assassination of an air force major, Major Rubens Vaz, in August, 29 1954. He was riding in a car with Carlos Lacerda, a critic of Vargas, who was the target. The major's death was an accident. However, the military took this death hard. It traced the plot to the office of the brother Getulio, Benjamin. Army officers demanded that Vargas leave.

Getulio committed suicide on August 24, 1954. There were two suicide notes, one innocuous and which people think Vargas wrote, the other very anti-Yankee, nationalistic , and typewritten. Some people think Goulart wrote it. Regardless, Vargas was gone and the military once again controlled Brazil directly.

In 1954-56, there were three interim presidents: João Café Filho from August 24, 1954 to November 8, 1954; Carlos Coimbra da Luz from November 9, 1954 to November 10, 1955; and Nereu de Oliveira Ramos from November 11, 1955 to January 31, 1956. João Café Filho (John Coffee, Junior, a wonderful name for a Brazilian president!) had a heart attack and resigned. What these interims meant was that politicians, both civilian and military, were maneuvering to gain control. There were divisions within the military and plotting to prevent the selection of the president by military means. One segment of the military decided for free elections.

In the 1955 election, Juscelino Kubitschek elected president on the PSD ticket and got 34% of the vote and Jango Goulart as vice-president on the PTB ticket with 40% of the vote. That his vice president was more popular was one problem; that many perceived Kubitschek as being too close to Vargas was another.

Kubitschek promised "50 years Progress in 5" but his fiscal policies created severe inflation. The budget deficits got worse and worse. His decision to build a new national capital, Brasilia, in the interior may have been wise in that it moved the locus of power from the coast, but Brazil couldn't afford it. Kubitschek turned over just about impossible problems to successor, Jânio Quadros, governor of São Paulo,

Quadros had nominal support of UDN in election, but he was non-partisan. He had been a very honest governor. Quadros was very heavily supported by the business community. He campaigned using the broom as his symbol, promising a "clean sweep." Leftists and the ultra-nationalistic called him an Integralista, which caused Quadros to defend a number of leftist view strongly as a counterweight. He ran as pro-Castro and promised to recognise the USSR, for example. The PSD supported Marshall Lott. Quadros got the largest popular vote in history of Brazil. Goulart elected V-P. After seven months in office, Quadros repudiated a lot of leftist statements. He practiced economic austerity. In the diplomatic field, he followed a pro-left line, which was easy because Brazil had little weight in international affairs. He had legislative troubles, too, for he could pass little of his program. He resigned in August, 1961 blaming foreigners and reactionaries for his political problems, and said he was attacked for being nationalistic. Quadros thought the could put pressure upon people this way. He had sent Goulart to Communist China on a mission and knew that the military would not want Goulart to succeed him. To his surprise, his resignation was accepted.

The military wouldn't accept Goulart, considering him too leftist. After negotiations, a constitutional amendment was passed that put power in hands of the cabinet, responsible to Congress. In 1963, Goulart held a plebiscite which gave him power.

Goulart moved for reform. He was a leftist nationalist. He sought an independent line in foreign policy which angered the US. He was interested in land reform and the redistribution of income. The conservatives and military became frightened. Goulart granted amnesties to sergeants and then to some navy people in Rio. The military feared that discipline would be broken. On March 31, 1964, the military marched. General Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco took over.

The 1964 military revolution was unlike other military interventions, for, this time, the military was intent on structurally changing Brazil. It was anti-politics and preferred to run things as a command society. It issued Institutional Acts to ban Congress, political parties, jail or exile politicians, and to give itself the means to perpetuate itself in power.

The military asserted that it was going to eliminate corruption in public life, a feat hard to accomplish, Goulart was personally corrupt, and the military was quick to reveal this. But it had its own problems with corruption. It used ships to house political prisoners but prisoners could bribe their way ff a ship and then bribe officials for an exit visa.

General developments during the New Republic

• The tremendous growth of industry. Brazil developed the largest industrial plant in Latin America
• The subsistence farming group remained poor.
• Food production remained static forcing Brazil to import.
• Continuation of very low wages and living standards
• Deficit financing and inflation, especially since WWII. This was partly an aspect of rapid industrialization and partly the result of growth of bureaucracy
• The continued passivity in politics of the bulk of the population, a phenomenon which facilitated military intervention in national political affairs.
• The continued failure on the part of political parties, groups, and leaders to develop sufficient discipline to get the country running properly and to keep the military out of politics.
• The essential unity among armed forces that they should "guarantee" the constitution and public order.

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