A Century of Political Turmoil

After Dom Pedro became the first emperor of Brazil it faced immediate challenges. His son, Pedro II, came to power in 1840 and had to deal with rising revolts because of slave use. That was the first of many domestic blows that began to crumble his power base. In parallel to this was the rise of the Army, who began clambering for a Republic. Even though slavery was abolished, the emperor had no give in the political arena.

General Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca planned a military coup in 1889 to rid of Pedro II. He success resulted in the collapse of the empire and the start of the Brazil Republic, with him as the first President. The Republic lasted in its true form from 1889-1930. During that time the economy faced many speed bumps. The abolishment of slavery crippled their exporting economy which relied heavily on sugar and coffee. Plus the equipment being used was not up to the quick standards of their North Western counterparts.

The country also was split in its class, economic, and culture. The north was rural and mostly impoverished. The south was dynamic, populated, and economically reliable. The Republic power base came from the south allowing them complete decision making. Yet no political outbursts occurred till 1930.

It was it that year that the economy fell to ruins along with the rest of western world due to the stock market crash of 1929. Getúlio Vargas, a governor in a influential province, used another military coup to oust the leaders from their hold. He ruled till his death in 1954. Under his control he pushed his populist beliefs to reinvigorate the working class and gain unprecedented political clout. He established hard tariffs to quell the country's nature to import to solve their problems.

With such popularity Vargas was allowed to model his government in an almost dictatorial fashion. He rewarded the sugar land owners for their allegiance and gave nothing to the working class, going against his promise. Communist uprisings began to pop up, but Vargas united different classes, unions, and political players to keep himself in power.

The class wars were still brimming with anger and it led to the third military coup in 1964. The new ruling class was run entirely by the military. They weakened the legislative and judicial branches and gave more to the president. Humberto de Alencar Castello Branco, was the first president under the new rule and set the tone for his followers. But economy continued to grow and modernization expanded their agricultural reach.

In 1985 Brazil went through its fourth and final transformation. The middle class wanted new responsible leaders and not chained to the military. They succeeded placing a return to a civil democratic government. Their federal constitution was constructed in 1988 and has been upheld since.