O government of Floriano Peixoto it was the second government of Brazil during the republican period, extending from 1891 to 1894, soon after the resignation of Deodoro da Fonseca of the presidency. The years of Floriano Peixoto's government were marked by events related to the Armada Revolt and the Federalist Revolution.
The repression of these two rebellion movements against the government gave Floriano the nickname “iron marshal”. In addition, the president's name was used to honor the current city of Florianópolis. The end of his government came with the transfer of power to Prudent of Morals, the first civilian president in the history of Brazil.
Accessalso: 1930 Revolution - the uprising that ended the First Republic
Historical context of the government of Floriano Peixoto
The government of Floriano Peixoto does part of First Republic, that period of our history that stretched from 1889 to 1930. However, there is a subdivision created by historians that includes Floriano's government in a phase called the
Republic of the Sword, which encompassed the first two republican governments in our history, uniting them because they were both military.![Floriano Peixoto was president of Brazil from 1891 to 1894, being characterized as an authoritarian president.[1]](/f/7262678a8df18fdb923999c056c660d6.jpg)
This phase is understood by historians as the consolidation of the republic in Brazil, because numerous transformations were taking place in the political field and they did not occur peacefully and the governments of Deodoro da Fonseca and Floriano Peixoto are proof of that.
At disputespolitics they were very strong and there was conflict even between those who defended Deodoro and those who defended Floriano. A demonstration of this rivalry between “deodorists” and “florianists”, for example, is demonstrated by Floriano's action of nominating new presidents of states, when he took over as president. It was a way to weaken the deodorant group.
The ownership of Floriano Peixoto is directly related to the resignation of Deodoro da Fonseca of the presidency in November 1891. The crisis between the first president and the legislature and the possibility of an uprising led the military to resign from his post. With that, on November 23, 1891, Floriano Peixoto, the vice president of Brazil, was appointed president. This officialization sought to put an end to the current political and social crisis, and Floriano did so on the basis of imposition and authoritarianism.
Brazilian politics
The political dispute in this context was quite troubled, and numerous groups were against the new president of Brazil. The deodorists were the biggest group in opposition to the new president, and Floriano's decision to replace the presidents of state went against that fact. Even generals who were against Floriano suffered reprisals from the president.
Some military personnel were not satisfied with Floriano's inauguration and demanded that a presidential election be held. They drafted a document on March 31, 1892 demonstrating their dissatisfaction with the government and were dismissed from their posts and compulsorily retired.
Floriano, in turn, had the support of the São Paulo Republican Party (PRP) and those who believed that the solution for the country it was the imposition of an authoritarian government that would consolidate the republic and put the monarchists under control. From a constitutional point of view, Floriano's possession was illegal, because the Constitution of 1891, in its article 42, defined that if the position of president was vacant in the first two years of government, a new election should be called. But as a matter of convenience aimed at stabilizing the country, lawmakers ignored the law.
Floriano had a close relationship with members of the Legislature and this made the members of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies approve the suspension of his work. Brazilian politicians, therefore, gave up their role so that Floriano Peixoto could govern the country in a centralizing and authoritarian.
Even though he was shown to be openly authoritarian and centralizing, Floriano Peixoto was well regarded by the population of the capital, Rio de Janeiro, for his action to contain the effects of the Stranding, the economic crisis that hit the country during the 1890s. Still, in political circles, the dispute was intense and Floriano had to deal with different opposition groups.
readalso: Prestes column - history of an important movement in opposition to oligarchies
Armada Revolt
O country's chaotic political picture led the country to take the path of armed conflict. Two major revolts took place in Floriano's government, the first of which was the Armada Revolt, which took place between September 1893 and March 1894 in the Navy, a royalist stronghold.
From the beginning of the republic, the Navy showed to be dissatisfied. In the case of Floriano's government, it was no different and resulted in a second revolt by the Navy, known as the Revolta da Armada. This revolt was led by important names in the Navy such as Custodian of Melo and EdwardWandenkolk.
It began when cannons from naval vessels were aimed at the country's capital. THE city of Rio de Janeiro was bombed for weeks. The government repression had the support of the US navy and made the rebels need to give up the maritime encirclement of the capital. The rebels' flight took them to southern Brazil, causing them to join another ongoing revolt.
The Armada Revolt was used as a pretext to reinforce authoritarian practices on the part of the president. Historian Elio Chaves Flores claims that the president suspended press freedom and individual liberties during the uprising. Opponents of the president, such as Rui Barbosa, they needed to exile themselves from the country|1|.
Federalist Revolution
THE Federalist Revolution, in turn, extended from 1893 to 1895 and was the result of political disputes in the interior of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Since the republic was proclaimed, oligarchic groups vied for control of the state and these groups were concentrated in two parties:
Rio Grande's Republican Party, led by José de Castilhos;
Federalist Party, led by Gaspar Silveira Martins.
This dispute between the two parties has radicalized to the point where the federalists take up arms and invaded Rio Grande do Sul (part of this troop were formed by Uruguayans), from February 1893. The federalists wanted the overthrow of Júlio de Castilhos, who was sworn in as state president in January.
The federalist leaders were militarily led by João Nunes da Silva Tavares and Guemercindo Tavares. Politically, the leader was the aforementioned Gaspar Silveira Martins. The federalist troops that invaded Rio Grande do Sul, in February 1893, was formed by about three thousand men.
The president was already aware that the political dispute in Rio Grande do Sul was violent and could result in a civil war, so he ordered troops to be sent to defend Julius from Castilhos. In the second half of 1893, the Federalists managed to win many battles and thus they conquered territory.
O advance of the federalists they allowed them to reach the states of Santa Catarina and Paraná and conquer the capital of those states, Desterro and Curitiba, respectively. The federalists began to aspire to conquer São Paulo, and the president of São Paulo began to organize the state's defenses.
The federalists came very close to defeating Floriano Peixoto and, in mid-1894, they came to rely on the reinforcement of those involved in the Armada Revolt. However, from 1894 onwards, the power of the federalists began to crumble because of the disagreement between the groups that led the movement.
What united everyone involved with the movement was the opposition against Floriano de Peixoto and Júlio de Castilhos, but there were different interests within the federalists. This allowed Castilhist and Florianist groups to regain space, and a battle in Lapa, Paraná, was a symptom of this.
After federalist defeat in Paraná, florianists began to gain territory. Strong resistance against the Federalists formed in the South and forced this group to retreat, causing many of them to flee to Argentina or Uruguay. The advance of the florianists resulted in violent repression.
A symbolic case happened during the reconquest of the city of Desterro, in Santa Catarina. Close to the city, there was a fortress on the island of Anhatomirim and when it was conquered the Florianist commander ordered the shooting of 180 federalist soldiers who had been captured. The release of Desterro caused the city to be honored in the name of its liberator: Desterro it was renamed Florianópolis.
The last defeat of the federalists took place in Santana do Livramento in what became known as Combat of Campo Osório. After that, the federalists ended up fleeing to neighboring countries. At that time, the president of Brazil was already Prudente de Morais, but the recovery of Castilhistas and Florianistas, which began in 1894, was marked as an action headed by the president.
The Federalist Revolution ended in early 1895 and became known as one of the biggest and most violent civil wars in our history. It is estimated that around ten thousand people died in this conflict.
Accessalso: Guerra dos Farrapos – the opposition movement against the Brazilian government
End of government Floriano Peixoto
Floriano Peixoto remained in the presidency until November 1894. Although it had the support of the paulistas, this group of oligarchs began to organize the country's presidential succession and chose Prudent of Morals to run for that year's election. The candidate from São Paulo was elected with almost 90% of the votes. Floriano Peixoto transmitted the power against his will, so much so that he did not attend the inauguration ceremony for Prudente de Morais.
Grades
|1| FLOWERS, Elio Chaves. The consolidation of the Republic: order and progress rebellions. In.: FERREIRA, Jorge and DELGADO, Lucilia de Almeida Neves (eds.). Republican Brazil: the time of oligarchic liberalism – from the Proclamation of the Republic to the 1930 Revolution. Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian Civilization, 2018, p. 61.
Image credits
[1] Public domain / Presidents Gallery
By Daniel Neves
History teacher
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/governo-de-floriano-peixoto.htm
