Queremismo: what it was, context and crisis of 1945

O wantism it was a political movement that spontaneously emerged in the popular classes in mid-1945. It was a movement in support of the working classes to the then president Getulio Vargas. This organization was a response to the mobilization that existed to promote the ousting of Vargas from the presidency.

This movement was named after the popular cry echoed in its manifestations: “Wewe wantGetulio”. Querism was formed by the working classes in defense of labor rights conquered in the 1940s, and also counted on the adhesion of the communists. It lost its meaning when Vargas was deposed.

Accessalso: What is populism - characteristics and criticisms

Context

Querism was a spontaneous political movement that emerged in the final moments of the new state, the dictatorial regime ruled by Vargas since 1937. From the 1940s onwards, the Vargas dictatorship lost strength, and its support in civilian and military circles weakened. This weakening is directly related to the international context.

Brazil was

officially at war with the Axis since 1942, and effectively joined the war effort by sending Brazilian troops to Europe in 1944. The great contradiction in this action was the fact that the country was sending troops to fight against authoritarian regimes and in defense of democracy, while here a regime was maintained. dictatorial.

From the 1940s onwards, Getúlio Vargas began to be opposed by his authoritarian government. [1]

This situation led civil groups to take a stand against the Estado Novo, demanding the implantation of democracy in Brazil with the formation of a Constituent and the holding new elections. The demonstrations against Vargas had been going on for years before 1945, and two years earlier, the effects of the loss of support for the Estado Novo were already being felt.

Historian Thomas Skidmore raised two examples that demonstrate this dissatisfaction|1|. In 1943, a group of intellectuals and politicians published the ManifestFromMiners, a document that criticized the Estado Novo, demanding its end and the democratization of Brazil. The following year, criticism of the government began to be made by the military who were fighting in Europe.

Getúlio Vargas realized that the country's political climate was changing and was already thinking about how he would adapt his political strategy to this scenario. The way out he found was strengthen your communication with employees. He invested in the development of policies for their benefit and expanded his government's dialogue with this class. Thus was born the labor.

1945 political crisis

1945 was a year of definition and political changes in Brazil. The opposition movement to Vargas was gaining strength, and not even the government's censorship apparatus was able to stop the demonstrations. Thomas Skidmore presents that two symbolic cases, in this sense, took place during the First Congress Brasileiro de Escritores and during an interview with José Américo, a politician from Paraíba, for Correio da Morning|2|.

Both at the writers' event and at the interview, criticisms of the president and demands for election were carried out. This evidenced that the Press and Advertising Department (DIP) could no longer filter criticism and that Vargas' opponents were gaining ground. Demands for freedom of expression and for a democratically elected president led to a backlash from the dictator.

In February 1945, Vargas issued the ActAdditional, a constitutional amendment that determined that electionpresidential it should have a date set for that year, still within 90 days. Soon, too, they began to settle down. new political parties, extinct since 1937, and a pledge not to run in the presidential election was issued.

The presidential election was scheduled for December 2, and the candidacies were being established. A group of liberals, supported by a few socialists, formed the National Democratic Union (UDN) and launched the application of EdwardGomes. Soon after, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), formed by part of the Estado Novo bureaucracy and the rural elite, launching the candidacy of EuricoDutra.

With fewer electoral chances, a group of communists gathered around the Communist Party of Brazil (PCB) and launched the candidacy of YedoFiúza. In the midst of these candidacies, Vargas announced his support for General Eurico Dutra, at that time, his government's minister of war.

Pursuing his strategy of political opening, Vargas announced, in April 1945, the release of political prisoners the Estado Novo through an amnesty. Among the freed was Luís Carlos Prestes, communist imprisoned since 1936, because of his involvement with the Communist intent. After being released, Prestes joined the movement in support of Vargas that emerged that year.

readmore: João Goulart – a summary of the government of one of the most famous laborers

Queremism

Queremismo was a movement that emerged spontaneously and demonstrated workers' support for Vargas. [1]

Demonstrations against Vargas continued throughout 1945, but a spontaneous popular reaction began in response. In 1945, students at the Largo de São Francisco Law School, in São Paulo, mobilized in protest against Vargas, for the formation of a democratic regime in Brazil and for support for Eduardo's candidacy Gomes.

Historians Lilia Schwarcz and Heloísa Starling claim that, in early March, these students from Right, mobilized at the Academic Center Onze de Agosto, held a march for the overthrow of Getúlio Vargas|3|. They headed to the Praça da Sé, in São Paulo, and tried to mobilize workers in support of the demonstration.

However, the opposite of what the students expected happened. The workers who were at Praça da Sé reacted and attacked us. The workers who gathered to defend him shouted slogans such as "Aliveyouworkers" and "We want Getúlio”. The anti-Varguist students eventually fled.

From this spontaneous event, the Queremista movement emerged, which demonstrated the support of the workers to the government of Getúlio Vargas, and his actions against the president's opponents were repeated in other capitals of the parents. The defense of Vargas by the workers shocked groups at the time, such as the press, which did not understand the position of the popular classes.

The reaction of the press against the population that spoke out in favor of Vargas was harsh. The Querists were called by her terms like “troublemakers” and “disorderly”. Nevertheless, the popular demonstration in defense of Vargasspread throughout Brazil, gaining strength and organization.

It may be strange for a popular movement to emerge in defense of a president known to have a dictatorial regime, but, in the view of the working classes, what was at stake were their own rights. Historians Lilia Schwarcz and Heloísa Starling explain the reason for this support:

His demand, […] had a political nature: the defense of the rights that guaranteed the social citizenship obtained by workers from the 1930s onwards. Realizing that the Estado Novo was heading towards an unfavorable end to the president, the workers took to the streets: they suspected that the set of labor protection law, until then double-edged, without Getúlio could start to cut on one side only - the side of boss|4|.

From the second half of the year, queerism reached its peak. Vargas, of course, took advantage of this movement and sought to support it, while using it as a form of propaganda. O DIP it's the Ministry of Labour then offeredsupport to the Querists, and committees were created throughout the country.

With that, a series of events were organized by the Querists. Pamphlets were distributed, rallies were held, and querulous speeches were broadcast over the radio by the government. The party created by Vargas, the Brazilian Labor Party(PTB), joined the queristas events and used them as a space to ensure leadership.

The largest Queremista demonstration took place on October 3, 1945 and was attended by 150,000 people in support of Vargas. [1]

The communists, following the directive sent by the Soviet Union, allied with Getúlio Vargas, and the support given by Luís Carlos Prestes, former enemy of Vargas, was surprising. Prestes' action still shocks because he had suffered considerably at the hands of the Vargas regime: imprisoned for almost 10 years, he had your mate sent to Nazi Germany, where he died, and never had the right to see his daughter while in prison.

In September, Vargas confirmed that he would not run in the presidential election, disappointing his supporters. They, however, did not give up and readjust their political agenda, starting to defend the holding of an election for the formation of a Constituent Assembly so that a new Constitution was written for the Brazil. On October 3rd, the biggest wanton manifestation was performed, counting on 150 thousand people, in Rio de Janeiro.

read more: How Getúlio Vargas returned to the presidency in the 1950s

Vargas deposition

The Querists wanted the postponement of the presidential election, scheduled for December, in order to guarantee, first, the formation of the Constituent Assembly. His wishes were frustrated as Vargas' crisis in power only increased. On October 29, Vargas received a ultimatum military, which forced his resignation. A military coup overthrew it and started, from 1946, the first minimally democratic period in our history.

Grades

|1| SKIDMORE, Thomas E. Brazil: from Getúlio to Castello (1930-1964). São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2010. P. 82.

|2| Idem, p. 82.

|3| SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz and STARLING, Heloísa Murgel. Brazil: a biography. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2015. P. 390.

|4| Idem, p. 390.

Image credit

[1] FGV/CPDOC

By Daniel Neves
History teacher