Following the points established by the 1934 Constitution, the government of Getúlio Vargas was supposed to reestablish the democratic regime with the call for presidential elections for 1937. During this period, two political movements emerged in the country offering proposals of different character: the National Liberating Alliance – inspired by the dictates of communist political thought; and Ação Integralista Brasileira – a nationalist movement influenced by the Nazi-fascist ideals.
The re-articulation of the national political scenario expressed by these two movements ended the ideological vacuum that allowed the outbreak of the 1930 Revolution. In the case of the alliances, the discourse of a revolutionary nature was a potential threat to the interests of the government wings and national economic elites. In 1935, some of the members of the ANL ended up reinforcing the distrust of their opponents by trying to carry out a coup d'état during the so-called Communist Intentona.
From then on, the Vargas government started to use this uprising to reinforce the imminent threat of coup action promoted by the left. However, showing his dubious behavior, Getúlio Vargas did not speak out against the slates that presented themselves to dispute the 1938 elections. In fact, the government articulated behind the scenes, with the express support of the military, the establishment of a coup that would nullify the consolidation of full democracy in the country.
This authoritarian and centralizing tendency was very close to the political project of the integralists, who saw democratic freedoms as a serious threat to national development. In 1937, when the coup's allies guaranteed the installation of the so-called Estado Novo, the Integralists began to support Getúlio Vargas. To some extent, the president came to symbolize the figure of the supreme leader capable of imposing rigid government.
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The support of the integralists was also justified in the possibility of inserting members of the movement in the high echelon of power and the installation of a new one-party political context controlled by the AIB. However, frustrating integralist expectations, Getúlio carried out his coup d'état placing all political parties in illegality. Dissatisfied with this action, a group of approximately eighty Integralists carried out an attack on the Guanabara Palace in May 1938.
Despite almost managing to invade the presidential residence, the Integralistas ended up being repressed by the military and police forces that supported the Estado Novo. Other revolting actions planned by the participants were equally frustrated due to the lack of articulation of those involved. After what happened, government forces chased and arrested several of those involved. The following year, Plínio Salgado was arrested and, soon after, taken into exile for six years in Portugal.
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SOUSA, Rainer Gonçalves. "Integralist Intent"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/intentona-integralista.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
