First Republic is the way that the period of Brazilian history that began in 1889, with the Proclamation of the Republic, and lasted until 1930, with the 1930 revolution. Also known as oligarchic republic or RepublicOld, this period was marked by the dominance of the oligarchies in Brazilian politics.
Summary
The First Republic, or Old Republic, extended from 1889 to 1930 and was the initial period of the republicanism in Brazil. It was marked by some practices, such as the halter vote and the favor exchange. From this period, some concepts were also known, such as the latte policy and the governors' policy.
It was also characterized by authoritarianism, social inequality and the political game of the oligarchies. Because of this, this period was very marked by existing social tensions, which caused numerous riots, such as the Vaccine Revolt and the Chibata Revolt.
The end of the Old Republic came when President Washington Luís was deposed by the troops who started the Revolution of 1930. This revolution was responsible for placing Getulio Vargas in the presidency of Brazil.
Phases of the Old Republic (First Republic)
As already shown in the excerpt above, the First Republic is officially dated as beginning in 1889 and ending in 1930. However, it is important to point out that some historians organize the periodization of this period in another way. These historians establish the beginning of the First Republic in the year 1894 and the end in 1930. The previous period (1889-1894) is named Republic of the Swordand encompasses only the first two governments of the Brazilian Republic.
In this text, we consider the period 1889-1930 as an integral part of the First Republic and the Republic of the Sword (1889-1894) as a subdivision. Regarding the more than 40 years of the First Republic, the period can be organized as established by historian Marcos Napolitano|1|:
Consolidation (1889-1898): period in which the political institutions of the Republic were consolidating, as well as government practices;
Institutionalization (1898-1921): period that marks the height of the First Republic and when the political practices that marked this phase of Brazilian history were well established;
Crisis (1921-1930): period in which the balance of oligarchic politics was altered with the entry of new actors into national politics.
Presidents of the Old Republic
In all, the First Brazilian Republic had thirteen presidents who took office and two who didn't (one because he died and the other because he was stopped by his opponents). The presidents of that period were:
1. Deodoro da Fonseca (1889-1891);
2. Floriano Peixoto (1891-1894);
3. Prudente de Morais (1894-1898);
4. Campos Sales (1898-1902);
5. Rodrigues Alves (1902-1906);
6. Afonso Pena (1906-1909);
7. Nilo Peçanha (1909-1910)
8. Hermes da Fonseca (1910-1914);
9. Venceslau Brás (1914-1918);
10. Delfim Moreira (1918-1919);
11. Epitacio Pessoa (1919-1922);
12. Artur Bernardes (1922-1926);
13. Washington Luís (1926-1930).
RodriguesAlves and JuliusAbout were the two elected presidents, but who did not take office during this period. The first had been elected for a second term in 1918, but died before taking office as a result of the Spanish flu. So, his deputy, Delfim Moreira, took over until a new election was scheduled. The second was elected in the 1930 election but was prevented from taking office after the 1930 Revolution – an event that marked the end of this phase known as the First Republic.
Characteristics of the Old Republic
The main characteristic of the Old Republic is the control of oligarchies in Brazilian politics. Regarding the oligarchies of that period, Boris Fausto makes the following definition: “Oligarchy is a Greek word meaning government of a few people, belonging to a class or a family. In fact, although the appearance of the country's organization was liberal, in practice power was controlled by a small group of politicians from each state"|2|.
The control that these oligarchies exercised over Brazilian politics was based on some well-known practices in our country: the bossiness, O colonelism it's the patronage. Let's briefly define these concepts.
Bossy: it basically consists in the control over a certain group of people from the land tenure. Large landowners exerted a strong influence on the general population.
Coronelismo: it was a common practice of the First Republic in which coroneis (large landowners) exercised dominion over local populations and used these powers to guarantee the necessary votes and, thus, serve the interests of the established oligarchy and, consequently, of the Government Federal. The colonel guaranteed these votes by distributing public office (all under his control) in the way that interested him.
patronage: can be defined as a practice of exchanging favors between two politically unequal actors. In this concept, there is no need for the figure of the colonel, since this practice can happen in different instances of society. In it, every favor granted in exchange for something (public office, tax exemption, etc.) given by a superior political entity creates a clientelistic relationship with the recipient of the benefit.
Other well-known practices of First Republic policy were the “politicsFromgovernors”, also called “state policy”, and the “latte policy”.
Governors Policy
The "governors' policy" was created during the government of Sales Fields (1898-1902) and basically set the tone for the functioning of our policy throughout the First Republic.
At governors' policy, the Federal Government gave its support to the most powerful oligarchy of each state to reduce power struggles between local oligarchies. In exchange for this support, the chosen oligarchies had the function of supporting the Executive through their representatives in the Legislative.
In this policy, the figure of the colonel was fundamental, as he was the one who made all the arrangements to mobilize the necessary votes and elect the deputies of the oligarchy supported by the government. The colonel was the figure of local power and, to achieve his goals, he used the distribution of offices and intimidation of voters, since the vote in the First Republic was not secret. This intimidation became known as “voteinhalter”. In addition to the halter vote, the oligarchies also used the manipulation of electoral records to guarantee the victory of their candidates of interest.
Latte Policy
THE latte policy it is a classic concept used in reference to the existing agreement between the oligarchies of São Paulo and Minas Gerais regarding the choice of presidents. The two oligarchies had an agreement to rotate the candidates who would run for the presidency of Brazil. This concept, however, does not cover the entire period, as sometimes the two oligarchies entered in conflict with each other, in addition to having been cases in which representatives of other oligarchies were elected.
Socioeconomic characteristics
In socioeconomic issues, it is important to consider that, during the First Republic, Brazil began to undergo some important transformations. In the economy, an industrial development in Brazil was outlined, but it ended up not being very expressive. The Brazilian economy of this period remained heavily dependent on coffee exports (and remained so until the 1950s).
Because of this embryonic industrial development, it emerged with greater expressiveness in the 1910s the labor movement. The years of the First Republic were also marked by considerable urban growth in Brazil. Overall, the country still had the majority of the population in rural areas, but the growth was consistent and was a prelude to a strong urbanization that would occur in the following decades.
Revolts of the Old Republic
The First Republic was marked by disrespect for social rights, which was directly reflected in several revolts that took place during this phase. The uprisings also resulted from political dissent and the population's dissatisfaction with poverty and social inequality. Among the revolts, the following can be highlighted:
1. Straw War
2. Armada Revolt
3. Vaccine Revolt
4. Revolt of the whip
5. Contested War
6. Copacabana Fort Revolt
7. Paulista Revolt of 1924
8. About Column
end of the old republic
The First Republic entered a crisis in the 1920s, when the political arrangement between the oligarchies began to crumble and existing divisions began to stand out from attempts to conciliation. The emergence of tenentismo, an opposition movement formed by young army officers, also shook the foundations of politics in that period.
This crisis peaked in the 1930 presidential election. The Paulistas launched Júlio Prestes, and the oligarchic dissidences formed by mineiros, gauchos and Paraíba launched Getúlio Vargas on the Liberal Alliance ticket for the dispute. Vargas was defeated, but after the assassination of his deputy (for reasons unrelated to the electoral dispute), members of the Liberal Alliance rebelled and started a revolt in October 1930.
Also access:Vargas Era: Provisional and Constitutional Government
The result of this revolt was the deposition of president Washington Luís and the prohibition of the possession of Julio Prestes. In November 1930, Vargas was chosen as president of Brazil. This event became known as the 1930 Revolution and was established as the milestone that ended the First Republic.
Exercise solved
1º) What was the trigger that started the Revolution of 1930?
a) The arrest of Getúlio Vargas by order of President Washington Luís.
b) An article published by Júlio Prestes ridiculing Getúlio Vargas for having lost the 1930 election.
c) Decree of a state of siege as a result of Luís Carlos Prestes joining the Liberal Alliance.
d) Murder of João Pessoa, vice president of Getúlio Vargas, in Recife.
e) Disruption of the oligarchies of Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul.
Resolution: LETTER D
The trigger of the 1930 Revolution was the murder of João Pessoa by João Dantas in a bakery located in Recife, Pernambuco. The assassination of João Pessoa had not been motivated by issues directly related to the election, but happened because of political disputes between the two in Paraíba. Furthermore, there was a passionate issue involving the action of João Dantas. This event was politically exploited by the members of the Liberal Alliance, who used it as a justification for starting an armed revolt against Washington Luís.
|1| NAPOLITANO, Marcos. First Republic (consolidation and crisis). To access the link, click on here [video].
|2| FAUSTO, Boris. History of Brazil. São Paulo: Edusp, 2013, 225.
Image Credit: Boris15 and Shutterstock
