THE "Copacabana Fort Revolt" ("The 18 do Forte" or "Revolta dos 18 do Forte de Copacabana") was a political-military movement, considered the first revolt of the tenentist movement.
The lieutenants had positivist ideals, were linked to the armed forces, fought for democratic politics in a that were positioned against the government and the current oligarchic system (power concentrated in the hands of agrarian elites traditional ones).
The name of the revolt “Revolta dos 18 do Forte de Copacabana” is associated with the number of people involved in the confrontation, who resisted until the end, namely: 17 soldiers and 1 civilian.
Historical context
On July 5, 1922, in the city of Rio de Janeiro (at the time the country's capital), the revolt took place during the period known as the Old Republic (1889-1930), in the government of Epitacio Pessoa, which imposed the closure of the Military Club of Rio de Janeiro and the arrest of the gaúcho Hermes da Fonseca, former president of the country (who ruled during 1910-1914), and President of the Military Club.
The Fort 18 Revolt was led by the lieutenant colonel Euclid Hermes da Fonseca, son of Marshal Hermes da Fonseca, who claimed the end of the Old Republic and the oligarchic system (at the time the coffee with milk policy, centralized in the hands of coffee growers and farmers, whose miners and paulistas alternated in the power).
In addition to the discontent generated by the oligarchic political monopoly, the dispute for the post of presidency of the country, in 1921, between Nilo Peçanha, from Rio de Janeiro, supported by the military, and Artur Bernardes, from Minas Gerais, supported by the oligarchic class, was the trigger for the beginning of the revolt, with the victory of the Minas Gerais politician.
With the outbreak of the revolt there were 301 fighters, and after being hit, Euclides Hermes allowed the military to leave the Fort. There were 29 rebels left inside the Fort of Copacabana, and with the arrest of Euclides Hermes, who left to negotiate with his opponents, there were 28 left.
After this event, and without many chances of victory, the Fort's flag was torn into 28 pieces and given to each one of them, who were willing to defend their ideals to the death. Therefore, they left the Fort and followed Avenida Atlântica towards the Palácio de Catete; and, as a result of a shooting, 10 of them dispersed and the remaining 18 decided to continue, going against the loyalist forces, which had 3,000 government soldiers. Finally, the only survivors, among the rebels, were the military Antônio de Siqueira Campos (1898-1930) and Eduardo Gomes (1896-1891), who were badly injured.
To know more:
- old republic,
- Hermes da Fonseca,
- Epitacio Pessoa,
- Coffee with Milk Policy
- Lieutenantism
- Old Republic Exercises
Curiosity
- Other outstanding tenentist movements that took place in Brazil were the Prestes Column (1924-1927) and the 1924 Revolution.
