Chapter 1- THE HISTORY OF BRAZIL
Before the discovery of Brazil, the country was already inhabited by many native tribes, not just one race, but three races of beings, the first the Human race, the second, humans with animal characteristics such as the ears and tails of animals, canines and felines , were called Semi-Humans, and the third age of animals that walked like humans and did the same things as humans, were called Ferals, the three races weren't very friendly with each other, but over time, they they put aside their differences and formed an alliance.
Brazil was discovered in 1500 by Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral and his sailors, after discovering a new continent and new ways of life, Pedro took his message to the Portuguese king who immediately proclaimed that the new continent belonged to the Portuguese crown.
At first, the Portuguese named the continent Ilha de Vera Cruz, then it was called Terra de Santa Cruz, the Portuguese and the natives learned about both sides, but after 30 years, the Portuguese discovered a tree that was worth a lot of money in the europe and which gave the country its name, Pau-Brasil, a tree that when cut produced a red substance that was used in many utensils, such as clothes, paints to paint and ect, but someone had to work to collect these trees, so the Portuguese offered natives, if they worked, they would offer in return gifts such as an iron axe, utensils and clothing.
In 1530, the Portuguese discovered that the lands of Brazil were very fertile and ideal for planting sugarcane, and other crops, but someone had to work on these plantations, the natives did not want to be forced to work again and fled to the forest, so the Portuguese resorted to slave labor from Africa, and for many years it was like that.
In the years of 1693, gold was discovered in the region of Minas Gerais, and it became a big deal for the Portuguese crown, which for every kilo of gold, wanted 20% of the gold, and when this deal was announced, many miners revolted. if, but they were massacred by the Portuguese and the leader of the miners, Tiradentes, was hanged and quartered and his body was exposed so that there would be no more revolts, and it worked.
In the early 19th century, Europe was involved in a war called the Napoleonic Wars, a French general named Napoleon Bonaparte took the throne of France and proclaimed himself French emperor, and some countries in Europe did not recognize non-noble blood on the throne and so they declared war, but Napoleon's army was far superior in terms of fighting and fighting strategies, the French army defeated the armies of the Austrian empire and forced them to surrender, and also forced the kingdom of Prussia to surrender, the two countries were forced to declare loyalty to the French empire.
On November 21, 1806, Napoleon declared the Continental Blockade, so that no country on the European continent could make agreements or business with England, but he realized that in mid-1807, the Kingdom of Portugal was not collaborating with the Blockade, then in November 1807, French troops invaded Portugal and were marching to the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, but when the French troops arrived in Lisbon, they didn't find the royal family or any member of the Portuguese government only then noticed on the horizon, several Portuguese ships leaving, and realized that the king, the royal family and the entire Portuguese court fled to his colony in Brazil, Napoleon was really surprised, he wrote in his personal diary that:
"Of all the kings, emperors and princes, the only one who really managed to deceive me was Dom João VI of Portugal". Napoleon Bonaparte.
After they arrived in Brazil, D. João VI immediately elected Brazil as his kingdom, now called "United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves", they stayed for a while until Napoleon's defeat on April 11, 1814, the Congress of Vienna, where the coalition countries would redraw the borders of Europe messed up by Napoleon, then the Congress of Portugal wanted the king back to Portugal, so D. João VI returned, leaving his son D. Pedro IV in Brazil, but the Portuguese wanted the prince back and that Brazil was demoted to colony status, but the radical liberals and the people absolutely did not want the country to be demoted to colony status and be enslaved again, then on January 9, 1822, became known as "The Day of the Stay", which the Prince Regent declared:
"If it's for the good of all and the nation's general happiness, I'm ready! Tell the people I'm staying." Prince Regent D. Pedro I.
From that episode onwards, D. Pedro I came into direct conflict with Portuguese interests, in order to break the bond that existed between Portugal and Brazil, within the scope of the United Kingdom.
This episode culminated, months later, on September 7, 1822, when the prince shouted "Independence or Death" along the banks of the Ipiranga River and started the war of independence that later on Brazil became an empire.
After defeating the Portuguese who reluctantly agreed that Brazil was now independent, the years of the so-called First Reign were not easy, there were several crises, there were several attempts at revolutions in Brazilian states, such as the state of Pernambuco in the so-called Confederation of Ecuador, but they were soon defeated, and the most serious was the War of Cisplatin, which ended with Uruguay's independence.
On April 7, 1831, D. Pedro I was forced to renounce the empire, leaving the country in the hands of his eldest son, D. Pedro II, who was then 5 years old. D. Pedro I appointed José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva as guardian of his younger children, and went to Portugal.
But the Portuguese wanted his son's return too, but it didn't happen, for 10 years Brazil went through a period called the Regency Period, which until D. Pedro II was older, during these 10 years, a series of localized rebellions, such as the Cabanagem in Grão-Pará, the Balaiada in Maranhão, the Sabinada in Bahia, and the longer and longer Farrapos War in Rio Grande do Sul, which showed discontent with the central power and the latent social tensions of the newly independent nation, which provoked the joint effort of opponents to maintain order. About the period recorded by Joaquim Nabuco:
"In Brazil, however, the Regency was the de facto republic, the provisional republic...". Joaquim Nabuco.
It was about building a political arrangement that would guarantee the groups the preservation of their interests.
Until on July 23, 1840, with the declaration of majority of age of Pedro de Alcântara, now Emperor D. Pedro II, he was crowned Emperor of Brazil, in the period called Segundo Reinado, there was great cultural progress and of great significance for Brazil, with the growth and consolidation of the Brazilian nation as an independent country, and as an important member among the American nations.
At this time, the solidification of the army and navy can be seen, culminating in the Paraguayan War in 1865, and profound changes in the social sphere, such as the gradual liberation of black slaves, and the encouragement of European immigration to join the Brazilian workforce . Visual arts, literature and theater flourished in this period. Although heavily influenced by European styles ranging from neoclassicism to romanticism, each concept was adapted to create a genuinely Brazilian culture.
During this period, there was an expansion of urbanization in large cities and the large-scale construction of railways, with the latter aiming at a more efficient mobilization of the flow of consumer goods and the interiorization of the country; besides the introduction of electric telegraphs that connected Brazilian provinces and other South American countries, lines of steamships that updated the merchant and war navies and, in 1877, the acquisition of the first telephone equipment.
The second half of the 19th century was marked by an incipient Brazilian modernization based on essential pillars: the coffee economy in the Southeast, the end of the slave trade and the gradual extinction of slavery, the replacement of the former slave system by salaried labor, incentives to industry of the country to mature and take over, until the end of the second reign on November 25, 1889, when Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca carried out a coup d'état and proclaimed the republic, in an act known as the "Proclamation of the Republic".
There was no popular participation in the proclamation of the Republic of Brazil. What happened, technically, was a military coup. The Brazilian people supported the Emperor, the Emperor loved the people and they loved him. The correspondent of the newspaper "Diário Popular" of São Paulo, Aristides Lobo, wrote in the November 18 edition of that newspaper, about the overthrow of the empire, the historic phrase:
"...For now, the color of the government is purely military and it should be like that. It was theirs, theirs only because the collaboration of the civil element was almost nil. that meant. Many seriously believed they were seeing a parade!..." Aristides Lobo.
The last Prime Minister of the empire, Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Visconde de Ouro Preto or Afonso Figueiredo Ouro Preto, after deposing the presidency of the council of ministers on November 15, the proclamation of the republic was a mistake and so expressed himself in his book "Advent of the military dictatorship in Brazil":
"The Empire was not the undoing. It was conservation and progress. For half a century it kept colossal territory intact, tranquil and united. The empire converted a backward and sparsely populated country into a great and strong nationality, the first South American power, considered and respected throughout the civilized world.
The Empire effectively abolished the death penalty, extinguished slavery, gave Brazil undying glories, internal peace, order, security and, most of all, individual freedom as never before seen in any country. What are the faults or crimes of D. Pedro II, who in nearly fifty years of reign never pursued anyone, never remembered an ingratitude, never avenged an insult, always ready to forgive, forget and benefit?
What mistakes made him deserving of deposition and exile when, old and infirm, he had more to count on the respect and veneration of his fellow citizens? The Brazilian Republic, as proclaimed, is a work of iniquity. The Republic arose on the backs of the mutinous soldiery, it comes from a criminal origin, it was carried out by means of an attack unprecedented in history, and it will have an ephemeral existence!" Afonso Figueiredo Ouro Preto.
And for 41 years, from 1889 to 1930 it was known as the Old Republic or First Brazilian Republic, it is divided into two periods. The first period, called the "Republic of the Sword", which was dominated by the mobilized sectors of the army supported by the republicans, and until the inauguration of the first civilian president, Prudente de Moraes. The Republic of the Sword had a more centralizing bias of power, especially for fears of the return of the Monarchy, as well as to avoid a possible division of Brazil.
The second period was known as the "Oligarchic Republic", and lasted from 1894 to 1930. It was characterized by giving greater power to regional elites, especially in the southeast of the country. The dominant oligarchies were the republican political forces of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, which took turns in the presidency. This hegemony is called "Coffee with Milk Policy", due to the influence of the São Paulo agrarian sector, with large coffee production and the milk-producing agrarian sector in Minas Gerais, which prevented the occupation of the main office of the Executive Power by representatives of the interests of others economically important states at the time, such as Rio Grande do Sul and Pernambuco.
But in 1929, the "Great Depression" or the "Crisis of 1929" happened, Brazil was economically and politically broken, on October 3, 1930, the so-called "Revolution of 30" took place, ending with the Coffee and Milk republic, and initiating a new concept of government, led by Getúlio Vargas from Rio Grande do Sul.
But on September 7, 1937, a political group based on Italian fascism and nationalism called AIB "Ação Integralista Brasileira" led by Plinio Salgado, with the support of the great-grandson of D. Pedro II and the house of Orleans and Bragança, staged a coup. and assumed power, transforming Brazil into a monarchy once again.
The rest of the story is in the timeline in the previous chapter.