The Proclamation of the Republic (Portuguese: Proclamação da República) was a military coup d'état that established the First Brazilian Republic on November 15, 1889. It abolished the constitutional monarchy of the Empire of Brazil and ended the reign of Emperor Pedro II.
The coup took place in Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the Empire at the time, when a group of military officers of the Imperial Army, led by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, staged a coup d'état without the use of violence, deposing Emperor Pedro II and the President of the Council of Ministers of the Empire, the Viscount of Ouro Preto.
A provisional government was established that same day, with Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca as President of the Republic and head of the interim Government.
Background
From the 1870s, in the aftermath of the Paraguayan War (also called the War of the Triple Alliance, 1864–1870), some sectors of the elite transitioned into opposition to the current political regime. Factors that influenced this movement included:
- Emperor Pedro II had no male children, only daughters. The throne would be occupied, after his death, by his eldest daughter, Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, married to a Frenchman, Prince Gaston, Count of Eu, which generated fear among some elites that the country would be ruled by a foreigner.
- The slaveholding agrarian elite resented the abolition of slavery, which they considered to be a personal desire of the imperial family.
- The positivist and republican ideas of Auguste Comte spread among members of the Imperial Brazilian Army, increasing resentment of the monarchy.
Political situation in 1889
The 37th and last ministerial cabinet of the imperial government was inaugurated on June 7, 1889, under the command of the President of the Council of Ministers of the Empire, Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, the Viscount of Ouro Preto of the Liberal Party. Finding himself in a difficult political situation, he presented a program of political reforms to the Chamber of Deputies in a last desperate attempt to save the Empire. These reforms included, among others, the following measures: greater autonomy and administrative freedom for the provinces (a federal system), universal suffrage, freedom of education, reduction the Council of State's powers, and non-lifelong mandates for the Imperial Senate. His proposals aimed at preserving the monarchical regime in the country, but they were vetoed by the majority of conservative deputies who controlled the General Chamber. On 15 November 1889, the republic was proclaimed by the positivist troops, with the support of the agrarian elite, who resented not being compensated for the loss of their slaves after abolition.
Loss of prestige of the monarchy
There were many factors that led the Empire to lose the support of its economic and military bases. On the part of the conservative groups, by the serious friction with the Catholic Church; by the loss of the political support from the large landowners due to the abolition of slavery in 1888, which occurred without the compensation of the slaveholders.
On the part of the progressive groups, there was the criticism that the monarchy had maintained, until very late, slavery in the country (Brazil being the last country in the Americas to abolish it). Progressives also criticized the absence of initiatives aimed at the economic, political or social development of the country, the maintenance of a political regime of caste and census voting, that is, based on the annual income of the people, the absence of a system of universal education, high rates of illiteracy and misery, and the political withdrawal of Brazil from all other countries on the continent, which were republican.
Thus, at the same time that imperial legitimacy was declined, the republican proposal - perceived as meaning social progress - gained space. However, the Emperor's legitimacy was distinct from that of the imperial regime: While, on the one hand, the population generally respected and loved Emperor Pedro II, on the other hand, it less and less liked the Empire. In this sense, it was a common voice at the time that there would be no third reign, that is, the monarchy would not continue to exist after the death of Pedro II, whether due to the lack of political support of the monarchical regime itself or due to the concerns about the succession by a woman, Princess Isabel, in a still very misogynistic society. The prince consort, husband of Princess Isabel, the French Count d'Eu, was hard of hearing, spoke with a French accent, and, moreover, owned slums in Rio, for which he supposedly collected exorbitant rents from poor people. It was feared that, when Isabel ascended the throne, Brazil would be de facto ruled by a foreigner.
Although the phrase of Aristides Lobo (journalist and republican leader from São Paulo, later made provisional minister), "The people witnessed bestialized, astonished, surprised, without knowing what it meant" to the proclamation of the republic, has entered into history, more recent historical research has given another version to the acceptance of the republic among the Brazilian people. This is the case of the thesis defended by Maria Tereza Chaves de Mello (A República Consentida, FGV Publisher, EDUR, 2007), which indicates that the republic, before and after the proclamation, was popularly seen as a political regime that would bring about development, in a broad sense, to the country, although the common people did not want to change the regime of government.
Abolitionist issue
After the abolition of the Brazilian slave trade in 1850, the issue of complete abolition of slavery in Brazil became a subject of significant debate, facing resistance among the country's traditional agrarian elites. The Empire had adopted measures that would lead to the gradual extinction of the slave regime, but the elites, watching with concern the events of the American Civil War, demanded from the State reparations proportional to the total price they had paid for their slaves.
However, the Empire proceeded with abolishing slavery via the Golden Law (1888), and large landowners turned on the emperor and his regent, losing them their last pillar of support in Brazil. Former slaveholders joined the Republican cause not out of actual anti-imperial sentiment but as a "revenge" against the monarchy, earning them the nickname "Republicans of the last minute" or "Republicans of May 13".
The imperial regime's downfall was in many ways tied to slavery. In the view of the progressives, the Empire of Brazil was very slow to act on slavery, which undoubtedly undermined its legitimacy over the years. Then the former slaveholders, after being denied compensation, turned to the Republican cause.
The Emperor being in Europe to treat his ill health, it was Princess Isabel as regent who signed the Golden Law. Shortly thereafter, João Maurício Vanderlei, the only senator of the empire who voted against the project of abolishing slavery, said: "Her Highness redeemed a race but lost the throne". However, the Republican and black journalist José do Patrocínio celebrated the princess' action, dubbing her "The Redeemer".
Religious issue
From the colonial period, the Catholic Church, as institution, was submitted to the state. This was maintained after independence and meant, among other things, that no order of the Pope could be enforced in Brazil without having been previously approved by the Emperor (Regal Benefict). In 1872, Vital Maria Gonçalves de Oliveira and Antônio de Macedo Costa, bishops of Olinda and Belém respectively, decided to follow on their own the orders of Pope Pius IX, which excluded the Freemasons from the church. As members of high influence in monarchic Brazil were Freemasons (some books also mention Dom Pedro II himself as a Mason), the bill was not ratified.
The bishops refused to obey the law and were arrested. In 1875, thanks to the intervention of the Duke of Caxias, the bishops received an imperial pardon and were released. However, in the episode, the image of the Empire was worn next to the Catholic Church. This was an aggravating factor in the crisis of the monarchy, since the support of the Catholic Church to the monarchy was always essential to its subsistence.
Military issue
The military (the Imperial Brazilian Army) was dissatisfied with the prior restraint on speech imposed by the monarchy on military officers, by which its officers could not express themselves in the press without the prior authorization of the Minister of War. The military did not have autonomy of decision-making on the defense of the territory, being subject to the orders of the Emperor and the Cabinet of Ministers, formed by civilians, that they surpassed to the orders of the generals. Thus, in the Empire, most war ministers were civilians.
In addition, the Brazilian Army soldiers often felt discredited and disrespected. On the one hand, the rulers of the empire were civilians, whose selection was extremely elitist and whose formation was bachelors, but that resulted in positions highly paid and valued; On the other hand, the military opted for a more democratic and technical selection, but its officers did not receive professional valorization or political, social or economic recognition. Promotions were hard to come by and were based on personal criteria rather than on merit and/or seniority.
The Paraguayan War, in addition to spreading republican ideals, showed the military this devaluation of the professional career, which continued and even intensified after the end of the war. The result was the perception, on the part of the military, that they sacrificed themselves for a regime that little considered them and that gave more attention to the Navy of Brazil. Simultaneously the military suffered a strong positivist influence that spread to the military schools. They became desirous of a strong republic headed by a dictator.
Republican and positivist actions
During the Paraguayan War, the Brazilian military's contact with the reality of its South American neighbors led them to reflect on the relationship between political regimes and social problems. From this, a greater interest for the republican ideal and Brazilian economic and social development began to develop, both among the career military and among the civilians called to fight in the conflict.
Thus, it was no coincidence that Republican propaganda had, by its initial mark, the publication of the Republican Manifesto in 1870 (the year in which the Paraguayan War ended), followed by the Itu Convention in 1873 and the emergence of Republican clubs, which multiplied, since then, in the main centers in the country.
In addition, various groups were heavily influenced by Freemasonry (Deodoro da Fonseca was a Freemason, as well as his entire ministry) and Auguste Comte's positivism, especially after 1881, when the Positivist Church of Brazil emerged. Its directors, Miguel Lemos and Raimundo Teixeira Mendes, initiated a strong abolitionist and republican campaign.
Republican propaganda was carried out by what were later called "historic Republicans" (as opposed to those who became Republicans only after November 15, called "Nov. 16 Republicans").
The ideas of many of the republicans were published by the newspaper The Republic. According to some researchers, Republicans were divided into two main streams:
- The evolutionists, who admitted that the proclamation of the republic was inevitable, not justifying an armed struggle;
- The revolutionists, who defended the possibility of taking up arms to conquer it, with popular mobilization and with social and economic reforms.
Although there were differences between each of these groups as regards the political strategies for the implementation of the republic and also the substantive content of the regime to be established, the general idea common to both groups were that the republic should be a progressive, opposed to the "exhausted" monarchy. Thus, the proposal of the new regime was of a revolutionary social character and not only of a mere exchange of rulers.
Military coup of November 15, 1889
In Rio de Janeiro, Republicans insisted that Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, a monarchist, head the revolutionary movement that would replace the monarchy with the republic.
After much insistence from the revolutionaries, Deodoro da Fonseca agreed to lead the military movement.