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The Unfinished Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

José Murilo de Carvalho
José Murilo de Carvalho*
Affiliation:
IUPERJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Extract

The celebration of the centennial of the Brazilian Republic (1889-1989) was marked by a few events of academic or civic nature and no enthusiasm whatsoever. It has been observed that the bicentennial of the French Revolution aroused more interest in the people of Brazil. The reasons for this are not difficult to understand. Two seem to have particular relevance. First, is the recent memory of a military regime (1964-1985) in the minds of the people. The proclamation of the Republic on 15 November 1889 is generally held to be the making of the Brazilian military; it would be somewhat embarrassing to celebrate the actions of yesterday's enemies.

The second reason relates to the disappointment felt among the populace with the New Republic—the name given to the civilian government inaugurated in 1985. The New Republic rode in on the crest of huge mass demonstrations, the most impressive ever to take place in the country. These people called for the end of military rule and the direct election of a civilian president. In 1985 a civilian president took over, although not chosen by direct election, and a constituent assembly drafted a new constitution. Freedom of the press was restored and the people lived in great hope that a new era had finally dawned for the nation. Four years later, in 1989, a new constitution was in effect, and the fundamental precepts of a democratic system—the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary branches of government; a free press; multiple political parties; and a politicized populace—were all in place.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , October 1991 , pp. 139 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1991

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References

1 For the discussion of electoral participation during the first Republic, see de Carvalho, José Murilo, Os Bestializados. O Rio de Janeiro e a República que não Foi (São Paulo: Cia. das Letras, 1987), pp. 66–90.Google Scholar

2 Blondel to Spuller, Rio de Janeiro, Jan. 4, 1890. Quai d’Orsay, Correspondance Politique, Brésil, 1871–1896.

3 An indication of the resilience of this type of debate was the symposium organized by the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico do Brasil in 1989 to celebrate the centennial of the republic. The same positions and arguments of a hundred years ago were repeated at the symposium. See IHGB, Anais do congresso de história da república (Rio de Janeiro), 1989.

4 The Fonsecas formed a real clan within the army. Deodoro had no sons, but there were plenty of brothers and nephews at all levels of the military hierarchy. Captain Pedro Paulo, his nephew, is reported by some sources to have ordered the doors of the headquarters opened for his uncle. On the effort of these officers to establish their version, see Senna, Ernesto, Deodoro: Subsídios para a História (Brasília: Ed. Universidade de Brasília, 1981, 2nd. ed.), p. 119.Google Scholar

5 Senna, , Deodoro, p. 90.Google Scholar

6 Senna, , Deodoro, p. 20.Google Scholar

7 See Junior, Magalhães, Deodoro. A Espada contra o Império, São Paulo: Cia. Editora Nacional, vol. 2, 1957, pp. 48–49.Google Scholar See also the testimony of Hermes da Fonseca in Jornal do Comercio, Nov. 15, 1903.

8 Junior, Magalhães, Deodoro, p. 49.Google Scholar See also the testimony of Roberto Trompowsky in Jornal do Comercio, Nov. 26, 1889.

9 See Teixeira Mendes, R., Benjamin Constant. Esboço de urna Apreciação Sintética da Vida e da Obra do Fundador da República Brasileira (Rio de Janeiro: Apostolado Positivista do Brasil, 1892).Google Scholar

10 On the construction of the republican myth of Tiradentes, see de Carvalho, José Murilo, A Formação das Almas. O Imaginário da República no Brasil, São Paulo: Cia. das Letras, 1990, pp. 55–73.Google Scholar

11 On the Jacobin movement, see de Queiroz, Suely Robles Reis, Os Radicáis da República. Jaco-binismo: Ideologia e Ação, 1893–1897 (São Paulo: Brasiliense, 1986).Google Scholar

12 On the social background and political tactics of the positivists, see de Carvalho, José Murilo, “A Ortodoxia Positivista no Brasil: um Bolchevismo de Classe Média,” Revista do Brasil, 8: 4 (1989), pp. 50–56.Google Scholar The best source on positivism in Brazil is Lins, Ivan, História do Positivismo no Brasil, São Paulo: Cia. Editora Nacional, 2nd. ed., 1967.Google Scholar

13 On the monument to Constant, see Mendes, , Benjamin Constant, pp. 536–538.Google Scholar Eduardo de Sá, a sculptor and painter of positivist convictions, planned to complete an oil painting depicting the proclamation of the republic, whose conception was very similar to that of the monument.

14 On the monument to Floriano Peixoto, see Gomes de Castro, A.R., O Monumento a Floriano por Eduardo de Sá (Rio de Janeiro: Typ. Leuzinger, 1910).Google Scholar The monument to Castilhos is described in a brochure O Monumento a Júlio de Castilhos, published by the government of Rio Grande do Sul.

15 See Silva, Eduardo, ed., Idéias Políticas de Quintino Bocaiuva (2 Vols., Brasília: Senado Federal/ FCRB, 1986), 1, 643.Google Scholar

16 See Saldanha Marinho’s papers, Arquivo Geral da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, 14-1-59, vol. 12, pp. 122–125.

17 Saldanha Marinho’s papers, 41-1-61, vol. 14, p. 45, letter of Saldanha Marinho, president of the Republican Party of Rio de Janeiro, to Francisco Glicério, Oct. 3, 1889. On Barata Ribeiro’s remark, refer to source in endnote #16.

18 See interview with Aristides Lobo in Monteiro, Tobias, Pesquisas e Depoimentos para a História (Rio de Janeiro: Francisco Alves, 1913), pp. 199–213.Google Scholar

19 See Monteiro, , Pesquisas e Depoimentos, p. 211.Google Scholar See also Correia, Leóncio, A Verdade Histórica sobre o 15 de Novembro (Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1939), pp. 85, 256, 262.Google Scholar Constant was called “the man of the plebiscite” by one of Deodoro’s nephews, Captain Mário Hermes. See Deodoro e a Verdade Histórica (Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1937), pp. 151–153. Constant’s hesitancy was certainly one of the reasons why the republic was proclaimed “provisionally,” that is, depending on popular ratification in a plebiscite.

20 See Campos Porto, Manuel E., Apontamentos para a História da República dos Estados Unidos do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1890), p. XIII.Google Scholar

21 See Azevedo’s testimony in O Paiz, Nov. 17, 1902.

22 O Paiz, Nov. 17, 1902.

23 On Alberto Sales, see Vita, Luis Washington, Alberto Sales, Ideólogo da República (São Paulo: Cia. Editora Nacional, 1965).Google Scholar

24 See Arendt, Hannah, On Revolution (New York: The Viking Press, 1965).Google Scholar