Brasil: Great Depression and ISI

1. Brasil: Great Depression and ISI • WWI had initial negative impact on Brasil. • Coffee was main export • Growing demand for necessary items revitalized economy • However, the demand for sugar, beans, & other items created an economic boom in Brasil by 1915 • Profits derived from coffee provided resources to help create industry in Brasil • Increased urbanization and industrialization strengthened both the industrial bourgeoisie and the working class • The working class became more racially, sexually, & ethnically diverse as a result of urbanization & industrialization • Brasilian culture was also affected by economic expansion • New immigrants from Japan & the Ottoman Empire joined the African contingent. • In the urban areas the diversity gave birth to the samba (think Carnival); this was created to mock their social rivals

2. Brasil: Great Depression and ISI • Due to wartime inflation, trade unions got together and there were more strikes. • 1917: A strike on São Paulo was led by women seeking higher wages, respect from male supervisors, improved working conditions • Their plight caused a strike wave from 1917-1920 in which many employers gave in to the demands • However, permanent improvements did not happen

3. Brasil: Great Depression and ISI • Industrialization and urbanization weakened the foundations of the neo-colonial order. • Dominant products of agriculture in 1920’s • Coffee • Sugar • Cotton • Food production was so neglected that Brasil had to import 4/5 of their grain • City life • Workers earned around $.60/day; 10-12 hours a day 6 days a week; women earned 60% of what men made & had to endure the patriarchal setup

4. Brasil: Great Depression and ISI • Transforming society fell to the urban bourgeois (middle class) • 1922: series of 3 events that would rebel against the coffee oligarchy • February: Modern Art Week (p. 367 in HOLA) • March 1922: appearance of Marxist groups • July 1922: tenentes (junior officers) rose to prevent the seating of the elected president, Artur da Silva Bernardes. • “The officers revolt signaled the beginning of a struggle by the Brasilian bourgeoisie to seize powerfrom the rural oligarchy.” (Haynes and Keene p368)

5. Prestes Column • Tenentes march over 14,000 miles to gain support for rebellion against Bernardes • Officers knew little of peasants, therefore, they did not find much help • Helped the officers to understand the plight of peasants. They were able to reflect and think about Brasil’s real problems. • The tenente reform movement began to discuss the need for economic development & social legislation to help the poor of Brasil • These conflicts gave rise to lower class mobilization • Black Brasilians joined a 1930’s black power movement that drew the FBI in for surveillance • Candomble, popular religion that combined the consciousness of the African past and created a spiritual community to resist white supremacist policies • Brasilian women rose to protect women laborers

6. Vargas come to power • conflict was between the Coffee Oligarchy and the Urban Bourgeois • This rift led to the Liberal Alliance • They resented São Paulo’s dominant position. And they named Getúlio Vargas as their candidate • When the Coffee oligarchy sought to deny Vargas the presidency, Vargas overthrew them and became ruler of Brasil.

7. Vargas as Pres. • Vargas presided over a heterogenous group • He endeared himself to the poor and middle class people of Brazil • Vargas became a dictator and cancelled elections from 1930-1945. • 1934 Constitution created new powers for gov’t

8. Estado Nôvo • As a result of uprising on 10 November, 1937 • Vargas cancelled the 1938 elections • dissolved Congress • assumed dictatorial powers under a new constitution after the fascist model • political parties were abolished • strict censorship • Under theEstado Nôvo, Vargas regulated the economy and society as the custodian of the nat’l interest

9. Estado Nôvo cont. • See handout on ISI • Vargas’s ISI program encouraged industry through • import quotas • tax incentives • lowered duties on import goods needed for industrialization • long term low interest gov’t loans • During WWII the Vargas gov’t negotiated with the US for strategic materials to industrialize. • Brasil had used economic ties with Germany as a tool for getting the United States involved economically.

10. Questions for you to answer, alone!Answer all • Explain the difference between the urban bourgeois & the coffee oligarchy. • Why did Brasil need to export so much? • Could you please explain ISI? • Why was ISI needed in Brasil? • What was the Estado Nôvo?

11. Brasil during WWII • To encourage and support Vargas, Pres. Roosevelt sent anti-submarine ships to the Brasilian navy and instructed the US embassy to purchase surplus coffee, cacao, and Brasil nuts. • Vargas gave control of his navy and air force to US Admiral Jonas H. Ingram. He also gave troops for the cause when asked. • Vargas hoped the his cooperation would encourage the US to support the industrial growth of Brazil. • Brasil came out of WWII with the most modern L.A. military force because of US help. • WWII accelerated industrial growth.

12. fascist structure or democratic façade • Vargas understood that his regime had to change from its fascist structure for a democratic façade or risk survival. • When it seemed that Vargas may have cancelled elections again he was deposed by the military. • 1946: General Eurico Dutra assumes power • did everything the opposite of Vargas • Assured by the military’s neutrality Vargas ran for pres. again in 1950. • He won!

13. Vargas take #2 • Campaign concentrated on the need to accelerate industrialization and expand and strengthen social welfare legislation. • A conflict (which stemmed from a labor dispute) where officers charged the gov’t of communism (untrue) and corruption (true) resulted in Vargas second time being kicked out of office. • The day he was supposed to leave he committed suicide.

14. Impact of Estado Nôvo • Society was heavily controlled and regulated by gov’t (fascist) • Vargas appealed to the middle class by promising them economic security, education and order. • Vargas’s programs and rhetoric outpaced reality • Promises of schools and health facilities were never fulfilled • Race and gender and connections still played a major role in upward mobility.

15. Vargas’ Death • Why was he mourned? • He did not do much for in reality for the average Brasilian. • He treated, in public, the poor with dignity • His speeches were appealing to the common Brasilian • Many of the problems pre-Vargas were around post-Vargas. • Brasil’s hierarchical structure still intact • domestic market remained fragmented • unemployed received few benefits • urban and agrarian workers still exploited • great landowners still controlled countryside • education only reached a few rich ones.

16. Vargas’ Death • “Vargas, was the ‘father of the poor,’ as they used to say on the radio, but of course he was truly the mother of the rich.” • woman textile worker’s assessment of Vargas and his populist programs What evidence supports the aforementioned claim?