Viva Castilhos: what if Brazil became a dictatorship in 1904?

[NotDavidSoslan]

The coup was originally scheduled to happen on 17 October, Lauro Sodré's birthday, however it was delayed to 15 November, and the anti-vaccination riot changed circumstances.

(The first two slides have minor formatting mistakes)

On 17 October, Castilhos' ally Borges de Medeiros secretly met with Sodré and other planners and agreed Rio Grande do Sul would mobilize its Public Force (state militia). Preparations soon began and were disguised as training drills, a ruse that worked as the federal government was preoccupied with reforming Rio de Janeiro, the federal capital at the time.

Almost a month later, the Brazilian Navy joined the revolt and threatened to bomb Rio de Janeiro if Alves didn't resign, which was another factor leading to his surrender.

After Castilhos took office, his first measure was to declare a state of siege and deport the riot's main leaders to the newly-acquired territory of Acre, while withdrawing the mandatory vaccination proposal. With the issue that drove him to power solved, Castilhos focused on his ideological proposal of modernizing society.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Júlio de Castilhos (1904–1906, domestic policy)


After taking office, Castilhos made compromises with the landowning elite by promising to modernize the economy without carrying out any major socioeconomic reforms. (The image depicts the logo of the Paulista Republican Party)

After the military junta handed the presidency to him, Castilhos formed a cabinet comprised of Alberto Torres as Minister of Justice, Lauro Sodré as Minister of Foreign Relations, Hermes da Fonseca as Minister of War (as a reward for refusing to crush the coup), and Pinheiro Machado, a close ally from his native Rio Grande do Sul, as Minister of Treasury. Major liberal leaders, such as most São Paulo politicians and Rui Barbosa, were exiled.

Castilhos soon moved to sate the coffee planter elite that had dominated Brazilian politics for a decade, by meeting with its major representatives and agreeing to not carry out major social reforms that improved the conditions of the lower classes. Instead, he sought to implement a modernizing and scientific dictatorship by plebiscite similar to the Mexican Porfiriato.

Castilhos and the authoritarian Torres issued "institutional acts" that:

• Limited the power of Congress, turning it into a merely consultive body, and expelling dozens of members;
• Suspended most civil rights and liberties;
• Dismissed all state governors and replaced them with authoritarian positivists, both to end opposition to the new regime and undermine the power of the "colonels" that terrorized the countryside;
• Outlawed all political parties, including the Partido Republicano Riograndense, with elections becoming officially nonpartisan;
• Only allowed newspapers to publish what the government authorized, and forced them to propagate its achievements;
• Made Christmas a national holiday, replacing the French Revolution.

Castilhos showed his commitment to economic modernisation by establishing a standard railway gauge, Ministry of Education (famous writer Machado de Assis refused to head it due to not being involved with politics), abolishing corporal punishment in the navy, repealing the 1861 "Law of Handicaps" which limited the financial market, expanding the merchant marine, and seeking to coordinate runner production, then seeing a boom. A policy of coffee valorization was implemented, both as part of Castilhos' modernisation plans and to make the landowning class content with the new order.

These policies were popular with the upper and middle classes, giving Castilhos a measure of popularity (the poor populace were mostly illiterate and alienated from politics, but contemporary observers said they did not hate him either), which led Torres to write a new constitution to replace the 1891 charter; it entered effect in October 1905.

In 1906, Castilhos was elected president for the first time, with 99% of the vote, while Lauro Sodré was unanimously elected Vice President (he was replaced as Minister by a career diplomat).

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Júlio de Castilhos (1904–1906, foreign policy)


Castilhos brought Brazil closer to the German Empire, leaving the British concerned and causing them to actively oppose him.

He also recognized all commitments taken by Brazil abroad immediately after taking power, and sought to sign border treaties with neighboring nations. That way, Brazil's borders with Colombia and Peru were demarcated between 1904 and 1906.

Júlio de Castilhos chose a cabinet almost entirely composed of illiberal Teutophiles who were in favor of closer relations with Germany to varying degrees. As the Reich was one of the world's strongest economies and Emperor Wilhelm II shared many of Castilhos' values, Brazil became increasingly aligned with it.

Between 1904 and 1910, the volume of German-Brazilian trade more than doubled, with Brazil signing a major coffee export deal with Germany in October 1909, and sending hundreds of officers for military training there.

This foreign policy shift greatly concerned the British government, which increasingly lost one of the countries its subjects invested in the most. They sought to foment opposition to Castilhos among the coffee planters, but the Brazilian government's refusal to carry out social reforms had already pleased them, so this was unsuccessful, and British business investment in Brazil saw a reduction instead.

For that reason, and the Brazilian republic's focus on the ground force instead of the navy, Brazil did not acquire dreadnought battleships until 1909, when two warships were built in Kiel and delivered to the Brazilian Navy.

The United States government led by Theodore Roosevelt also saw the increasing German influence in South America as a violation of the Monroe Doctrine, and Percival Farquhar's investment was primarily transferred to Argentina and Chile instead, hurting Brazil's GDP growth as German investors were weaker than Anglophone ones.

Brazil also drew closer to Mexico (the Porfiriato inspired the modernizing dictatorship implemented by Castilhos), Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, the latter especially after Abdul Hamid was overthrown.

Brazilian foreign policy remained primarily German-aligned until World War I broke out, when German submarines started torpedoing any ships in restricted zones.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Castilhos remained the leader of Brazil until his death in 1921, whereupon Borges de Medeiros succeeded him and led another dictatorship until the Great Depression.

Elections during the Second Brazilian Republic were not democratic. Political parties were illegal, meaning all candidates were nonpartisan, and the National Congress was a purely consultive body with little actual effect on the nation's course. Furthermore, the congressional comission that verified election results had the power to refuse to seat any anti-Castilhist candidate that won an election, which very rarely happened.

Castilhos was re-elected unopposed in 1918, as opposition candidates were banned from running due to World War I.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Júlio de Castilhos (1906–1910, foreign policy)

This term of office was dominated by the arms race that took over South America. Brazil bought its warships from Germany, while Argentina did so from Britain.

Castilhos allocated half of Brazilian revenue towards development plans, and the other half towards the naval buildup he began in 1906. He also modernized the navy by abolishing physical punishment and creating a Navy school, since most sailors were forcefully recruited from former slaves and their descendants.

However, plans for Brazil as a naval power were weakened by a British strategy to punish Brazil for its closer ties to Germany: knowing Brazil's economic growth rested on the rubber boom, they began planting scientifically managed and efficient runner plantations in Malaysia, which immediately outcompeted Amazon rubber and destroyed its share in Brazilian exports. Another rubber circle wouldn't take place until WWII, when democracy had returned to the country.

After the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, Brazil developed close relations with the Ottoman Empire, as the CUP were also highly influenced by positivism and militarism. The Ottoman government began to provide passports for its Syrian and Lebanese subjects to immigrate to Brazil, and imported Brazilian coffee.

In 1909, Castilhos appeared in Vanity Fair magazine, which was known for its cartoon depictions of rulers and celebrities. He became fairly well-known in Europe and the United States as the face of Brazil's expected rise as a world power, which their governments feared as long as the country remained a dictatorship.

The Taft Administration's Dollar Diplomacy sought closer relations with Brazil as a way to wean off German influence and uphold the Monroe Doctrine, but Castilhos refused to move away from the future Central Powers until World War I broke out and led to pressure from the British government.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Meanwhile, Lauro Sodré was re-elected Vice President with 96% of the vote against the 3% of Albuquerque Lins.

Between 1907 and 1912, Brazil underwent a financial panic, due to losing its position as a chief rubber exporter, weak banking regulation, and the loss of British and United States investment. The economy mostly recovered by 1912 due to the Second Republic's state-driven industrialisation and politically centralizing policies.

In 1914, Castilhos was reelected with 97% of the vote.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Júlio de Castilhos (1910–1914, domestic policy)


In 1913, Castilhos implemented a mandatory education law meant to reduce illiteracy and school evasion. It is one of his longest-lasting legacies.

The modernization of the Brazilian economy continued during this term, which saw the continued expansion of railways and ports, implementation of mandatory primary education in 1913, the first nationwide literacy program, beginning of large-scale urban planning in Brazil's most populous cities, and efforts to settle sparsely populated regions.

Between 1912 and 1913, the Brazilian Army had to crush a peasant revolt in a region of Santa Catarina, which was triggered by the constant expropriation of their land and the fanaticism and mysticism of the poor. The strengthening of the Brazilian Army and borders with Paraná having been previously settled led to it being crushed within a year, as were several indigenous attacks on newly-founded settlements.

In 1911, the Brazilian government restored mandatory vaccination against smallpox, which helped weaken the disease and led to its eradication decades later.

During the early 1910s, industry took a predominance in the Brazilian economy that used to belong to agriculture. According to government records, in 1913, industrial growth surpassed that of agriculture for the first time, and World War I accelerated this process, as, with its trade partners at war, Brazil had to produce what it used to import.

Castilhos and his advisors such as Pinheiro Machado, Lauro Sodré, etc, continued to effectively handpick governors. Brazil remained a classic Latin American dictatorship, with the large-scale use of torture and imprisonment against liberals, monarchists and immigrant radicals, and significant limits on freedom of speech and the press. This situation would only wind down with the end of World War I, as Woodrow Wilson warned Castilhos Brazil would never attend the Versailles Peace Conference unless the caudillo made some effort to liberalize his rule.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Nilo Peçanha, a former Senator for Rio de Janeiro, ran against Castilhos in 1910 and 1914, but was defeated both times, with the caudillo winning over 90% of the vote.

By 1914, Castilhos had become somewhat popular, due to the Brazilian economy experiencing growth and development during his presidency, and the absence of internal political conflicts in Brazil. While the poor and working class were mostly excluded from this growth, the middle class grew expressively and even obtained government representation, as Castilhismo believes leaders should be chosen by their moral purity instead of their popularity.

That same year, Lauro Sodré was elected to a final term as Vice President with 99% of the vote and effectively unopposed.

In 1918, Castilhos banned opposition candidates from running due to World War I, and, with fellow Rio Grande do Sul caudillo Borges de Medeiros replacing Sodré as Vice President, was elected with 100% of the vote.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Júlio de Castilhos (1914–1918, domestic policy)


In 1918, Castilhos prohibited the German language from being publicly spoken, having already restricted immigration from Germany and Austria.

On 16 May 1914, Castilhos signed into law the first Brazilian income tax, which remained flat tax until a centre-left government changed it.

His administration began the allocation of land grants to retired military officers, which it referred to as "land reform", in spite of not being such due to not touching the plantation system in effect for centuries. It still had a positive effect on the Brazilian economy, and led to a rise in agricultural productivity.

After Brazil switched from neutrality to alignment with the Allied Powers in 1916, its government began the persecution of German immigrants, and the erasure of their heritage more generally. Castilhos enacted a systematic policy of renaming places, businesses and organisations with German names, and restricting immigration from Germany and Austria (it was repealed after World War II), and publicly speaking German became a crime. These laws have been widely criticized in historical debate, but were popular with nationalists at the time.

In 1917, Castilhos used the São Paulo Public Force to harshly break a general strike by anarchist and socialist unions. At the same time, however, he implemented paid leave for injured workers, a ten-hour workday, and the transformation of 1 May into a federal holiday, in order to transform it from a day of struggle into a celebration. The strike was considerably large, as the industrialization implemented by Castilhos was not accompanied by improvements in workers' rights, and the working class remained a "cog in the machine". Those laws would be expanded by Castilhos' successor Borges de Medeiros, who refused to embrace populism.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Castilhos used the DOPS, São Paulo Public Force and corporate militias to violently crack down on the strikes starting in September 1917. Law enforcement imprisoned and tortured thousands of strikers.

The striking and subsequent reprisals even reached Castilhos' home state of Rio Grande do Sul, which he ruled as a dictator for a decade before becoming Brazil's dictator, but to a lesser degree than in other states of the country.

The anarchist uprising (TIL) was immediately nipped in the bud. Anarchist leaders such as Edgard Leuenroth had been imprisoned for months, meaning it was spontaneous and unorganized.

In November 1917, following the Bolshevik takeover of Russia, Castilhos signed the following laws:

- A nine-hour workday;
- Banning women and children from working at night;
- Increases in wages;
- Price controls on basic foodstuffs such as bread, beans and potatoes;
- Turning International Workers' Day into a federal holiday, in order to turn it from a day of struggle into one of celebration.

These laws, which were expanded after Castilhos' death, substantially weakened socialist and anarchist movements, which only returned after the definite fall of Castilhism during the Great Depression.

By then an elderly man by contemporary standards, Castilhos increasingly delegated power to Borges de Medeiros and Altino Arantes. Medeiros succeeded the old caudillo after his death in 1921.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

At the same time, Borges de Medeiros, who served as the state president and then governor of Rio Grande do Sul between 1904 and 1921, was elected Vice President effectively unopposed.

Castilhos cited the Great War in order to propose and implement a ban on opposition candidates running against him in that year's presidential election, which the pilant National Congress agreed to.

Even with the large-scale strikes and violence that were still raging as of March 1918, there was little doubt the long-entrenched dictator would win reelection for what would possibly be his final term. Given this, the result surprised nobody.

As of 2024, this is the last Brazilian presidential election where a candidate won 100% of the vote.

Castilhos' health rapidly declined after 1918, and he died after a stroke on 15 February 1921. After a period of mourning, Medeiros succeeded him.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Júlio de Castilhos (1918–1921, domestic policy)


In 1919, Castilhos took a loan from the United States in order to electrify the Central Brazil Railroad.

By the time Castilhos was elected for a fourth presidential term, his health had begun to decline due to his age and preexisting health issues stretching back to the 1890s. By one account, he was already senile, being of advanced age for the time.

This didn't prevent Castilhos from continuing his work of modernization, strictly enforcing the workers' rights he implemented in early 1918, planning the construction of a steel mill in Volta Redonda (which would be accomplished under his successor Borges de Medeiros), taking a loan from the United States in order to electrify the Ferrovia Central do Brasil, and starting a national sanitation program. Given his health issues, Castilhos increasingly delegated enforcement of these policies to younger and more pragmatic politicians such as Borges de Medeiros, Altino Arantes and Artur Bernardes.

In 1919 and 1920, Castilhos passed budgets that included greater controls on government spending, which had remarkably increased since he took office, and restrictions on credit. This was meant to reduce postwar inflation.

Repression of socialist and anarchist movements – including torture – continued at full force, and some unions collaborated with the increasingly pro-labour government. This postponed the founding of a communist party until 1925, which the Medeiros government promptly outlawed.

In late 1920, his health continued to worsen, and he increasingly withdrew from state affairs. Vice President Borges de Medeiros had to increasingly take over as Acting President during the period. On 15 February 1921, Castilhos died after nearly 16 years and 10 months as President of Brazil, and roughly 20 years as the dictator of either the entire country and Rio Grande do Sul. Medeiros took over as president, and repealed most of his predecessor's authoritarian measures.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Júlio de Castilhos (1918–1921, foreign policy)


In 1919, Brazil was the only Latin American country to attend the Versailles Peace Conference, thus becoming a member of the League of Nations.

Castilhos introduced armored forces into the Brazilian military in 1920, when Brazil bought 12 Renault FT tanks from France. They remained in service until the late 1930s.

Brazil continued to follow a protectionist trade policy during this period, using high tariffs on most imports to foment national industries. This policy was continued by Borges de Medeiros, but abandoned after the Great Depression.

The most significant event from this period of Brazilian diplomacy was the country's (mostly symbolic) participation in the Versailles Peace Conference, which made Brazil a founding member of the League of Nations; it later withdrew in 1924.

Between 1919 and 1923, the battleships Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro were modernized in Copacabana, allowing them to remain in service until the 1950s.

After Castilhos left office, his foreign policy doctrine was continued by his immediate successor.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Borges de Medeiros (1921–1922)


Medeiros restored civil rights and freedoms to the country, including freedom of speech.

Though also a Castilhist, former Rio Grande do Sul Governor and Vice President Borges de Medeiros was less autocratic and more interested in social reforms. He was widely considered to be charismatic, and sought to continue his predecessor's economic and foreign policies while rejecting authoritarianism.

Throughout early-to-mid 1921, Medeiros signed laws that:

- Restored the powers of the National Congress;
- Allowed political parties to form;
- Repealed restrictions on freedoms of speech, press and assembly;
- Completely banned children under 14 from working;
- The creation of a Supreme Electoral Court in order to prevent voter fraud and corruption.

The people, especially younger generations, had been tired of Castilhos' authoritarianism and elitism, so the reforms made Medeiros one of the most popular presidents in Brazilian history. For the first time ever, political parties were formed nationwide instead of in states, with the Castilhist Republican Party and the liberal Brazilian Democratic Union becoming by far the main parties in the country.

Medeiros had the loyalty of the military, who were some of the main supporters of Castilhism, as well as the middle class and much of the urban workers. This allowed him to easily defeat a liberal candidate in the 1922 presidential election, widely considered to be the first free and fair election in Brazilian history.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

There were virtually no accusations of fraud in the 1922 election, and the result was accepted by most of Brazil's political forces at the time.

The Republican Party was a positivist, nationalist and centralizing party centered in Rio Grande do Sul and Minas Gerais. It advocated for state-driven industrialisation, the expansion of workers' rights, and economic nationalism, while being strongly anti-communist.

The Brazilian Democratic Union was a classical liberal and liberal conservative party centered in São Paulo and the Northeast, which supported free trade, economic liberalism, public education and infrastructure development. During the 1920s, its main leaders were Washington Luís, Júlio Prestes and Vital Soares.

During the 1922 campaign, Nilo Peçanha, who ran for President for the third and final time, was initially thought to have a genuine chance of being elected, but, as the economy improved and Medeiros' charisma impressed the public, it faded, and the President was reelected with 55% of the vote, while winning most states outside of the North.

Medeiros defeated Washington Luís in the 1926 election.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Borges de Medeiros (1923–1927, domestic policy)


In 1926, Medeiros built the National Steel Company in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro, after taking a loan from the Baring Brothers.

Medeiros continued Júlio de Castilhos' policy of state-driven industrialization, seeking to expand it into heavy industry as well. In 1926, the National Steel Company (CSN) was opened in the strategically located city of Volta Redonda. It was built by the Brazilian government, which took a loan from the Baring Brothers due to Brazil's friendly foreign relations after WWI.

He also tried to accommodate the interests of workers by implementing an eight-hour workday and banning women from working shortly before and after birth, but further reforms, such as a minimum wage, wouldn't happen until the 1940s, when the country was under a populist administration.

During the time, Minister of Treasury Getúlio Vargas, also a Gaúcho, implemented monetary and exchange reforms that improved the Brazilian economy, continuing the industrial boom of the decade.

In 1925, state senates were abolished, making all Brazilian state legislatures unicameral. The following year, Medeiros was reelected by a landslide, defeating Washington Luís.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Borges de Medeiros (1922–1926, foreign policy)


During Medeiros' presidency, Brazil withdrew from the League of Nations in 1924.

In 1923, a Brazilian military mission to Europe led by José Pessoa Cavalcanti bought new equipment for the Brazilian Army, including mobile radios and machine guns.

During that time, Brazil continued its foreign policy reorientation towards the United States instead of Germany, as shown by growing Brazil-U.S. trade.

In 1924, Brazil withdrew from the League of Nations, which it would never rejoin, although the country later became a founding member of the League of Nations.

Medeiros' first term was pretty unremarkable overall in the diplomatic sphere, especially when contrasted with the Castilhos presidency.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

The Brazilian Democratic Union's executive comission nominated Washington Luís, the governor of São Paulo who had done important public works, for President.

Luís supported free trade, laissez-faire and, most importantly, a national highway building program, using the slogan "to govern is to open roads". This failed to appeal to the majority of Brazilians, who opposed the concept of motorways, and Washington Luís also had to deal with Borges de Medeiros' popularity (due to the 1920s boom) and charisma.

Medeiros did not leave the Catete Palace in Rio de Janeiro to campaign until September, when he made a railway tour of the southern states, and gave speeches about his administration and philosophy of government. This contributed to him being reelected by 18 percentage points.

The Great Depression led to Júlio Prestes of the UDB defeating Getúlio Vargas of PR in 1930.

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[NotDavidSoslan]

Presidency of Borges de Medeiros (1927–1931, domestic policy)


In 1929, Medeiros signed a law that formally allowed women to vote.

Medeiros refused to build any federal highways during his presidency, instead continuing Brazil's railway system, which had been further expanded by Júlio de Castilhos. Car ownership remained limited during the late 1920s. The modernisation of the Brazilian economy continued during his second term, with the foundation of the National Alkalis Company (chemical industry) and the discovery of Brazil's first oil reserve, in Lobato, Bahia.

On 19 April 1927, Medeiros signed a law passed by Congress that formally allowed women to vote in all elections. The following year, Carlota Pereira de Queirós became the first woman to be elected to the Chamber of Deputies, which she was for the UDB party (actually a coalition of various state Democratic and Republican parties, united by support for agriculture, economic liberalism and federalism).

The ban on the Brazilian Communist Party was continued during his second term, but the Party founded the Worker and Peasant Bloc (BOC) as a way to contest elections. Its candidate, Minervino de Oliveira, won 3% of the vote in the 1930 presidential election, which was won by Júlio Prestes.

Castilhista authoritarianism continued, as shown by the tightening of the Law of the Press in 1928, and deportation of several union leaders.

Medeiros tried to stabilize exchange rates and balance the national budget, but he had to dral with the effects of the 1929 stock market crash. From 1930 onwards, Brazil bought and destroyed coffee stocks en masse in a policy of artificial scarcity, which was continued until 1937, when the military dictatorship led by Pedro Aurélio de Góis Monteiro abandoned it.

The poor state of the economy and fatigue after 26 years of Castilhista governments led to Júlio Prestes being elected President in 1930, defeating Getúlio Vargas and winning all states other than Goiás and Rio Grande do Sul.

 

[NotDavidSoslan]

Given the economic harm to the majority of countries caused by the 1929 stock market crash, and voter fatigue after 26 years of Castilhista rule, São Paulo Governor Júlio Prestes was elected President.

Prestes campaigned for the Presidency of Brazil on an economically liberal platform, supporting free trade, agriculture (especially coffee planting) and little economic intervention outside of workers' rights. Getúlio Vargas, on the other hand, was a proponent of an activist government, being in favour of corporatism, land reform and consumer cooperatives.

There was a third candidate, Minervino de Oliveira of the Worker and Peasant Bloc (BOC), a front for the Brazilian Communist Party, which remained illegal for over six decades. A working class black man, Minervino won 52,665 votes, or 2.86% of the vote.

Prestes did not finish his term, as he was overthrown by the military led by General Gois Monteiro on 14 April 1933. Monteiro, on the other hand, was overthrown by Brigadier Eduardo Gomes on 28 October 1941, in a coup backed by the United States.

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