The 1945 Brazilian coup d'état was a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

led by the

Brazilian Army The Brazilian Army (; EB) is the branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible, externally, for defending the country in eminently terrestrial operations and, internally, for guaranteeing law, order and the constitutional branches, subordina ...

, prompted by concerns that President

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; ; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...

intended to seize absolute power. Vargas was forced to resign on 29 October 1945. The 1945 Brazilian general election was held on 2 December 1945, where former Minister of War

Eurico Gaspar Dutra Eurico Gaspar Dutra (; 18 May 1883 – 11 June 1974) was a Brazilian military leader and politician who served as the 16th president of Brazil from 1946 to 1951. He was the first president of the Fourth Brazilian Republic, which followed the V ...

was elected president. A new democratic

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

was adopted on September 18, 1946, thus beginning the

Fourth Brazilian Republic The Fourth Brazilian Republic, also known as the "Populist Republic" or as the "Republic of 46", is the period of History of Brazil, Brazilian history between 1946 and 1964. It was marked by political instability and the military's pressure on ci ...

Background

Though abroad the government defended democracy, domestic discontent increased when

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

came to an end, due to the authoritarian policies of

and his government. Growing political movements and democratic demonstrations forced Vargas to abolish censorship in 1945, release numerous political prisoners, and allow for the re-formation of political parties such as the

Brazilian Communist Party The Brazilian Communist Party (), originally the Communist Party of Brazil (), is a communist party in Brazil, founded on 25 March 1922. Arguably the oldest active political party in Brazil, it played an important role in the country's 20th- ...

, which supported Vargas after receiving direct instructions from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1943, university students began to mobilize against Vargas. Strikes, which were banned, began to re-emerge thanks to war-related inflation, and even Minister of Foreign Affairs Oswaldo Aranha was in favor of a democratic shift. In 1945, Vargas received support from the newly established Brazilian Labour Party as well as segments of the left.

Coup

Vargas added the Additional Act to the constitution, which, among other things, provided for a 90-day period during which a time and date for elections would be designated. Precisely ninety days afterwards, the new electoral code was issued, established 2 December 1945 for the election of the president and a (new) constituent assembly and state elections on 6 May 1946. Furthermore, Vargas promulgated his intention not to run for president. The military feared that Vargas was about to seize absolute power (after a detrimental move on 25 October 1945, removing

João Alberto João Alberto Lins de Barros was a Brazilian politician in the early 20th century. He was appointed by Getúlio Vargas provisional governor in place of the elected governor of São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Sa ...

from chief of police of the Federal District and replacing him with Vargas's brother

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

), so they forced his resignation and deposed him on 29 October, ending his first presidency.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:1945 Brazilian coup d'etat Military coups in Brazil

Coup d'etat Brazilian coup d'etat October 1945 in South America Getúlio Vargas Estado Novo (Brazil)