On November 10, 1937, the then president of Brazil, , announced the closure of , the granting of a new one and the proclamation of the Estado Novo, an authoritarian period until 1945.
Legitimized by the Army, the president spoke at the Guanabara Palace, the current headquarters of the Government of and before that, the federal government, broadcast via radio. He stated that regime change would be necessary to “readjust the political body to the country’s economic needs.”
What followed was total control of the Executive by Vargas, appointing intervenors by the states, the centralization of functions by the federal government and the consolidation of his image as “father of the poor” through the Department of Press and Propaganda.
Eight years after , Vargas was under immense pressure, not only from society, but also from the military, to resign and hand over command of the Republic to a successor via elections. He then left office on October 29, 1945.
Understand the origin and downfall of the Estado Novo:
Vargas consolidated and ‘communist threat’
Getúlio Vargas was an experienced Gaucho politician with a broad political trajectory in the First Republic, having been a senator, governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Minister of Finance under Washington Luís and deputy. He reached the top of the federal Executive amid a demand for modernization of the State.
He came to power in 1930, after a coup d’état that interrupted the end of Washington Luís’ government and prevented Júlio Prestes from taking office, creating a government he called provisional. Here, Vargas was already beginning to centralize power, which disturbed economic sectors and led to conflicts such as the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932.
Two years later, and trying to accommodate the various social demands, the 1934 Constitution was promulgated, with, among other highlights, the institution of secret voting and women’s suffrage. Vargas was indirectly elected for a four-year term, without the right to re-election.
A year later, came the Communist Intentona, carried out by the National Liberation Alliance. The revolt against Getúlio, led by Luís Carlos Prestes and who called for a communist government, was easily contained, but the then president used the movement to continue disseminating what he said was a communist threat.
In 1937, the Cohen Plan was forged, planted by the integralists and which stated that the communists were planning a greater revolution than the one attempted in 1935, with support from the Soviet Union. It was the narrative Vargas needed for a new coup d’état, further expanding his powers.
Self-coup
While in office, Vargas began to assert that an electoral campaign in 1938 could reignite street unrest and create political instability in the country. Meanwhile, he began to articulate with and with local politics, seeking loyalty and equipment from the State.
He also cultivated the support of the integralists and, after the leak of the Cohen Plan, on November 10th and without any opposition, he closed Congress, decreed the new constitutional text and proclaimed the Estado Novo. Only two governors, Juraci Magalhães, from Bahia, and Lima Cavalcanti, from Pernambuco, resigned from their positions in protest.
In December 1937, all parties were closed and political activity became clandestine and restricted only to State action. In the same month, all state flags were burned in a civic ceremony, as a symbol of centralization. “We no longer have regional problems, they are all national, and are of interest to the whole of Brazil”, stated Vargas.
There was never an election in this political period, just as the Judiciary was weakened.
Another front that Getúlio invested in was censorship. The death penalty, including for political demonstrations, such as strikes, was prohibited, and the government created the Department of Press and Propaganda to control the information disseminated in the country.
An example is the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, which had supported the 1930 Revolution, but which was taken from the Mesquita family by the then intervener Adhemar de Barros in 1940, only returned in 1945.
‘Father of the poor’
Continuing with the idea of modernizing the State and the economy, Vargas began to invest in the creation of several state-owned companies, seeking to promote the activity of basic industries in the country. In the public sector, he created the Administrative Department of the Public Service, seeking to rationalize the national bureaucracy.
Among the companies are CSN (Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional); the Companhia Nacional de Álcalis, which produced salt; the São Francisco Hydroelectric Company, which managed energy production in the Northeast; the National Motor Factory, producing tractors and trucks.
With industrialization, the then president sought to regularize working conditions with the creation of the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws), rules such as vacations and limits on weekly hours. The Labor Court was also established.
These policies were also combined with the construction of Vargas’ image as the “father of the poor” by the Department of Press and Propaganda.
Vargas assumed the Presidency of the Republic in 1930 with the support of the military, who sought greater space in the government and economic protagonism amid an escalation in tensions around the world. Getúlio continued to strengthen the Army and Navy at the center of power.
Strengthened, those in uniform remained at the president’s side in the 1937 coup, and Dutra, who was later elected head of the Executive, became the country’s Minister of War. During the dictatorial regime, Vargas created the Brazilian Air Force in 1941.
During the regime, however, the relationship deteriorated, especially with the sending of troops to , which irritated the military leadership, which did not want effective participation in the conflict. Furthermore, disagreements over the maintenance of restricted political rights and the conduct of economic policy soured the relationship between the president and those in uniform.
Deposition of Vargas and Constitution of 1946
The Estado Novo and Getúlio Vargas began to experience a process of erosion from 1943 onwards, with the emergence of an open opposition against the regime. That year, for example, the Mineiros’ Manifesto was released, which called for the redemocratization of the country with free elections.
for example, was an opponent of the Estado Novo. He was arrested and remained in terrible prison conditions. He accused Getúlio of not letting Brazilians explore oil freely in the country.
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In May, December 2nd was set as presidential election day. Luís Carlos Prestes and other political prisoners received amnesty and the parties were allowed to operate again.
Even so, the military remained frustrated and called for the chief executive’s resignation. The tension was maximized when Getúlio decided to appoint Benjamim Vargas, his brother, as head of Rio’s police.
The government’s own military ministers began to organize troops in , and Vargas decided to resign to avoid punishment. He left the capital and returned to São Borja (RS), his hometown and where he began his political career.
