XXIV - PÁTRIA AMADA
THE IRON EAGLE
PÁTRIA AMADA
PÁTRIA AMADA
There was another country emerging, and its leadership did not realize that. When Góis Monteiro, the Generalissimo, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister of War, among other titles, woke up after the attempted assassination by the Shindo Renmei, he would see his life entering its last phase. The strong man who held the largest nation in Latin America on a leash for over a decade would not live another ten years, for the time he had left he would come to realize the course he set his country towards and how little the beasts he created were loyal to him. It was always convenient for the Brazilian armed forces to believe themselves above politics, above the civilian population overall, a faith made by the influence of positivism that led to the end of the Empire and was the guiding principle of the first two presidents of the nation. In the 1920s, there were only two paths to rise up in the levels of power of the old oligarch republic: Either be formed in the São Paulo Law College or join the military. Monteiro picked the latter and joined the Military school in a time the new youth was getting violent ideas. His generation believed that the army needed to be in the command of the nation for a long period in order to eliminate the corrupt ruling class from power and allow for a more "mature" people to take up the mantle of politics, although the civilians would always be under the watchful eye of the military. That was attempted during the Brazilian regime, but by the time of the 1940 election, the Generalissimo saw that the "tutelage" would need to last for a longer time, which led to the strengthening of the repressive apparatus during the Dutra Presidency, a man not very known for intelectual capabilities who knew well just how to follow orders from above.
By the time of the Campos government (1947-1952) came in, the Generalissimo walked around with a cane, making fewer public visits and appearances, even missing the 1949 ceremony of the 19 years of the October 3rd Revolution. Outwards, politicians, businessmen and generals all showed the due respects to the Generalissimo, but the cult of personality seemed to wane with the years, his health was an open secret and there was great doubt of what would happen once he was gone. Góis pretended not to hear the whispers, even dismissing when the head of the DNSI, Filinto Müller, brought reports that many were discussing about his health. Perhaps he gained a sense of mortality after being shot through the chest by a fanatical Japanese immigrant fighting for a man halfway across the world, or perhaps because those talks were still not open challenges to his leadership. His role was becoming more passive with time, the sessions of the council were becoming rarer while the country was only speeding up, caught in a polarizing and modernizing world, with new social and political realities that were shaping the change of guard that would come in the fourth election of the "New" Republic.
October 7th was a day where a parade was held every year, and at each year it became bigger. It was the day the Integralist Action was founded, and their leader Plinio Salgado made sure to start showing strength following his visit to Rome. The Minister of Education was a very well learned man, something which was surprisingly common amongst the ranks of the Integralists, for instance, Gustavo Barroso was a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, probably the most prestigious institution in regard to the Portuguese language in the world. Others were powerful figures in the Military such as Admiral Rademaker and General Mourão Filho, and the young wing was made of several intellectuals such as Miguel Reale, a rising voice in the Juridical world of Brazil. The AIB was a movement born in the 1930s following the Revolution and the vacuum left by the end of the Oligarchy and the growth of nationalist ideals in culture since the 1922 Modern Arts exhibit, born out of thinkers in the turn of the century such as Oliveira Vianna and Alberto Torres who searched for a national identity for Brazil. While there were internal divisions, if one looked at the parades of the Greenshirts, which were more similar to a Tag das Sieges Celebration, or the speeches made by orators, many would be led to believe they were the greatest threat to Brazilian Democracy.
But it would be a stretch to call Brazil a Democracy in the first place. While Campos was not as much of a hardliner as Dutra was, the true leadership of the nation was always at the unelected Council of Ministers. The Minister of War was still the foremost leader of the country while the President was a rubber stamp, a glorified diplomat in many ways, and after Osvaldo Aranha attempted to push for reform during his term against Monteiro's de facto junta, it's powers were even more limited by the Institutional Acts, extra-judicial decrees made by the Council which could overturn the Constitution itself. Both Dutra and Campos were men who lacked charisma, a military man and a bureaucrat both placed into a symbolic position of power to parrot the decisions of the Generalissimo and pose no threat of rallying the population against the regime. Which is why the popular frustration only grew during the 1940s despite the economic prosperity, the votes, already largely fraudulent, was essentially worthless as a third of the Senators were appointed, the Supreme Court was stacked, and the Presidency was powerless against the "Fourth Power" or "Moderator Power", a name many political scientists gave by comparing the council with the position of the Emperor during the Brazilian Empire. That is a much more generous name than what the average brazilian called the Generalissimo and his puppet ministers, appointed all by him to serve for as long as he wished. As long as Monteiro himself had a strong grip in the military and State apparatus, it was unlikely that the system would have fallen as it did, but his declining health and mental state would prove once more the greatest weakness of an Autocracy: A weak leader.
Diplomatically, Brazil was in the awkward position of being a country in the American hemisphere with German sympathies, something shared with states such as Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and Argentina. Francisco Campos made little effort in hiding his admiration for the Authoritarian systems in Europe, openly praising figures such as Salazar, Mussolini and even Hitler at times. The Germanophile Goes Monteiro had to intervene several times with the American diplomatic corps to ensure them that the Lawyer President would not "Kiss Mussolini on Television", although that would ironically prove not to be a hyperbole as Campos went to the funeral of King Victor Emmanuel and accompanied Mussolini after the burial, with a traditional kiss on the cheek being exchanged between the two Heads of State. Monteiro was said to have had almost an aneurysm when hearing the news and spent an hour in a phone call with President Long that same night. Luckily for the elder general, had any President other than Long been sitting on the White House, there would have been severe consequences for these gestures, but the Isolationist Long Administration was far too busy with his internal social programs to impose sanctions on Brazil. On the other hand, there was cooperation between the Reich and the "Tropical Reich", with Germany being the most important European trade partner of Brazil by far, and Brazil being the main exporter of several products such as coffee to the Reich. The Embargo imposed by the United States on the Reich had many loopholes, one of the main ones being the connection between Brazil and Portugal, with Lisbon being a convenient entry port into Europe via third parties, even exchanges between the United States and the German Reich had secret mediation by both the Brazilian and Portuguese governments, the OSS and the RSHA had many black market contacts which were used to exchange spies and even information between Festung Europa and the World.
Finally, there was the matter of the Brazilian economy, which was both a boon and a curse brought in by the Military Regime. Gois and the Military class of the 1920 "Tenentistas" that formed the Movement 3rd of October were in the forefront of an aggressive modernization policy. Industry was the key, seen as a matter of national survival, the State-Led industrialization efforts between 1930 and 1950 changed Brazil radically from an agrarian nation into a booming industrial hub that attracted investments from both Europe and America. Naturally, Agriculture and the old elites still held a strong position, but the urbanization and industrialization brought radical changes to the social structure of the Continental-sized State, especially in São Paulo, which was growing to be one of the largest manufacturing centers of Latin America, immigrants from all over the country traveling to the region to join the prosperity. But said prosperity was many times an illusion, as the government had to give large credits to the new industries, that led to a deficit that the sales of coffee alone could no longer sustain. The Debt was increasing, and in an attempt to contain that, money was printed. Inflation was rising, the government struggled to find the balance on the exchange rate and keeping it so the imports of industrial machinery did not bring the complete collapse of the economy. Either the Industrialization had to be toned down or the double-digits inflation level every year could turn into three-digits. The economy worked through the METAS plans, which translates to "goals" in Portuguese, and each Presidential term finished with one of those plans, inspired by both the Soviet Five-Year plans and the German Four-Year plan. Foreign aid was a way to contain the effects of inflation, but the Campos government was caught during the era of both Long and Hitler, two leaders who cut back on foreign aid to focus on internal projects and engaged in more Isolationist doctrines. Although in 1951 there was a better result with the Hess government attempting to expand the reach of German influence, it would prove to be too little too late to save the unpopularity of the regime. Wages did not increase fast enough, prices skyrocketed, and adding an increasingly urban population with political dissatisfaction and economical pressure was a recipe for disaster.
But was there any alternative to Integralism? Initially yes, but by the late 1940s, no. The UDN, the National Democratic Union, initially formed by Aranha as a Liberal force within the regime, was once the most powerful opposition to Monteiro and the 3rd of October movement in the country, but the crackdown which followed Aranha's challenge to the Generalissimo had essentially wiped the party of its power. With a third of the Senate handpicked, it was rare for a member of the UDN be chosen, Integralist militias did the dirty work of attacking Party offices and newspapers with the police consent, and with time the ineffectiveness of the Party led many to distance themselves from it. The Middle class in costal cities, which used to be the backbone for political liberalization, abandoned the party at greater numbers each year. The UDN and the M3O received nicknames for how they voted in Congress: One was the party of "Yes", and the other was the party of "Yes, Sir". Ironically, the Middle Class drove into the arms of the Integralists instead, many wishing to accompany the worldwide trends with the rise of Authoritarian right-wing regimes across Eurasia and the isolationist atitude of the United States. Many had followed the "German Vogue", from dressing styles to even jokes about Jews which became worryingly common in the country. All was set up for the takeover, with a weakening dictatorship, popular dissatisfaction, economical pressure, global trends, and the strength enabled to the Integralist Party.
Truth is that the Strong man who held control of the country for almost 20 years was dying, his health had not been the same since being shot by a Japanese fanatic during an inspection. He worried about the longevity of his family and the military itself in charge of Brazilian politics, true to his doctrine he believed a continued period of military tutelage was necessary before the Army could step down from politics. Ismar was supposed to take his place after death, but he terribly miscalculated his own moves and influence, the military was not united in following his orders and much less inclined in following his inept sibling. Mourão Filho, who was the head of the Integralist movement within the armed forces, remained silent about his loyalties, but he was already in contact with Salgado and the Integralist-sympathizing fleet under Rademaker. Rio de Janeiro was a very vulnerable city to costal attacks, as shown by the naval mutinies in the 1890s and 1910, but first the "Green Rooster" would push for a more democratic way to take over. He launched himself as candidate of the AIB, officially breaking the coalition, while the UDN saw the opportunity to try to run a candidate of their own, Air Force Brigadier General Eduardo Gomes, but few were on the same delusion, the fight here was between Ismar and Salgado, or more Precisely between the Generalissimo and the Integralists.
Salgado ran an energetic campaign that consumed the Party resources in an all-or-nothing move, with not-so-secret support from foreign entities that included Rome. The Integralists rallied with the costal middle class, regional dissident elites, powerful industrials and even the Catholic church for his candidacy. Ismar lacked the charisma and knowledge of his opponent but was making up for it by having the state apparatus as support for him, especially amongst the poor who were still loyal to the Generalissimo. But the fact the voting system in Brazil restricted suffrage on the illiterate ended up supporting Salgado. November 15th would come and Salgado prepared a move to prevent an expected fraud, he knew the Generalissimo would play his tricks in the ballots, as such he rallied the Integralists and the people in Rio while the votes were counted, a massive show of popular support that ended with a march across the State of Guanabara by tens of thousands of Greenshirts and sympathizers, and that is where his Ministry of Education showed results: A Decade of control of the curriculum and leadership of colleges would end up with the young generation of the Brazilian elite and middle classes marching with the green shirts and the Sigma armband, shouting "Anauê" with arms raised, a move which was inspired by the March on Rome by Mussolini almost 30 years earlier. At that moment, the Generalissimo backed down and the electoral results showed a 47% vote for Salgado, followed by 33% of Ismar and 20% for Gomes. The crowd erupted in celebration as many believed this was the moment Brazil would change for the better, but the President of the Council knew better, he spoke with his inner circle that same night and commented on Salgado's election: "Let him have it, it makes no difference, we will survive just as we survived before. Let the Green Rooster have his party, if he tries to act up, we will serve him for supper!"
A week after Salgado was inaugurated, on the 11th of January 1952, the Generalissimo would die during a heart surgery after years complaining of growing chest pains. The new President would not waste that opportunity as he knew very well what would happen next. As a week of mourning was declared, the Council had lost its head, and the almighty position of Minister of War was vacant. The Council could not choose that chair, only a decision by the heads of each one of the three branches of the armed forces could do so. Rademaker, head of the Navy, was already a committed Integralist, Gomes was a dissident from Monteiro's clique and head of the Air Force, who mysteriously decided to remain neutral. That is when an internal squabble engulfed the Army over the succession, something never clarified by the Generalissimo. While the Country mourned and a funeral to the "Commander of the Revolution" was held, Mourão Filho became the new head of the Brazilian Army following a shadow war that included the infamous air crash that killed General Ismar de Gois Monteiro on the 14th while coming from Alagoas to the Capital. The head of the army and the head of the navy already were under the control of Salgado, who chose the next Minister of War and President of the Council, General Olímpio Mourão Filho. His first order? A call for a Constitutional convention, which was oddly well organized considering how rushed it was, with the power to choose a third of the composition being abused to stack the odds even more towards an Integralist Supermajority. In what was named the "Leap Year Constitution" or "Constituição do Ano Bissexto", the Brazilian Integral State was founded on the 29th of February. Salgado now enjoyed all the power he could wish for as a new form of "Integral Democracy" was imposed. The people watched, some cheering, some dreading, some just nervous of what was going to happen. After years building up, Fascism has come to Latin America, in a matter of weeks it turned the largest and State of the Southern Hemisphere into a foothold, beginning what was nicknamed as "Tropical Fascism", possibly the most disastrous foreign legacy of the Long Administration. Now all nations turned their eyes as the "Envy of the New World" became the first Integralist State in History.
