Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
The establishment of a republican form of government in Brazil in 1889—to replace the Empire—has long been considered an important turning point in Brazilian history. Historians once saw it as important in itself, for they thought of history as past-politics and were content to debate such issues as the relative importance of civilians and military officers within the republican movement. More recently, as scholars have turned their attention to social and economic aspects of the past, that event has been seen as a symptom of deeper change, a product of altering class relationships, a sign of shifting centers of economic power, or a reflection of tfre growth of new interest groups.