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The Tenentes in Power: A New Perspective on the Brazilian Revolution of 1930*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Michael L. Conniff
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Extract

The Club 3 de Outubro, overlooked by most studies of the Brazilian revolution of 1930, played a central role in the tenente movement and in the revolution itself. The 1930s were a watershed in modern Brazilian history, when state, society, and economy were altered, sometimes radically. Although some of the changes were responses to the Depression and international conditions, the revolution as a political phenomenon was a dominant force in shaping contemporary Brazil. State authorities ceded power to the Central Government's interventors (delegates), counteracting Brazil's strong regionalist tradition and assuring the dominance of national institutions. In addition, urban voters in the 19305 for the first time had an influential voice in politics, sometimes as allies of the tenentes. The army, strengthened and unified vis-à-vis the state militias, was subordinated to the Federal Government.

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Articles
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , May 1978 , pp. 61 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

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References

1 Most authors have incorrectly dated this pact as late 1931, e.g. Carone, Edgard, O tenentismo (Sāo Paulo, 1975), pp. 386–388.Google Scholar However O Jornal, 24 Feb. 1931, p. 3, cites it, saying, ‘nāo foi ainda dado ao esquecimento.’Google Scholar

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3 The roster in do Amaral Peixoto, Alzira, Getúlio Vargas, meu pai (Rio, 1960), pp. 391–414,Google Scholar was verified in the daily press to determine the number of tenentes in office. Cf. also Rosa, Santa, O sentido, pp. 60–1;Google ScholarYoung, Jordan M., The Brazilian Revolution of 1930 and the Aftermath (New Brunswick, 1967), pp. 82–3.Google Scholar

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35 Ibid., 13 March 1932, p. 4; 19 March 1932, pp. 1, 4; 20 March 1932, p. 1; 23 March 1932, p. 1; 2 April 1932, p. 1.

36 Ibid., 5 April 1932, p. 1; 26 April 1932, p. 1; 15 May 1932, p. 1.

37 Ibid., 12 March 1932, p. 2; 16 March 1932, p. 1; 29 April 1932, p. 1; 30 April 1932, p. 1; 1 May 1932, p. 1; 3 May 1932, p. 1; 6 May 1932, p. 1; and passim.

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48 Carone, Tenentismo, pp. 429–30;Google ScholarSilva, Héllo, 1935, a revolta vermelha (Rio, 1969), pp. 195–7;Google ScholarFróes, interview, 12 Dec. 1972.Google Scholar On Prestes’ movement see Levine, Robert M., The Vargas Regime (New York, 1970), Chap. 3.Google Scholar

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58 Rosa, Santa, O sentido, pp. 68, 99, 112. Vargas was jokingly called chuchu after a tasteless, mushy vegetable: Malta, Os tenentes, p. 55.Google Scholar