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The Brazilian Army and the Problem of Mission, 1939–1964
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2009
Extract
On 1 April 1980, Brazil concluded sixteen years of military-dominated government. While political scientists have taken the lead in examining the origins and methods of the regime in terms of civil-military relations, the role of the military in society, and what might be called military politics, historians have lagged behind in providing analysis from an institutional perspective.1 While the Revolution of 1964 might have occurred even if Brazil had never entered World War II, the Brazilian army's involvement in that conflict and its readjustments to the post-war situation gave shape and substance to that revolution.
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References
1 Stepan, Alfred, The Military in Politics, Changing Patterns in Brazil (Princeton, 1975);Google ScholarSchneider, Ronald M., The Political System of Brazil, Emergence of a ‘Modernizing’Authoritarian Regime, 1964–1970 (New York, 1971);Google ScholarRoett, Riordan, ‘A Praetorian Army in Politics: The Changing Role of the Brazilian Military’ in Roett, R. (ed.), Brazil in the Sixties (Nashville, 1972), pp. 3–50;Google ScholarStepan, Alfred, ‘The New Professionalism of Internal Warfare and Military Role Expansion,’ in Stepan, A. (ed.), Authoritarian Brazil, Origins, Policies, and Future (New Haven, 1973), pp. 47–65.Google Scholar The most useful institutionally-focused historical study is in Carone, Edgard, A República Velha, Instituçóes e Classes Sociais (São Paulo, 1972), pp. 345–72;Google Scholar for the war years and an essay on their consequences, see Branco, Manoel Thomaz Castello, O Brasil na II Grande Guerra (Rio de Janeiro, 1960).Google Scholar For a treatment in English of the army in the war years, see McCann, Frank D. Jr, The Brazilian-American Alliance, 1937–1945 (Princeton, 1973).Google Scholar
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21 ‘Survey of the Rio de Janeiro Region,’ p. 24.Google Scholar
22 The constitution specified that they were to be considered auxiliary forces, reserves of the Army. Art. 183 of the Constitution of 1946 said that, in time of foreign or civil war, they were to enjoy the same privileges as the regular army personnel.Google Scholar
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24 Discussed in detail in ibid.
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27 Ibid., p. 139.
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30 General Edson de Figueiredo, as quoted in Stepan, Military in Politics, p. 242.Google Scholar
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33 See army pamphlets entitled O Seu Exército and Exército, Sua Atividade-Fim, A Grande Escola. The latter describes the army as ‘Uma imensa sala de aulas ão alcance de todos os brasileiros.’ Stepan, Military in Politics, pp. 15–16.Google Scholar
34 Branco, Manoel Thomaz Castello, O Brasil na II Grande Guerra, p. 579.Google Scholar
35 Stepan, Military in Politics, p. 35, table 3·3.Google Scholar
36 Ibid., pp. 32–3.
37 Ibid., pp. 40–1.
38 Schneider, The Political System of Brazil, p. 252.Google Scholar
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41 See Castello's 1957 paper, ‘Doutrina Militar Brasileira’ in ibid., pp. 244–70.
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43 Information on courses is from Ministerio do Exército, Departamento de Ensino e Pesquisa, Diretoria de Formação e Aperfeiçoamento (Rio), ECEME, Programa de Maréria e Plano de Matéria, ‘Curso de Comando e Estado-Maior: Curso de Chefia’, 1973. Curriculum research was conducted in August 1973.Google Scholar
44 Stepan, ‘The New Professionalism…’, p. 58.Google Scholar
45 Coelho, Edmundo Campos, Em Busca de Identidade: o Exército e a Política na Sociedade Brasileira (Rio de Janeiro, 1976). He observed (pp. 169–70)Google Scholar that the Army's identity crisis had its origin in the identity crisis of the state which lacked a focal institution which everyone could accept as the ‘incorporation of national authority’, and that through the 1964 movement, the army leadership intended to impose its conception of the national state.
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