TheRepublic of the Sword (1889-1894) corresponds to the first period of the Old Republic, in which political power in Brazil was in the hands of the military.
The presidents of this period were Deodoro da Fonseca and Floriano Peixoto.
Provisional Government
The day after the Republican Coup, a Provisional Government was organized in Rio de Janeiro. headed by marshal Deodoro da Fonseca . With him, the Army reached the political leadership of the country.
The Provisional Government took the following measures:it dissolved the Provincial Assemblies, the Municipal Chambers and the Chamber of Deputies. It also changed the name from "provinces" to states and appointed military interveners to govern them.
He created the republican flag with the motto “Order and Progress”; decreed the separation of church and state and regulated civil marriage.
The Provisional Government lasted until the promulgation of the Constitution in 1891.
To learn more :
- First Republic
- Old Republic
- Proclamation of the Republic.
Republican Constitution of 1891
On February 24, 1891, the second Brazilian Constitution and the first of the Republic were promulgated. Its main model was the North American one.
It guaranteed the following rights:equality before the law, secrecy of correspondence, free exercise of any profession, religious freedom and others. In short, the Constitution enshrined the presidential republican regime as a form of government, liberalism and it was federative.
Deodoro da Fonseca
On February 25, Congress immediately elected Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca for president and marshal Floriano Peixoto for vice. At that time, presidents and vice presidents were elected separately and did not run on the same ticket, as they currently do.
Deodoro da Fonseca was the first president of the “República da Espada ”. The election took place in an agitated environment, as the military who supported him threatened to keep him in the presidency, if his opponent, the São Paulo Prudente de Morais was the victor.
Elected by a threatened congress, Deodoro remained in office for only nine months, in a period marked by differences between the government and the majority of deputies and senators.
Faced with constant friction with the Legislature and threatened with impeachment, Deodoro dissolved the National Congress on November 3, 1891, and instituted the “state of siege ”, the press censorship and had his main opponents arrested.
The next day, the opposition organized the resistance so that civilians and military allied and prepared the overthrow of Deodoro. Afraid of a civil war, Deodoro resigned and handed over the head of government to vice president Floriano Peixoto .
To learn more:Deodoro da Fonseca
Floriano Peixoto
Upon assuming the Presidency, Marechal Floriano Peixoto , the second president of the “Republic of the Sword ”, suspended the dissolution of Congress, the state of siege and deposed all the governors who had supported Deodoro.
Despite having been a period marked by political crises, Floriano's government had the support of coffee growers, the lower classes, the middle class and a strong military wing. The president lowered the prices of rent for workers' houses, fish, meat, foodstuffs in general, and approved the law for the construction of affordable housing.
Floriano faced opposition protests as he was considered an illegitimate president. According to the Constitution, if a president has not completed two years in office, new elections will be called.
Deodoro had only ruled for nine months, but Floriano did not call for new elections, and so he had to face several revolts. One of them took place in the city of Nossa Senhora do Desterro, present-day Florianópolis, which was rigorously suffocated by the president. After his intervention in the capital of Santa Catarina, Floriano gained the nickname “Iron Marshal ”.
Floriano had everything to stay in government after finishing his term. But he didn't. The “Republic of the Sword ” and began the "Republic of Oligarchies " characterized by the dominion of São Paulo and Minas Gerais farmers. Economic power regained control of political power.
To learn more:
- Floriano Peixoto
- Coffee with Milk Policy
- Federalist Revolution