The "Revolt of Copacabana Fort " ("Os 18 do Forte" or "Revolta dos 18 do Forte de Copacabana") was a political-military movement, considered the first revolt of the tenentista movement.
Tenentistas had positivist ideals, were linked to the armed forces, fought for a democratic policy in a way that they took a stand against the government and the prevailing oligarchic system (power concentrated in the hands of traditional agrarian elites).
The name of the revolt “Revolta dos 18 do Forte de Copacabana” is associated with the number of people involved in the confrontation, who resisted until the end, namely:17 military and 1 civilian.
Historical Context
On July 5, 1922, in the city of Rio de Janeiro (at the time the capital of the country), the revolt took place during the period called República Velha (1889-1930), in the government of Epitácio Pessoa , which imposed the closing of the Military Club of Rio de Janeiro and the arrest of the gaucho Hermes da Fonseca , former president of the country (who ruled during 1910-1914), and President of the Military Club.
The Revolta dos 18 do Forte, was led by Lieutenant Colonel Euclides Hermes da Fonseca , son of Marshal Hermes da Fonseca, who demanded the end of the Old Republic and the oligarchic system (at the time, the coffee with milk policy, centralized in the hands of coffee growers and farmers, whose Minas Gerais and Paulistas alternated in power). P>
In addition to the discontent generated by the oligarchic political monopoly, the dispute for the presidency of the country, in 1921, between Nilo Peçanha , from Rio de Janeiro, supported by the military, and Artur Bernardes , from Minas Gerais, supported by the oligarchic class, was the trigger for the beginning of the revolt, with the victory of the Minas Gerais politician.
With the outbreak of the revolt there were 301 combatants, and after being hit, Euclides Hermes allowed the military to leave the Fort. There were 29 rebels left inside the Copacabana Fort, and with the arrest of Euclides Hermes, who left to negotiate with his opponents, 28 remained.
After this event, and without many chances of victory, the flag of the Fort was torn into 28 pieces and given to each one of them, who were willing to defend their ideals to the death. Consequently, they left the Fort and continued along Avenida Atlântica towards the Palace of Catete; and, as a result of a firefight, 10 of them dispersed and the remaining 18 decided to follow, going against the loyalist forces, which had 3,000 government soldiers. Finally, the only survivors, among the rebels, were the military Antônio de Siqueira Campos (1898-1930) and Eduardo Gomes (1896-1891), who were badly wounded.
To learn more:
- Old Republic,
- Hermes da Fonseca,
- Epitacio Pessoa,
- Coffee with Milk Policy
- Tenentism
- Exercises of the Old Republic
Curiosity
- Other outstanding tenentist movements that took place in Brazil were the Coluna Prestes (1924-1927) and the 1924 Revolution.