The tenentismo was asociopolitical phenomenon of the early 1920s, when a political-military movement gained strength in barracks distributed throughout the national territory, where a series of rebellions carried out by young officers of low and medium ranks of the Brazilian Army.
Evidently unhappy with the Brazilian political situation, they sought to shake its structures by trying to overthrow the rural oligarchies that dominated the country and constituted the fundamental pillar of the traditions of the Old Republic. It is worth mentioning the tenentistas movements most important:
- Prestes Column
- Revolution of 1924
- Manaus Commune
- 18 Copacabana Fort Revolt
To learn more:República Velha, Revolta do Forte de Copacabana, Coluna Prestes
Causes and Claims of Tenentism
The Lieutenant Movement it had very clear claims and its prerogatives ended up being consolidated, even if belatedly. At first, we must highlight the influence of the new demands that emerged with urbanization , which is notoriously favorable to liberal republican political tendencies (among others, such as anarchism and communism ) and, unsurprisingly, the tenentismo militaries leaned towards those tendencies and ideologies.
Despite advocating political and social reforms , the leaders of the tenentismo were actually conservatives and authoritative . In short, they intended to moralize Brazilian political processes and acts, marked by acts of corruption typical of coronelismo . Thus, the restriction of the Executive Power , as well as the occupants of the Legislative Power .
However, they were in favor of freedom of the media, the end of the “halt vote ”which would be opposed by the establishment of the secret ballot. Another corollary had been public education. Finally, it is worth mentioning that they were in favor of female suffrage .
To learn more:Coronelismo and Voto de Caberesto
Developments of Tenentism
Even though it was not able to produce practical results with pragmatic effects, the tenentist movement was able to shake the political foundations of Brazil and keep the revolt against power alive until it revolutionized and definitively changed the structures of power in the country, a phenomenon that was consolidated in 1964 with the project of the military in power.
Furthermore, the Prestes Column , as the group made up of armed civilians and soldiers was called and under the leadership of Luís Carlos Prestes , which covered more than 24 thousand kilometers of Brazilian territory, defeating the loyalist forces.
At the other end of the movement, Tenentismo would come to participate in the Liberal Alliance in 1929 and, after the victory and possession of Getúlio Vargas , they were appointed interventors and became part of the country's political life.
On the other hand, in 1937, while one group decided to follow Luís Carlos Prestes, another broke with Getúlio Vargas and began to exercise opposition to his regime, until in 1945, the Tenentismo Anti-Getulista manages to help in the fall of the Dictator and establish a new regime in Brazil.
To learn more:Getúlio Vargas and Luís Carlos Prestes
Curiosities
- With the Revolution of 1930, most Brazilian state governments were assigned to lieutenants, who were appointed interventors.
- Almost all the military commanders of the 1964 military coup were former members of the tenentist movement, such as Cordeiro de Farias, Ernesto Geisel, Eduardo Gomes, Castelo Branco, Juraci Magalhães, Juarez Távora and Médici.
- Tenentismo lived as long as its members lived, that is, until the 1970s.