Florian Peixoto was the second president Brazilian and governed the country from 1891 to 1894. He assumed the presidency as part of an agreement by the São Paulo oligarchy that secured him in office as a way of consolidating the republic in Brazil. He has gone down in history as the “Marshal from iron ”, for having dealt with two important revolts:the Armada Revolt and the Federalist Revolution.
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Historical context
The government of Floriano Peixoto is part of the Republic of Sword, period from 1889 to 1894, in which the country was ruled by the military. These years are known to have been the republic consolidation phase in Brazil, since the proclamation was a recent event and the country was still experiencing changes in the form of government.
In the Provisional Government, chaired by Deodoro da Fonseca , monarchical institutions were abolished, toponyms were changed, and the country enacted a new constitution. Afterwards, Deodoro was constitutionally elected president, and Floriano, vice. At that moment, a strong rivalry began between the defenders of Deodoro and Floriano.
In November 1891, after a short constitutional government, Deodoro da Fonseca resigned and the uncertainty of the direction the country would take took hold. The largest party in the country at the time, the Partido Republicano Paulista (PRP), made a deal with Floriano Peixoto so that he would take over, put an end to the political crisis and consolidate the republic in Brazil.
Major events in politics
Floriano Peixoto assumed the presidency on November 23, 1891 and remained in office until 1894, when power was transferred to the first civilian to take over the country, Prudente de Morais from São Paulo. . Floriano's government was one of the most troubled periods in Brazilian republican history , and he faced a real risk of losing control of the situation in the country.
When he took over, deodorants (supporters of Deodoro da Fonseca) positioned themselves against Florian's possession. In the midst of this political dispute, Floriano decided replace state presidents , withdrawing all those who were supporters of Deodoro. The president was still harsh with 13 generals who signed a document in which they took a stand against Floriano and demanded that new elections be held.
In reprisal to these soldiers, Floriano decreed their reform (compulsory retirement). Later, he authorized the arrest of around 50 people who had called for demonstrations against him. Many of these were sent to the Amazon region as punishment. In all these actions, Floriano had the support of the majority of parliamentarians.
These parliamentarians who supported Floriano were mainly from São Paulo who believed that the Executive should act more energetically, at that moment, to neutralize the threats (the monarchists) that prevented the consolidation of the republic. This agreement between Executive and Legislative it even made the parliamentarians accept the suspension of the work of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
This suspension was in effect from January to May 1892, and after work resumed, these parliamentarians determined that Floriano's permanence in the presidency was constitutional, although the Constitution of 1891 determined the need for new elections to be held.
Florian's government was extremely unpopular with liberal politicians and other groups such as merchants and landowners, but among the layers poor of the country, Floriano Peixoto was an extremely popular president . This is due to the fact that he sought to mitigate the effects of the Encilhamento (economic crisis that affected Brazil in the 1890s) in the country and took measures that benefited the poorest strata.
The historian Elio Chaves Flores says that the president came to symbolize for these classes a symbol of the “fight against monopolies, speculation and high profits”|1| . In addition to the political dispute and rivalry with the deodorants, President Floriano had to deal with two revolts that jeopardized the sustainability of his position as president of Brazil.
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Arda Revolt
The Navy's dissatisfaction with the government of Floriano Peixoto gave rise, in 1893, to a second revolt by this Armed Forces corporation (the first had been against Deodoro da Fonseca). This time, members of the Navy, such as Eduardo Wandenkolk and Custodian from Melo, led a rebellion against the Federal Government, pointed the boats' cannons at Rio de Janeiro and bombed the city for weeks.
Beginning in September 1893, this mutiny lasted until March 1894. President Floriano Peixoto had the support of the US navy to break the maritime siege that the rebels imposed on the coast of the capital. The lack of support made the Armada rebels begin to suffer. With that, they ended the siege in Rio de Janeiro and joined another movement that took place in southern Brazil.
Federalist Revolution
The Federalist Revolution was the result of infighting that were fought between the oligarchies of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Since the Proclamation of the Republic, there has been an intense political dispute over the control of this state. On one side was the Partido Republicano Rio-grandense , led by José from Castilhos, on the other was the Party Federalist , led by Gaspar Silveira Martins .
The dispute for power made the Federalists form troops (they also had Uruguayan soldiers) and invade Rio Grande do Sul, in early 1893, with about 3,000 men. The objective was to overthrow José de Castilhos and the Rio-Grandense Republican Party of the state presidency.
Floriano Peixoto sent troops to Rio Grande do Sul to they defended the government of José de Castilhos in that state. Throughout 1893, the Federalists won important victories and began to conquer territory in the country. They managed to conquer Santa Catarina and Paraná.
In Lapa, the federalists won a hard victory that had serious consequences. This defeat further mobilized the troops of Floriano's government and weakened the Federalists who, from then on, began to lose territory. In Santana from Deliverance , the last battle took place, after which the remaining Federalists fled. Floriano Peixoto and José de Castilhos won.
This conflict is estimated to have caused the death of 10,000 people , marking this event, to date, as the worst civil war in the history of Brazil.
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Presidential Succession
Floriano's energetic action in fighting the existing revolts in the country made him known as “iron marshal” . This, however, did not perpetuate him in power, because in 1894, somewhat unwillingly, Floriano was “forced” to transmit the presidency for Prudente de Morais (first civilian elected president), candidate chosen by the São Paulo oligarchy to take over the country.
Notes
|1| FLORES, Elio Chaves. The consolidation of the republic:rebellions of order and progress. In.:FERREIRA, Jorge and DELGADO, Lucilia de Almeida Neves (eds.). Republican Brazil :the time of oligarchic liberalism – from the Proclamation of the Republic to the Revolution of 1930. Rio de Janeiro:Civilização Brasileira, 2018. p. 57.
Image credits
[1] Boris15 and Shutterstock