Decline and fall of Pedro II of Brazil

The decline and fall of Pedro II of Brazil
Pedro II of Brazil
Dom Pedro II , nicknamed "the Magnanimous", was the second and last ruler of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the seventh child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of...

occurred over the course of the 1880s, with the underlying factors accumulating and coming increasingly into focus after 1881. This period paradoxically coincided with a time of unparalleled economic and social progress for Brazil, during which the nation had achieved a prominent place as an emerging power

Emerging Powers

The term emerging powers is a recognition of the rising, primarily economic, influence of a group of nations who have recently increased their presence in global affairs...

within the international arena.

The roots of the collapse of the monarchy can be traced as far back as 1850, upon the death of Pedro II's youngest male child. From that point onward, the Emperor ceased to believe in the monarchy as a viable form of government for Brazil's future, as his remaining heir was a daughter. Although constitutionally permitted, a female ruler was considered unacceptable by both Pedro II and the ruling circles. This issue was deferred for decades, during which the country became more powerful and prosperous. So long as the Emperor enjoyed good health, the matter of succession could be ignored.

From 1881 Pedro II's health began failing. He gradually withdrew from public affairs as time passed. Weary of being tied to a throne which he doubted would survive his death, he persevered out of duty and because there seemed no immediate alternative. Nor did his daughter and heir, Isabel

Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil

Dona Isabel , nicknamed "the Redemptress", was the heiress presumptive to the throne of the Empire of Brazil, bearing the title of Princess Imperial....

, exhibit a desire to assume the crown. Both, however, were overwhelmingly beloved by the Brazilian people, who still supported the monarchy. The indifference towards the Imperial system by the Emperor and his daughter allowed a discontented republican minority to grow more audacious and to eventually launch the coup that overthrew the Empire.

Pedro II of Brazil may be considered a rare instance of a head of state who, despite being overwhelmingly beloved by his people, despite international admiration and acclamation, despite having been instrumental in driving forward major liberal social and economic reforms, despite overseeing a period of outstanding prosperity and influence during a reign covering nearly six decades, and despite being considered a highly successful ruler to the end, ultimately was subjected to overthrow and exile. The republican revolution which replaced the Empire led to decades of disruption and dictatorship.

Decline

During the 1880s, Brazil continued to prosper and social diversity increased markedly, including the first organized push for women's rights

Women's rights

Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...

. The country had greatly changed in the five decades since Pedro II's accession to the throne. The liberalism

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

adopted by successive Government cabinets favored private initiatives

Private sector

In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...

and resulted in decades of economic prosperity. It "had an economy that was rapidly developing in the 1880's". Brazil's international trade

International trade

International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...

reached a total value of Rs 79.000:000$000 (see Brazilian currency) between 1834 and 1839. This continued to increase every year until it reached Rs 472.000:000$000 between 1886 and 1887 (an annual growth rate of 3.88% since 1839). Brazilian economic growth, especially after 1850, compared well with that of the United States and European nations. The national revenue, which amounted to Rs 11.795:000$000 in 1831, rose to Rs 160.840:000$000 in 1889. By 1858, it was the eighth largest in the world. To give an idea of the economic potential of the country during the Empire, if "it had been able to sustain the level of productivity achieved in 1780 and managed to increase exports at a pace equal to that verified in the second half of 19th century, its per capita income in 1950 would be comparable to the average per capita income of the Western Europe

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

an nations".

Development on an immense scale occurred during this period, which anticipated similar initiatives in European countries. In 1850, there were 50 factories valued at more than Rs 7.000:000$000. At the end of the Imperial period in 1889, Brazil had 636 factories (representing an annual rate of increase of 6.74% from 1850) valued at approximately Rs 401.630:600$000 (annual growth rate of 10.94% since 1850). The "countryside echoed with the clang of iron track being laid as railroads were constructed at the most furious pace of the nineteenth century; indeed, building in the was the second greatest in absolute terms in Brazil's entire history. Only eight countries in the entire world laid more track in the decade than Brazil." The first railroad line, with only 15 kilometers, was opened on 30 April 1854 at a time when many European countries had no rail service. By 1868, there were 718 kilometers of railroad lines, and by the end of the Empire in 1889, this had grown to 9,200 kilometers (with another 9,000 kilometers under construction), making it the country with "the largest rail network in Latin America".

"Factories also sprang throughout the Empire in the 1880s at an unprecedent rate, and its cities were beginning to receive the benefits of gas, electrical, sanitation, telegraph and tram companies. Brazil was entering the modern world." It was the fifth country in the world to install modern sewers

Sewerage

Sewerage refers to the infrastructure that conveys sewage. It encompasses receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, screening chambers, etc. of the sanitary sewer...

in cities, the third to have sewage treatment

Sewage treatment

Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...

, and one of the pioneers in installing telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

lines. Beyond these, it was the first South American nation to adopt public electric illumination (in 1883) and the second in the Americas (behind the United States) to establish a telegraph line connecting it directly to Europe (in 1874). The first telegraph line appeared in 1852 in Rio de Janeiro. By 1889, there were 18,925 kilometers of telegraph lines connecting the country's capital to distant Brazilian provinces such as Pará

Pará

Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...

, and even linking to other South American countries such as Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

and Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

.

The Brazilian Empire was admired internationally for its democratic system and for its respect for freedom of speech. In politics there were "solid and competitive parties, an active parliament, a free press

Freedom of the press

Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...

, open debate

Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...

". The Argentine

Argentina

President Bartolomé Mitre

Bartolomé Mitre

Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...

called the country a "crowned democracy" and Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

n President Rojas Paúl

Juan Pablo Rojas Paúl

Juan Pablo Rojas Paúl was President of Venezuela from 1888 to 1890. He was the first civilian president who was elected by constitutional procedures in 50 years, and the only one who could finish his term properly, until 74 years later.Elected by Antonio Guzmán like his successor, Rojas tried to...

after learning of the Emperor's fall said, "It has ended the only republic that existed in [South] America: the Empire of Brazil." The Brazil of the last year of Pedro II's reign was a "prosperous and [internationally] respected" nation which held unchallenged leadership in Latin America. Its navy was the fifth or sixth most powerful in the world in 1889 with the most powerful battleships in the western hemisphere

Western Hemisphere

The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...

. The Emperor was beloved by the Brazilian people and was regarded with "respect, almost veneration" in North America and Europe due to his democratic, liberal and progressive ideals and actions. The remarks made by a former U.S. consul at Rio de Janeiro, who met Pedro II in late 1882, tells much of the general view that foreigners had of Brazil and its Emperor by the end of the 1880s:
The British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...

said that Pedro II was "a model to the Sovereigns of the world" and held him as being a "great and good Sovereign". Brazilian writer Machado de Assis would later remember him as "a humble, honest, well-learned and patriotic man, who knew how to make of a throne a chair [for his simplicity], without diminishing its greatness and respect." When he became Emperor in 1831, Brazil was on the verge of fragmentation. Fifty-eight years later, the country had been at peace for more than four decades, slavery had been extinguished, the representative system was consolidated, and the leadership of the military was in civilian hands

Civilian control of the military

Civilian control of the military is a doctrine in military and political science that places ultimate responsibility for a country's strategic decision-making in the hands of the civilian political leadership, rather than professional military officers. One author, paraphrasing Samuel P...

(something not seen in the Spanish-American countries). Indeed, for "the longevity of his government and the transformations which occurred during its course, no other Head of State has marked more deeply the history of the nation." Even though Brazil was richer and more powerful than ever, though it enjoyed an excellent international reputation, and though Pedro II himself was still extremely popular among his subjects, the Brazilian monarchy itself was dying.

A tired emperor

Beginning in late 1880, letters from Pedro II to the Countess of Barral reveal a man grown world-weary with age and having an increasingly alienated and pessimistic outlook. In them he frequently expresses "his loneliness and his desire to escape into her company." The Emperor entertained a fantasy of leaving everything behind and realizing his cherished ambition of taking up a life in Europe, as he expressed it: "and I, were I to enjoy my total independence, where would I be? Guess." This strong desire to retire to a less circumscribed life abroad was a constant presence throughout the 1880s. Despite the dichotomy between reverie and reality, he remained respectful of his duty and was meticulous in performing the tasks demanded of the Imperial office, albeit often without enthusiasm.

Pedro II was also undergoing physical decline, which only served to exacerbate his mental state. In younger days, he was admired for his ability to work long hours and rapidly bounce back from setbacks. But "lack of exercise and very poor eating habits also took their toll." By the 1880s he had to rely on pince-nez

Pince-nez

Pince-nez are a style of spectacles, popular in the 19th century, which are supported without earpieces, by pinching the bridge of the nose. The name comes from French pincer, to pinch, and nez, nose....

spectacles for reading due to deterioration of his eyesight, and on dentures

Dentures

Dentures are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, and which are supported by surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable, however there are many different denture designs, some which rely on bonding or clasping onto teeth or dental...

for eating, as sugar had caused his teeth to decay. A tendency to doze off unexpectedly began to be exhibited, including falling asleep "in the middle of important meetings and during public engagements." The cause was what is known today as type 2 diabetes

Diabetes mellitus type 2

Diabetes mellitus type 2formerly non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or adult-onset diabetesis a metabolic disorder that is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. Diabetes is often initially managed by increasing exercise and...

(non-insulin-dependent), with which the Emperor was diagnosed sometime around 1882. Throughout the following years, the monarch was afflicted with several sudden illnesses, ranging from stomach pains to fevers. In 1884 he received a laceration on his left leg which became infected and, complicated by his diabetes, took longer than expected to completely heal. He also began suffering from "urinary problems due to the damage done by diabetes to his kidneys."

Tired of the emperorship and beset by frequent ailments, Pedro II increasingly withdrew from government business, often behaving more like a bystander. He was observed walking around dressed in tailcoat and carrying an umbrella in the streets, sometimes surrounded by cheerful children; sampling fruits in the local market; and tasting the students' food in the kitchens on visits to schools. He tried to live as an ordinary person, successfully "mixing with the people in the streets". He abolished several rituals related to the monarchy, such as hand-kissing

Hand-kissing

Hand-kissing is a gesture indicating courtesy, politeness, respect, admiration or even devotion by a man towards a woman, by a vassal towards his master or a child towards his parent or grand-parent....

in 1872 and the guarda dos archeiros (Archers's Guard) in 1877, "the palace guard clad in multicolored uniforms and armed with halberds." The City Palace

Paço Imperial

The Paço Imperial , or Imperial Palace, is a historic building in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Paço Imperial was built in the 18th century to serve as residence for the governors of colonial Brazil. From 1808, it was used as a royal residence by King John VI of Portugal as...

, where the government met, was practically abandoned as also was the Imperial residence at the Palace of São Cristóvão

Paço de São Cristóvão

Paço de São Cristóvão is a palace located in the Quinta da Boa Vista park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the former residence of the Emperors of Brazil...

, now devoid of courtiers. An Austrian diplomat, summarized well the situation in late 1882:

Pomp, ritual and luxury were discarded. These caused Pedro II to be viewed as "a great citizen" in the popular imagination, but at the same time his image as a monarch, as a living symbol and authority figure diminished. As a German journalist remarked in 1883: "It is a rare thing, in the Emperor's situation: he has no personal fortune and his civil list

Civil list

-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, the Civil List is the name given to the annual grant that covers some expenses associated with the Sovereign performing their official duties, including those for staff salaries, State Visits, public engagements, ceremonial functions and the upkeep of the...

, already by itself insufficient, is almost all expended on charity

Charity (practice)

The practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.- Etymology :The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".Originally in Latin the word caritas meant...

, in a way that he cannot afford any pomp in the court, nor do anything to give any gleam to his residences […] It undoubtedly does great honor to the man, but contributes little to the necessary prestige of the Emperor." But the society in which the Emperor lived put great store in ceremonials and customs, and the Emperor had discarded much of the symbolism and aura with which the Imperial system was imbued.

The monarchy's fate: heirless

After their experience of the perils and obstacles of government, the political figures who had arisen during the 1830s became wary of taking on a greater role in ruling the nation. They looked to the Emperor as providing a fundamental and useful source of authority essential both for governing and for national survival. Pedro II's natural ability and proficiency as a ruler encouraged greater deference as time passed. The political establishment "perceived him as the key to the successful working of the [political] system, someone whose reputation and authority protected him from all discussion." These elder statesmen began to die off or retire from government until, by the 1880s, they had almost entirely been replaced by a younger generation of politicians who had no experience of the Regency and early years of Pedro II's reign, when external and internal dangers threatened the nation's existence. They had only known a stable administration and prosperity. In sharp contrast those of the previous era, the young politicians saw no reason to uphold and defend the Imperial office as a unifying force beneficial to the nation. Pedro II's role in achieving an era of national unity, stability and good government now went unremembered and unconsidered by the ruling elites. By his very success, "Pedro II had made himself redundant as emperor".
The lack of an heir who could feasibly provide a new direction for the nation also diminished the long-term prospects for continuation of the Brazilian monarchy. The Emperor loved his daughter Isabel, and respected her strong character. However, he considered the idea of a female successor as antithetical to the role required of Brazil's ruler. "Destiny had spoken in the loss of his two male heirs and the lack, after their death, of any more sons." That view was also shared by the political establishment, who continued to harbor reservations when it came to any thought of accepting a female ruler. Isabel's children were also discounted as heirs. Pedro II had not raised them as possible successors to the throne, but rather in hopes that they would become worthy citizens. The consensus was that a suitable successor "had to be a man", that is, a male of the Braganza line.

The Emperor's great-grandmother, Maria I of Portugal

Maria I of Portugal

Maria I was Queen regnant of Portugal and the Algarves from 1777 until her death. Known as Maria the Pious , or Maria the Mad , she was the first undisputed Queen regnant of Portugal...

, had been a queen regnant

Queen regnant

A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....

. However, she had been married to her uncle, Pedro III of Portugal who was a Braganza. This meant that her offspring would continue to belong to the House of Braganza

House of Braganza

The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...

. Emperor Pedro II was the last of the direct male line in Brazil descended from Dom Afonso I

Afonso I of Portugal

Afonso I or Dom Afonso Henriques , more commonly known as Afonso Henriques , nicknamed "the Conqueror" , "the Founder" or "the Great" by the Portuguese, and El-Bortukali and Ibn-Arrik by the Moors whom he fought, was the first King of Portugal...

, first king of Portugal and founder, in 1139, of the dynasty which headed the Brazilian Empire. There were two other male Braganzas, albeit living abroad: Pedro II's half-brother Rodrigo Delfim Pereira and his cousin Miguel, Duke of Braganza. Both were barred from the line of succession, however. The former because he was an illegitimate son, and the latter because he was a foreigner and not a descendant of the first Brazilian Emperor, Pedro I.

None of these issues bothered Isabel, who did not imagine herself taking on the position of monarch. Her public roles gave no indication of preparations for assuming a greater part in government. She seemed content in supporting her father's position and made no effort to assemble her own faction of supporters within the political establishment. Her views and beliefs held no attraction for disaffected politicians, so no independent movement formed to adopt her as champion. She "was content with the life of an aristocratic lady, devoting herself to family, religion, charitable works, theater, opera, painting and music." Her husband, the Count of Eu, was equally disliked. He was shy, humble and eschewed displays of pomp and luxury. Since his marriage to Isabel in 1864, his behavior was described as "exemplary". But the count's private virtues did not become a part of his public image. To those outside his immediate circle, he came to be characterized as a greedy foreign interloper. Baseless rumors of questionable business dealings also circulated, such as one which portrayed him as a Rio de Janeiro slum-lord. The prospect of the Count becoming consort detracted from the prospect of Isabel becoming Empress. The couple offered "to Brazilians no alternative center of loyalty or competing vision of the monarchy".

A weary emperor who no longer cared for the throne, an heir who had no desire to assume the crown, discontent among ruling circles who were dismissive of the Imperial role in national affairs: all seemed to presage the monarchy's impending doom. Nevertheless, Pedro II was unconcerned that times and conditions were changing. After more than five decades on the throne, he had become complacent in a belief that the devotion and support of his subjects was immutable. Because of these factors, and the lack of an energetic response on the part of Pedro II, it has been argued that prime responsibility for the monarchy's overthrow rested with the Emperor himself.

Republicanism

Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...

—either support for a presidential or parliamentary republic—as an enduring political movement appeared in Brazil during December 1870 in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro (state)

Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...

with the publishing of a manifesto

Manifesto

A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...

signed by 57 people and with the creation of the Republican Club. It represented an "insignificant minority of scholars." There was no repudiation of or desire for eliminating slavery in the manifesto. In 1873, the Republican Party of São Paulo

São Paulo (state)

São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...

was created, and it affirmed that slavery would have to be resolved by the monarchist (Conservative and Liberal) parties. The reason for this was because many of the republicans from São Paulo were themselves slave-owning farmers. The objective of most republicans was to wait until the death of Pedro II and by a plebiscite or other peaceful means, prevent Princess Isabel from ascending the throne. Republicanism did not envisage any "social readjustment" (such as improving the quality of life for former-slaves), and they "were not revolutionaries in the deep meaning of the word." The republican movement "had a slow and irregular evolution, concentrated in the provinces south of Bahia"—more precisely in the provinces of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

and Rio Grande do Sul

Rio Grande do Sul

Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...

It was "an extremely small group" with a "precarious organization in the provinces" and no cohesion or connection among themselves. The only republican faction to achieve political clout was the Republican Party of São Paulo, which managed to elect two deputies to the Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Brazil

The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. As of 2006, the chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms...

in 1884, though none were elected to the Empire's last legislature in 1889. In the 1880s "it attracted sympathy in lesser numbers than [slavery] abolitionism, and at a slower pace." Its numbers only increased after 1888, adding new adherents consisting of farmers who had been slave owners and who perceived themselves victims of an unjust abolition of slavery that had not included any type of indemnity to them. Even so, in 1889 the "avowed republicans were probably a small minority" as the "republican ideals, in reality, had never managed to seduce the people. Its dissemination was restricted to the intellectual and military fields."

As "the republicans themselves recognized, the party did not have size, organization and popular support enough to overthrow the monarchy." Republicanism "did not manage, at any moment of its development, to spur the national soul. It never had the stature to provoke a strong enthusiasm or enlist all forces that were divorcing from the throne." Even with radical propaganda and little interference from the authorities, the Republican Party in existence from the beginning of the 1870s was a small one. It praised republics such as the United States, France

French Third Republic

The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...

and Argentina

Argentina

, while conveniently ignoring progressive monarchies such as the United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

and the Scandinavian countries

Nordic countries

The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...

. In 1889, its members were "spokesmen in public squares and writers of periodicals. They were far from having the power to develop a propaganda that could shake the foundations of the throne." In the "political process of the second empire [reign of Pedro II], the republican party had such a dull and secondary role that it might even have been forgotten; it was unable to influence rationales advocating the regime's dissolution." It was the crisis between the military and the Government, "of very diverse origin and evolution" from the republicanism, which was to prove the main factor in the fall of the monarchy.

Pedro II showed no interest in the republican manifesto of 1870. The Marquis of São Vicente, then President of the Council of Ministers, suggested to the Emperor that republicans be forbidden to enter into public service, a practice then common in monarchies. Pedro II answered, "Mr. São Vicente, allow the nation to govern itself and decide whatever [monarchy or republic] they want." The President reprimanded the monarch, "Your Majesty does not have a right to think in that way. The Monarchy is a constitutional doctrine which Your Majesty swore to maintain; it is not incarnate in the person of Your Majesty." But the Emperor did not care and simply answered: "Well, if the Brazilians do not want me as their Emperor, I shall become a teacher instead!"

The Emperor not only always refused to forbid republicans from becoming public servants, but also hired the republican military officer Benjamin Constant

Benjamin Constant (Brazil)

Benjamin Constant Botelho de Magalhães was a Brazilian military man and political thinker.He was born at Niterói....

as a professor of mathematics to his grandsons. He allowed open republican activities, including newspapers, assemblies, meetings and political parties, and exempted republican deputies elected to the Chamber of Deputies from swearing allegiance to the crown. The freedom of the Press

Freedom of the press

Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...

, "one of the foundations of the regime, kept allowing fierce criticisms and vile caricatures opposing the regime and its public personalities." Pedro II was intransigent in his defense of the unrestricted freedom of speech

Freedom of speech

which had existed in Brazil since independence in 1822. He was accused of being excessively tolerant towards the republicans, but "he did not pay attention to several warnings stating that his behavior undermined the political foundation of the monarchy." In 1889, Pedro II said to José Antonio Saraiva

José Antônio Saraiva

José Antônio Saraiva, also known as Counsellor Saraiva , was a politician, diplomat and lawyer during the period of the Empire of Brazil ....

that he would not mind if Brazil became a republic. The "Emperor's indifference towards the fate of the regime was also one of the main factors in the fall of the Monarchy."

Military deterioration

A serious problem began to become evident during the 1880s. This was a weakening of discipline within Brazil's military. The older generation of officers were loyal to the monarchy, believed the military should be under civilian control

Civilian control of the military

, and had a great aversion to the militaristic

Militarism

Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....

caudillism

Caudillo

Caudillo is a Spanish word for "leader" and usually describes a political-military leader at the head of an authoritarian power. The term translates into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as warlord, dictator or strongman. Caudillo was the term used to refer to the charismatic...

against which they had earlier fought. But these elders were no longer in control and many had since died, including the Duke of Caxias

Luís Alves de Lima e Silva

Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias , nicknamed "the Peacemaker" and "Iron Duke", was an army officer, politician and monarchist of the Empire of Brazil. Caxias pursued a military career, as had his father and many relatives before him. In 1823, he fought as a young officer during most of...

, the Count of Porto Alegre

Manuel Marques de Sousa, Count of Porto Alegre

Manuel Marques de Sousa, the Count of Porto Alegre , was a Brazilian military officer, monarchist and politician.-Early years:...

, the Marquis of Erval

Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval

Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval , was a Brazilian military officer, monarchist and politician.-References:* Carvalho, José Murilo de. D. Pedro II: ser ou não ser. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2007....

, and others. It was accepted that military officers could participate in politics while staying on active duty. However, most did so as members of the Conservative Party and Liberal Party. This meant that their political careers were apt to come into conflict

Conflict of interest

A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....

with their duty as officers to act in subordination to the civilian government, which could be in the hands of their political opponents. Earlier involvement in politics by members of the military had not threatened the stability of Brazil's institutions, due to pervasive loyalty to the monarchy and constitution. The conflict of interest in mixing military and political spheres became more obvious and threatening as support for the constitutional establishment eroded among some elements within the military, although neither the Emperor or government seem to have grasped the extent and implications of the increasing involvement of members of the military as political dissidents. Until this point Brazilians, both civilians and military, shared a sense of pride in the nation's political stability and for having avoided the caudillos, coups, military dictatorships and rebellions that characterized neighboring countries. Their perception of the superiority of the Brazilian political system was attributed to an established tradition of civilian control over the military. And the ministers who held the War and Navy portfolios in the cabinet were, with rare exceptions, civilians.
1882 saw the first signs of insubordination among the army corps when a group of officers assassinated a journalist in broad daylight. He had published an article which they considered an offence to their honor. However, the participants were not subjected to punishment for this act. Records from 1884 show that, out of a peacetime army of 13,500 men, more than 7,526 had been jailed for insubordination. The military were badly paid, inadequately equipped, ill-instructed, and thinly spread across the vast Empire, often in small "garrisons of 20, 10, 5 and even 2 men." Most of the non-officer corps consisted of men recruited from the poor sertão (hinterland

Hinterland

The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...

) in the northeast, and later from former slaves. These were volunteers seeking some means of subsistence, as there was no conscription

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

. They were completely unprepared for the military life, had little education or concept of civic responsibility and government. A poor Brazilian from the northeast viewed his military commanders in the same light as he viewed the henchmen of the political bosses at home. An ex-slave would saw his harsh superior officer as differing little from his former owner and taskmasters. They had no means of understanding that they were being used to effect a coup, that their orders put them in rebellion against the Emperor, or that their actions would lead to a dictatorship. The average recruit blindly followed orders and hoped to avoid punishment by his superiors for any mistake.

In 1886 a colonel renowned for lack of discipline published newspaper articles criticizing the Minister of War, an act of insubordination forbidden by law. Instead of being punished, the colonel was supported by his commander, Field Marshal (nowadays Divisional General

Divisional General

Divisional General is a rank used in many armies to denote a rank of general, corresponding to command of a division. For convenience Divisional General is almost always translated into English as Major-General, the equivalent rank used by the UK, USA, etc., although this translation is, strictly...

) Deodoro da Fonseca

Deodoro da Fonseca

Marshal Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca became the first president of the Republic of Brazil after heading a military coup that deposed Emperor Pedro II and proclaimed the Republic in 1889, disestablishing the Empire of Brazil.- Biography :...

. The minister, as well as the conservative cabinet headed by João Maurício Wanderley

João Maurício Wanderley

João Maurício Vanderlei, first and only baron of Cotejipe , was a magistrate and Brazilian politician of the Conservative Party....

, decided not to penalize the colonel in an attempt to quiet dissention. However, the cabinet went further and removed any constraint on military officers broadcasting their views. In consequence of this policy, subordinates were thenceforth able to publicly criticize their superiors, thus undermining both military and political authority, including that of the cabinet itself.

At the beginning of 1888 a drunken officer was arrested by the police for causing disturbance in the street. Several officers, including Deodoro, were outraged by the arrest and insisted that the chief of police be dismissed. Wanderley, who was still heading the cabinet, refused to bow to this demand. But Princess Isabel, acting regent on behalf of her father who was in Europe, instead opted to dismiss the entire cabinet and support the so-called "undisciplined military faction". Her motive was to use this incident as a pretext to replace Wanderley, who was openly against the abolition of slavery, an issue before the Parliament at the time. Although she gained a new cabinet composed of politicians who supported the end of slavery, Isabel's decision held unintended and dire consequences for the monarchy. Instead of placating an unruly military faction, it only opened the way for more audacious demands and more widespread insubordination, while exposing the weakness of the civilian power. Several officers began to openly conspire against the government, expecting that in a republic they would no longer be exposed to the "harassment" which they believed they were suffering under the monarchy. One of them, Floriano Peixoto

Floriano Peixoto

Floriano Vieira de Araújo Peixoto , April 30, 1839, Maceió, Brazil — July 29, 1895, Rio de Janeiro; born in Ipioca , was a Brazilian soldier and politician, a veteran of the War of the Triple Alliance, and the second President of Brazil.-Election and Succession as President:Floriano Peixoto...

, advocated adoption of a "military dictatorship".

Another important influence which appeared during the 1880s was the dissemination of Positivism

Positivism

Positivism is a a view of scientific methods and a philosophical approach, theory, or system based on the view that, in the social as well as natural sciences, sensory experiences and their logical and mathematical treatment are together the exclusive source of all worthwhile information....

among the army's lower and medium officer ranks, as well as among some civilians. Brazilian Positivists believed that a republic was superior to monarchy. However, they also saw representative democracy

Representative democracy

Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...

and freedom of speech

Freedom of speech

as threats. They also opposed religions, especially Catholicism (though excepting Positivism itself). They advocated the establishment of a dictatorship, with a dictator-for-life who would name his own successor, along with a strong centralized government and "the incorporation of the proletariat

Proletariat

The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...

into society through the end of bourgeois privileges." Positivism shared many features with later Bolshevism, Marxism

Marxism

Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

and Leninism

Leninism

In Marxist philosophy, Leninism is the body of political theory for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party, and the achievement of a direct-democracy dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism...

. However, and remarkably, the Positivists wanted Pedro II to assume the first dictatorship, and hoped to use him to smooth the transition from monarchy towards their new republic.

One of the most influential Positivists in Brazil was Lieutenant-colonel Benjamim Constant

Benjamin Constant (Brazil)

Benjamin Constant Botelho de Magalhães was a Brazilian military man and political thinker.He was born at Niterói....

, a professor in the Military Academy. Although admired to the point of veneration by the young cadets, he was completely unknown to the public. Constant and other Positivist instructors inculcated students with his ideology. Gradually consigned to the background of the Academy's curriculum were military exercises and military studies of Antoine-Henri Jomini

Antoine-Henri Jomini

Antoine-Henri, baron Jomini was a general in the French and later in the Russian service, and one of the most celebrated writers on the Napoleonic art of war...

and Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz

Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz

Wilhelm Leopold Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz also known as Goltz Pasha, was a Prussian Field Marshal and military writer.-Military career:...

, replaced by a focus on political discussions and readings from Auguste Comte

Auguste Comte

Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte , better known as Auguste Comte , was a French philosopher, a founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism...

and Pierre Lafitte

Pierre Lafitte

Pierre Lafitte was a pirate in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He also ran a blacksmith shop in New Orleans, his legitimate business. Pierre was the historically less-well-known older brother of Jean Lafitte...

. The cadets soon became insubordinate political agitators. Even so, Positivists still expected to make a peaceful transition to their fantasy of a republican dictatorship and Constant, who had also taught the Emperor's grandsons, met with Pedro II and tried to convince him join their cause. Unsurprisingly, given Pedro II's character, this proposal was steadfastly refused, and Constant began to believe that there was no remaining alternative to a coup d'état.

As a result, a coalition between the undisciplined Army faction headed by Deodoro and the Positivist faction headed by Constant would be formed and directly lead to 15 November 1889 republican coup. According to one of the seditious leaders, only around 20% of the Brazilian army participated in or actively supported the monarchy's fall.

Third trip to Europe and end of slavery in Brazil

The Emperor's health had considerably worsened by 1887 and fever attacks had become common. His personal doctors suggested a trip to Europe for medical treatment. When embarking, he was greeted by a crowd which cried out, "Long live His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil!" He left on 30 June 1887 along with his wife and his grandson Pedro Augusto. Once more his daughter Isabel became regent in his place. He remained for a short time in Portugal and traveled on to Paris, where he stayed in the Grand Hotel as usual. There he received Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments...

, Ambroise Thomas

Ambroise Thomas

Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...

, Pierre Émile Levasseur

Pierre Émile Levasseur

Pierre Émile Levasseur , was a French economist, son of Victor Levasseur .Pierre was born and educated in Paris, France. He began teaching in the lycée at Alençon in 1852, and in 1857 became professor of rhetoric at Besançon. He returned to Paris to become professor at the lycée Saint Louis...

, François Coppée

François Coppée

François Edouard Joachim Coppée was a French poet and novelist.-Biography:He was born in Paris to a civil servant. After attending the Lycée Saint-Louis he became a clerk in the ministry of war, and won public favour as a poet of the Parnassian school. His first printed verses date from 1864...

, Alexandre Dumas, fils

Alexandre Dumas, fils

Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, also a writer and playwright.-Biography:...

, Arsène Houssaye

Arsène Houssaye

Arsène Houssaye , French novelist, poet and man of letters, was born at Bruyères , near Laon. His real surname was Housset....

, Guerra Junqueiro

Guerra Junqueiro

Abilio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro was a Portuguese, bachelor in law at the University of Coimbra, a top civil servant, member of the Portuguese House of Representatives, journalist, author, and poet. His work helped inspire the creation of the Portuguese First Republic...

, and two of Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo

Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....

's grandsons, among others. In a conversation with Houssaye the Emperor again lamented what he considered a "crown of thorns

Crown of Thorns

In Christianity, the Crown of Thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was woven of thorn branches and placed on Jesus Christ before his crucifixion...

" he had to bear. Pedro II also saw his old friend Michel Eugène Chevreul

Michel Eugène Chevreul

Michel Eugène Chevreul was a French chemist whose work with fatty acids led to early applications in the fields of art and science. He is credited with the discovery of margaric acid and designing an early form of soap made from animal fats and salt...

, who was by then 102 years old.

The monarch was examined by the French doctors Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard

Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard

Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard FRS , also known as Charles Edward, was a Mauritian physiologist and neurologist who, in 1850, became the first to describe what is now called Brown-Séquard syndrome.-Early life:...

, Jean-Martin Charcot

Jean-Martin Charcot

Jean-Martin Charcot was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He is known as "the founder of modern neurology" and is "associated with at least 15 medical eponyms", including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis...

and Michel Peter who recommended a visit to the spas at Baden-Baden

Baden-Baden

Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...

. He remained there for two months and met with old acquaintances, including Wilhelm I of Germany and Leopold II of Belgium

Leopold II of Belgium

Leopold II was the second king of the Belgians. Born in Brussels the second son of Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the throne on 17 December 1865 and remained king until his death.Leopold is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free...

. He also visited the tomb of his daughter Leopoldina in Coburg. He returned to Paris on 8 October 1887 and met his sisters Januária and Francisca. From there he traveled to Italy where he was invited by the King of Italy to a dinner along with Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

and Natalija Obrenović

Natalija Obrenovic

Natalie Keşco was Princess consort of the Principality of Serbia from 1875 to 1882 and the Queen consort of the Kingdom of Serbia from 23 March 1882 to 6 March 1889 as the wife of King Milan Obrenović IV.-Early life and royal marriage:She was born in 1859 in Florence as the first child of the...

, Queen of Serbia. In Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

he unveiled the painting Independence or Death by the Brazilian painter Pedro Américo

Pedro Américo

Pedro Américo de Figueiredo e Melo was one of the most important academic painters of Brazil. He was also a writer and a teacher....

in the presence of the British Queen, the Serbian queen and Charles I

Charles I of Württemberg

Charles was the third King of Württemberg, from 25 June 1864 until his death in 1891.-Early life:He was born 6 March 1823 at Stuttgart, as HRH Charles Frederick Alexander, Crown Prince of Württemberg the son of William I, King of Württemberg and his third wife Pauline Therese of Württemberg .He...

, King of Württemberg. In Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

he met with Cesare Cantù

Cesare Cantù

Cesare Cantù was an Italian historian.Cantù was born at Brivio, in Lombardy, and began his career as a teacher....

. There his health worsened on 3 May 1888, and he passed two weeks between life and death, even being anointed. The doctor Charcot came from Paris to assist and administered caffeine by intervenous injection, resulting in an improvement in the Emperor's health. On 22 May he received news that slavery had been abolished

Lei Áurea

The Lei Áurea , adopted on May 13, 1888, was the law that abolished slavery in Brazil.It was preceded by the Rio Branco Law of September 28, 1871 , which freed all children born to slave parents, and by the Saraiva-Cotegipe Law , of September 28, 1885, that freed slaves when they reached the age of...

in Brazil by a law sanctioned by his daughter . Lying in bed with a weak voice and tears in his eyes, he said, "Great people! Great people!"

Pedro II returned to Brazil and disembarked in Rio de Janeiro on 22 August 1888. The "whole country welcomed him with an enthusiasm never seen before. From the capital, from the provinces, from everywhere, arrived proofs of affection and veneration. The emotion from those who saw him disembark, frail, thin, with bent body, weak legs, was one most profound." The cadets from the Military Academy climbed Sugarloaf Mountain and placed a gigantic banner on which was written "Hail." Such popular enthusiasm directed toward the Emperor was not matched even by the celebrations of his majority in 1840, in the Christie Affair of 1864, upon his departure to Rio Grande do Sul in 1865, or even after the victory in the War of the Triple Alliance

War of the Triple Alliance

The Paraguayan War , also known as War of the Triple Alliance , was a military conflict in South America fought from 1864 to 1870 between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay...

in 1870. "To judge from the general manifestations of affection that the Emperor and the Empress had received on the occasion of their arrival from Europe, in this winter of 1888, no political institution seemed to be so strong as the monarchy

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

in Brazil." Even former slaves displayed loyalty towards the monarchy and vehemently opposed the republicans, whom they called "the Paulistas

São Paulo (state)

." The "monarchy seemed to be at the height of its popularity." Pedro II had reached the pinnacle of his prestige among Brazilians.

The last year

1889 seemed to have begun well for both the monarchy and for Brazil. During a three-month tour of the northeast

Northeast Region, Brazil

The Northeast Region of Brazil is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory....

and north, the enthusiastic reception given the Count of Eu "demonstrated that monarchism remained powerful there". In late July, the Emperor traveled to Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais

, demonstrating both that he was still actively engaged and the depth of support for the monarch in the province. Along with the successful appearances made by Eu and Isabel in São Paulo

São Paulo (state)

, Paraná

Paraná (state)

Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...

, Santa Catarina

Santa Catarina (state)

Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America. Its capital is Florianópolis, which mostly lies on the Santa Catarina Island. Neighbouring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by...

, and Rio Grande do Sul

Rio Grande do Sul

provinces from November 1884 to March 1885, there was every indication of broad backing for the monarchy among the Brazilian population.

The nation enjoyed great international prestige during the final years of the Empire. Predictions of economic and labor disruption caused by the abolition of slavery failed to materialize and the 1888 coffee harvest was successful, both of which boosted Princess Isabel's popularity. José do Patrocínio

José do Patrocínio

José Carlos do Patrocínio was a Brazilian writer, journalist, activist, orator and pharmacist. He founded and occupied the 21st chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters from 1897 until his death in 1905.-Life:...

, a "leading abolitionist journalist, an inveterate republican notable for his disrespect for the Imperial Family, not only renounced his former views" but also "took a leading role in organizing a 'Black Guard'." This was an association of former slaves dedicated to the monarchy's defense, and which also harassed republican meetings.

The cabinet responsible for enacting the law abolishing slavery suffered a vote of no confidence on 3 May 1889 and was forced to resign. Pedro II called José Antônio Saraiva

José Antônio Saraiva

José Antônio Saraiva, also known as Counsellor Saraiva , was a politician, diplomat and lawyer during the period of the Empire of Brazil ....

to form a new cabinet. Saraiva, a highly pragmatic politician, cared neither for monarchy nor republic, so long as he held power. He frankly warned the Emperor that Isabel had little chance of reigning as empress and that the government itself should take an active role in facilitating a peaceful transition to a republic. The Emperor accepted this proposal, without bothering to inform his daughter and heiress. Pedro II's behavior in this meeting revealed how little commitment he had to the monarchy. He gave little consideration to his daughter's opinion, or that of the Brazilian people who overhelmingly supported the imperial system. The reason, unknown to but a very few, was that Pedro II was very sympathetic towards the idea of a republican system. Through action and inaction, consciously and unconsciously, he had been sabotaging both the monarchy and the prospects of his daughter's future reign for nearly a decade. A quite astonished historian Heitor Lyra remarked: "Was he not the head of the Brazilian monarchy, it would be said that he had been allied with the Republic's advertisers!" Saraiva, however, changed his mind and declined the office. Pedro II instead appointed Afonso Celso de Assis Figuereido, viscount of Ouro Preto, in his place.

Unlike Saraiva, Ouro Preto was a staunch monarchist who was determined to save the regime at any cost. His program of reforms was highly ambitious and aimed at resolving festering issues about which politicians had long been complaining. An item notably missing from his agenda was any move to address the military indiscipline and the urgent necessity of restoration of government authority over the corps. This would prove to be a fatal mistake. Among the reforms proposed were the expanding of voting rights by abolishing the income requisite, the end of lifelong senate tenures and, most important of all, increased descentralization which would turn the country into a full federation by allowing the election of town mayors and provincial presidents (governors).

The end of slavery had resulted in an explicit shift of support to republicanism

Republicanism

by rich and powerful coffee farmers who held great political, economic and social power in the country. The Republican faction also attracted others disaffected by the liberation of slaves, which they regarded as confiscation of their personal property. "Traditionalist to the core, long the backbone of the monarchism, they viewed the regent's action as the grossest betrayal of their long loyalty. What attracted the planters to the republicanism beside its opposition to monarchy was the movement's promise of indemnification for the lost slaves […] Republicanism for this group was less a creed than a weapon."

To avert a republican backlash, Ouro Preto exploited the ready credit available to Brazil as a result of its prosperity. He made available massive loans at favorable interest rates to plantation owners and lavishly granted titles and lesser honors to curry favor with influential political figures who had become disaffected. He also indirectly began to address the problem of the recalcitrant military by revitalizing the moribund National Guard, by then an entity which existed mostly only on paper. As the Count of Nioac, a noted politician, remarked: "I call your attention especially to the reorganization of the National Guard, in order to possess this force with which in past times the government suppressed military revolts. If we had had the National Guard reorganized, the Deodoros and other ignorant military men would have been quiet." Pedro II also asked Salvador Mendonça, who was leaving to the U.S. to represent Brazil at the First International Conference of American States

First International Conference of American States

The First International Conference of American States was held in Washington, D.C., United States, from 20 January to 27 April 1890.-Background to the Conference:...

, to carefully study the U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

with the goal of creating a similar tribunal in Brazil and transferring his constitutional prerogatives to it. This would have made the monarch a mere figurehead

Figurehead

A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and 19th century.-History:Although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and...

. It is not known if he intended to constrain his daughter's powers as empress and make her thus more palatable to the politicians, or whether he had something else in mind.

The reforms proposed by the government alarmed republican and seditious factions in the military corps. The republicans saw that Ouro Preto's plans would undercut support for their own aims, and were emboldened to further action. The reorganization of the National Guard was begun by the cabinet in August 1889, and the creation of a rival militia caused the dissidents among the officer corps to consider desperate steps. For both groups, republicans and military, it had become a case of "now or never". Although there was no desire in Brazil among the majority of the population to change the form of government

Form of government

A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized. Synonyms include "regime type" and "system of government".-Empirical and conceptual problems:...

, republicans began pressuring the rebellious faction to overthrow the monarchy.

On 9 November 1889, a large number of officers gathered in the Military Club and decided to stage a coup d'état

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

aimed at the overthrow of the monarchy. Two days later in the house of Rui Barbosa a plan to execute the coup was drawn up by officers who included Benjamin Constant

Benjamin Constant (Brazil)

Benjamin Constant Botelho de Magalhães was a Brazilian military man and political thinker.He was born at Niterói....

and Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca

Deodoro da Fonseca

, plus two civilians: Quintino Bocaiúva

Quintino Bocaiúva

Quintino Bocaiúva was a politician and writer from Brazil.-References:...

and Aristides Lobo. It was the only significant meeting in which civilian republicans participated, as Deodoro wished to exclude them from what he considered to be a strictly military matter. Deodoro still hesitated: "I wanted to follow the Emperor's coffin, who is old and whom I deeply respect." But he eventually yielded to pressure: "He [Benjamin Constant] wants it thus, let us make the Republic. Benjamin and I will take care of the military action; Mr. Quintino and his friends will organize everything else."

Republican coup

At 11 p.m. on 14 November, Deodoro took command of 600 men, the majority of whom either had no idea of what was occurring or believed that they were organizing a defence against the National Guard or the Black Guard. A few republicans yelled "Hail to the Republic" but Deodoro ordered them to be silent.

Upon learning of the revolt, the Viscount of Ouro Preto and the other Cabinet ministers went to Army Headquarters, located at the Field of Santana in the heart of the capital. The supposedly loyal troops there outnumbered and were better equipped than the rebel force. The adjutant-general (Commander) of the Army, Field Marshal Floriano Peixoto

Floriano Peixoto

guaranteed his men's loyalty to Ouro Preto, but he was secretly in alliance with the rebels. Floriano and the Minister of the War Rufino Enéias, Viscount of Maracajú (a cousin of Deodoro) ignored repeated orders from Ouro Preto to attack the rebels who were approaching the headquarters. He tried to convince them, recalling the acts of bravery by the Brazilian military in the War of the Triple Alliance

War of the Triple Alliance

. But Floriano replied to him that, "in front of us there were enemies, and here we are all Brazilians", which finally brought him to a realization of how far the mutiny had spread among the officer corps.

The ostensibly loyal troops opened the headquarters gates to Deodoro, who cried out: "Long live His Majesty the Emperor!" He met with Ouro Preto, and undertook to personally present the Emperor with a list of the names of those to be included in a new cabinet. To the disillusionment of civilian and military republicans, Deodoro did not proclaim a republic, and it seemed that he would only topple the cabinet. He was unsure whether he wanted to act against Pedro II, and the rebels themselves did not believe the coup would succeed. The few people who witnessed what occurred did not realize that it was a rebellion, and according to the republican Aristides Lobo, the populace was "stunned". "Rarely has a revolution been so minor."

On the morning of 15 November, Pedro II was in Petrópolis

Petrópolis

Petrópolis , also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro....

when he received the first telegram from Ouro Preto informing him of the rebellion. However, he did not assign much import to the news. At 11 a.m. as he left a mass in honor of the 45th anniversary of his sister Maria II's death, the monarch received a second telegram and decided to return to Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

. His wife expressed concern, but he told her, "On what ma’am? When I arrive there it will be over!" He travelled by train, reading periodicals and scientific magazines. Not imagining the gravity of the situation, he arrived at the city palace

Paço Imperial

at 3 p.m. André Rebouças

André Rebouças

André Pinto Rebouças was a Brazilian military engineer, abolitionist and inventor, son of Antônio Pereira Rebouças and Carolina Pinto Rebouças. Lawyer, member of Parliament and an adviser to Pedro II of Brazil, his father was the son of a manumitted slave and a Portuguese tailor...

suggested that he go to the countryside to organize resistance. The Marquis of Tamandaré

Marquis of Tamandaré

Joaquim Marques Lisboa, the Marquis of Tamandaré , was a military officer and member of the Liberal Party. His long military career expanded from the Brazilian War of Independence to the Paraguayan War .In the year 1936–1938 Brazil published a coin with his portrait....

asked for his permission to lead the Armada (navy) and suppress the rebellion. He dismissed all the ideas put forward and said, "This is nothing. I know my countrymen." The Emperor asked the Conservative senator Manuel Francisco Correia what he thought of the situation. Correia answered that he believed that it was the end of the monarchy. Pedro II showed no emotion, as if unconcerned about the possibility.

Ouro Preto arrived at the palace at 4 p.m and suggested that Pedro II nominate senator Gaspar da Silveira Martins, who would arrive in the city two days later, as the new President. Deodoro avoided meeting personally with Pedro II, but once he heard that the Emperor had chosen a personal enemy of his for the office, he finally decided on the inauguration of the Republic. The recently elected Chamber of Deputies was only to be called into session on 20 November, and the Senate was in recess. For this reason, Princess Isabel insisted that her father convoke the Council of State

Privy council

A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

to deal with the situation. But she was given the reply, "Later on." The princess, on her own initiative, called the council members. The Council assembled at 11 p.m, and after two hours recommended that the Emperor appoint Antônio Saraiva

José Antônio Saraiva

José Antônio Saraiva, also known as Counsellor Saraiva , was a politician, diplomat and lawyer during the period of the Empire of Brazil ....

instead of Silveira Martins. After accepting the office, this politician sent an emissary to negotiate with Deodoro. But Deodoro responded that is was too late to change his mind. Upon hearing the reply, Pedro II commented, "If it is so, it will be my retirement. I have worked too hard and I am tired. I will go rest then."

Departure to exile

On Saturday 16 November, the Imperial Family were confined in the palace, surrounded by a cavalry regiment. Pedro II continued reading scientific magazines and appeared calm throughout the day. At 3 p.m, Major Frederico Solón Sampaio Ribeiro informed the Imperial Family that the Republic had been proclaimed and that they must leave the country for exile within 24 hours. The "republicans had no courage to meet the Emperor, whom they secretly admired, face to face" and therefore sent low-ranking officers to communicate with him. Solón, when complimenting the Emperor, called him first "Your Excellency", then "Your Highness" and lastly "Your Majesty". Although clearly deposed, the Emperor was still much respected by those around him, as illustrated by the parley between him and Solón. The notice of banishment caused the women to weep, while the men struggled to remain calm—with the exception of Pedro II, who remained impassive. The monarch resolved to travel the afternoon of the following day and sent a written message to the Provisional Government stating that he agreed to leave the country.

The republican Government feared that demonstrations in favor of the Emperor might erupt on Monday 17 November. The Lieutenant Colonel João Nepomuceno de Medeiros Mallet was sent at dawn to inform the Imperial Family that it must leave immediately. A commotion arose among those present until Pedro II himself appeared in the room. Mallet respectfully told him that the Government had asked them to depart at once. The Emperor refused to leave immediately, claiming that he was not a slave trying to escape in the middle of the night. Mallet tried to persuade him, alleging that republican students would launch violent demonstrations against him. The Emperor seemed skeptical: "Who gives credence to students?" At that moment, shots were heard outside. Mallet left the palace to find out what had happened. Fifteen Imperial sailors had attempted to land in support of the Emperor but were overpowered and imprisoned by republican troops. Mallet returned to the building and deceived Pedro II by saying that militant republicans had tried to attack him and his family. Astonished, the Emperor agreed to leave.

When Pedro II left the palace, the soldiers who were standing guard outside instinctively presented arms, and he responded by raising his hat. A few close friends voluntarily accompanied the Imperial Family into exile, including André Rebouças and Franklin Dória, baron of Loreto. Very few were on hand to witness the departure. They were taken to the steamship Parnaíba and after that to the ship Alagoas, in which they sailed the next day to Europe. Before the final departure, Pedro II sent a short message to his faithful friend the Marquis of Tamandaré, who had remained at his side until embarkation: "What is done, is done. It remains to all of you to establish order and to consolidate your institutions." After learning that the Emperor had left, Benjamin Constant spoke: "It is fulfilled, the most painful of our duties." Major Carlos Nunes de Aguiar later recalled saying to Rui Barbosa, who had been at his side witnessing the departure from afar: "You were right to weep when the Emperor left." Historian Lilia Moritz Schwarcz said that it was "the end of the monarchy, but not of myth, called d. Pedro."

The government headed by Deodoro "was little more than a military dictatorship. The army dominated affairs both at Rio de Janeiro and in the states. Freedom of the press disappeared and elections were controlled by those in power." The republican regime which followed the overthrow of the monarchy revealed itself to be highly unstable. In "a little more than a century of existence, the Brazilian Republic faced twelve states of emergency

State of emergency

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...

, seventeen Institutional Acts, the National Congress

National Congress of Brazil

The National Congress of Brazil is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government.Unlike regional legislative bodies – Legislative Assemblies and City Councils -, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies .The Senate represents the 26 states and...

dissolved six times, nineteen military revolutions, two presidential resignations, three presidents prevented from assuming office, four presidents deposed, seven different Constitution

Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

s, four dictatorship

Dictatorship

A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...

s, and nine authoritarian governments."

Endnotes

According to the Brazilian Imperial Constitution, Article 117: "His [Pedro I of Brazil's] legitimate descendancy shall succeed on the throne…"

"Sr. São Vicente, o país que se governe como entender e dê razão a quem tiver."

Pedro II wrote to the countess of Barral in January 1880: "The situation of a monarch is difficult in this period of transition. Very few nations are prepared for the system of government which is in train, and I certainly would be better and happier as president of a republic than as constitutional emperor. I am not fooling myself; but I will not fail to carry out, as I have until now, my duties as constitutional monarch." This was followed by Barral's reply in April 1880: "It appears to me that we will soon have another republic in South America. -I know Y. M. [Your Majesty] does not care about yourself, but it is your duty to sustain your dynasty and to ensure that the person of the sovereign is respected." Written in 1880, when the Brazilian Empire seemed strong as ever, the exchange reveals that Pedro II had long been undermining the foundations of the monarchy.

"Não havia, portanto, clamor pela mudança do regime de governo, exceto alguns gritos de 'Viva a República', entoados por pequenos grupos de militantes à espreita da passagem da carruagem imperial." —Ermakoff

Solón: "I come on behalf of the Provisional Government, to respectfully deliver to Your Majesty this message. Does Your Majesty have a reply to give?" The Emperor: "Not at the moment." Solón: "May I withdraw, then?" The Emperor: "Yes."

The Emperor: "What is this? So I will have to embark at this hour of the night?" Mallet respectfully told him that the Government asked them to depart immediately. The Emperor: "What Government?" Mallet: "The Government of the Republic." The Emperor: "Is Deodoro involved in this?" Mallet: "Yes, Sire. He is the Head of the Government." Pedro II: "You are all off your heads!"

"Não sou nenhum fugido, não sou nenhum fugido!" —Lyra

"Não sou negro fugido. Não embarco nesta hora!" —Calmon

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