Chapter 5: Building to a Dictatorship and World War II

World War I served as a shock for Brazil’s conception of Europe as stable, peaceful, and prosperous. Brazil’s late entry into the war on the side of the Allies failed to stimulate the country’s place as a world power. The economy depended greatly on coffee exports, which increased steadily in the 1920s (although it crashed in 1929 along with the rest of the world economy). New currents of modernism and discontent with liberalism arose during that decade, as shown by the revolts of the tenentes, the march of the Prestes column, and Modern Art Week. The disintegration of the old political order gave rise to the triumph of Getúlio Vargas in the Revolution of 1930, which instituted a swing towards centralization of power in the federal government. Seven years later, Vargas created a dictatorial regime with his establishment of the Estado Nôvo, and strove to build a distinct national identity and popular culture. Brazil soon found itself pulled into World War II, taking a large role for the Allies only after it became relatively clear that they had an advantage. The contradiction of fighting dictatorship abroad under a dictatorship at home undermined the Vargas regime, however, and the military once again deposed a Brazilian leader.