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| New State (Brazil) | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Estado Novo |
| Conventional long name | Estado Novo |
| Common name | Estado Novo (Brazil) |
| Era | Interwar period; World War II |
| Status | Authoritarian regime |
| Government type | Authoritarian presidential dictatorship |
| Established date | 10 November 1937 |
| Established event | Proclamation of Estado Novo |
| Abolished date | 29 October 1945 |
| Capital | Rio de Janeiro |
| Largest city | Rio de Janeiro |
| Leader title1 | President |
| Leader name1 | Getúlio Vargas |
| Currency | cruzeiro |
New State (Brazil) was the authoritarian regime established in Brazil on 10 November 1937 under President Getúlio Vargas and dissolved in October 1945, marking a distinct interlude between the First Republic and the Second Brazilian Republic. The period saw centralized executive control, corporatist institutions inspired by European models, a strong security apparatus, industrial modernization initiatives, and complex relations with foreign powers such as Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and the United States. The regime combined state-led economic intervention, repression of organized opposition, and cultural mobilization while navigating wartime diplomacy and domestic pressures that culminated in Vargas's removal and the restoration of electoral politics.
The proclamation of the regime followed the 1930 Revolution, the 1935 Intentona Comunista, and the 1937 "Cohen Plan" crisis that Vargas and allied institutions used to justify emergency measures. Key actors included the Ação Integralista Brasileira, military leaders from the Brazilian Army, politicians from the Liberal Alliance, and bureaucrats linked to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of War. Influences on doctrine and practice derived from European examples such as Fascist Italy, the Portuguese Estado Novo, and the Weimar Republic’s collapse, while diplomatic currents tied Brazil to the Good Neighbor Policy and negotiations with the United States Department of State. The fabricated threat narrative drew on reports from military intelligence units and police forces, including the DOPS.
The regime abolished the 1934 Constitution and promulgated an authoritarian constitution crafted by executive decree. Central instruments included the presidential office of Getúlio Vargas, appointed intervenors in the federative units replacing elected governors, and corporatist organs modeled on the Ministry of Labor’s labor courts and labor unions brought under state control. Key institutions for social regulation and policymaking were the National Economic Council, state-run entities like Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, and the national police apparatusing including DOPS and military intelligence branches. The judiciary and legislature saw curtailed autonomy, and electoral institutions were suspended in favor of plebiscitary mechanisms and administrative appointments overseen by Vargas's circle and allied military figures such as generals from the Brazilian Army high command.
Domestic security policy blended surveillance, censorship, and detention directed at communists, integralists, labor leaders, and regional opponents. Instruments included police operations by DOPS, military tribunals, and censorship boards coordinating with the Federal District Police and state security services. High-profile arrests targeted affiliates of the PCB and labor activists associated with the CGT. Political trials, administrative interdictions, and internal exile to places like Fernando de Noronha and remote northern provinces were common. The regime also employed emergency decrees, control of municipal administrations, and coordination with the Ministry of Justice to manage dissent.
Economic policy combined import substitution industrialization initiatives, state investment in infrastructure, and labor legislation. Vargas expanded state industrial projects such as Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, fostered ties with private industrialists in São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, and instituted labor laws building on the 1930s labor code through the Ministry of Labor and the Consolidation of Labor Laws. The regime negotiated with foreign capital from United States, United Kingdom, and Germany firms, utilized public banks such as the Banco do Brasil, and promoted infrastructural works including rail and port upgrades in partnership with the Ministry of Transport. Social policy included state-sponsored welfare measures, regulated labor unions, and corporatist representation via selected syndicates while marginalizing independent agrarian movements in regions like Northeast Brazil and Amazonas.
Cultural policy emphasized national identity projects, media control, and symbolic interventions in education and the arts. The regime promoted narratives via the Ministry of Education and Health, state radio networks, and press organs that coordinated with the Department of Press and Propaganda-style mechanisms adapted to Brazil. Cultural initiatives mobilized folkloric research, sponsored artists and intellectuals linked to institutions like the National Historical Museum and the National Library of Brazil, and regulated film production through policies affecting studios in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Censorship targeted periodicals, theater productions, and cinema deemed subversive; propaganda framed Vargas as a paternal figure in continuity with populist and nationalist currents represented by figures such as Luis Carlos Prestes in opposition narratives.
Opposition encompassed clandestine communist cells from the PCB, integralist dissidents from the Ação Integralista Brasileira, regional military uprisings, and labor strikes organized by affiliates of the CGT and independent unionists. Notable incidents included repression of the 1938 integralist coup attempt and surveillance operations against leftist militants influenced by international communists connected to the Comintern. Human rights abuses included arbitrary detention, torture documented by contemporary observers, forced labor, suppression of habeas corpus, and summary trials under military authority. Intellectuals and journalists associated with publications in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro faced exile, imprisonment, or censorship.
The regime’s decline accelerated during World War II as Brazil shifted from ambivalent relations with the Axis powers to active cooperation with the Allied powers, culminating in the 1942 declaration of war against Germany and Italy. Allied pressure, military discontent, and growing demands for democratization from political parties such as the Brazilian Socialist Party and regional elites in Minas Gerais and São Paulo weakened Vargas’s coalition. After electoral mobilization efforts, negotiations involving the Brazilian Army high command, civilian politicians, and international actors produced Vargas’s removal on 29 October 1945 and the subsequent transition to the Second Brazilian Republic, restoration of party competition, and the 1945 presidential election that returned civilian rule.
Category:Political history of Brazil