The '
military history of
Brazil' comprises centuries of armed actions in the territory encompassing modern Brazil, and the role of the
Brazilian Armed Forces in
conflicts and
peacekeeping worldwide. For several hundreds of years, the area was the site of intertribal wars of
indigenous peoples. Beginning in the
16th century, the
arrival of Portuguese explorers led to conflicts with the aboriginal peoples; a notable example being the revolt of the
Tamoio Confederation. Sporadic revolts of
African slaves also marked the colonial period, with a notable rebellion led by
Zumbi dos Palmares. Conflicts were encountered with other European nations as well - two notable examples being the
France Antarctique affair, and a conflict with the
Netherlands in the early
17th century over control of much of the
Northeast. Although Portugal retained its possessions during conflicts with other nations, it eventually lost control of the colony after a
nearly bloodless struggle for independence and the subsequent establishment of the
Empire of Brazil.
Brazil's history after independence is marked by early territorial wars against its neighboring countries which have greatly affected the formation of current political boundaries. For example, the
Argentina-Brazil War, fought over the present day territory of
Uruguay established that nation's independence. Brazil was also affected in its infancy by minor - and ultimately, unsuccessful -
revolts in the Northern provinces. An
armed conflict with Paraguay led to an establishment of Brazil's current border with that nation after a decisive victory. Internal conflicts between the executive government and the power of wealthy landowners finally led to the abolishment of the Brazilian Empire, and the rise of the current republican government.
Modern activity includes participation in both
World Wars along with internal struggles due to military rule, and participation in right wing military operations, such as
Operation Condor. Recent developments include participation in peacekeeping efforts after the
2004 Haiti rebellion.
European colonization
Indigenous rebellions
The ''Tamoyo Confederation'' (''Confederação dos Tamoios'' in
Portuguese language) was a
military alliance of
aboriginal chieftains of the sea coast ranging from what is today
Santos to
Rio de Janeiro, which occurred from
1554 to
1567.
The main reason for this rather unusual alliance between separate
tribes was to react against
slavery and wholesale murder and destruction wrought by the early
Portuguese discoverers and colonisers of Brazil onto the
Tupinambá Indians. In the
Tupí-Guaraní language, "Tamuya" means "elder" or "grandfather".
Cunhambebe was elected chief of the Confederation by his counterparts, and together with chiefs Pindobuçú, Koakira, Araraí and Aimberê, declared war on the Portuguese.
Slave rebellions
Main articles: Zumbi
Although slave revolts were frequent until its abolition in
1888 the most famous of the revolts were led by
Zumbi dos Palmares. The state he established, named the Quilombo dos Palmares was a self-sustaining republic of
Maroons escaped from the
Portuguese settlements in Brazil, "a region perhaps the size of
Portugal in the hinterland of Bahia" (Braudel 1984 p 390). At its height, Palmares had a population of over 30,000.
Forced to defend against repeated attacks by
Portuguese colonial power, the warriors of Palmares were expert in
capoeira, a martial arts form developed in Brazil by African slaves in the 1500s.
An African known only as Zumbi was born free in Palmares in 1655, but was captured by the Portuguese and given to a missionary, Father Antonio Melo when he was approximately 6 years old. Baptized Francisco, Zumbi was taught the sacraments, learned Portuguese and Latin, and helped with daily
mass. Despite attempts to "civilize" him, Zumbi escaped in 1670 and, at the age of 15, returned to his birthplace. Zumbi became known for his physical prowess and cunning in battle and was a respected military strategist by the time he was in his early twenties.
''Capoeira or the Dance of War'' by Johann Moritz Rugendas, 1835
By 1678, the governor of the captaincy of
Pernambuco, Pedro Almeida, weary of the longstanding conflict with Palmares, approached its leader
Ganga Zumba with an olive branch. Almeida offered freedom for all runaway slaves if Palmares would submit to Portuguese authority, a proposal which Ganga Zumba favored. But Zumbi was distrustful of the Portuguese. Further, he refused to accept freedom for the people of Palmares while other
Africans remained enslaved. He rejected Almeida's overture and challenged Ganga Zumba's leadership. Vowing to continue the resistance to Portuguese oppression, Zumbi became the new leader of Palmares.
Fifteen years after Zumbi assumed leadership of Palmares, Portuguese military commanders Domingos Jorge Velho and Vieira de Mello mounted an artillery assault on the quilombo.
February 6,
1694, after 67 years of ceaseless conflict with the
cafuzos, or Maroons, of Palmares, the Portuguese succeeded in destroying
Cerca do Macaco, the republic's central settlement. Palmares' warriors were no match for the Portuguese artillery; the republic fell, and Zumbi was wounded. Though he survived and managed to elude the Portuguese, he was betrayed, captured almost two years later and beheaded on the spot
November 20,
1695. The Portuguese transported Zumbi's head to
Recife, where it was displayed in the central
praça as proof that, contrary to popular legend among African slaves, Zumbi was not immortal. It was also done as a warning of what would happen to others if they tried to be as brave as him. Remnants of the old quilombos continued to reside in the region for another hundred years.
France Antartique affair
Dutch in the Northeast
Empire of Brazil
Main articles: Brazilian Empire
War of Independence
Main articles: Brazilian War of Independence
War of Tatters
Main articles: War of Tatters
Argentina-Brazil War
Main articles: Argentina-Brazil War
Internal Strife
Main articles: Pedro I of Brazil
War of the Triple Alliance
Main articles: War of the Triple Alliance
In
1864, the
War of the Triple Alliance started mostly due to the expansionist desires of Paraguayan president,
Francisco Solano Lopez. The start of the war has also been widely attributed to causes as varied as the after-effects of
colonialism in
Latin America, the struggle for physical power over the strategic
River Plate region, Brazilian and Argentinian meddling in internal Uruguayan politics.
[1]
Since
Brazil and
Argentina had become independent, the fight between the governments of
Buenos Aires and of
Rio de Janeiro for
hegemony in the River Plate basin profoundly marked the diplomatic and political relations between the countries of the region.
[2] Brazil almost entered into war with Argentina twice.
The government of Buenos Aires intended to reconstruct the territory of the old
Viceroyalty of the River Plate, enclosing Paraguay and Uruguay. It carried out diverse attempts to do so during the first half of the 19th century, without success — many times due to Brazilian intervention. Fearing excessive Argentine control, Brazil favored a balance of power in the region, helping Paraguay and Uruguay retain their sovereignty.
Brazil, under the rule of the Portuguese, was the first country to recognize the independence of Paraguay in 1811. While Argentina was ruled by
Juan Manuel Rosas (1829–1852), a common enemy of both Brazil and Paraguay, Brazil contributed to the improvement of the fortifications and development of the Paraguayan army, sending officials and technical help to
Asunción. As no roads linked the province of
Mato Grosso to
Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian ships needed to travel through Paraguayan territory, going up the Río Paraguay to arrive at
Cuiabá. Many times, however, Brazil had difficulty obtaining permission to sail from the government in Asunción.
Brazil carried out three political and military interventions in Uruguay - in 1851, against
Manuel Oribe to fight Argentine influence in the country; in 1855, at the request of the Uruguayan government and
Venancio Flores, leader of the
Colorados, who were traditionally supported by the Brazilian empire; and in 1864, against
Atanásio Aguirre. This last intervention would be the fuse of the War of the Triple Alliance. These interventions were aligned to the British desire for the fragmentation of the
River Plate region to stop any attempt to monopolize the region's minerals as well as the control of both shores of the River Plate, therefore, controlling the access of all ships going upriver.
In April 1864, Brazil sent a diplomatic mission to Uruguay led by
José Antônio Saraiva to demand payment for the damages caused to
gaucho farmers in border conflicts with Uruguayan farmers. The Uruguayan president Atanásio Aguirre, of the
National Party, refused the Brazilian demands.
Solano López offered himself as mediator, but was turned down by Brazil. López subsequently broke diplomatic relations with Brazil — in August 1864 — and declared that the occupation of Uruguay by Brazilian troops would be an attack on the equilibrium of the River Plate region.
On October 12, Brazilian troops invaded Uruguay. The followers of the Colorado Venancio Flores, who had the support of Argentina, united with the Brazilian troops and deposed Aguirre.
[3]
When attacked by Brazil, the Uruguayan Blancos asked for help from Solano López, but Paraguay did not directly come to their ally's aid. Instead, on
November 12,
1864, the Paraguayan ship ''Tacuari'' captured the Brazilian ship ''Marquês of Olinda'' which had sailed up the Río Paraguay to the province of
Mato Grosso.
[4] Paraguay declared war on Brazil on December 13 and on Argentina three months later, on
March 18,
1865. Uruguay, already governed by Venancio Flores, aligned itself with Brazil and Argentina.
Soldiers of the Brazilian Volunteers for the Fatherland Corps
At the beginning of the war, the military force of the Triple Alliance was inferior to that of Paraguay, which included more than 60,000 well-trained men - 38,000 of whom were immediately under arms - and a naval squadron of 23 ''vapores'' and five river-navigating ships, based around the gunboat the ''Tacuari''.
[5] Its artillery included about 400 cannons.
The armies of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay were a fraction of the total size of the Paraguayan army. Argentina had approximately 8,500 regular troops and a squadron of four ''vapores'' and one ''goleta''. Uruguay entered the war with fewer than 2,000 men and no navy. Many of Brazil's 16,000 troops were initially located in its southern garrisons.
[6] The Brazilian advantage, though, was in its navy: 42 ships with 239 cannons and about 4,000 well trained crew. A great part of the squadron already met in the River Plate basin, where it had acted, under the
Marquis of Tamandaré, in the intervention against Aguirre.
Brazil, however, was unprepared to fight a war. Its army was unorganized. The troops used in the interventions in Uruguay were composed merely of the armed contingents of gaucho politicians and some of the staff of the National Guard. The Brazilian infantry who fought in the War of the Triple Alliance were not professional soldiers but volunteers, the so called ''Voluntários da Pátria''. Many were slaves sent by farmers. The cavalry was formed from the National Guard of
Rio Grande Do Sul.
Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay would sign the
Treaty of the Triple Alliance in Buenos Aires on
May 1,
1865, allying the three River Plate countries against Paraguay. They named
Bartolomé Mitre, president of Argentina, as supreme commander of the allied troops.
[7]
During the first phase of the war Paraguay took the initiative. The armies of López dictated the location of initial battles — invading
Mato Grosso in the north in December 1864,
Rio Grande do Sul in the south in the first months of 1865 and the Argentine province of
Corrientes.
Two bodies of Paraguayan troops invaded Mato Grosso simultaneously. Due to the numerical superiority of the invaders the province was captured quickly.
Five thousand men, transported in ten ships and commanded by the colonel
Vicente Barrios, went up the Río Paraguay and attacked the fort of
Nova Coimbra. The garrison of 155 men resisted for three days under the command of the lieutenant-colonel
Hermenegildo de Albuquerque Porto Carrero, later baron of Fort Coimbra. When the munitions were exhausted the defenders abandoned the fort and withdrew up the river on board the gunship Anhambaí in direction of
Corumbá. After they occupied the empty fort the Paraguayans advanced north taking the cities of
Albuquerque and Corumbá in January 1865.
Argentine boy soldier
The second Paraguayan column, which was led by Colonel
Francisco Isidoro Resquín and included four thousand men, penetrated a region south of Mato Grosso, and sent a detachment to attack the military frontier of
Dourados. The detachment, led by Major
Martín Urbieta, encountered tough resistance on
December 29,
1864 from Lieutenant
Antonio João Ribeiro and his 16 men, who died without yielding. The Paraguayans continued to
Nioaque and
Miranda, defeating the troops of the colonel
José Dias da Silva.
Coxim was taken in April 1865.
The Paraguayan forces, despite their victories, did not continue to
Cuiabá, the capital of the province.
Augusto Leverger had fortified the camp of
Melgaço to protect Cuiabá. The main objective was to distract the attention of the Brazilian government to the north as the war would lead to the south, closer to the
River Plate estuary. The invasion of Mato Grosso was a diversionary maneuver.
The invasion of
Corrientes and of
Rio Grande do Sul was the second phase of the Paraguayan offensive. To raise the support of the Uruguayan Blancos, the Paraguayan forces had to travel through Argentine territory. In March of 1865, López asked the Argentine government's permission for an army of 25,000 men (led by General
Wenceslao Robles) to travel through the province of Corrientes. The president -
Bartolomé Mitre, an ally of Brazil in the intervention in Uruguay - refused.
In the
March 18,
1865, Paraguay declared war on Argentina. A Paraguayan squadron, coming down the
Río Paraná, imprisoned Argentine ships in the port of Corrientes. Immediately, General Robles's troops took the city.
In invading Corrientes, López tried to obtain the support of the powerful Argentine
caudillo Justo José de Urquiza, governor of the provinces of Corrientes and Entre Ríos, and the chief federalist hostile to Mitre and to the government of
Buenos Aires.
[7] But Urquiza assumed an ambiguous attitude towards the Paraguayan troops—which would advance around 200 kilometers south before ultimately ending the offensive in failure.
Along with Robles's troops, a force of 10,000 men under the orders of the lieutenant-colonel
Antonio de la Cruz Estigarriba crossed the Argentine border south of Encarnación, in May 1865, driving for
Rio Grande do Sul. They traveled down Río Uruguay and took the town of
São Borja on June 12. Uruguaiana, to the south, was taken on August 5 without any significant resistance. The Brazilian reaction was yet to come.
Brazil sent an expedition to fight the invaders in
Mato Grosso. A column of 2,780 men led by Colonel Manuel Pedro Drago left
Uberaba in
Minas Gerais in April 1865, and arrived at Coxim in December after a difficult march of more than two thousand kilometers through four provinces. But Paraguay had abandoned Coxim by December. Drago arrived at Miranda in September 1866 - and Paraguay had left once again. In January 1867, Colonel
Carlos de Morais Camisão assumed command of the column, now only 1,680 men, and decided to invade Paraguayan territory, where he penetrated as far as
Laguna. The expedition was forced to retreat by the Paraguayan cavalry.
Despite the efforts of Colonel Camisão's troops and the resistance in the region, which succeeded in liberating Corumbá in June 1867, Mato Grosso remained under the control of the Paraguayans. They finally withdrew in April 1868, moving their troops to the main theatre of operations, in the south of Paraguay.
Communications in the River Plate basin was solely by river; few roads existed. Whoever controlled the rivers would win the war, so the Paraguayan fortifications had been built on the edges of the lower end of Río Paraguay.
The naval
battle of Riachuelo occurred on
June 11,
1865. The Brazilian fleet commanded by
Francisco Manoel Barroso da Silva won, destroying the powerful Paraguayan navy and preventing the Paraguayans from permanently occupying Argentine territory. The battle practically decided the outcome of the war in favour of the Triple Alliance, which controlled, from that point on, the rivers of the River Plate basin up to the entrance to Paraguay.
[9]
While López ordered the retreat of the forces that occupied Corrientes, the Paraguayan troops that invaded
São Borja advanced, taking
Itaqui and
Uruguaiana. A separate division (3,200 men) that continued towards Uruguay, under the command of the major
Pedro Duarte, was defeated by Flores in the bloody
battle of Jataí on the banks of the Río Uruguay.
The allied troops united under the command of Mitre in the camp of Concórdia, in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, with the field-marshal
Manuel Luís Osório at the front of the Brazilian troops. Part of the troops, commanded by the lieutenant-general
Manuel Marques de Sousa, baron of Porto Alegre, left to reinforce Uruguaiana. The Paraguayans yielded on
September 18,
1865.
In the subsequent months the Paraguayans were driven out of the cities of Corrientes and
San Cosme, the only Argentine territory still in Paraguayan possession. By the end of 1865, the Triple Alliance was on the offensive. Their armies numbered more than 50,000 men and were prepared to invade Paraguay.
The invasion of Paraguay followed the course of the Río Paraguay, from the
Paso de la Patria. From April 1866 to July 1868, military operations concentrated in the confluence of the rivers Paraguay and Paraná, where the Paraguayans located their main fortifications. For more than two years, the advance of the invaders was blocked, despite initial Triple Alliance victories.
Artist's conception of the battle of Tuyutí (painted 1876-1885 by
Cándido López)
The first stronghold taken was
Itapiru. After the battles of the
Paso de la Patria and of the
Estero Bellaco, the allied forces camped on swamps of
Tuyutí, where they were attacked. The first battle of Tuyutí, won by the allies on
May 24,
1866, was the biggest pitched battle in the history of South America.
Due to health reasons, in July 1866, Osório passed the command of the First Corps of the Brazilian army to General
Polidoro da Fonseca Quintanilha Jordão. At the same time, the Second Corps—10,000 men—arrived at the theater of operations, brought from Rio Grande Do Sul by the baron of Porto Alegre.
To open the way to
Humaitá, the biggest Paraguayan stronghold, Mitre attacked the batteries of
Curuzu and
Curupaity. Curuzu was taken by surprise by the baron of Porto Alegre, but Curupaity resisted the 20,000 Argentines and Brazilians, led by Mitre and Porto Alegre, with support of the squadron of admiral Tamandaré. This failure (5,000 men were lost in a few hours) created a command crisis and stopped the advance of the allies.
During this phase of the war, many Brazilian servicemen distinguished themselves, amongst them, the heroes of Tuyutí: General
José Luís Mena Barreto; Brigadier General
Antônio de Sampaio, protector of the infantry weapons of the Brazilian Army; Lieutenant Colonel
Emílio Luís Mallet, head of the artillery; and even Osório, head of the cavalry. In addition, Lieutenant Colonel João Carlos of Vilagrã Cabrita, head of weapons of engineering, died in Itapiru.
Assigned on
October 10,
1866 to command the Brazilian forces, Marshal Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Marquis and, later,
Duke of Caxias, arrived in Paraguay in November, finding the Brazilian army practically paralyzed. The contingent of Argentines and Uruguayans, devastated by disease, were cut off from the rest of the allied army. Mitre and Flores returned to their respective countries due to questions of internal politics. Tamandaré was replaced in command by the Admiral
Joaquim José Inácio, future Viscount of Inhaúma. Osório organized a 5,000-strong third Corps of the Brazilian army in Rio Grande do Sul. In Mitre's absence, Caxias assumed the general command and restructured the army.
Between November 1866 and July 1867, Caxias organized a health corps (to give aid to the endless number of injured soldiers and to fight the epidemic of cholera) and a system of supplying of the troops. In that period military operations were limited to skirmishes with the Paraguayans and to bombarding
Curupaity. López took advantage of the disorganization of the enemy to reinforce his stronghold in Humaitá.
The march to flank the left wing of the Paraguayan fortifications constituted the basis of Caxias's tactics. Caxias wanted to bypass the Paraguayan strongholds, cut the connections between
Asunción and Humaitá, and finally circle the Paraguayans. To this end, Caxias marched to
Tuiu-Cuê.
Brazilian officer and soldier
But Mitre, who had returned to the command in August 1867, insisted on attacking by the right wing, a strategy that had previously been disastrous in Curupaity. By his order, the Brazilian squadron forced its way past Curupaity but was forced to stop at Humaitá. New splits in the high command arose: Mitre wanted to continue, but the Brazilians instead captured
São Solano,
Pike and
Tayi, isolating Humaitá from
Asunción. In reaction, López attacked the rearguard of the allies in Tuiuti, but suffered new defeats.
With the removal of Mitre in January 1868, Caxias reassumed the supreme command and decided to bypass Curupaity and Humaitá, carried out with success by the squadron commanded by Captain
Delfim Carlos de Carvalho, later Baron of Passagem. Humaitá fell on 25 July after a long siege.
En route to
Asunción, Caxias's army went 200 kilometers to Palmas, stopping at the
Piquissiri river. There López had concentrated 18,000 Paraguayans in a fortified line that exploited the terrain and supported the forts of Angostura and Itá-Ibaté. Resigned to frontal combat, Caxias ordered the so-called Piquissiri maneuver. While a squadron attacked
Angostura, Caxias made the army cross on the right side of the river. He ordered the construction of a road in the swamps of the
Chaco, upon which the troops advanced to the northeast. At
Villeta, the army crossed the river again, between
Asunción and Piquissiri, behind the fortified Paraguayan line. Instead of it advancing to the capital, already evacuated and bombarded, Caxias went south and attacked the Paraguayans from behind.
Caxias had obtained a series of victories in December 1868, when he went back south to take Piquissiri from the rear, capturing
Itororó,
Avaí,
Lomas Valentinas and Angostura. On December 24 the three new commanders of the Triple Alliance (Caxias, the Argentine
Juan Andrés Gelly y Obes, and the Uruguayan Enrique Castro) sent a note to Solano López asking for surrender. But López turned it down and fled for
Cerro Leon.
Asunción was occupied on
January 1,
1869 by commands of Colonel Hermes Ernesto da Fonseca, father of the future Marshal
Hermes da Fonseca. On the fifth day, Caxias entered in the city with the rest of the army and 13 days later left his command.
The son-in-law of the emperor
Dom Pedro II,
Luís Filipe Gastão de Orléans, Count d'Eu, was nominated to direct the final phase of the military operations in Paraguay. He sought not just a total rout of Paraguay, but also the strengthening of the Brazilian Empire. In August 1869, the Triple Alliance installed a provisional government in
Asunción headed by Paraguayan
Cirilo Antonio Rivarola.
Solano López organized the resistance in the mountain range northeast of
Asunción. At the head of 21,000 men, Count d'Eu led the campaign against the Paraguayan resistance, the Campaign of the Mountain Range, which lasted over a year. The most important battles were the battles of
Piribebuy and of
Acosta Ñu, in which more than 5,000 Paraguayans died.
Two detachments were sent in pursuit of Solano López, who was accompanied by 200 men in the forests in the north. On
March 1,
1870, the troops of General
José Antônio Correia da Câmara surprised the last Paraguayan camp in
Cerro Corá, where Solano López was fatally injured by a spear as he tried to swim away down the
Aquidabanigui stream. His last words were: "''Muero por mi patria''" (I die for my homeland). This marks the end of the war of the Triple Alliance.
Of the around 123,000 Brazilians that fought in the War of the Triple Alliance, the best estimates say that around 50,000 died.
The high rates of mortality, however, were not the result of the armed conflict in itself. Bad food and very bad hygiene caused most of the deaths. Among the Brazilians, two-thirds of the killed died in hospitals and during the march, before facing the enemy. In the beginning of the conflict, most of the Brazilian soldiers came from the north and northeast regions of the country; the changes from a hot to cold climate and the amount of food available to them were abrupt. Drinking the river water was sometimes fatal to entire battalions of Brazilians.
Cholera was, perhaps, the main cause of death during the war.
A standstill began, and the Brazilian army, which was in complete control of the Paraguayan territory, remained in the country for six years after the final defeat of Paraguay in 1870, only leaving in 1876 in order to ensure the continued existence of Paraguay. During this time, the possibility of an armed conflict with Argentina for control over Paraguay became increasingly real, as Argentina wanted to seize the Chaco region, but was barred by the Brazilian Army.
No single overall peace treaty was signed. The post-war border between Paraguay and Argentina was resolved through long negotiations, finalized in a treaty that defined the frontier between the two countries signed on February 3, 1876 and which granted Argentina roughly a third of the area it had intended to incorporate originally. The only region about which no consensus was reached — the area between the
Río Verde and the main branch of
Río Pilcomayo — was arbitrated by
U.S. President
Rutherford B. Hayes, who declared it Paraguayan. (The Paraguayan
department Presidente Hayes was named after Hayes due to his arbitration decision.) Brazil signed a separate peace treaty with Paraguay on
January 9,
1872, obtaining freedom of navigation on the
Río Paraguay. Brazil received the borders it had claimed before the war. The treaty also stipulated a war debt to the imperial government of Brazil that was eventually pardoned in 1943 by
Getúlio Vargas in reply to a similar Argentine initiative.
Brazil paid a high price for victory. The war was financed by the
Bank of London, and by
Baring Brothers and
N M Rothschild & Sons. During the five years of war, Brazilian expenditure reached twice its receipts, causing a financial crisis.
In total, Argentina and Brazil annexed about 140,000 km² (55,000 square miles) of Paraguayan territory: Argentina took much of the
Misiones region and part of the
Chaco between the
Bermejo and
Pilcomayo rivers; Brazil enlarged its
Mato Grosso province by claiming territories that had been disputed with Paraguay before the war. Both demanded a large
indemnity (which was never paid) and occupied Paraguay until 1876. Meanwhile, the
Colorados had gained political control of
Uruguay, which they retained until 1958.
Slavery was undermined in Brazil as slaves were freed to serve in the war.
[10] The
Brazilian army became a new and expressive force in national life. It transformed itself into a strong institution that, with the war, gained tradition and internal cohesion and would take a significant role in the later development of the history of the country.
The war took its biggest toll on the Brazilian emperor. The economic depression and the fortification of the army would later play a big role in the deposition of the emperor
Dom Pedro II and the republican proclamation in 1889. General
Deodoro da Fonseca would become the first Brazilian president.
Fall of Empire
Main articles: History of Brazil (1889-1930)
Modern Brazil
Contestado War
Main articles: Contestado War
The 'Contestado War' (
Portuguese: ''Guerra do Contestado''), broadly speaking, was a land war between rebel civilians and the
Brazilian state's federal police and military forces. It was fought in a region rich in wood and
yerba mate that was contested by the States of
Paraná,
Santa Catarina and even
Argentina, from October
1912 to August
1916. The war had its casus belli in the social conflicts in the region, the result of local disobediences, particularly regarding the regularization of
land ownership on the part of the
caboclos. The conflict was permeated by religious fanaticism expressed by the messianism and faith of the rebellious cablocos that they were engaged in a
religious war; at the same time, it reflected the dissatisfaction of the population with its material situation.
World War I
Main articles: World War I
World War II
Main articles: World War II
During the
Second World War, the
Brazilian Expeditionary Force, with about 25,300 soldiers, fought in the Allied campaigns in Italy. This participation with the Allies was a contradiction to the quasi-Fascist policies established by
Getulio Vargas's
Estado Novo campaign. However, with the increasing trade with and
diplomatic efforts by the
United States and
United Kingdom, in
1941 Brazil permitted the US to set up air bases in the states of
Bahia,
Pernambuco and
Rio Grande do Norte, where the city of
Natal received part of the U.S. Navy's
VP-52 patrol squadron. Also, the U.S. Task Force 3 established itself in Brazil, including a squad equipped to attack submarines and merchant vessels which tried to exchange goods with
Japan. Besides being technically neutral, the increasing cooperation with the Allies led the Brazilian government to announce, on
28 January 1942 the decision to sever diplomatic relations with
Germany,
Japan and Italy. In July
1942, around thirteen Brazilian merchant vessels were sunk by German
U-Boats. About one hundred people died as a result of these attacks, most being crew members. At the time, Vargas decided not to take further measures against the Axis in an attempt to avoid an escalation of the conflict involving Brazil. However, in August
1942, one single German submarine, the
U-507, sank five Brazilian vessels in two days, causing more than six hundred deaths:
:
★ On
August 15, the ''Baependy,'' travelling from
Salvador to
Recife was
torpedoed at 19:12. Its 215 passengers and 55 crew members were lost.
:
★ At 21:03, the U-507 torpedoed the ''Araraquara,'' also going from Salvador towards the north of the country. Of the 142 people on board, 131 died.
:
★ Seven hours after the second attack, the U-507 attacked the ''Aníbal Benévolo.'' All 83 passengers died; of a crew of 71, only four survived.
:
★ On
August 17, close to the city of
Vitória, the ''Itagiba'' was hit at 10:45, and had a death toll of 36.
:
★ Another Brazilian ship, the ''Arará '', travelling from
Salvador to
Santos, stopped to help the crippled ''Itagiba'', but end up being the fifth Brazilian victim of the German ship, with a death toll of 20.
The Brazilian population was restless. In the capital
Rio de Janeiro, the people started to retaliate against German businesses, such as restaurants. The passive position of the
Getúlio Vargas government was not enough to calm
public opinion. Ultimately, the government found itself with no other choice but to
declare war on the Axis on
August 22,
1942.
The Brazilian 1st Division of the FEB was under the command of
15th Army Group of Field Marshal
Harold Alexander (later succeeded by General
Mark Clark), via the
U.S. Fifth Army of Lieutenant General Mark Clark (later succeeded by Lieutenant General
Lucian Truscott) and the
U.S. IV Corps of Major General
Willis D. Crittenberger. The overall organisation of the Allied and German arnies in Italy at the time can be found on the
Gothic Line order of battle entry.
The Brazilian Air Force component was under the command of XXII Tactical Air Command, which was itself under the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force.
The FEB headquarters functioned as an administrative headquarters and link to the Brazilian
high command and War Minister General
Eurico Gaspar Dutra in Rio de Janeiro.
General
Mascarenhas de Moraes (later Marshal) was the commander of the FEB with General Zenóbio da Costa as commander of the division's three infantry regiments and General Cordeiro de Farias as commander of the divisional artillery.
The FEB was organized as a standard American
infantry division, complete in all aspects, down to its
logistical tail, including
postal and
banking services. It comprised the 1st, 6th and 11th Infantry
Regiments of the Brazilian Army. Each regiment had three
battalions, each composed of four
companies.
Soon after Brazil declared war, it began the
mobilization to create an expeditionary force to fight in
Europe. This was a giant US-sponsored effort to convert an obsolete
army into a modern fighting force. It took two years to properly
train the 25,300 troops to join the Allied war effort.
In early July
1944, the first five thousand FEB soldiers left Brazil to Europe aboard the USNS ''General Mann'', and disembarked in
Naples, where they waited for the US Task Force 45, which they later joined. On late July, two more
transports with Brazilian troops reached Italy, with two more following in November and February
1945.
The first weeks of the Brazilians in Italy were dedicated to acquiring and training with the new American
uniforms, since the Brazilian ones would not suit the Italian
climate. The troops moved to
Tarquinia, 350 km north of
Naples, where Clark's army was based. The FEB was in November 1944 integrated into General Crittenberger's U.S. IV Corps. The first missions of the Brazilians involved
reconnaissance operations.
The Brazilian troops helped to fill the gap left by several divisions of the Fifth Army and
French Expeditionary Corps that left Italy for
Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern
France. On
November 16, the FEB
occupied Massarosa. Two days later it also occupied
Camaiore and other small towns on the way north.
By then the FEB had already conquered Monte Prano, controlled the
Serchio valley and the region of
Castelnuovo, without any major casualties. The Brazilian soldiers, after that, were directed to the base of the
Apennines, where they would spend the next months, facing the harsh winter and the resistance of the
Gothic Line.
It was in that region that the Brazilian soldiers, together with men of many other
nationalities, made one of their main contributions to the war: the
Battle of Monte Castello. The combined forces of the FEB and the American
10th Mountain Division were assigned the task of clearing Monte Belvedere of Germans and
minefields. The Brazilians suffered from
ambushes,
machine gun nests, and heavy barrages of
mortar fire.
On late February, while the battle for Monte Castello was still taking place, elements of the FEB conquered the city of
Castelnuovo Rangone and, on
March 5,
Montese. The German mass
retreat had started. In just a few days,
Parma and
Bologna were taken. After that, the main concern of the Allied forces in Italy was pursuing the enemy. After capturing a large number of Germans on
Collecchio, the Brazilian forces were preparing to face fierce resistance at the
Taro region from what was left of the retreating German army. The German troops were surrounded near Fornovo and forced to
surrender. More than sixteen thousand men, including the entire
148th Infantry Division, elements of the
90th Light Infantry Division (Germany), several Italian units and more than a thousand vehicles, surrendered to the Brazilian Forces on
April 28.
On
May 2, the Brazilians reached
Turin and met
French troops at the
border. Meanwhile, on the
Alps, the FEB was on the heels of German forces still on the run. On that very day, the news that
Hitler was dead put an end to the fighting in Italy, and all German troops surrendered to the Allies in the following hours.
Formed on
18 December 1943, the 1ºGAVCA (1st Fighter Group) was composed of volunteer Brazilian Air Force (Portuguese: Força Aérea Brasileira, or FAB) pilots. Its Commanding Officer was Ten.-Cel.-Av. (Lt. Col. Pilot) Nero Moura. The Group had 350 men, including 43 pilots, and was sent to Panama for combat training, since the pilots already had flying experience — one of its pilots, 2º Ten.-Av. (2nd Lt.) Alberto M. Torres, was the pilot of the
PBY-5A Catalina that had sunk
U-199, a German U-Boat operating off the coast of Brazil.
The 1ºGAVCA, with a strength of 350 (43 pilots), was sent to Panama for combat training and equipped with the
Curtiss P-40. There 2º Ten.-Av. Dante Isidoro Gastaldoni was killed in a training accident. On
May 11, 1944, the Group was declared operational and became active in the air defense of the Panama Canal Zone. The Group was then sent to the U.S. on
June 22 to convert to the
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt.
The Group departed to Italy on
19 September 1944, arriving at Livorno on 6 October. There it became part of the 350th Fighter Group
USAAF, an unit which had been formed on
1 October 1942 in Britain. Several of its first pilots had served previously with the
Royal Air Force or the
Royal Canadian Air Force. After the Allied landings in Northern Africa (
Operation Torch), the 350th FG was transferred to that region and followed the Allied invasion of Italy. Until the arrival of the 1ºGAVCA, the 350th FG was made up of three squadrons: 345th Fighter Squadron ("Devil Hawk Squadron"), 346th FS ("Checker Board Squadron") and 347th FS ("Screaming Red Ass Squadron"). When the 1ºGAVCA — or, rather, the 1st Brazilian Fighter Squadron, 1st BFS — was incorporated to the 350th FG, that unit was subordinated to the 62nd Fighter Wing, XXII Tactical Air Command, 12th Air Force USAAF. The call-signs for each of the Groups component squadrons were: 345th FS, "Lifetime"; 346th FS, "Minefield"; 347th FS, "Midwood"; and 1st BFS, "Jambock"
World War II 1st group symbol
The badge of 1ºGAVCA was designed while the Squadron was travelling to Italy aboard the transport ship UST Colombie by a group of its pilots, Ten.-Av. Rui Moreira Lima, Ten.-Av. José Rebelo Meira de Vasconcelos, Ten.-Av. Lima Mendes and Cap.-Av. Fortunato C. de Oliveira. Drawn by the latter, it can be described as follows, according to its author:
: The green-yellow surrounding represents Brazil;
: The red field behind the fighting
ostrich represents the war skies;
: The bottom field — white clouds — represents the ground to a pilot;
: The blue shield charged with the Southern Cross is the common symbol for the Brazilian Armed Forces;
: The ostrich represents the Brazilian fighter pilot, whose face is inspired by that of Ten.-Av. Lima Mendes;
: The white cap was part of the FAB uniform at the time and distinguished the Brazilian pilots from the other Allied pilots;
: The gun being held by the ostrich represents the firepower of the P-47, with its eight .50in machine-guns;
: The motto "Senta a Pua!" is the war cry of 1ºGAVCA;
: The white streak, at the right, ending on a
flak burst, was added later, and represents the danger brought by the German anti-aircraft artillery to the pilots (this device appeared only on replacement aircraft).
The use of an ostrich to represent the Brazilian fighter pilots comes from the fact that, during the early Forties, several Brazilian aircrews went to the USA to fly back to Brazil the aircraft then being bought in large numbers by the Brazilian authorities, not only training but also combat aircraft. During their stay in that country, they got acquainted to American food:
baked beans,
powdered eggs and
powdered milk, among other items. The then Cel.-Av. Geraldo Guia de Aquino dubbed the pilots "Ostriches" and the nickname caught.
The war cry "Senta a Pua!" was a suggestion from Ten.-Av. Rui who had heard it several times from Cap.-Av. Firmino Alves de Araujo while serving at Salvador Air Base; it was used by the latter on his subordinates, inviting them to do their tasks at once and quickly. It became the Brazilian equivalent of the British "Tally-Ho" and the French "À la Chasse!". It roughly translates to something like "Drill it Deep".
The Brazilian pilots initially flew from
31 October 1944 as individual elements of flights of the 350th FG US squadrons, at first in affiliation flights and progressively taking part in more dangerous missions. Less than two weeks later, on
11 November, the Group started its own operations, flying from its base at Tarquinia, using its call-sign Jambock.
The Group was divided into four flights, Vermelha (Red), Amarela (Yellow), Azul (Blue) and Verde (Green). Each flight had a complement of roughly 12 pilots, these having been flying together since their training spell in Panama. A pilot customarily wore an echarpe in the colours of his flight. The CO of the Group and some officers were not attached to any specific flight.
Initially the P-47s were finished in standard US fighter colours, olive-drab (top surfaces) and neutral grey (undersurfaces), except the aircraft of the commanding officer, which was finished in natural metal and olive-drab anti-glare panels. Contrary to common belief, the first aircraft flown by the group's operations officer (coded "2") was also painted in the OD/NG color-scheme, being lost in action when Lt. Danilo Moura was shot down, being replaced by an overall natural metal finish (NMF) aircraft, which was later also shot down when flown by Lt. Luis Lopes Dornelles and replaced by a third NMF machine. The badge of the Group was painted just after the engine cowling, and the aircraft code (flight letter-aircraft number) was in white letters over the cowling. National insignia was in four positions, this being the US star-and-bar, with the white star replaced by the Brazilian star. Later, replacement aircraft were in natural metal, with olive-drab anti-glare panels, the codes being in black.
The Brazilian pilots had been trained in the US for fighter operations — but the Luftwaffe had by then nearly no airplanes in Italy. Thus the 1ºGAVCA started its fighting career as a fighter-bomber unit, its missions being armed
reconnaissance and
interdiction, in support of the US 5th Army, to which the Brazilian Expeditionary Force was attached.
On
16 April 1945, the
U.S. Fifth Army started its offensive along the
Po Valley. On this date, the Group was reduced to 25 pilots, some having been killed and others, having been shot down, becoming POWs. Also, some had been relieved from operations on medical grounds due to
combat fatigue. The Yellow flight was thus disbanded, its remaining pilots being distributed among the other flights. Each pilot flew on average two missions a day.
On 19 April, the German frontline was broken, this having been first signalled to Command HQ by the Group. The Allied forces had to set up
bridgehead across the River Pó, before the German forces crossed it. This was to be done on the 23 April, after a softening up of the German defences by the Air Force on the previous day.
On 22 April, 1945, the day dawned cold, overcast and foggy. The three flights took off at five minute intervals starting at 8:30 AM, to attack targets in the San Benedetto region, destroying bridges, barges and motorized vehicles. At 10:00 AM, a flight took off for an armed reconnaissance mission south of
Mantua — more than 80 trucks and vehicles were destroyed. Other aircraft attacked fortified German positions, tanks and barges. By the end of the day, the Group had flown 44 individual missions, having destroyed more than a hundred vehicles as well as barges, etc. Two P-47s were damaged and a third was shot down, its pilot, 2º Ten.-Av. Armando de S. Coelho, being taken prisoner. This was the day when more sorties than ever were made by the Group, and is commemorated each year as the Brazilian Fighter Arm Day.
The 1ºGAVCA flew a total of 445 missions, 2,550 individual sorties and 5,465 combat flight hours, from
11 November 1944 to
4 May 1945. The XXII Tactical Air Command acknowledged the efficiency of the Group by noting that, between 6 to 29 April 1945, it flew only 5% of the total of missions carried out by all squadrons under its control, but destroyed:
★ 85% of the ammunition depots,
★ 36% of the fuel depots,
★ 28% of the bridges (19% damaged),
★ 15% of motor vehicles (13% damaged) and
★ 10% of horse-drawn vehicles (10% damaged).
The actions of the 1ºGAVCA during the Italian Campaign were even more exalted on
22 April 1986. On that day the Group received, from the Ambassador of the USA to Brazil, together with the Secretary for the USAF, the
Presidential Unit Citation (Air Force), given by the US Government. The Brazilian Air Force is proud of the fact that, apart other few USAF units, only the 1ºGAVCA and two Royal Australian Air Force units — Nos. 2 and 13 Squadrons — have received this citation.
During eight months of the
campaign, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force managed to take 20,573 Axis
prisoners (two generals, 892 officers and 19,679 other ranks) and had 443 of its men
killed in action.
The soldiers buried in the FEB
cemetery in
Pistoia were later removed to a
mausoleum built in
Rio de Janeiro. The
mausoleum was idealised by
Mascarenhas de Moraes (then a Marshal). It was inaugurated on
July 24,
1960 and covers an area of 6,850 square meters.
Operation Condor
Main articles: Operation Condor
Recent developments
Timeline
See also
External links
★
Military Orders and Medals from Brazil ('Portuguese')
References
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