Influence of socialist thought on tenentismo movement evolution in Brazil

Abstract

Brazil, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, was a country ruled by a small elite of coffee oligarchs. Even during the Empire’s existence, liberals and army officers influenced by positivism continued to fight alongside them. On their models in the 1920s, tenentismo movement was born, questioning the existing state of affairs. Their initial program, built upon freedom and progress, evolved in a socialist direction. The Labor movement, however, developed in the country as a foreign element due to immigrants who built its first structures. The change in the character of the tenentes was influenced by their experience with the uprisings, which prompted them to question the whole political system of the country. Many socialists thought features were adapted to the demands of the movement, particularly during the 1930s. Evolution, which changed its face, became one of the reasons for its collapse due to the extreme radicalization of some tenentes views. The article is based on a historical analysis of source texts and works about the tenentismo movement. Analysis of the influence of socialist thought on tenentismo movement evolution gives an opportunity to precisely examine the reasons for its fall and make an ideological identification of the movement during its last years.