The successful empire
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talkpoliticsWhile we're on civilisations and empires, what about the story of the Brazilian Empire? Because yes, there was an empire in Latin America that wasn't Spanish or Portuguese. The story of Brazil's success is quite remarkable by itself, so do bear with me.
First of all, we could say Brazil appeared by incident. Actually two incidents. In 1494 the Spanish-Portuguese Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world in such a way that a large portion of South America fell into the Portuguese sphere of influence. Then in 1500 Cabral's fleet reached the new shores for the first time, and this kick-started the history of Brazil.
Initially the new land didn't cause a lot of interest in Portugal. It was a land inhabited by tribes who were pretty much living in the Stone Age, mostly relying on hunting and primitive agriculture. There was nothing of value to steal from them, no precious metals, no goods of interest. That's why for a long time the Portuguese didn't hurry so much to dive into the new world. There were mostly some privateadventurers entrepreneurs who'd make inroads into those mysterious lands, and enjoy their strange pleasures. (Unfortunately, no Amazon princesses to be found anywhere around).
The situation quickly changed in the mid 16th century. At first, the French appeared near those shores, and that suddenly caused a red light to go off in Lisbon. Secondly, the Portuguese got some brains and realised that these territories were perfect for growing sugarcane, and sugar was a thing that was very sought after on the world markets. You just can't drink your tea without sugar... I mean you could, but it's not nice. And so finally, Portugal had at least one reason to care about its new colony.
In 1549 the first Brazilian governor founded the first capital, Bahia. After a messy struggle with France, the French were pushed away, and their old fort in the south was turned into Rio de Janeiro. The sugarcane plantations started popping up everywhere. Sugar made doing biz in Brazil dandy, and the industry became the mule for of the new economy. But sugar also made Brazil a country of slaves. There was a severe shortage of workforce, and the Europeans didn't shy away from importing black slaves from the Guinean coast.
Brazil's prosperity was put in jeopardy in the 1630s when the Dutch appeared on the northern shores (where most of the sugar was being produced by the way). At some point Brazil was almost considered a lost cause, and was being talked about in the past tense around the port-wine dance parties around Lisbon. The gloomy tone was a norm in those conversations. But then the Brazilians took the destiny of their country in their own hands. The colonists started a massive guerrilla war, many attacks, ambushes, rebellions and all that... and eventually the Dutch West Indian Company found that waging that war was too expensive for them - actually the expenses exceeded the profits by 2 times and more. So in 1654 the Dutch abandoned Brazil. And that's the first significant moment in Brazilian history: without much help from the metropoly, the Brazilians defended their country against the pressure of the then world hegemon, in fact two hegemons at it later turns out. Because Portugal was a huge empire at the time, although it was starting to gradually lose its colonies in Asia. And the Dutch? Buncha sneaky bastards.
Despite all these troubles, Brazil wasn't wasting its time and it continued to advance on all fronts. New lands were being used for sugar production (chopping off much of the rainforest), new sugar processing plants popped up. Meanwhile the demand for labour force was very severe, so in the 17th and 18th century the "bandeirantes" appeared. Now those were some badass dudes whose role was essentially hunting for slaves among the indigenous population, and pushing the boundaries further inland. They made expeditions into the Amazon and eventually reached the Andes. It was thanks to the bandeirantes that Brazil sprawled across half the continent, acquiring its current borders (confirmed with a Spanish-Portuguese treaty in 1777). The bandeirantes performed a mass genocide on the indigenous peoples, turning most of the survivors into slaves, driving them off their lands to build sugar plantations, and eventually "cleansing" most of the country of them. Unlike the similar events in North America, still little is known and talked about on this subject, but it's a fact - much like the US, Brazil, too, is built upon the bones of the indigenous peoples.
The 18th c. was crucial for Brazil. In the late 17th c. huge amounts of gold were discovered in the interior, and a bit later - diamonds too. Brazil became one of the biggest exporters of gold in the world (more than a thousand tons for the first century of that industry), and also of diamonds (more than 2 million carats). Gold and diamonds pushed sugar away from the throne of the driving engine of the economy. The country went through a gold fever that by far surpassed and outlasted that in Calofirnia and Alaska. The gold & diamond epoch lasted until the 1780s when a rapid drop happened in the exports.
Of course, Portugal was the main beneficiary of this gold & diamond trade. The Portuguese wasted that wealth for building posh palaces with 50 bedrooms and buying exotic goods like silk gowns and shiny trinkets. As for Brazil, its society was drastically changed due to that trade. A big influx of European immigrants and an even bigger import of African slaves resulted in a demographic explosion. In 1700 Brazil had about 300 thousand inhabitants; in 1820 this reached 4 million and beat Mother Portugal herself. Most of that population was initially concentrated in the central regions, especially along the coast. Then a mass migration followed towards the interior, where new cities were founded in Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso. The need for supplying food for the growing population also triggered the explosive development of stock breeding, and it became one of the pillars of the economy. In the meantime the economic and political centre shifted to the south, where the gold and diamonds were more easily accessible. The culmination of this process was in 1763 when the capital was moved from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro.
So the colonial epoch was the birth time of Brazil. The scenario of the further development of the country was set up at that time, and it acquired its multi-racial character. Portugal was compelled to create and maintain Brazil in order to keep up with the fierce competition on the world markets, but by the end of the 16th century the newborn country found itself in the periphery of the global economy. In order to get out of that situation, it took them a couple more centuries, and enormous efforts. But they already had the potential to do it.
In comes Napoleon and his fancy wars. In 1807 the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil, as the metropoly was occupied by the pesky baguette-eaters and became a scene of military actions for several years, which devastated Portugal. Now being hosted in Rio, the royals were forced to make some concessions both to their Brazilian hosts and the English elites who were increasingly calling the shots at the time. They scratched off the previous restrictions on the industry and unleashed the trade, and Brazil opened its gates to international (mostly British) merchants. The logical consequence was soon to follow: in 1815 Brazil ceased being a colony, and officially became a kingdom.
The relations between Portugal and Brazil took a bad turn, mostly to Portugal's detriment. The constant flow of money and goods from the colony was interrupted, and the metropoly lost its biggest jewel in the crown, probably without even realising how important it was. Now devastated by the Napoleonic wars, Portugal was never to recover as an empire. To put salt to wound, Portugal had to send funds and troops to serve the needs of the royal family, who were feeling quite at home in Rio, and apparently had no intention to return to Lisbon any time soon. This caused an outrage in Portugal, and some sentiments that the metropoly should try to recover its colony - by force if necessary. I call wishful thinking. Because things had changed too much already.
In 1820 a liberal revolution took place in Portugal, and the flames soon jumped across the Big Water. Under the pressure of the rebels, king Juan VI was forced to return to Portugal, handing the government of Brazil to his eldest son prince Pedro. When leaving, he gave him his famous advice: Sonny, you better be the man who'll lead the independence movement in Brazil! Or we're history.
The Brazilian elite was hoping that the Portuguese liberals would establish mutually equal relations between the two countries. But in their stupidity (or desperation?) the Portuguese took a sharp turn towards re-colonisation, and they ordered Pedro to liquidate the Brazilian state. The response was a wave of indignation both among ordinary people and in the Brazilian elite, who channeled it through the local Masonic structures. In order to preserve the rule of his dynasty (Bragança), Pedro refused to return to Portugal and he followed his dad's advice and headed the independence movement.
In 1822 Pedro pronounced his famous speech "Independence or Death, buddies!", and Brazil was declared a constitutional monarchy, and the prince became its first Emperor. The few Portuguese troops who were left in the north didn't dare to move their asses and do anything against their own prince, and they lay down the weapons without shooting even a fart. It was the perfect bloodless liberation, period. Being true to their Divide & Rule principle, Britain was in favour of Brazilian independence, and it instantly recognised the new country, so many other big powers followed suit because they had other troubles on their hands and they were more like "Meh".
The Brazilian example of a peaceful secession from the metropoly became something like a unique exception for Latin America. The legitimate monarch Pedro Bragança did the right things at the right time for a change, and thus avoided a long and bloody independence war, something the neighbouring countries could not boast of. So, unlike the former Spanish colonies, Brazil avoided the death of thousands of people, the potentially damaging inter-racial and social struggles, the slave rebellions, and the destruction of its economy for many years ahead. And last but not least, the emergence of series of military dictators. It went on a different road instead, and that's a refreshing thought.
The Brazilian Empire, born without too much bloodshed (but still let's not forget the ethnic cleansing still going on in the interior), still couldn't run away from the major political conflicts of the time. Right from the beginning the main quarrel was how exactly to distribute power between the Emperor and parliament (which was being elected through a property census - only the elites could participate). Pedro's stupid attempts to establish an absolute monarchy met a staunch resistance and lead to his abdication in 1831. His little son Pedro II then ruled until 1889, initially through regents and then by himself. Apparently he had learned the lesson well. He closely followed the constitutional principles, cooperating with the parliament and preserving the political freedoms (even the republicans could freely yell on the squares their slogans for the abolition of monarchy). In result, Brazil effectively guaranteed the political rights of its people a bit better than the neighbouring countries which were already republics, but were in a much worse shape, suffering from the chronic problems of any young "democracy". They were plagued by cosntant civil wars and dictatorships, while Brazil remained relatively stable, if a bit boring.
The main threat for Brazil was regional separatism. In the mid 19th century, a number of separatist rebellions happened in many provinces... and failed. The majority of people were just not bothered enough to go to such pains. Now sure, the huge territory and the loose connections between the regions could've easily facilitated a quick disintegration into many countries, like it happened to the Spanish colonies in the Americas (I mean just look at the map!) But the political authority of the legitimate monachy remained an important factor which held the diverse provinces together. We could argue that thanks to the monarchy, Brazil remained a united country and avoided splitting up. The Brazilians built an efficient federative system, with working links between the central government and the strongly autonomous regions, with the Emperor as a uniting figure of acommunity moderator neutral arbiter who stood beyond and above everyday politics, and yet intervened in the most crucial moments when unity was required.
Economically, Brazil underwent a big transformation - from a country of sugar it turned into the country of coffee (after the 1840s, coffee occupied 1/2 of the Brazilian export). As in colonial times, Brazil was an important supplier of raw materials for the global markets - but this time not sugar and gold, but coffee, meat, timber and rubber. And the industrial revolution needed those badly. As Brazil became the dominant coffee producer in the world (60% of the world's production), the shifting of the economic focus to the south-west was complete, and Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo became the economic juggernauts of the country. Now the political and social elite was not the sugar plantation owners, but the coffee magnates. And this changed the political landscape, respectively. Those were not colonial aristocrats, but industrious, resourceful, self-made entrepreneurs, who transformed the business and political culture.
The change in the economic structure coincided with the decline of slavery. At some point, global slave trade had reached between 30-60 thousand slaves per year (mostly due to Brazil and Britain), but in 1850 Brazil had to stop the import of slaves. The slave labour force had become increasingly costly, and the slave institution was eventually abolished - not so much due to the political pressure against it, as much as for economic reasons. The Brazilian government responded with a new policy (from 1861) which encouraged European immigrants to settle in the country - the German, new Portuguese, Italian and Spanish diaspora dates back to those times. The immigrants substituted the slaves on the coffee plantations, and their labour was cheaper and more productive at this point. Eventually, slavery was officially abolished in 1888, having become both economically inefficient and politically unacceptable. But I'd argue the economic factor was the primary one for its demise: by the time of its abolition, the number of slaves as a share of the total population had dropped from 45% to 5%.
Brazil's main trade and financial partner remained to be Britain, which was buying a large portion of the exports, and provided investments and credits. Britain's influence to a great extent determined Brazil's foreign policies, and kept the Emperor's governments away from dangerous political adventures on the international scene. You'd say that a huge country like that would've had tempting thoughts of expansion on the South American continent? Not so fast. In fact, all of Brazil's cross-border military operations could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Even the Paraguayan War (1864-1879), where a staggering 80% of Paraguay's population perished, was considered by Brazil to be a defensive war, as the Paraguayan dictator Lopez had first invaded the border regions of Brazil. Paraguay suffered a national catastrophe, while Brazil gained even more geopolitical stature in the region.
Although Brazil was still mostly an exporter of raw materials, its economy continued to develop. That's a major achievement, especially compared to the other Latin American countries. For instance Mexico's GDP kept shrinking for most of the 19th century (for a myriad of reasons). And this economic prosperity lead to another demographic growth: from 4 million in 1822 (the foundation of the Empire) to 14 million in 1889 (its abolition). That's roughly the population of Spain at the time, and that means a lot. Around that period Brazil surpassed Mexico in population, and it has never looked back ever since. Now it's by far the most populous country in Latin America.
The population growth brought some radical changes in the inter-racial relations. At the time of Independence, the whites (brancos) were about 20%, the blacks (pretos) and mixed races (pardos) were 70%. The imperial governments created favourable conditions for the European immigrants, and by the 1870s their share increased to 38%. By the end of the 19th century the brancos were 44%, and the pardos+pretos were 47%. The peak of this process was reached in the first half of the 20th c.; since then there's been a reversed process, plus a process of more mixing. Brazil is now one of the most racially diverse societies in the world, and the race relations there are a whole separate story.
And finally, the end of the Brazilian Empire is ironically related to the fact that it was to a large extent very successful in so many respects. It just served its purpose to the full, and stepped down when the moment was ripe. The education policy lead to the emergence of a class of "free" professions - those were people for whom their further advancement was connected to republicanism. The military, after the success in the Paraguayan War, became an active player in politics, whose influence the monarchy counterbalanced through its National Guard, and the various military formations used by the government to consolidate its influence in the border regions and the Amazon. The union of the angry intellectuals and disenfranchised military finally managed to perform a successful coup in 1889, and the Emperor and his family were expelled from Brazil, the country being proclaimed a Republic. Although this coup had an elite character and took place on the tops while the people didn't give a damn, the monarch didn't have the political resource to resist, and Pedro II took another wise decision like his father, choosing to relinquish his power, to avoid a bloody civil war. Which is probably why he kept his head on his shoulders.
So what's the legacy left behind by the Brazilian Empire? First and foremost, the preservation of national unity. Thanks to the authority of the monarch, Brazil dealt with the separatist movements that had swept across the rest of the continent. It didn't split apart, and it remained a big and strong country. The power of the Emperor, as symbolic as it was, and as much as it required constant political manoeuvring, was used to create things, not to divide and destroy: its most important legacy is a functional federative system that remains to this day. The second important political legacy of the Empire is this culture of always looking for the peaceful political solutions (there are always exceptions, of course). This allowed Brazil to go through many decades of internal peace and progress in a row (no surprise the motto on the Brazilian national flag is "Order & Progress"). Unlike most other countries on the continent, Brazil resisted the temptation to seek for solutions to its political and social conflicts through bloody civil wars, or wars with their neighbours.
The monarchy guaranteed a sustainable economic growth (the consequences of which are beginning to be seen today), it took the decisive step to abolish slavery, and it attracted a huge influx of a broad array of immigrants, which has turned Brazil into the diverse society it is today - with its many problems, granted, but also with examples that many countries in Brazil's position could learn from. And finally, the Brazilian monarchy built a military and a bureauracy that's largely free of classist influences, i.e. it's devoid of the dominant role of the local neo-feudals and chieftains that exists in many of the neighbouring countries. Somehow, without too much fanfares and grandeur posturing, the Empire navigated Brazil through the most turbulent periods in the history of Latin America. And no doubt, it was the enormous experience from that transition that is now bearing fruit, and is turning Brazil into the most successful country south of Rio Grande.
First of all, we could say Brazil appeared by incident. Actually two incidents. In 1494 the Spanish-Portuguese Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world in such a way that a large portion of South America fell into the Portuguese sphere of influence. Then in 1500 Cabral's fleet reached the new shores for the first time, and this kick-started the history of Brazil.
Initially the new land didn't cause a lot of interest in Portugal. It was a land inhabited by tribes who were pretty much living in the Stone Age, mostly relying on hunting and primitive agriculture. There was nothing of value to steal from them, no precious metals, no goods of interest. That's why for a long time the Portuguese didn't hurry so much to dive into the new world. There were mostly some private
The situation quickly changed in the mid 16th century. At first, the French appeared near those shores, and that suddenly caused a red light to go off in Lisbon. Secondly, the Portuguese got some brains and realised that these territories were perfect for growing sugarcane, and sugar was a thing that was very sought after on the world markets. You just can't drink your tea without sugar... I mean you could, but it's not nice. And so finally, Portugal had at least one reason to care about its new colony.
In 1549 the first Brazilian governor founded the first capital, Bahia. After a messy struggle with France, the French were pushed away, and their old fort in the south was turned into Rio de Janeiro. The sugarcane plantations started popping up everywhere. Sugar made doing biz in Brazil dandy, and the industry became the mule for of the new economy. But sugar also made Brazil a country of slaves. There was a severe shortage of workforce, and the Europeans didn't shy away from importing black slaves from the Guinean coast.
Brazil's prosperity was put in jeopardy in the 1630s when the Dutch appeared on the northern shores (where most of the sugar was being produced by the way). At some point Brazil was almost considered a lost cause, and was being talked about in the past tense around the port-wine dance parties around Lisbon. The gloomy tone was a norm in those conversations. But then the Brazilians took the destiny of their country in their own hands. The colonists started a massive guerrilla war, many attacks, ambushes, rebellions and all that... and eventually the Dutch West Indian Company found that waging that war was too expensive for them - actually the expenses exceeded the profits by 2 times and more. So in 1654 the Dutch abandoned Brazil. And that's the first significant moment in Brazilian history: without much help from the metropoly, the Brazilians defended their country against the pressure of the then world hegemon, in fact two hegemons at it later turns out. Because Portugal was a huge empire at the time, although it was starting to gradually lose its colonies in Asia. And the Dutch? Buncha sneaky bastards.
Despite all these troubles, Brazil wasn't wasting its time and it continued to advance on all fronts. New lands were being used for sugar production (chopping off much of the rainforest), new sugar processing plants popped up. Meanwhile the demand for labour force was very severe, so in the 17th and 18th century the "bandeirantes" appeared. Now those were some badass dudes whose role was essentially hunting for slaves among the indigenous population, and pushing the boundaries further inland. They made expeditions into the Amazon and eventually reached the Andes. It was thanks to the bandeirantes that Brazil sprawled across half the continent, acquiring its current borders (confirmed with a Spanish-Portuguese treaty in 1777). The bandeirantes performed a mass genocide on the indigenous peoples, turning most of the survivors into slaves, driving them off their lands to build sugar plantations, and eventually "cleansing" most of the country of them. Unlike the similar events in North America, still little is known and talked about on this subject, but it's a fact - much like the US, Brazil, too, is built upon the bones of the indigenous peoples.
The 18th c. was crucial for Brazil. In the late 17th c. huge amounts of gold were discovered in the interior, and a bit later - diamonds too. Brazil became one of the biggest exporters of gold in the world (more than a thousand tons for the first century of that industry), and also of diamonds (more than 2 million carats). Gold and diamonds pushed sugar away from the throne of the driving engine of the economy. The country went through a gold fever that by far surpassed and outlasted that in Calofirnia and Alaska. The gold & diamond epoch lasted until the 1780s when a rapid drop happened in the exports.
Of course, Portugal was the main beneficiary of this gold & diamond trade. The Portuguese wasted that wealth for building posh palaces with 50 bedrooms and buying exotic goods like silk gowns and shiny trinkets. As for Brazil, its society was drastically changed due to that trade. A big influx of European immigrants and an even bigger import of African slaves resulted in a demographic explosion. In 1700 Brazil had about 300 thousand inhabitants; in 1820 this reached 4 million and beat Mother Portugal herself. Most of that population was initially concentrated in the central regions, especially along the coast. Then a mass migration followed towards the interior, where new cities were founded in Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso. The need for supplying food for the growing population also triggered the explosive development of stock breeding, and it became one of the pillars of the economy. In the meantime the economic and political centre shifted to the south, where the gold and diamonds were more easily accessible. The culmination of this process was in 1763 when the capital was moved from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro.
So the colonial epoch was the birth time of Brazil. The scenario of the further development of the country was set up at that time, and it acquired its multi-racial character. Portugal was compelled to create and maintain Brazil in order to keep up with the fierce competition on the world markets, but by the end of the 16th century the newborn country found itself in the periphery of the global economy. In order to get out of that situation, it took them a couple more centuries, and enormous efforts. But they already had the potential to do it.
In comes Napoleon and his fancy wars. In 1807 the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil, as the metropoly was occupied by the pesky baguette-eaters and became a scene of military actions for several years, which devastated Portugal. Now being hosted in Rio, the royals were forced to make some concessions both to their Brazilian hosts and the English elites who were increasingly calling the shots at the time. They scratched off the previous restrictions on the industry and unleashed the trade, and Brazil opened its gates to international (mostly British) merchants. The logical consequence was soon to follow: in 1815 Brazil ceased being a colony, and officially became a kingdom.
The relations between Portugal and Brazil took a bad turn, mostly to Portugal's detriment. The constant flow of money and goods from the colony was interrupted, and the metropoly lost its biggest jewel in the crown, probably without even realising how important it was. Now devastated by the Napoleonic wars, Portugal was never to recover as an empire. To put salt to wound, Portugal had to send funds and troops to serve the needs of the royal family, who were feeling quite at home in Rio, and apparently had no intention to return to Lisbon any time soon. This caused an outrage in Portugal, and some sentiments that the metropoly should try to recover its colony - by force if necessary. I call wishful thinking. Because things had changed too much already.
In 1820 a liberal revolution took place in Portugal, and the flames soon jumped across the Big Water. Under the pressure of the rebels, king Juan VI was forced to return to Portugal, handing the government of Brazil to his eldest son prince Pedro. When leaving, he gave him his famous advice: Sonny, you better be the man who'll lead the independence movement in Brazil! Or we're history.
The Brazilian elite was hoping that the Portuguese liberals would establish mutually equal relations between the two countries. But in their stupidity (or desperation?) the Portuguese took a sharp turn towards re-colonisation, and they ordered Pedro to liquidate the Brazilian state. The response was a wave of indignation both among ordinary people and in the Brazilian elite, who channeled it through the local Masonic structures. In order to preserve the rule of his dynasty (Bragança), Pedro refused to return to Portugal and he followed his dad's advice and headed the independence movement.
In 1822 Pedro pronounced his famous speech "Independence or Death, buddies!", and Brazil was declared a constitutional monarchy, and the prince became its first Emperor. The few Portuguese troops who were left in the north didn't dare to move their asses and do anything against their own prince, and they lay down the weapons without shooting even a fart. It was the perfect bloodless liberation, period. Being true to their Divide & Rule principle, Britain was in favour of Brazilian independence, and it instantly recognised the new country, so many other big powers followed suit because they had other troubles on their hands and they were more like "Meh".
The Brazilian example of a peaceful secession from the metropoly became something like a unique exception for Latin America. The legitimate monarch Pedro Bragança did the right things at the right time for a change, and thus avoided a long and bloody independence war, something the neighbouring countries could not boast of. So, unlike the former Spanish colonies, Brazil avoided the death of thousands of people, the potentially damaging inter-racial and social struggles, the slave rebellions, and the destruction of its economy for many years ahead. And last but not least, the emergence of series of military dictators. It went on a different road instead, and that's a refreshing thought.
The Brazilian Empire, born without too much bloodshed (but still let's not forget the ethnic cleansing still going on in the interior), still couldn't run away from the major political conflicts of the time. Right from the beginning the main quarrel was how exactly to distribute power between the Emperor and parliament (which was being elected through a property census - only the elites could participate). Pedro's stupid attempts to establish an absolute monarchy met a staunch resistance and lead to his abdication in 1831. His little son Pedro II then ruled until 1889, initially through regents and then by himself. Apparently he had learned the lesson well. He closely followed the constitutional principles, cooperating with the parliament and preserving the political freedoms (even the republicans could freely yell on the squares their slogans for the abolition of monarchy). In result, Brazil effectively guaranteed the political rights of its people a bit better than the neighbouring countries which were already republics, but were in a much worse shape, suffering from the chronic problems of any young "democracy". They were plagued by cosntant civil wars and dictatorships, while Brazil remained relatively stable, if a bit boring.
The main threat for Brazil was regional separatism. In the mid 19th century, a number of separatist rebellions happened in many provinces... and failed. The majority of people were just not bothered enough to go to such pains. Now sure, the huge territory and the loose connections between the regions could've easily facilitated a quick disintegration into many countries, like it happened to the Spanish colonies in the Americas (I mean just look at the map!) But the political authority of the legitimate monachy remained an important factor which held the diverse provinces together. We could argue that thanks to the monarchy, Brazil remained a united country and avoided splitting up. The Brazilians built an efficient federative system, with working links between the central government and the strongly autonomous regions, with the Emperor as a uniting figure of a
Economically, Brazil underwent a big transformation - from a country of sugar it turned into the country of coffee (after the 1840s, coffee occupied 1/2 of the Brazilian export). As in colonial times, Brazil was an important supplier of raw materials for the global markets - but this time not sugar and gold, but coffee, meat, timber and rubber. And the industrial revolution needed those badly. As Brazil became the dominant coffee producer in the world (60% of the world's production), the shifting of the economic focus to the south-west was complete, and Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo became the economic juggernauts of the country. Now the political and social elite was not the sugar plantation owners, but the coffee magnates. And this changed the political landscape, respectively. Those were not colonial aristocrats, but industrious, resourceful, self-made entrepreneurs, who transformed the business and political culture.
The change in the economic structure coincided with the decline of slavery. At some point, global slave trade had reached between 30-60 thousand slaves per year (mostly due to Brazil and Britain), but in 1850 Brazil had to stop the import of slaves. The slave labour force had become increasingly costly, and the slave institution was eventually abolished - not so much due to the political pressure against it, as much as for economic reasons. The Brazilian government responded with a new policy (from 1861) which encouraged European immigrants to settle in the country - the German, new Portuguese, Italian and Spanish diaspora dates back to those times. The immigrants substituted the slaves on the coffee plantations, and their labour was cheaper and more productive at this point. Eventually, slavery was officially abolished in 1888, having become both economically inefficient and politically unacceptable. But I'd argue the economic factor was the primary one for its demise: by the time of its abolition, the number of slaves as a share of the total population had dropped from 45% to 5%.
Brazil's main trade and financial partner remained to be Britain, which was buying a large portion of the exports, and provided investments and credits. Britain's influence to a great extent determined Brazil's foreign policies, and kept the Emperor's governments away from dangerous political adventures on the international scene. You'd say that a huge country like that would've had tempting thoughts of expansion on the South American continent? Not so fast. In fact, all of Brazil's cross-border military operations could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Even the Paraguayan War (1864-1879), where a staggering 80% of Paraguay's population perished, was considered by Brazil to be a defensive war, as the Paraguayan dictator Lopez had first invaded the border regions of Brazil. Paraguay suffered a national catastrophe, while Brazil gained even more geopolitical stature in the region.
Although Brazil was still mostly an exporter of raw materials, its economy continued to develop. That's a major achievement, especially compared to the other Latin American countries. For instance Mexico's GDP kept shrinking for most of the 19th century (for a myriad of reasons). And this economic prosperity lead to another demographic growth: from 4 million in 1822 (the foundation of the Empire) to 14 million in 1889 (its abolition). That's roughly the population of Spain at the time, and that means a lot. Around that period Brazil surpassed Mexico in population, and it has never looked back ever since. Now it's by far the most populous country in Latin America.
The population growth brought some radical changes in the inter-racial relations. At the time of Independence, the whites (brancos) were about 20%, the blacks (pretos) and mixed races (pardos) were 70%. The imperial governments created favourable conditions for the European immigrants, and by the 1870s their share increased to 38%. By the end of the 19th century the brancos were 44%, and the pardos+pretos were 47%. The peak of this process was reached in the first half of the 20th c.; since then there's been a reversed process, plus a process of more mixing. Brazil is now one of the most racially diverse societies in the world, and the race relations there are a whole separate story.
And finally, the end of the Brazilian Empire is ironically related to the fact that it was to a large extent very successful in so many respects. It just served its purpose to the full, and stepped down when the moment was ripe. The education policy lead to the emergence of a class of "free" professions - those were people for whom their further advancement was connected to republicanism. The military, after the success in the Paraguayan War, became an active player in politics, whose influence the monarchy counterbalanced through its National Guard, and the various military formations used by the government to consolidate its influence in the border regions and the Amazon. The union of the angry intellectuals and disenfranchised military finally managed to perform a successful coup in 1889, and the Emperor and his family were expelled from Brazil, the country being proclaimed a Republic. Although this coup had an elite character and took place on the tops while the people didn't give a damn, the monarch didn't have the political resource to resist, and Pedro II took another wise decision like his father, choosing to relinquish his power, to avoid a bloody civil war. Which is probably why he kept his head on his shoulders.
So what's the legacy left behind by the Brazilian Empire? First and foremost, the preservation of national unity. Thanks to the authority of the monarch, Brazil dealt with the separatist movements that had swept across the rest of the continent. It didn't split apart, and it remained a big and strong country. The power of the Emperor, as symbolic as it was, and as much as it required constant political manoeuvring, was used to create things, not to divide and destroy: its most important legacy is a functional federative system that remains to this day. The second important political legacy of the Empire is this culture of always looking for the peaceful political solutions (there are always exceptions, of course). This allowed Brazil to go through many decades of internal peace and progress in a row (no surprise the motto on the Brazilian national flag is "Order & Progress"). Unlike most other countries on the continent, Brazil resisted the temptation to seek for solutions to its political and social conflicts through bloody civil wars, or wars with their neighbours.
The monarchy guaranteed a sustainable economic growth (the consequences of which are beginning to be seen today), it took the decisive step to abolish slavery, and it attracted a huge influx of a broad array of immigrants, which has turned Brazil into the diverse society it is today - with its many problems, granted, but also with examples that many countries in Brazil's position could learn from. And finally, the Brazilian monarchy built a military and a bureauracy that's largely free of classist influences, i.e. it's devoid of the dominant role of the local neo-feudals and chieftains that exists in many of the neighbouring countries. Somehow, without too much fanfares and grandeur posturing, the Empire navigated Brazil through the most turbulent periods in the history of Latin America. And no doubt, it was the enormous experience from that transition that is now bearing fruit, and is turning Brazil into the most successful country south of Rio Grande.
(no subject)
Date: 29/4/12 20:38 (UTC)Or it could all go terribly wrong, like in the majority of cases. It's just that the relatively successful outcomes like Brazil are very visible in comparison and everyone talks about them, especially after they've become successful.
(no subject)
Date: 30/4/12 09:22 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 30/4/12 09:26 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 30/4/12 09:44 (UTC)Oh, and my love for Brazil, apparently :)
(no subject)
Date: 30/4/12 09:50 (UTC)1) gluttony
2) touching oneself
3) and apparently, sophistry
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Date: 30/4/12 09:51 (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 1/5/12 11:37 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 30/4/12 09:48 (UTC)But then you inevitably get the crazy grandson Pedropedropedro the 3rd, and he's more than eager to shit all over the legacy of his predecessors. Just for fun, and because he can. And then the guillotine puts and end to all the madness, and people kind of come to their senses.
(no subject)
Date: 30/4/12 09:56 (UTC)No more kings. Vimes had difficulty in articulating why this should be so, why the concept revolted in his very bones. After all, a good many of the city patricians had been as bad as any king. But they were . . . sort of... bad on equal terms. What set Vimes's teeth on edge was the idea that kings were a different kind of human being. A higher lifeform. Somehow magical. But, huh, there was some magic, at that. Ankh-Morpork still seemed to be littered with Royal this and Royal that, little old men who got paid a few pence a week to do a few meaningless chores, like the Master of the King's Keys or the Keeper of the Crown Jewels, even though there were no keys and certainly no jewels.
Royalty was like dandelions. No matter how many heads you chopped off, the roots were still there underground, waiting to spring up again.
It seemed to be a chronic disease. It was as if even the most intelligent person had this little blank spot in their heads where someone had written: 'Kings. What a good idea.' Whoever had created humanity had left in a major design flaw.
It was its tendency to bend at the knees.
From "Feet of Clay" by Terry Pratchett
(no subject)
Date: 30/4/12 09:58 (UTC)And the biggest concern is, what happens to the realm when Sir Good King gets a diarrhea and can't exit the toilet for 3 days?
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Date: 30/4/12 09:59 (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 30/4/12 12:26 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 30/4/12 13:17 (UTC)