Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Soldiers of the Pátria: A History of the Brazilian Army, 1889–1937

2005; Duke University Press; Volume: 85; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1215/00182168-85-2-351

1527-1900

Sonny B. Davis,

History of Education Research in Brazil

Occasionally, a scholarly effort emerges that deepens our knowledge of historical issues as few others have. Scholars such as June Hahner, Joseph Love, Peter Beattie, and Alfred Stepan have all made important contributions to the study of the Brazilian military, but in Soldiers of the Pátria, Frank D. McCann advances our understanding of the Brazilian military and its role in society to a new level. Drawing upon over 30 years of research in Brazilian, American, and British archives, along with an unparalleled knowledge of secondary sources, McCann examines the evolution of the Brazilian nation through the lens of the army and its officer corps.McCann argues that the history of the Brazilian army mirrors the complex, complicated, and often ill-disciplined trajectory of the nation—from the fall of Dom Pedro II in 1889 to the establishment of the Estado Novo in 1937. Throughout the period, the army sought to establish a professional force amid the challenges of regionalism and the centrifugal political activities of the officer corps. A paradox thus emerges: the army was the only national institution attempting to be part of the establishment of stable national state institutions, while by design and consequence the actions of its officer corps helped maintain decentralized elite rule. McCann shows how the patterns of behavior set by an officer corps deeply enmeshed in the development of Brazilian society during the 1889 to 1937 period shaped the post–Estado Novo role played by the army in national life.During the last stages of the empire, army involvement in the abolition issue led to officers determining their own standards of obedience to orders. Officer corps participation in the fall of Dom Pedro II resulted from a defense of personal and institutional interests but interjected the army into national life more than had previously occurred. Rebellion in the south, by the navy, and by general officers serving as governors in the Old Republic solidified the army as a major political player. The Canudos and Contestado affairs, however, illuminated the weakness of the army as an institution and Brazil as a nation.McCann details how the army and its officers were involved in critical national and regional issues by focusing on the demise of the empire, the debacles at Canudos and the Contestado, professionalization and modernization, Tenetismo, the 1930 Revolution, and Getúlio Vargas’s Estado Novo. His analysis of the army’s role in national society is first-rate, but he is at his best in description of intrainstitutional developments. McCann’s examination of the army’s drive to professionalize and modernize itself makes clear the degree to which the institution reflected greater society in the Old Republic. Despite efforts at reforming society via obligatory military service and the army education system, old patterns continued even after the 1930 Revolution. As McCann notes, the establishment of the Estado Novo brought a degree of order to the army and society, but only through repressive measures. However, the soldiers of the patria now pursued actions associated with securing the institution and the state rather than reforming society.In a short epilogue, McCann ties together the impact of the role of the army, especially the Estado Novo officer corps, on post–World War II Brazil. Further removed from society, the officer corps failed to grasp the significance of rapid economic and social change. Although more disciplined as an institution, the army still intervened in national life in a way reminiscent of the past. As both moderator and participant in politics, the army helped create national problems that resulted in military government from 1964 to 1985.McCann blends military, political, and social history with prose as spellbinding as that of a great novelist, without losing scholarly integrity. His narrative of the Canudos and Contestado campaigns will engage scholars and aficionados of military history, while his depictions of the army’s role during the politics of the governors era will appeal to those whose interests lies in that realm of history. Social historians will be equally attracted by McCann’s descriptions of the social milieu in which the army evolved.McCann has produced a valuable piece of scholarship that should be required reading for students, scholars, and laypersons interested in Brazil and Latin America. Solidly researched and superbly written, Soldiers of the Pátria sets a standard of analysis and writing that young scholars should aspire to and more seasoned ones should emulate.