Second Brazilian Republic

The Second Brazilian Republic, officially the Republic of the United States of Brazil, was the period in Brazilian history between 1930 and 1937, during the Vargas Era. It began with the Revolution of 1930, led by Getúlio Vargas, and was divided into three phases: the transitional government, the provisional government, and the constitutional government. It ended with a coup d'état carried out by Vargas in 1937, which gave rise to the Estado Novo.

The transitional government was the period during which a Provisional Governing Junta ruled the country for a short time after the deposition of Washington Luís. The provisional government was the period during which Vargas ruled by decree as head of state until the promulgation of the 1934 Constitution. The constitutional government began when Vargas was elected president in 1934, alongside a democratically elected legislature.

On 7 September 1930, the revolutionary movement gained new momentum. On that day, Antônio Carlos handed over the government of Minas Gerais to Olegário Maciel, who was far more determined to lead a revolution than his predecessor. President Olegário was the only state president to remain in office after the 1930 revolution.

Regarding the secrecy of the conspiracy, Vargas told Revista do Globo, in a special August 1950 edition, that his daughter Alzira only learned about the revolution two days before it began. He stated: "In 1930, while preparing the revolution, I was forced to play a double game: by day, I maintained order for the federal government, and by night, I brought the conspirators into the Piratini Palace." On 25 September 1930, the revolutionary command determined that the revolution would begin on 3 October at 17:00. The start of the revolution had already been postponed several times due to hesitation and indecision among the revolutionaries.

This time, there were no delays. On the afternoon of 3 October 1930, in Porto Alegre, the Revolution began with the seizure of the headquarters of the 3rd Military Region. The attack was led by Oswaldo Aranha and Flores da Cunha. This assault marked the first deaths of the revolution.

One fact illustrates how seriously Getúlio Vargas took the revolution: on that very day, 3 October, he began writing his diary, which he continued until 1942. In the first entry, Vargas noted that the commander of the 3rd Military Region, general Gil Dias de Almeida, shortly before his headquarters was attacked, told Vargas that he would burn his library if Minas Gerais joined the revolution.

By mid-October, the revolutionaries controlled only parts of northeastern and southern Brazil. The states that remained loyal to the federal government were Santa Catarina, Bahia, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and the Federal District, as well as the entire northern region of Brazil—Amazonas, Pará, and the Territory of Acre—and all of the Central-West, including Goiás and Mato Grosso. The government of Santa Catarina was overthrown on 16 October, and the remaining loyal states fell only with the end of the revolution. Barbosa Lima Sobrinho, in his book The Truth About the 1930 Revolution, recounted the occupation of the state of Espírito Santo by troops from Minas Gerais. The Espírito Santo government was deposed on 16 October 1930.

In northeastern Brazil, the revolutionaries were marching toward Bahia. In the south, revolutionaries coming from Rio Grande do Sul were stationed in the Itararé region, on the border between Paraná and São Paulo, where federal government forces and troops from São Paulo were camped to halt the advance of the revolutionary forces.