Date of Award
5-23-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
First Advisor
Roger Davis
Committee Members
Torsten Homberger; William Aviles
Keywords
Brazil;Caudillismo;Getulio Vargas;Nationalism;Populism
Abstract
Brazil in the 1930’s and 1940’s is a case study of the influences that national and transnational ideologies had on its government and society. The result of these influences being the rise and fall of government systems and dictatorships. Brazilian social and political ideology during this time is well documented from works on nationalism, populism, the concept of the caudillo or caudillismo, and issues of transnationalism. Other works in this field refer to integralism and Tenentismo as well as assessments of authoritarianism. However, more work needs to be done on the connections between these concepts and their effects on government, politics, and society. To better understand the impact that these various ideologies had on this period, this study argues that nationalism, populism, and caudillismo that influenced the rise of Getúlio Vargas and Estado Novo also resulted in its fall with the military coup of October 29th, 1945, and the installation of a democratically elected government. Diving into the Getúlio Vargas Archive database housed by the Center for Research and Documentation of Contemporary History of Brazil, it is apparent that Vargas’s political ideology was influenced by nationalism and populism. These influences also connect to the concept of Vargas as one of the Latin American Caudillo. Furthermore, the archives of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt reveal United States’ concern about fascist Italian influences in Brazil as well as American interests in the country. Examining the ideological factors that resulted in the rise and fall of Getúlio Vargas and his Estado Novo can aid us in our understanding of how leaders are able to seize, maintain, and lose power over a country. Furthermore, it paints a larger landscape of the connections between social and political ideologies and their impact on a country’s political and social identity both in the short and long term.
Recommended Citation
Reeves, Chris Michael Taylor, "Caudillismo, Nationalism, and Populism: An Analytical Approach to the Story of Getúlio Vargas and the Estado Novo, 1930-1945" (2025). History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity. 56.
https://openspaces.unk.edu/hist-etd/56