Brazilian Integralism
Brazilian Integralism (Portuguese: integralismo) was a political movement in Brazil, created in October 1932. Founded and led by Plínio Salgado, a literary figure somewhat famous for his participation in the 1922 Modern Art Week, the movement had adopted some characteristics of European mass movements of those times, specifically of Italian fascism, but distanced itself from Nazism because Salgado himself did not support racism. He believed that every person of every race should unite under the Integralist flag. Despite the movement's slogan "Union of all races and all peoples", members and leaders like Gustavo Barroso held anti-Semitic views.[1] The name of the party created to support its doctrine was Brazilian Integralist Action (Portuguese: Ação Integralista Brasileira, AIB). The reference to Integralism mirrored a traditionalist movement in Portugal, the Lusitanian Integralism. For its symbol, the AIB used a flag with a white disk on a royal blue background, with an uppercase sigma (Σ) in its center. (In mathematics, sigma indicates "discrete summation" of any given number of terms, following a set of rules)
Character
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Integralism |
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In its outward forms, Integralism was similar to European fascism: a green-shirted paramilitary organization with uniformed ranks, highly regimented street demonstrations, and rhetoric against Marxism and liberalism. However, it differed markedly from it in specific ideology: a prolific writer before turning political leader, Salgado interpreted human history at large as an opposition between "materialism"—understood by him as the normal operation of natural laws guided by blind necessity—and "spiritualism": the belief in God, in the immortality of the soul, and in the conditioning of individual existence to superior, eternal goals. Salgado advocated, therefore, the harnessing of individual interest to values such as pity, self-donation and concern to others.[2] For him, human history consisted of the eternal struggle of the human spirit against the laws of nature, as expressed by the atheism of modern society in the twin forms of liberalism and socialism—capitalist competition leading eventually to the merger of private capitals in a single state-owned economy.[3] Thus the integralists favoured nationalism as a shared spiritual identity,[4] in the context of a heterogeneous and tolerant nation influenced by Christian virtues—such virtues being concretely enforced by means of an authoritarian government enforcing compulsory political activity under the guidance of an acknowledged leader.[5]
In particular, they drew support from military officers, especially in the Brazilian Navy.[citation needed]
Integralism being a mass movement, there were marked differences in ideology among its leaders under the influence of various international fascist and quasi-fascist contemporary movements, as in the issue of anti-Semitism. While Salgado was against it, Gustavo Barroso, the party's chief doctrinaire after Salgado, was known for his militant antisemitic views, becoming notorious for being the author of the first and so far only Portuguese translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion; he was also the author of various antisemitic works of his own (Judaism, Freemasonry and Communism; Sinagogues in São Paulo).[6] This led to at least two serious ruptures in the movement: one in 1935 and the other, 1936, when Salgado almost renounced leadership of the movement.
One of the most important principles in an Integralist's life was the "Internal Revolution", or "Revolution of the Self", through which a man was encouraged to stop thinking only for himself, and instead start to integrate into the idea of a giant integralist family—becoming one with the Homeland, while also leaving behind selfish and "evil" values.
Attitudes of the Vargas dictatorship
In the beginning of the 1930s, Brazil went through a strong wave of political
Integralism had a rapidly growing membership throughout Brazil by 1935, especially among
Crackdown and legacy
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When Vargas established full dictatorial powers under the Estado Novo in 1937, he turned against the integralist movement. Although AIB favored Vargas' hard right turn, Salgado was overly ambitious, with overt presidential aspirations that threatened Vargas' grip on power. In 1938, the Integralists made a last attempt at achieving power, attacking the Guanabara Palace during the night, but police and army troops arrived at the last minute, and the ensuing gunfight ended with around twenty casualties. This attempt was called the Integralist "Pajama Putsch".[7]
The AIB disintegrated after that 1938, and in 1945, when the Vargas dictatorship ended, Salgado founded the
Integralists and the military dictatorship (1964–1985)
Integralists and former Integralists took a range of positions inside the
Neo-integralism
Today, two small remnant groups in Brazil uphold the strict integralist ideology: the "
On 26 December 2019, a group called the "Popular Nationalist Insurgency Command of the Large Brazilian Integralist Family" claimed responsibility for a firebombing of the headquarters of comedy group Porta dos Fundos in Rio de Janeiro.[13]
On 30 December 2019, a member of the FIB and former
See also
References
- ^ Vieira, Newton Colombo de Deus (2012-08-21). "Além de Gustavo Barroso : o antissemitismo na ação integralista brasileira (1932-1937)".
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(help)- "DE BACILOS A CAMARILHAS DE LADRÕES: O ÓDIO IMPIEDOSO DE GUSTAVO BARROSO AO JUDEU" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-01-28.
- "Um campeão de antissemitismo". 17 August 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-10-12.
- ISBN 85-85061-83-9, pages 30/32
- ^ Benzaquém de Araújo, Totalitarismo e Revolução, 33 &46/48
- ^ Benzaquém de Araújo, Totalitarismo e Revolução, 57
- ^ Benzaquèm de Araújo, Totalitarismo e Revolução, 71
- ^ Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890, pp. 25-26; on Barroso's translation of the Protocols and antisemitic works, see Roney Cytrynowicz - "Integralismo e anti-semitismo nos textos de Gustavo Barroso na década de 30" Dissertação (Mestrado em História) - USP (1992)
- ^ R.S. Rose (2000), One of the Forgotten Things: Getúlio Vargas and Brazilian Social Control, 1930-1954, Westport: Greenwood, p. 86
- ^ Lucídio Castelo Branco, Da memória de um repórter. Porto Alegre: Editora Age, 2002, page 36
- ISBN 0-89680-243-4, page 134
- ^ "Movimento integralista resiste e vê bom momento para difusão de suas ideias". 29 December 2018.
- ^ "Painel: Integralistas planejam participar de eleições pelo PTB do bolsonarista Roberto Jefferson". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
- ^ "Partido de Bolsonaro terá o mesmo slogan de herdeira fascista da década de 1930". 11 January 2020.
- ^ "Brazil police investigate fire-bombing of 'gay Jesus' film office". BBC. December 26, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ^ "Integralista Paulo Fernando Costa é nomeado assessor de Damares Alves". 30 December 2019.
- ^ "Acusada de ser nazista, líder do Femen se diz ameaçada – 17/08/2012 – Cotidiano – Folha de S.Paulo". m.folha.uol.com.br.
- ^ "Nina Lemos - Para feministas, Sara Winter não é "ex-feminista" porque nunca foi uma". ninalemos.blogosfera.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-10-21.
- ^ "Damares e Integralismo: candidata diz se identificar com movimento de extrema direita inspirado no fascismo italiano". Extra Online (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2022-09-26. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
External links
- Brazilian Integralist Front (in Portuguese)
- Site of the integralist nucleus of the south of Brazil (in Portuguese)
- Site of the integralist nucleus of the Rio de Janeiro (in Portuguese, French, and English)
- Ação Integralista Brasileira symbols at Flags of the World
- Video clip showing Integralist uniforms, parades and leaders