Brazilian Integralist Action
This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2013) |
Brazilian Integralist Action Ação Integralista Brasileira | |
---|---|
Party of Popular Representation | |
Headquarters | Rio de Janeiro |
Ideology | Brazilian Integralism |
Roman Catholicism | |
Colours | Blue |
Anthem | Avante! (hino)[1][2] |
Party flag | |
Part of a series on |
Integralism |
---|
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in Brazil |
---|
Brazilian Integralist Action (Portuguese: Ação Integralista Brasileira, AIB) was an integralist/fascist political party in Brazil. It was based upon the ideology of Brazilian Integralism as developed by its leader Plínio Salgado. Brazilian Integralism supported a revival of spirituality in Brazil in the form of Brazilian nationalism to form a shared identity between Brazilians. It denounced materialism, liberalism, and Marxism. It was violently opposed to the Brazilian Communist Party (then still called Communist Party of Brazil) and competed with the Communists for the working class vote.
Character
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 for others.[3] 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.[4] Thus the integralists favoured nationalism as a shared spiritual identity,[5] 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.[6]
The Integralists were something akin to the contemporary Irish Blueshirts who, like them, were revolutionary in spirit, and were an offshoot of the Fenian movement and the IRB, both of which were terrorist organisations condemned repeatedly by the Irish Roman Catholic bishops and excommunicated by Pope Pius IX on 12 October 1869 and 12 January 1870.[7] 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.
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.
History
Attitudes of the Vargas regime
In the beginning of the 1930s, Brazil went through a strong wave of political
Integralism, claiming a rapidly growing membership throughout Brazil by 1935, especially among the
Crackdown and legacy
When Vargas established full dictatorial powers under the Estado Novo in 1937, he turned against the 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, by 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".[9]
The AIB disintegrated after that failure in 1938, and in 1945 Salgado founded the
Integralistas and the military regime (1964–1985)
Integralistas and former Integralistas took a range of positions as regards the
See also
References
- ^ Irschlinger, F.A. (2001). Perigo verde: o integralismo no norte do Rio Grande do Sul, 1932-1938. Passo Fundo: Universidade de Passo Fundo. p. 117.
- ^ Leão de Aquino, R.S. (2000). Sociedade brasileira: uma história através dos movimentos sociais. Vol. 2 (2 ed.). Record.
- 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
- ^ Why the Roman Catholic Church so rightly condemned the Irish Fenians.... "Roman Christendom" blog, 30 November 2014.
- ^ 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