With Brazil's entry into the war, the conflict now extends to all inhabited continents - truly a World War in every sense. While Vargas is nowhere near as distasteful as his former friends Hitler and Mussolini, Roosevelt’s welcome of him as an ally in the war for "freedom over oppression" is perhaps slightly disingenuous. Of course, the world is never black and white, and when fighting a war of survival, you'll take any allies you can get, right? It's always enjoyable to look beyond those countries which dominate the historical narrative of the war, often it is here that the most interesting stories lie. Please make sure to keep our rules of conduct in mind when commenting. community.timeghost.tv/t/rules-of-conduct/4518 Cheers, James
Back then, different from now, Brazil knoew how to play the game. Currently, apparently, Brazil has a bunch of stupids in control. Since 2006, by the way.
Vargas legacy is extremely difficult to judge in Brasil. On the one hand he created the workers rights that are still in use, began industrialization, and created many other laws that gave people many of the current benefits we still use however he was also a dictator and never really cared about democracy. When it came to what was his position in politics I can only use his words: "I have no enemys so strong that can't become my friends, and I have no friends so strong that can't become my enemys".
@Kirk Wolfe no, I am kind of saying he knew how to play his game. He didn’t need to declare any war, like the US also didn’t want to get involved in the 2nd WW up until the US was dragged into it. Unlike the current Brazilian leaders that managed to get on the bad side of both, Us and China…. Just because they are stupid. Brazil just don’t need to pick a side between US and China, up until it is needed. 12:30 sumarizes it well.
After Japan joined the war the allies lost access to 90% of the rubber market in the planet. I'm aware that Brazil became a priceless source of it, but I can't find numbers and what alternatives the allies had. How important was Brazil as a rubber source for the war effort? Love you guys, nice to see you cover my nation.
brazialian troops enetered Tortona (italy) near where i live and freed it in 1945. every year they (the citizens of Tortona) hold a cerimony with the brazilian military atachè to thank them for theyr effort :)
It's so sad to realize that our Italian brothers and sisters give more respect to the FEB than anyone here in Brazil. Cheers from a Brazilian who still honors the FEB!
That same state mentioned in the video (Rio Grande do Sul) which had tons of germans, was also a state that got tons of italian immigrants... AND the birth state of Vargas. AND one century before WW2, that same state saw a revolution that lasted from 1835 to 1845. And Giuseppe Garibaldi fought in it. It was during his role in this revolution that he met his wife Anitta, which he took with him to Italy, where he would unify the country.
I love the fact that when there is a new country which entered the Allied Powers. There would have its flag along with other powers. Such a detailed background. Good job Indy and others!
@@MinecraftGamerYOLO yeah, what's up with that? Maybe it considers the nations who still have claim over SOME lands? Like the Free French have in Africa but Greece is fully occupied
On the Sabaton History episode of the song Smoking Snakes some people corrected him on the comments, nice to see him trying to improve the pronunciation. Ps: e eu sei que tu é brasileira.
Yes. It was close enough... but... federáciau vintê chinco de rulho was pretty bad. :P Although pronunciation is the last of my concerns. The overall content was far more realistic than our schools show(at least from my time).
Vargas followed a policy similar to Franco in Spain.. When the war turned unfavorable to the axis, he approached the allies. The difference is that it cost Franco several years of isolation, while Brazil gained industrialization and became a benchmark for the United States in the region.
@M J I think it had more to do with the fact that the country was recovering from a brutal civil war (which meant its economy was worse than normal) and that Franco owed his victory to the Nazis and Italian Fascists. He even sent some "volunteers" to fight against the URSS with the Nazis. As for resources, Spain did provide worlfram to Germany. So I think the allies distrust towards the regime in the post-war period was understandable. PD: Flamenco being a universal custom in Spain is a false stereotype. In reallity, its mostly an andalusian thing.
Getúlio played both sides for leverage, but he knew that, in an event of a WW involving the US, they would never let Brazil side with their enenmies, too much of a strategic point. He was smart in haggling over the price, but if he refused because of some ideogical reasons, the americans would be ready even to invade parts of Brazil.
@@igorokinamujika2073 Yeah there is no question if Franco had recovered his country from the civil war, he would have declared war on Britain and help Germany take Gibraltar.
When foreigners talk about Brazilian history, it can go pretty sideways. You guys handled it extremely well! Excellent video, this sort of content is why I love this channel and am a patron.
Is there another channel in English (or at least captioned) that you would recommend for Brazillian history? I am having a hard time finding information on Getulio Vargas or the 1964 coup d'etat.
When Brazil sends troops to fight in Italy their combat patch is a snake smoking a pipe. This represents the same thing as "when pigs fly". No one in Brazil actually thought they would send troops to fight in Europe. It turned out to be a pretty good unit and fought well.
@@Darwinek If I remember correctly, Hitler made the claim: "Snakes will be smoking before Brazil joins the war" and thus, the "Smoking Snakes/Cobras fumantes" was formed and sent in the brazilian expeditionary force
My brother, just a minor "correction". When Brazil first entered the war, the FEB patch was a green "heart" with "Brasil" (Brazil in portuguese) written inside of it. It was only from 1945 onwards that the FEB started using the smoking snake patch. That's why it's pretty common to find, in pictures taken from the FEB, soldiers using the "green heart" patch, instead of the more famous smoking snake patch. Greetings from 🇧🇷 :)
Finally, nice to see my country here. I have been reading Denilson de Oliveira book Hitler's brazilian Soldiers (Os soldados brasileiros de Hitler), which is about german-brazilian soldiers that fough for the Reich despite having conection to Brazil during the war, with at least one case of a soldier in 1943 refusing to fight brazilians in Italy and choosing to fight the soviets on the Eastern Front, going to Hungary. De Oliveira also has another book called Vargas german Soldiers which is the contrary of the first book. It's a very interesting book and if it had a english translation it would more than help on future videos of the channel, be it on specials, regular episodes, or simply fun facts. Edit: I only noticed now that this video was posted a day after the aniversary of his passing, as Vargas killed himself with a gunshot in august 24th 1954.
That's interesting. I didn't read the book but I read some of the interviewed the author had and apparently most of those soldiers if not all were in Germany before the war, basically as a case of return migration. Military service for descendants in Germany was also mandatory, so Brazil didn't even punish the ones of then who chose to come back after the war.
@@Archer89201 he survived. The book is basicly interviews with former german-brazilian soldiers of the Wehrmacht, which all of them survived. In 1945 he was going to Berlin to fight on the protection of capital but then the war ended, which he started to run away from the russian front and became a POW of the US. He was known as Der Amerikaner and i'm still on the part where he's on a POW camp.
@@Gustavogukpa what didn't exist? the story about how the patch of a smoking snake was chosen or the division of the brazilian expeditionary force to the war wearing such as patch, cause both can be proven...
@@adilsoncaetano5684 I think he means the story about the 3 soldiers that hold out a German force and were recognized as heroes by the Germans themselves, who buried then with an honorable inscription. that tale inspired the sabaton song "Smoking Snakes".
That’s my strategy for when I learn the ropes on how to play Tropico 6. I am an idealistic city builder, but for progress and access to better tools and upgrades, it’s risky but beneficial if you play both sides to win.
@@WorldWarTwo Will you guys cover my country (Paraguay) during those years? It's still a long way to go but it would be so nice. Thank you for your good work!!!
@@thenoobgameplays e um jogo chamado hearts of iron 4 que e supostamente pra simular a segunda guerra mundial só que quase sempre de uma maneira alternativa do que aconteceu na realidade por exemplo:a grã Bretanha pode virar fascista,o Japão pode virar comunista,entre outras coisas
Although Vargas' government, especially in the period from 1937 to 1945, had fascist characteristics, his personal views are very complex to categorize. He was most aligned to positivist ideas that are very common on Rio Grande do Sul, Vargas' native state. Actually, positivism in southern Brazil was very influenced by Júlio de Castilhos, who is the father of 'Castilhismo', a ''ideology'' that dominated the state until the 1930's revolution.
The first I ever heard of this was when I lived in Brazil in the mid-90s. Met an old timer in a small town in the Northeast (Itapetinga) who told some pretty amazing stories about fighting in Italy in WW2. He was pretty animated about it actually, talking about blasting Nazis... I had no idea they fought in Europe. Edit - it was in Jequie, not Itapetinga. :)
And I know I risk being called a storyteller, ha, but in another town (Lauro de Freitas) I met an old Italian guy who claimed to have been a Navy Frog Man over there. Told some really cool stories about fighting the Brits. Again, something I knew nothing about, but fascinating.
@@victorrcalazans OH hey, very cool. I miss that place. And agreed. I'm still learning more about the most far off battles and stories. I wish people understood better how far we can take our belief systems, or be manipulated by governments to hate.
He was very capable in obtaining the most in exchange for brazil participation in The conflict, such as the Siderúrgica de Volta Redonda,starting more heavily the industrialization of Brazil that until the early 1930s was mostly agrarian, curiously his participation in The War was what caused his downfall with the army returning from italy with democratic ideals and his resignation in october 29th 1945.
He was forced to resign due to pressure from the political and military elites. Obviously the optics of it didn't help but why didn't he run for president in 1945 and instead supported Dutra? Because the established powers didn't accept him anymore - he'd most certainly have won had he run, as he did in 1950
CSN has a easy deal, but the big prize was source of iron ore the Itabira Iron Ore Company from Percival Farquhar and British bankers the "became CVRD"
I have often wondered how come England did not invoke their long standing treaty with Portugal. I could most defiantly see the Azores being profoundly useful in sub hunting and closing the mid Atlantic gap much earlier. Thank you as always for another brilliant video!
As noted already, so Spain didn't have more reason to join the Axis fully. Weak as Spain may have been after the civil war, there was no way Britain could defend Gibraltar, and thus the main access route into the Mediterranean. North Africa would be impossible to operate in, Italy would be able to rebuild its navy in peace and threaten the Royal Navy (possibly), the Suez would be threatened and thus the Middle East would also be vulnerable. Not to mention Portugal would have probably be taken over almost immediately, so it would be a bum deal for them - even if they agreed (and they might not - the government was borderline fascist itself, so any diplomatic push might have backfired).
This is a simple question with a simple answer. Britain didn't want Portugal to join the war, so they never asked Portugal. For the Allies, Portugal was a more useful partner outside of the war. Other than the Spain issue explained by another commenter, Portugal was already giving a lot covert support to the Allies, so why join openly?
Just goes to show how much of a mixed bag the 'Allies' were - a weird coalition of Conservatives, Liberals, Socialists, Communists, Anarchists and Fascists.
In addition to the air bases, several US Navy radio direction finding stations were established on the northern coast of Brazil to help encircle the Atlantic and intercept German U-boat communications and other important radio traffic.
Metaxas' hand was forced because Italy invaded. Vargas did have the conceivable option of just staying out of the conflict (at least for the time being) but he chose otherwise.
Turkey joined the Allies towards the end of the war, remaining neutral for most of it. But it was a one-party state, sometimes described at the time as "semi-fascist", although post-war its government succumbed to pressure to hold multi-party elections.
Vargas fascism is still disputed to this day. In history college most teachers agree he wasn't one(even left-leaning teachers). Plus Brazilian fascism is better represented by the Integralistas party of Plinio Salgado(and even then, not so pro-germany as you would believe).
Vargas was not a "fascist". He was a well educated man and, besides, very intelligent. He never acted under "ideological" reasons. He was a nationalist above all: got the best people around him, invested in industrial and economic infrastructures, created research centers, etc. Fascists only get mediocre and yesman around. Vargas had a top level cabinet.
@NWE these are only the "top" models, good looking yea, but is the unknown hot girl nextdoor with their pretty faces, amazing legs and big butt that makes the country special, top models all others have.
Great job as always Indy and the Team! I smiled energetically when I saw the Brazilian flag in the other video! I was so hyped for this video for the longest time. Thank you guys so much for making this and your usual content! Have a great day as always guys!
My great uncle was Getulio Vargas secretary of state, he name is Luiz Vergara. He wrote a book about his life as a secretary called "Fui Secretário de Getulio Vargas" ( i was Getulio Vargas secretary). Vargas was a very smart guy, even tho he simpatized with the fascists in someways,(our workers rights bill are literally a copy of the italian one), also making portuguese the only legal language speak (much like Franco from Spain) he also knew the importance of keeping good ties with the US. So he must be allied with the axis right? Well yes, but actually no. Politically? Maybe. But he knew economy and people were more important than ideology. Thanks to the alliance with the US our oil industry and other important sectors of our country greatly improved.
Vargas's history is so strange, no man in Brazil was more loved or hated and few were more consequential. I think people don't get it when they try to put him in some ideological frame or the other. For him, it was about being in power and if that required conciliation or changing sides, no problem. He was kicked out of power once and came back, when it appeared they would kick him out another time he simply shot himself.
Theres some debate if he really killed himself.. He was pretty popular.. he could have lived a good life afterwards, did he was so power hungry that he couldn't live without being the ruler!? .. I may be wrong but I think he didnt killed himself.
@@pagodebregaeforro2803 He did kill himself. There might be some debate on how and why, but it is fact that he did it. There were too many people to attest the fact that create a conspiracy would be impossible; the letter looked carefully prepared and with his handwriting. He was cornered and although some think there was some way for him to get out of that situation (future Brazilian President Tancredo Neves suggested to fight on until the very bitter end), he clearly thought it was endgame and, if so, they would not have the pleasure of removing him again.
4:14 Presidente Bernardes is the city which my great-grandfather moved and where my grandfather was born and lived his early years, however my family have an italian ancestry, not a german one. My family migrated from the Veneto's commune of Susegana to Brazil in 1888, they first established themselves in southern Minas Gerais then my great-grandfathers migrated to western São Paulo state were my grandpa was born, after marrying my grandma who lived in a nearby city they came to the capital's neighboor city of Santo André were my father was born. I still have the Safe-Conduct letters from my great-great-grandparents.
I'm Brazilian, and both my grandparents from my mom's behalf had family members that were part of the expeditionary force(the Pracinhas as we call them). My granny's uncle and one of my grandpa's uncle went in the second wave. Another one of my grandpa's uncles tho went in the first wave, and apparently saw combat, right now I don't remember but I think he did come* back, and suffered for the rest of his life from trauma. But, definitely "a cobra fumou"
I'm glad to see that a fellow countryman (Oswaldo Aranha) born in the same city as me was cited so many times! Another interesting fact is that the 1937 constitution presented is called "constituição polaca" here in Brazil, it is named and greatly inspired by the polish constitution of 1935, that was made for Józef Pilsudski to allow autocratic powers.
My paternal grandfather was a German living in Brazil (his parents had migrated from Germany in 1913 though he was born there himself), he has said he faced a lot of racism during the war for being German (and they were not at all supporters of Nazism), including an angry mob looting the family house while the police stood idly by.
I'm one of the millions of german descendants in Rio Grande do Sul. Those times were hard for the cultural practices of the region, in some aspects the policies of integration of the german immigrants were beneficial, as it opened a greater ammount of connectivity with the rest of the country, on the other hand, the distinct cultural identity of the region has been on decline since, with the biggest effect being the slow decline of the Riograndeser Hunsrrückish language, which, today, is arguably a dead language. It also spurred on a certain ammount of anti-german sentiment at the time, my paternal grandfather relayed a lot of stories of the abuse he suffered for being of german descent during the times he was serving in the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, and my maternal grandfather would tell me stories about how he and his father would have to cross dozens of miles on horseback every month to renew a "safe conduct" document, which marked him and his family as Brazilian citizens and not german sympathyzers. Oddly enough, this instilled into them less of a resentment towards Vargas' administration and more of a hatred towards the German Nazi government in one of those "they caused this mess to begin with" sort of sentiments, despite both being deeply antisemitic and racist to the end of their lives.
Hey, I'm not sure if you guys are aware, but there seems to be an error with the subtitles around 9:10, with the subtitles rapidly proceeding before it's actually said on video
1:18 "Despite the anti-democratic nature of his regime though, he retains close ties to US." How is that weird in worth mentioning, especially in South America?
In the time we’re describing, the anti democratic regimes on the right were very much orienting themselves to the Nazi and Fascist regimes in Germany and Italy. There were not yet any anti-democratic regimes to the left outside of the USSR. You’re thinking of the post WW2 situation.
@@spartacus-olsson I'd say Brazil is more comparable to Turkey or Portugal in this. Neither case is all that surprising and the allies didn't have a problem with those countries anti-democratic tendencies as far as I'm aware.
@@FOLIPE yeah, I think you misunderstood me there. I didn’t mean to imply that the Allies were reluctant to work with undemocratic countries… it’s quite evident they had no such qualms. After all, one of the major Allies was the biggest undemocratic nations on the planet… it was in which direction the smaller nations themselves were orienting that I commented on.
my grandfather was 12 y/o in 42, he lived by the coast and said that a time after the sunks he saw a few trucks parked, he lived in a poor area so it was unusual for him, out of curiosity he decided to climb into one of them and take a look at it, that when he saw the bodies of the sailors of the sunken ships, that scared him for good, he run back to home and stayed there until my grand grand father arrived at home told me that he had nightmares for a couple of weeks after that.
Brazil: *looks at the situation* I could let my fascist tendencies cause the Americans to overthrow me or I could join with the Americans and not get overthrown by them….yet
Fascist tendencies? The fascist party had been forbidden in Brazil at the time. Regardless, the form of "fascism" that most influenced Vargas was not one which the allies had a problem with: the Portuguese new state
I lived in Porto Alegre until 8th grade. I went to a german school and the story was that the FBI mandated classes in Portuguese during the war. I watched a parade of WWII veterans all wearing their American uniforms. It was a long parade.....In 1963 on the front page of the newspaper "Correo do Povo" there was six or 8 pictures with a reward. The reward was so high I did not even try to say how many Cruzero's were being offered...
that's pretty much how it works. if you speak well about Brazil, we will praise you. If you criticize or speak ill of Brazil, be sure that Brazilians will appear from all over to throw stones at you. Only we can speak ill of our country ... and we do that a lot.
So interesting. I have been fascinated with this era of history for most of my life but you guys always succeed in illuminating an aspect of the war and issues going on around the world that I have never heard of before. Bravo!
You have to remmeber-Brazil has almost no domestic industry in 1940. Vargas was very shrewd-he leveraged Brazilian support for the war and got a steel mill and modern weapons for his army. The USA trained the Brazilian officers and introduced high technology. Brazil did not really become heavily industrialized until the 1960s, but Vargas got a good start. as other pointed out, he was popular with farmers and the poor, and is still held in esteem in the Northeast of Brazil.
Great stuff, as usual...a few comments i'd like to add - The brazilian immigrant community included not only Germans, but considerable amounts(over a million) of Italians and Japanese. This crackdown against Nazi propaganda extended to all those 3 nacionalities and included the mere use of German language in public or even associations such as sports clubs( the club "Germania" became "Pinheiros" - Pine trees - and "Palestra Italia" became "Palmeiras" - Palm Tree" in São Paulo and "Cruzeiro" - Cross - in Minhas Gerais. - This Vargas' "paradox"(a Fascist fighting alongside democracies and communists against fascists) eventually became his downfall in 45 - After the war, due to it's large German population and many nazi sympatizers, Brazil became kind of a safe haven for fleeing nazis, such as Josef Mengele, Angel of Death, that lived in Brazil till his death in 79, although not to the same extend as Argentina - This still plant was called CSN, Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (National Siderurgy Company), the first heavy industrial plant in Brazil, started production in 1946. My grandpa was in the first "generation" of employees, worked there till his retirement.
Most of my family was involved with the CSN in the 40s all the way to the 80s; one of it's directors was my Grandmother Brother for example. Hell, I studied in the CSN technical school back in 2009!
There was no paradox and no downfall. In the election of 1945 his public support was extreme, his military support as well, the candidate who won(Dutra) was endorsed by the queremismo party PTB(the ones who wanted vargas himself to become an candidate) so much so that the motto of the PSD(Dutra's party) was "An vote for Dutra is an vote for Getelio". Later the same would be confirmed when he indeed got elected as president.
Cant wait to see the hoi4 focus tree about Brazil in a South America DLC. Never knew how complicated the relatonship and involvement of Brazil and other South American countries was in the war.
The pronunciation of Getúlio Vargas was almost perfect, but the German Association "Federação Vinte e Cinco de Julho" (25 July Federation in direct translation) was a mix of Portuguese and Spanish, with subtitles going the same route.
In 3:19 btw the burning of the State flags ceremony happened in Rio, not São Paulo and it was in 1938 not 37, it took place in the old praia do Russel beach, which don't exist anymore due to land reclamation of the urban reforms of the 1960s. Btw this ceremony was registered in a newsreel, just search for "queima das bandeiras 1938".
O único presidente de fato nacionalista no Brasil, grande precursor da indústria brasileira, melhor presidente que o Brasil já teve. Obrigado saudoso Getúlio Vargas 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷
Very well researched, congrats. Here a Brazilian. The video contents is historically accurate. Vargas was a Very inteligente man. He is considerei the best Brazilian president ever. After the war, he was elected president in plain democratic times. Let's not forget: Brazilian Citizen died in u-boat attacks, and Brazilian soldiers died in Italy fighting sholder to sholder with American soldiers against the Axis. In the meantime, some other countries in Southern America had another approach to the Axis......
Brilliant episode Indie. I have had a big hole in my understanding of WW2 regarding Brazil and South America. But once again you’re on the case. Great job
I'm so glad the WW2 Channel have made this special episode about Brazil's role in the beggining of the war! Now, it would be incredible if you guys make another video about Brazil's role in Italy later in this war. Thank you for the awesome video! Greetings from Brazil
The conservatives,as a whole, didn't exactly like the allies they just wanted to continue with the traditional neutrality position. they only decided to join the allies in 1943 due to the pressure of the US. This obviously was stopped by the more fascist allign GOU
Another comment: In Brazil, Germans, Italians, Ukrainians, Poles and Russians all live in the southern region. A lot of FEB soldiers were, like in the US, of German and Italian descent.
There's one that's pretty well regarded in Brazil, simply named Getúlio. I find it kind of boring though, and it basically only covers the years after he was elected president, after he abdicated the dictatorship and ran democratically. Vargas too long a life to only cover in a single movie
It is hard to believe someone was able to sit on the fence so well, maintaining alliances with both the United States and Nazi Germany. I do not agree with Vargas's policies and undemocratic actions, but from what I understand he was a charismatic leader that was able to put Brazil in a favourable position during a difficult time.
The video was really cool, but there's only one very important conceptual error. Vargas was never a fascist. He was a member of a republican tradition developed in Rio Grande do Sul, with a positivist base, called Castilhismo.
Thank you for all the videos about little known topics related to the 2nd World War. It helps place the entire conflict into more context as you point out all the little things that add up to the big things. Thank you again.
Great video Indy and team! I would like to add some insight about Vargas fame here in Brazil. He is seen by some as the patriarch of modern Brazil because most of our infrastructure, industry and labor laws were created by him, but, in other to achieve that, he dismantled our democratic system (the constitution in 35 was based on the polish constitution, nicknamed the "polaca"), persecuted a lot of journalists, sent Olga Benário to the Nazis and provoked a civil war in 1932. Me (as a paulista), see him as more of a dictator as opposed to the "father of the poor, and mother of the rich". Fun fact: the labor laws in place today that were made by him were based on the "Carta del Lavoro" of fascist Italy.
Appears to have been very cunning man with mixed legacy. Undeniably authoritarian, but equally on side of his own country and understanding that change must be accepted as it is bound to happen.
Wow! I'm from Brazil and I'm learning a lot! BTW, Vargas was from Rio Grande do Sul. Vargas was the bloodiest dictator we had and the most important. The Cohen Plan, btw, that the 1930 Revolution claimed to be opposing, was actually manufactured by Vargas' people. Before Vargas we have a period known as the Old Republic. From1822 until 1889 Brazil was a monarchy. In 1888, Princess Isabel abolishes slavery with the Golden Law and that led, one year later, to Economic powers with the Military to, through a coup, end the Monarchy and start the Republic. However, the early presidents are incompetent land owners who rule for themselves using "gut feelings". The 1930s Revolution is, in the opinion of many local Historian, the creation of modern Brazil. Vargas creates the State structures like the Office of Geography and Statistics, creates the first labor legislations, creates the cultural symbols to unite Brazil based on the indigenous peoples cultures and folklore (at the time, the African culture from the many enslaved peoples who were brought to Brazil was already an integral part of our culture). Vargas plays what is known as The Pendulum Policy to get the most from the US, actually. Vargas was not a fascist but he did play the game with heavy hand: sent the wife of a communist leader, Luiz Carlos Prestes, Olga Prestes (a Jewish Russian) to Germany. The forces against fascism in the armed forces were strong having the highly respected General Cândido Rondon against it. (PBS has a doc called Into The Amazon about Rondon and Ted Roosevelt's adventures in the Amazon forest - very good). I saw a lecture here on RUclips about "Why US Generals were so good in WWII" (something like that) and the lecturer, a journalist and historian specialized in military subjects, told that Gen. Marshall came to Brazil in 1939 to start talks with Vargas. Vargas leaves the Presidency after WWII and we have a democratic period that lasted until 1964. Vargas was re-elected in 1950 and killed himself - wrote "I live life to enter History and this bullet will kill my opposition" (paraphrased) and, well, he did both things. Brazil sent 25,000 troops to Italy - a lot of those of Italian and German ascent. Italians to this day love Brazilians because our troops would skip breakfast and give their rations to the local children. Another group of soldiers, however, is forgotten even in Brazil: the Rubber Soldiers. Since Malaysia had fallen to the Japanese, an effort to produce rubber was started here. There were promises to those who would go into the Amazon forest collect the material. 35,000 died from Malaria and no promises were fulfilled. Brazil got not only industry but also cultural assets: Orson Welles was sent here to make a documentary that he never finished (interesting story, btw) and Disney did a Brazilian character, José (or Zé) Carioca (Rio's Joe on a free translation). Vargas made Brazil into an industrialized country with a State structure that keeps Brazil running to this day. When he died, he was known as The Father of the Poor. His dictatorship was the bloodiest we ever had. His ideas of a Brazil culturally united still stand. One evidence that he was not a Fascist is his minister, Oswaldo Aranha, who later would put to vote the division of Palestine in the UN assembly. There's a street and a museum dedicated to him in Israel. Candido Rondon created the Indigenous Peoples Protection Service in 1922 and was appointed to the Nobel Peace Prize for his works with those populations but when the Royal Academy asked for documents, Brazilians sent only his work as a geographer. He did not win the prize but did something more impressive: changed Ted Roosevelt's opinion about indians!!! Just trying to complement here - from memory. Lots of information I did not know on this video, sir: thanks!!! Brazilian troops in Italy made 35,000 German POWs. I saw an interview with a veteran and he was asked about helping the POWs. The veteran replied: those POWs were our enemies when they were fighting - as POWs, they became people just like us and we couldn't let them starve. This is one of the reasons Brazil opens the UN assembly since the organization was founded. To be honest, there are very few things to be proud in Brazil - but this one keeps me hopeful every day!!!
Yay! Today I managed to catch up and watch the video the day it was released :) I learnt about this channel last September when I discovered Sabaton History (late, I know). After catching up with that channel, I started The Great War in November 2020 (even later, I know) and then I continued with season 1 of "Between Two Wars" while watching the post-war videos on TGW in synch. Only after finishing B2W I started on this channel - while keeping up-to-date on all the others. And because my fiancé and I have different work schedules and therefore different lunch schedules, in the last year I've had more lunches with Indy and team(s) than with my fiancé. Thanks for accompanying me with great history lessons in what would have been lonely boring lunches. I've been watching your videos at all times of the day, but it was at midday when I enjoyed them the most.
We are really glad to hear you enjoy our content so much! It's been a very tough 18 months and we've all had to adapt to being far more isolated so it's great to know we helped in a small way!
Brazil was one of the Allies of World War II. It was also the only Ally from South America to provide troops. The country made significant contributions to the war effort. They sent an expeditionary force to fight alongside the allies in the Italian Campaign. The Brazilian Navy and Air Force helped the Allies in the Atlantic from 1942 until the end of the war in 1945.
tons of societies, clubs, business and football teams had to change names at that time.Both italian and german. Most Porto Alegre social and sport clubs had been founded by germans and had german names... Deutscher Turnverein became SOGIPA (Porto Alegre Gymnastics Society), Gesellschaft Leopoldina changed name to Sociedade Leopoldina Juvenil, Ruder Verein-Freundschaft became Grêmio Náutico União... Fussball Club basically disappeared. Grêmio (one of the biggest football clubs in Brazil, founded by germans) went quite low key in the 40s My city is called Novo Hamburgo and the local club is Esporte Clube Novo Hamburgo, and in 1942 it had to change its name to Esporte Clube Floriano (honoring ex president Floriano Peixoto). It was only called EC Novo Hamburgo again in 1968. Although the city did not change names, many smaller towns did change names to Portuguese names...
We remember, no surrender Heroes of our century Three men stood strong and they held out for long Going into the fight to their death that awaits Crazy or brave, will it end in the grave? As they're giving their lives As their honor dictates Far, far from home to a war Fought on foreign soil and far Far from known tell their tale Their forgotten story Cobras Fumantes, eterna é sua vitória
Vargas ideology was inspired by Júlio de Castilhos, former governor of Rio Grande do Sul, region which Vargas was from. Castilho's way of thinking and government was before Fascism and even before WW1, it was nothing to do with Mussolini ideals and doctrine
Vargas was an interesting guy, he was really popular among the brazilian population, but people wanted him as a president and not as dictator. He really knew how to make people like him and appease the opposition. Even when shit hit the fan against him, he still managed to come out as a "victim" by killing himself to be remembered as the non-agressor. I believe he also wanted to improve the Brazil's image internationally, with the whole thing of making a brazilian Dysney character. Edit: read the replies for some corrections
The Americans created a Brazilian Disney character to improve their image down here, not the other way round. As for the people's opinion of Vargas, that was not why he left power - had he been allowed to run in 1945 he'd most likely have won. It was the political and military establishment which forced him to resign in 1945, made him not run for the first free and open elections and then later led to his suicide in 1954, which was not done in order for him to "come out as a victim", but to be prevent his rivals' escalation of a fabricated political crisis to open way for a military coup, which would end up happening in 1964 but which Vargas's suicide delayed by 10 years
@@FOLIPE Pretty much that. Vargas killed himself to hold the coup (if that was the intention/ only intention no one knows... the guy that did kind shoot himself)... he pretty much bought us 10 years
They wanted him either way, the thing is an part of the military become opposed to him and supported the UDN party candidate Eduardo Gomes(one of the members of the 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt) so he avoided an coup by having elections called in(he also managed to extend it for quite some time due to WW2).
With Brazil's entry into the war, the conflict now extends to all inhabited continents - truly a World War in every sense. While Vargas is nowhere near as distasteful as his former friends Hitler and Mussolini, Roosevelt’s welcome of him as an ally in the war for "freedom over oppression" is perhaps slightly disingenuous. Of course, the world is never black and white, and when fighting a war of survival, you'll take any allies you can get, right?
It's always enjoyable to look beyond those countries which dominate the historical narrative of the war, often it is here that the most interesting stories lie.
Please make sure to keep our rules of conduct in mind when commenting. community.timeghost.tv/t/rules-of-conduct/4518
Cheers,
James
Back then, different from now, Brazil knoew how to play the game. Currently, apparently, Brazil has a bunch of stupids in control. Since 2006, by the way.
Vargas legacy is extremely difficult to judge in Brasil. On the one hand he created the workers rights that are still in use, began industrialization, and created many other laws that gave people many of the current benefits we still use however he was also a dictator and never really cared about democracy.
When it came to what was his position in politics I can only use his words: "I have no enemys so strong that can't become my friends, and I have no friends so strong that can't become my enemys".
@Kirk Wolfe no, I am kind of saying he knew how to play his game. He didn’t need to declare any war, like the US also didn’t want to get involved in the 2nd WW up until the US was dragged into it.
Unlike the current Brazilian leaders that managed to get on the bad side of both, Us and China…. Just because they are stupid.
Brazil just don’t need to pick a side between US and China, up until it is needed. 12:30 sumarizes it well.
@Kirk Wolfe bullshit. White Supremacist? Are you crazy, I Live in Brazil Bro
After Japan joined the war the allies lost access to 90% of the rubber market in the planet. I'm aware that Brazil became a priceless source of it, but I can't find numbers and what alternatives the allies had. How important was Brazil as a rubber source for the war effort?
Love you guys, nice to see you cover my nation.
brazialian troops enetered Tortona (italy) near where i live and freed it in 1945. every year they (the citizens of Tortona) hold a cerimony with the brazilian military atachè to thank them for theyr effort :)
Thank you for sharing, Matteo!
Greetings from Brazil!
It's so sad to realize that our Italian brothers and sisters give more respect to the FEB than anyone here in Brazil.
Cheers from a Brazilian who still honors the FEB!
That is such a cool fact, thanks for sharing. What is the ceremony like?
That same state mentioned in the video (Rio Grande do Sul) which had tons of germans, was also a state that got tons of italian immigrants... AND the birth state of Vargas.
AND one century before WW2, that same state saw a revolution that lasted from 1835 to 1845. And Giuseppe Garibaldi fought in it. It was during his role in this revolution that he met his wife Anitta, which he took with him to Italy, where he would unify the country.
I love the fact that when there is a new country which entered the Allied Powers. There would have its flag along with other powers. Such a detailed background. Good job Indy and others!
Thank you for your support!
@@WorldWarTwo what are you guys going to do in 1945 when everyone but sweeden has declared war on germany
Since last videos i had already noticed the Brazilian flag, then i knew he was up to something...
Brazilian here 👌🏼
Well, Greece fought bravely against the Axis (and the government in exile continues to do so), but the Greek flag is not present.
@@MinecraftGamerYOLO yeah, what's up with that? Maybe it considers the nations who still have claim over SOME lands? Like the Free French have in Africa but Greece is fully occupied
A foreign history content creator finally said Getúlio right.
On the Sabaton History episode of the song Smoking Snakes some people corrected him on the comments, nice to see him trying to improve the pronunciation.
Ps: e eu sei que tu é brasileira.
Yes. It was close enough... but... federáciau vintê chinco de rulho was pretty bad. :P
Although pronunciation is the last of my concerns. The overall content was far more realistic than our schools show(at least from my time).
I'm taking my bows in front of the computer.
@@WorldWarTwo Just remember that J and G are pronounced exactly like in french, not like spanish.
"USSR bring the soda, USA bring the snacks"
- Getúlio Vargas, probably
In retrospect, the joke would have been better if I had written Germany instead of the USSR. Oh well
You could have just edited it 😂
Nowadays, China bring the soda and USA the chips
Vargas followed a policy similar to Franco in Spain.. When the war turned unfavorable to the axis, he approached the allies. The difference is that it cost Franco several years of isolation, while Brazil gained industrialization and became a benchmark for the United States in the region.
I think franco feared an axis assault through the french border if he joined the allies, while brazil is far away in the new world
@M J I think it had more to do with the fact that the country was recovering from a brutal civil war (which meant its economy was worse than normal) and that Franco owed his victory to the Nazis and Italian Fascists. He even sent some "volunteers" to fight against the URSS with the Nazis. As for resources, Spain did provide worlfram to Germany.
So I think the allies distrust towards the regime in the post-war period was understandable.
PD: Flamenco being a universal custom in Spain is a false stereotype. In reallity, its mostly an andalusian thing.
Brazil also peacefully reverted back to democracy as soon as the war ended. Spain not so much
Getúlio played both sides for leverage, but he knew that, in an event of a WW involving the US, they would never let Brazil side with their enenmies, too much of a strategic point. He was smart in haggling over the price, but if he refused because of some ideogical reasons, the americans would be ready even to invade parts of Brazil.
@@igorokinamujika2073 Yeah there is no question if Franco had recovered his country from the civil war, he would have declared war on Britain and help Germany take Gibraltar.
Indy, you captured Vargas' intentions in an excellent manner. First time I ever saw it in a non-Brazilian source.
Thank you very much!
When foreigners talk about Brazilian history, it can go pretty sideways. You guys handled it extremely well!
Excellent video, this sort of content is why I love this channel and am a patron.
Thank you so much for being a patron! You're what makes this kind of content possible!
Is there another channel in English (or at least captioned) that you would recommend for Brazillian history? I am having a hard time finding information on Getulio Vargas or the 1964 coup d'etat.
When Brazil sends troops to fight in Italy their combat patch is a snake smoking a pipe. This represents the same thing as "when pigs fly". No one in Brazil actually thought they would send troops to fight in Europe. It turned out to be a pretty good unit and fought well.
They also sent a squadron of fighters "Senta a púa" ruclips.net/video/5DTROkLVpM4/видео.html
Snakes smoking a pipe. That's pretty badass.
@@Darwinek If I remember correctly, Hitler made the claim: "Snakes will be smoking before Brazil joins the war" and thus, the "Smoking Snakes/Cobras fumantes" was formed and sent in the brazilian expeditionary force
@@shikikankillzone4239 no. This was brazilian media who said that at the time. No Hitler involved.
My brother, just a minor "correction". When Brazil first entered the war, the FEB patch was a green "heart" with "Brasil" (Brazil in portuguese) written inside of it. It was only from 1945 onwards that the FEB started using the smoking snake patch. That's why it's pretty common to find, in pictures taken from the FEB, soldiers using the "green heart" patch, instead of the more famous smoking snake patch. Greetings from 🇧🇷 :)
Finally, nice to see my country here.
I have been reading Denilson de Oliveira book Hitler's brazilian Soldiers (Os soldados brasileiros de Hitler), which is about german-brazilian soldiers that fough for the Reich despite having conection to Brazil during the war, with at least one case of a soldier in 1943 refusing to fight brazilians in Italy and choosing to fight the soviets on the Eastern Front, going to Hungary. De Oliveira also has another book called Vargas german Soldiers which is the contrary of the first book.
It's a very interesting book and if it had a english translation it would more than help on future videos of the channel, be it on specials, regular episodes, or simply fun facts.
Edit: I only noticed now that this video was posted a day after the aniversary of his passing, as Vargas killed himself with a gunshot in august 24th 1954.
That's interesting. I didn't read the book but I read some of the interviewed the author had and apparently most of those soldiers if not all were in Germany before the war, basically as a case of return migration. Military service for descendants in Germany was also mandatory, so Brazil didn't even punish the ones of then who chose to come back after the war.
That guy should have stayed in Italy where atleast his hope of survival would be decent compared to the meat grinder in the Eastern Front
@@FOLIPE yes, it they were in Germany before. That guy i mentioned returned to Germany mere days before the start of the war.
@@Archer89201 he survived. The book is basicly interviews with former german-brazilian soldiers of the Wehrmacht, which all of them survived.
In 1945 he was going to Berlin to fight on the protection of capital but then the war ended, which he started to run away from the russian front and became a POW of the US.
He was known as Der Amerikaner and i'm still on the part where he's on a POW camp.
@@thenoobgameplays lucky bastard
Never forget the 3 heroes. Evil shall fear when the snakes begin to smoke.
The smoking snake patch is the coolest patch.
Sabaton🤟🤟
They didn't exist. The army made an article about the history was fake.
@@Gustavogukpa what didn't exist? the story about how the patch of a smoking snake was chosen or the division of the brazilian expeditionary force to the war wearing such as patch, cause both can be proven...
@@adilsoncaetano5684 I think he means the story about the 3 soldiers that hold out a German force and were recognized as heroes by the Germans themselves, who buried then with an honorable inscription. that tale inspired the sabaton song "Smoking Snakes".
Getulio Vargas was a fascinating complex guy.
Brazilian Dictator Mac: "I'm playing both sides so I always come out on top"
Hitler & Roosevelt: "I don't think you are supposed to tell us"
That’s my strategy for when I learn the ropes on how to play Tropico 6. I am an idealistic city builder, but for progress and access to better tools and upgrades, it’s risky but beneficial if you play both sides to win.
I'm very glad to see my country here on WW2. Thank's by the respectfull and precise discription of what happend.
Hi Pedro, thank you for your support! Glad you enjoyed our video.
@@WorldWarTwo Will you guys cover my country (Paraguay) during those years? It's still a long way to go but it would be so nice. Thank you for your good work!!!
On which side is Brasil? To answer that, let me quote my latest HoI4 playthrough:
"Brazil has joined the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere"
Sometimes they even join the Międzymorze faction
@@Israel_aXNyYWVs The most based of factions.
Once There was having a war on the balkans and then I looked into South America and Brazil had joined the Balkan entente
Excuse me?
@@thenoobgameplays e um jogo chamado hearts of iron 4 que e supostamente pra simular a segunda guerra mundial só que quase sempre de uma maneira alternativa do que aconteceu na realidade por exemplo:a grã Bretanha pode virar fascista,o Japão pode virar comunista,entre outras coisas
Although Vargas' government, especially in the period from 1937 to 1945, had fascist characteristics, his personal views are very complex to categorize. He was most aligned to positivist ideas that are very common on Rio Grande do Sul, Vargas' native state. Actually, positivism in southern Brazil was very influenced by Júlio de Castilhos, who is the father of 'Castilhismo', a ''ideology'' that dominated the state until the 1930's revolution.
The first I ever heard of this was when I lived in Brazil in the mid-90s. Met an old timer in a small town in the Northeast (Itapetinga) who told some pretty amazing stories about fighting in Italy in WW2. He was pretty animated about it actually, talking about blasting Nazis... I had no idea they fought in Europe.
Edit - it was in Jequie, not Itapetinga. :)
And I know I risk being called a storyteller, ha, but in another town (Lauro de Freitas) I met an old Italian guy who claimed to have been a Navy Frog Man over there. Told some really cool stories about fighting the Brits. Again, something I knew nothing about, but fascinating.
@@habattac I live near from Lauro de Freitas,and it's amazing how a gigantic but old conflict can put people to fight each other all around the world.
@@victorrcalazans OH hey, very cool. I miss that place. And agreed. I'm still learning more about the most far off battles and stories. I wish people understood better how far we can take our belief systems, or be manipulated by governments to hate.
You were pretty close by to where I live. Though I'm much too young to have had contact with veterans
@@matheuscerqueira7952 Where do you live?
He was very capable in obtaining the most in exchange for brazil participation in The conflict, such as the Siderúrgica de Volta Redonda,starting more heavily the industrialization of Brazil that until the early 1930s was mostly agrarian, curiously his participation in The War was what caused his downfall with the army returning from italy with democratic ideals and his resignation in october 29th 1945.
He was forced to resign due to pressure from the political and military elites. Obviously the optics of it didn't help but why didn't he run for president in 1945 and instead supported Dutra? Because the established powers didn't accept him anymore - he'd most certainly have won had he run, as he did in 1950
CSN has a easy deal, but the big prize was source of iron ore the Itabira Iron Ore Company from Percival Farquhar and British bankers the "became CVRD"
as an Brazilian i really like thi videos, and the this channel whole work and responsibility towards making good historical content! pls keep up
Thank you for your support!
I have often wondered how come England did not invoke their long standing treaty with Portugal. I could most defiantly see the Azores being profoundly useful in sub hunting and closing the mid Atlantic gap much earlier.
Thank you as always for another brilliant video!
because it could had led to Franco siding with the axis or inciting Germany to invade Iberia, threatening Gibraltar.
"In 1943, during World War II, the Portuguese ruler António de Oliveira Salazar leased air and naval bases in the Azores to Great Britain."
As noted already, so Spain didn't have more reason to join the Axis fully. Weak as Spain may have been after the civil war, there was no way Britain could defend Gibraltar, and thus the main access route into the Mediterranean. North Africa would be impossible to operate in, Italy would be able to rebuild its navy in peace and threaten the Royal Navy (possibly), the Suez would be threatened and thus the Middle East would also be vulnerable. Not to mention Portugal would have probably be taken over almost immediately, so it would be a bum deal for them - even if they agreed (and they might not - the government was borderline fascist itself, so any diplomatic push might have backfired).
This is a simple question with a simple answer. Britain didn't want Portugal to join the war, so they never asked Portugal. For the Allies, Portugal was a more useful partner outside of the war. Other than the Spain issue explained by another commenter, Portugal was already giving a lot covert support to the Allies, so why join openly?
Spain and Portugal were more useful as neutral countries.
Great work! Thanks to bring Brazil to the show!!!
Thank you for your support! Glad you enjoyed it.
Just goes to show how much of a mixed bag the 'Allies' were - a weird coalition of Conservatives, Liberals, Socialists, Communists, Anarchists and Fascists.
Anarchists?
@@pascalausensi9592 yeah i though that one was weird too
@@pascalausensi9592 i guess because French,Spanish and Czech partisans had anarchists
Anarchism is dead by 1939. Heck, even now the term "anarchy" Is used to illustrate chaos. Who wants to be associated with the harbringer with chaos?
@@3dcomrade *drinks shot* so there’s this guy Horus right…
I'm Brazilian and I never heard so many details as with this video. Thanks Indy and team.
In addition to the air bases, several US Navy radio direction finding stations were established on the northern coast of Brazil to help encircle the Atlantic and intercept German U-boat communications and other important radio traffic.
Indy: A fascist leader, joining the anti-fascist united nations, to fight a fascist coalition.
Ioannis Metaxas: Am I a joke to you?
Metaxas' hand was forced because Italy invaded. Vargas did have the conceivable option of just staying out of the conflict (at least for the time being) but he chose otherwise.
Turkey joined the Allies towards the end of the war, remaining neutral for most of it. But it was a one-party state, sometimes described at the time as "semi-fascist", although post-war its government succumbed to pressure to hold multi-party elections.
Vargas fascism is still disputed to this day. In history college most teachers agree he wasn't one(even left-leaning teachers). Plus Brazilian fascism is better represented by the Integralistas party of Plinio Salgado(and even then, not so pro-germany as you would believe).
@@kinsmart7294 é porque tanto direita e a esquerda do Brasil se inspiram no facista chamado Getúlio Vargas.
Vargas was not a "fascist". He was a well educated man and, besides, very intelligent. He never acted under "ideological" reasons. He was a nationalist above all: got the best people around him, invested in industrial and economic infrastructures, created research centers, etc. Fascists only get mediocre and yesman around. Vargas had a top level cabinet.
Brazil had less than 50 million people during World War 2. It's amazing how it's grown since then.
It's somewhat connected to people having sex, I learned.
I am not suprised, Brazilian ladies are stunning!
@@har3036 >> Really.
@NWE - I hear there's even one from Ipanema so hot they wrote a song about her.
@NWE these are only the "top" models, good looking yea, but is the unknown hot girl nextdoor with their pretty faces, amazing legs and big butt that makes the country special, top models all others have.
Nice episode. I love when you all bring my attention to things like this. Whole new respect for the country of Brazil, and South America in general.
Thank you for your support!
Great job as always Indy and the Team! I smiled energetically when I saw the Brazilian flag in the other video! I was so hyped for this video for the longest time. Thank you guys so much for making this and your usual content! Have a great day as always guys!
Thank you so much for your support! Glad you enjoy our content.
My great uncle was Getulio Vargas secretary of state, he name is Luiz Vergara. He wrote a book about his life as a secretary called "Fui Secretário de Getulio Vargas" ( i was Getulio Vargas secretary). Vargas was a very smart guy, even tho he simpatized with the fascists in someways,(our workers rights bill are literally a copy of the italian one), also making portuguese the only legal language speak (much like Franco from Spain) he also knew the importance of keeping good ties with the US. So he must be allied with the axis right? Well yes, but actually no. Politically? Maybe. But he knew economy and people were more important than ideology. Thanks to the alliance with the US our oil industry and other important sectors of our country greatly improved.
Thank you for sharing!
Vargas's history is so strange, no man in Brazil was more loved or hated and few were more consequential. I think people don't get it when they try to put him in some ideological frame or the other. For him, it was about being in power and if that required conciliation or changing sides, no problem. He was kicked out of power once and came back, when it appeared they would kick him out another time he simply shot himself.
Yeah, Vargas in 1930 is very different from the Vargas of the 40s and 50s.
Theres some debate if he really killed himself..
He was pretty popular.. he could have lived a good life afterwards, did he was so power hungry that he couldn't live without being the ruler!? ..
I may be wrong but I think he didnt killed himself.
@@pagodebregaeforro2803 He was gonna get arrested because he ordered the assasination of his political opponent Carlos Lacerda. So he shot himself.
@@pagodebregaeforro2803 He did kill himself. There might be some debate on how and why, but it is fact that he did it. There were too many people to attest the fact that create a conspiracy would be impossible; the letter looked carefully prepared and with his handwriting. He was cornered and although some think there was some way for him to get out of that situation (future Brazilian President Tancredo Neves suggested to fight on until the very bitter end), he clearly thought it was endgame and, if so, they would not have the pleasure of removing him again.
4:14 Presidente Bernardes is the city which my great-grandfather moved and where my grandfather was born and lived his early years, however my family have an italian ancestry, not a german one.
My family migrated from the Veneto's commune of Susegana to Brazil in 1888, they first established themselves in southern Minas Gerais then my great-grandfathers migrated to western São Paulo state were my grandpa was born, after marrying my grandma who lived in a nearby city they came to the capital's neighboor city of Santo André were my father was born. I still have the Safe-Conduct letters from my great-great-grandparents.
Toda a sua família é full-italiana?
Germany sinking neutral ships... didn't learn lessons from the last war, did they?
I'm Brazilian, and both my grandparents from my mom's behalf had family members that were part of the expeditionary force(the Pracinhas as we call them). My granny's uncle and one of my grandpa's uncle went in the second wave. Another one of my grandpa's uncles tho went in the first wave, and apparently saw combat, right now I don't remember but I think he did come* back, and suffered for the rest of his life from trauma. But, definitely "a cobra fumou"
Thank you for sharing that story with us!
Brazil will only join the war when snakes start to smoke cigarettes. 😛
💨 🚬 🐍
I'm glad to see that a fellow countryman (Oswaldo Aranha) born in the same city as me was cited so many times!
Another interesting fact is that the 1937 constitution presented is called "constituição polaca" here in Brazil, it is named and greatly inspired by the polish constitution of 1935, that was made for Józef Pilsudski to allow autocratic powers.
My paternal grandfather was a German living in Brazil (his parents had migrated from Germany in 1913 though he was born there himself), he has said he faced a lot of racism during the war for being German (and they were not at all supporters of Nazism), including an angry mob looting the family house while the police stood idly by.
That's truly sad, but thank you for sharing it with us!
Quanto vitimismo por parte do teu avô
Brazil's WW2 history gets little coverage. It makes me so happy as a Brazilian to see a dedicated video about it ^^
I'm one of the millions of german descendants in Rio Grande do Sul. Those times were hard for the cultural practices of the region, in some aspects the policies of integration of the german immigrants were beneficial, as it opened a greater ammount of connectivity with the rest of the country, on the other hand, the distinct cultural identity of the region has been on decline since, with the biggest effect being the slow decline of the Riograndeser Hunsrrückish language, which, today, is arguably a dead language.
It also spurred on a certain ammount of anti-german sentiment at the time, my paternal grandfather relayed a lot of stories of the abuse he suffered for being of german descent during the times he was serving in the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, and my maternal grandfather would tell me stories about how he and his father would have to cross dozens of miles on horseback every month to renew a "safe conduct" document, which marked him and his family as Brazilian citizens and not german sympathyzers. Oddly enough, this instilled into them less of a resentment towards Vargas' administration and more of a hatred towards the German Nazi government in one of those "they caused this mess to begin with" sort of sentiments, despite both being deeply antisemitic and racist to the end of their lives.
Thank you for the input! That's some very interesting information
Time ghost army: On wich side is Brasil?
Brasilians in 2021: Til this day we are not sure... who is gonna send money when this ends?
China or America? Germany or UK? Union or Federacy? we dont know, maybe the one we make the most profit of...
Hey, I'm not sure if you guys are aware, but there seems to be an error with the subtitles around 9:10, with the subtitles rapidly proceeding before it's actually said on video
1:18 "Despite the anti-democratic nature of his regime though, he retains close ties to US."
How is that weird in worth mentioning, especially in South America?
In the time we’re describing, the anti democratic regimes on the right were very much orienting themselves to the Nazi and Fascist regimes in Germany and Italy. There were not yet any anti-democratic regimes to the left outside of the USSR. You’re thinking of the post WW2 situation.
@@spartacus-olsson I'd say Brazil is more comparable to Turkey or Portugal in this. Neither case is all that surprising and the allies didn't have a problem with those countries anti-democratic tendencies as far as I'm aware.
@@FOLIPE yeah, I think you misunderstood me there. I didn’t mean to imply that the Allies were reluctant to work with undemocratic countries… it’s quite evident they had no such qualms. After all, one of the major Allies was the biggest undemocratic nations on the planet… it was in which direction the smaller nations themselves were orienting that I commented on.
my grandfather was 12 y/o in 42, he lived by the coast and said that a time after the sunks he saw a few trucks parked, he lived in a poor area so it was unusual for him, out of curiosity he decided to climb into one of them and take a look at it, that when he saw the bodies of the sailors of the sunken ships, that scared him for good, he run back to home and stayed there until my grand grand father arrived at home told me that he had nightmares for a couple of weeks after that.
i also had a great uncle that served on the scort ships, but he died when i was only 12 and he never talked about the war with anyone but my greataunt
Thank you for sharing about your grandfather's experiences. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to see things like that.
Brazil: *looks at the situation* I could let my fascist tendencies cause the Americans to overthrow me or I could join with the Americans and not get overthrown by them….yet
Fascist tendencies? The fascist party had been forbidden in Brazil at the time. Regardless, the form of "fascism" that most influenced Vargas was not one which the allies had a problem with: the Portuguese new state
Ironically, it was overthrown in favor of something *more* fascist later down the line. Y'know, Cold War and all. Politics are a strange beast indeed.
@@cwovictor3281 Latin American Country: Just how fascist do we have to be for you to leave us alone?
America: Around Franco level works for us
@@FOLIPE Facism was very strong in Brazil by that time.
@@LuizSMatos-dr9tz "at that time"? What about "since 1500"?
I lived in Porto Alegre until 8th grade. I went to a german school and the story was that the FBI mandated classes in Portuguese during the war. I watched a parade of WWII veterans all wearing their American uniforms. It was a long parade.....In 1963 on the front page of the newspaper "Correo do Povo" there was six or 8 pictures with a reward. The reward was so high I did not even try to say how many Cruzero's were being offered...
The posting and timing is most fortuitous (I know a day late but still), August 25th is day of the soldier in Brazil
And a day after the aniversary of his passing, since he shoot himself on august 24th, 1954.
Yessssss, I am Brazilian. Finally someone talks about Brazil in WW2, very good.
Whenever Brazil is mentioned on YT, I always see a bunch of Brazilians…
Chamou? (You called?)
Thats our job mate
Are you supposed to expect Filipino's?
that's pretty much how it works.
if you speak well about Brazil, we will praise you.
If you criticize or speak ill of Brazil, be sure that Brazilians will appear from all over to throw stones at you.
Only we can speak ill of our country ... and we do that a lot.
Yes. I notice that.
So interesting. I have been fascinated with this era of history for most of my life but you guys always succeed in illuminating an aspect of the war and issues going on around the world that I have never heard of before. Bravo!
Love the specials about the political situations of the war!
Glad you enjoy our content!
Greetings from Brazil!
Most accurate condensed description of Brazil's path to WWII I have ever seen. Very well done!
Thank you!
You have to remmeber-Brazil has almost no domestic industry in 1940. Vargas was very shrewd-he leveraged Brazilian support for the war and got a steel mill and modern weapons for his army. The USA trained the Brazilian officers and introduced high technology. Brazil did not really become heavily industrialized until the 1960s, but Vargas got a good start. as other pointed out, he was popular with farmers and the poor, and is still held in esteem in the Northeast of Brazil.
Great stuff, as usual...a few comments i'd like to add
- The brazilian immigrant community included not only Germans, but considerable amounts(over a million) of Italians and Japanese. This crackdown against Nazi propaganda extended to all those 3 nacionalities and included the mere use of German language in public or even associations such as sports clubs( the club "Germania" became "Pinheiros" - Pine trees - and "Palestra Italia" became "Palmeiras" - Palm Tree" in São Paulo and "Cruzeiro" - Cross - in Minhas Gerais.
- This Vargas' "paradox"(a Fascist fighting alongside democracies and communists against fascists) eventually became his downfall in 45
- After the war, due to it's large German population and many nazi sympatizers, Brazil became kind of a safe haven for fleeing nazis, such as Josef Mengele, Angel of Death, that lived in Brazil till his death in 79, although not to the same extend as Argentina
- This still plant was called CSN, Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (National Siderurgy Company), the first heavy industrial plant in Brazil, started production in 1946. My grandpa was in the first "generation" of employees, worked there till his retirement.
Brazil was like AXIS paradise.
The 4 major immigrant groups at the time were probably Italians, Germans, Japanese and Spaniards.
Most of my family was involved with the CSN in the 40s all the way to the 80s; one of it's directors was my Grandmother Brother for example.
Hell, I studied in the CSN technical school back in 2009!
um Mengele wasn't in Brazil IIRC. wasnt it Argentina?
@@ericcarlson3746 Argentina from 49-59, then a short stay in Paraguay, arriving in Brazil in 1960, where he lived until his passing in 79.
There was no paradox and no downfall. In the election of 1945 his public support was extreme, his military support as well, the candidate who won(Dutra) was endorsed by the queremismo party PTB(the ones who wanted vargas himself to become an candidate) so much so that the motto of the PSD(Dutra's party) was "An vote for Dutra is an vote for Getelio". Later the same would be confirmed when he indeed got elected as president.
Very impressed with your pronunciation of Getulio's name
Great video
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
Cant wait to see the hoi4 focus tree about Brazil in a South America DLC. Never knew how complicated the relatonship and involvement of Brazil and other South American countries was in the war.
The pronunciation of Getúlio Vargas was almost perfect, but the German Association "Federação Vinte e Cinco de Julho" (25 July Federation in direct translation) was a mix of Portuguese and Spanish, with subtitles going the same route.
In 3:19 btw the burning of the State flags ceremony happened in Rio, not São Paulo and it was in 1938 not 37, it took place in the old praia do Russel beach, which don't exist anymore due to land reclamation of the urban reforms of the 1960s.
Btw this ceremony was registered in a newsreel, just search for "queima das bandeiras 1938".
O único presidente de fato nacionalista no Brasil, grande precursor da indústria brasileira, melhor presidente que o Brasil já teve.
Obrigado saudoso Getúlio Vargas 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷
Very well researched, congrats. Here a Brazilian. The video contents is historically accurate. Vargas was a Very inteligente man. He is considerei the best Brazilian president ever. After the war, he was elected president in plain democratic times. Let's not forget: Brazilian Citizen died in u-boat attacks, and Brazilian soldiers died in Italy fighting sholder to sholder with American soldiers against the Axis. In the meantime, some other countries in Southern America had another approach to the Axis......
Brilliant episode Indie. I have had a big hole in my understanding of WW2 regarding Brazil and South America. But once again you’re on the case. Great job
Excellent video.
Thank you!
Finest history series and host to be found anywhere..
Thank you very much!
That ivory waist coat is beautiful.
maybe Indy is emulating Vargas and that snazzy US ambassador in the use of tropical white
I'm so glad the WW2 Channel have made this special episode about Brazil's role in the beggining of the war! Now, it would be incredible if you guys make another video about Brazil's role in Italy later in this war. Thank you for the awesome video! Greetings from Brazil
Greetings! And thank you!
meanwhile in Argentina:
conservatives: we like the allies, we should join them.
GOU: I'm gonna stop you right there.
The conservatives,as a whole, didn't exactly like the allies they just wanted to continue with the traditional neutrality position. they only decided to join the allies in 1943 due to the pressure of the US. This obviously was stopped by the more fascist allign GOU
0:54 - a good example of a photo from the time retouched, perhaps for use as a book illustration, the retouching making it look like a drawing.
Another comment: In Brazil, Germans, Italians, Ukrainians, Poles and Russians all live in the southern region. A lot of FEB soldiers were, like in the US, of German and Italian descent.
Correct
A bio pic of vargas is surely needed now
There's one that's pretty well regarded in Brazil, simply named Getúlio. I find it kind of boring though, and it basically only covers the years after he was elected president, after he abdicated the dictatorship and ran democratically.
Vargas too long a life to only cover in a single movie
It is hard to believe someone was able to sit on the fence so well, maintaining alliances with both the United States and Nazi Germany. I do not agree with Vargas's policies and undemocratic actions, but from what I understand he was a charismatic leader that was able to put Brazil in a favourable position during a difficult time.
Brazilian watcher here. Pretty accurate depiction of Presidente Vargas and the state of Brazil at that time. Congratulations.
Thanks!
Been wanting this episode for years!!!
The video was really cool, but there's only one very important conceptual error. Vargas was never a fascist. He was a member of a republican tradition developed in Rio Grande do Sul, with a positivist base, called Castilhismo.
That's pretty nice to see a the a bit of the history of my country in ww2 here. Love your videos, greetings from Brazil!
Thank you!
Thank you for the lesson!
@Davidson Castro Thank you for watching
Thank you for all the videos about little known topics related to the 2nd World War. It helps place the entire conflict into more context as you point out all the little things that add up to the big things.
Thank you again.
Thanks!
Great video Indy and team!
I would like to add some insight about Vargas fame here in Brazil.
He is seen by some as the patriarch of modern Brazil because most of our infrastructure, industry and labor laws were created by him, but, in other to achieve that, he dismantled our democratic system (the constitution in 35 was based on the polish constitution, nicknamed the "polaca"), persecuted a lot of journalists, sent Olga Benário to the Nazis and provoked a civil war in 1932.
Me (as a paulista), see him as more of a dictator as opposed to the "father of the poor, and mother of the rich".
Fun fact: the labor laws in place today that were made by him were based on the "Carta del Lavoro" of fascist Italy.
Thank you for the support! Glad you enjoy out content.
Wonderful work
You receive my thumbs up as a Brazilian!
Thank you for supporting our content!
Indy get my upvote for saying his name right, that's a massive pet peeve of mine whenever seeing foreign documentaries on him.
Appears to have been very cunning man with mixed legacy. Undeniably authoritarian, but equally on side of his own country and understanding that change must be accepted as it is bound to happen.
This was fascinating. It's always a joy to learn about something you know nothing about.
You're welcome!
Wow! I'm from Brazil and I'm learning a lot! BTW, Vargas was from Rio Grande do Sul.
Vargas was the bloodiest dictator we had and the most important. The Cohen Plan, btw, that the 1930 Revolution claimed to be opposing, was actually manufactured by Vargas' people. Before Vargas we have a period known as the Old Republic. From1822 until 1889 Brazil was a monarchy. In 1888, Princess Isabel abolishes slavery with the Golden Law and that led, one year later, to Economic powers with the Military to, through a coup, end the Monarchy and start the Republic. However, the early presidents are incompetent land owners who rule for themselves using "gut feelings". The 1930s Revolution is, in the opinion of many local Historian, the creation of modern Brazil.
Vargas creates the State structures like the Office of Geography and Statistics, creates the first labor legislations, creates the cultural symbols to unite Brazil based on the indigenous peoples cultures and folklore (at the time, the African culture from the many enslaved peoples who were brought to Brazil was already an integral part of our culture). Vargas plays what is known as The Pendulum Policy to get the most from the US, actually. Vargas was not a fascist but he did play the game with heavy hand: sent the wife of a communist leader, Luiz Carlos Prestes, Olga Prestes (a Jewish Russian) to Germany. The forces against fascism in the armed forces were strong having the highly respected General Cândido Rondon against it. (PBS has a doc called Into The Amazon about Rondon and Ted Roosevelt's adventures in the Amazon forest - very good).
I saw a lecture here on RUclips about "Why US Generals were so good in WWII" (something like that) and the lecturer, a journalist and historian specialized in military subjects, told that Gen. Marshall came to Brazil in 1939 to start talks with Vargas. Vargas leaves the Presidency after WWII and we have a democratic period that lasted until 1964. Vargas was re-elected in 1950 and killed himself - wrote "I live life to enter History and this bullet will kill my opposition" (paraphrased) and, well, he did both things.
Brazil sent 25,000 troops to Italy - a lot of those of Italian and German ascent. Italians to this day love Brazilians because our troops would skip breakfast and give their rations to the local children. Another group of soldiers, however, is forgotten even in Brazil: the Rubber Soldiers. Since Malaysia had fallen to the Japanese, an effort to produce rubber was started here. There were promises to those who would go into the Amazon forest collect the material. 35,000 died from Malaria and no promises were fulfilled. Brazil got not only industry but also cultural assets: Orson Welles was sent here to make a documentary that he never finished (interesting story, btw) and Disney did a Brazilian character, José (or Zé) Carioca (Rio's Joe on a free translation).
Vargas made Brazil into an industrialized country with a State structure that keeps Brazil running to this day. When he died, he was known as The Father of the Poor. His dictatorship was the bloodiest we ever had. His ideas of a Brazil culturally united still stand. One evidence that he was not a Fascist is his minister, Oswaldo Aranha, who later would put to vote the division of Palestine in the UN assembly. There's a street and a museum dedicated to him in Israel. Candido Rondon created the Indigenous Peoples Protection Service in 1922 and was appointed to the Nobel Peace Prize for his works with those populations but when the Royal Academy asked for documents, Brazilians sent only his work as a geographer. He did not win the prize but did something more impressive: changed Ted Roosevelt's opinion about indians!!!
Just trying to complement here - from memory. Lots of information I did not know on this video, sir: thanks!!!
Brazilian troops in Italy made 35,000 German POWs. I saw an interview with a veteran and he was asked about helping the POWs. The veteran replied: those POWs were our enemies when they were fighting - as POWs, they became people just like us and we couldn't let them starve. This is one of the reasons Brazil opens the UN assembly since the organization was founded. To be honest, there are very few things to be proud in Brazil - but this one keeps me hopeful every day!!!
Yay! Today I managed to catch up and watch the video the day it was released :) I learnt about this channel last September when I discovered Sabaton History (late, I know). After catching up with that channel, I started The Great War in November 2020 (even later, I know) and then I continued with season 1 of "Between Two Wars" while watching the post-war videos on TGW in synch. Only after finishing B2W I started on this channel - while keeping up-to-date on all the others. And because my fiancé and I have different work schedules and therefore different lunch schedules, in the last year I've had more lunches with Indy and team(s) than with my fiancé. Thanks for accompanying me with great history lessons in what would have been lonely boring lunches. I've been watching your videos at all times of the day, but it was at midday when I enjoyed them the most.
We are really glad to hear you enjoy our content so much! It's been a very tough 18 months and we've all had to adapt to being far more isolated so it's great to know we helped in a small way!
Brazil was one of the Allies of World War II. It was also the only Ally from South America to provide troops. The country made significant contributions to the war effort. They sent an expeditionary force to fight alongside the allies in the Italian Campaign. The Brazilian Navy and Air Force helped the Allies in the Atlantic from 1942 until the end of the war in 1945.
tons of societies, clubs, business and football teams had to change names at that time.Both italian and german.
Most Porto Alegre social and sport clubs had been founded by germans and had german names... Deutscher Turnverein became SOGIPA (Porto Alegre Gymnastics Society), Gesellschaft Leopoldina changed name to Sociedade Leopoldina Juvenil, Ruder Verein-Freundschaft became Grêmio Náutico União...
Fussball Club basically disappeared. Grêmio (one of the biggest football clubs in Brazil, founded by germans) went quite low key in the 40s
My city is called Novo Hamburgo and the local club is Esporte Clube Novo Hamburgo, and in 1942 it had to change its name to Esporte Clube Floriano (honoring ex president Floriano Peixoto). It was only called EC Novo Hamburgo again in 1968.
Although the city did not change names, many smaller towns did change names to Portuguese names...
well done
Thank you!
If anybody wants spoilers about some of what happens next check out the Sabaton history episode Smoking Snakes.
Great work as always indy greetings from Brazil stay safe brother !!!
Thank you!
We remember, no surrender
Heroes of our century
Three men stood strong and they held out for long
Going into the fight to their death that awaits
Crazy or brave, will it end in the grave?
As they're giving their lives
As their honor dictates
Far, far from home to a war
Fought on foreign soil and far
Far from known tell their tale
Their forgotten story
Cobras Fumantes, eterna é sua vitória
Hi Indy
Awesome narration..
Lots of history learned...
Special applause to newman..
Thanks for the video..🙏👍
Vargas ideology was inspired by Júlio de Castilhos, former governor of Rio Grande do Sul, region which Vargas was from. Castilho's way of thinking and government was before Fascism and even before WW1, it was nothing to do with Mussolini ideals and doctrine
Amazing Program and very well produced, Five Star...
Excelente vídeo!
You guys got it right.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
very crafty diplomacy by Vargas
Uh oh Indy...you said the B word...
You have alerted the "Pliz come to Brazil" commenters
In 1943 my father was flying in Navy PBY’s and PB4Y’s down the coast of South America from Panama to Rio, patrolling for German U-boats.
Thanks for sharing that with us! Glad he survived the war
Brazilian politics are not for amaterus
Vargas was an interesting guy, he was really popular among the brazilian population, but people wanted him as a president and not as dictator. He really knew how to make people like him and appease the opposition. Even when shit hit the fan against him, he still managed to come out as a "victim" by killing himself to be remembered as the non-agressor. I believe he also wanted to improve the Brazil's image internationally, with the whole thing of making a brazilian Dysney character.
Edit: read the replies for some corrections
The Americans created a Brazilian Disney character to improve their image down here, not the other way round. As for the people's opinion of Vargas, that was not why he left power - had he been allowed to run in 1945 he'd most likely have won. It was the political and military establishment which forced him to resign in 1945, made him not run for the first free and open elections and then later led to his suicide in 1954, which was not done in order for him to "come out as a victim", but to be prevent his rivals' escalation of a fabricated political crisis to open way for a military coup, which would end up happening in 1964 but which Vargas's suicide delayed by 10 years
@@FOLIPE great reply, shows how little I know
@@FOLIPE Pretty much that. Vargas killed himself to hold the coup (if that was the intention/ only intention no one knows... the guy that did kind shoot himself)... he pretty much bought us 10 years
They wanted him either way, the thing is an part of the military become opposed to him and supported the UDN party candidate Eduardo Gomes(one of the members of the 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt) so he avoided an coup by having elections called in(he also managed to extend it for quite some time due to WW2).
@@FOLIPE "Brazilian Disney character". Are you referring to José Carioca from Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros?
Brazil's entry is a fascinating fact I learnt from.
Min 4:00 That was a good try to say "julho" 😁👍. The "federação", was closer to italian. In both cases, the effort is appreciated.
Short answer, the one it was more convinient for them to be in.