Everything about Deodoro Da Fonseca totally explained
Field Marshal Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca,
pron., (
August 5,
1827 -
August 23,
1892) became the first president of the
Republic of Brazil after heading a military coup that deposed Emperor
Pedro II.
Biography
Born the third child of a large military family in
Alagoas, in a town that today bears his name (and of which his older brother Severino Martins da Fonseca was the 1st Baron), Fonseca made a military career, putting down the
Praieira revolt in
Pernambuco, in 1848, which was Brazil's response to the
European year of failed liberal revolutions. He also saw action during the
War of the Triple Alliance (1864 - 1870), attaining the rank of captain, and was later (1884) raised to field-marshal, and then to full marshal. His personal courage, military competence and manly style made him a national figure.
As Governor of
Rio Grande do Sul, Fonseca was courted by republican intellectuals such as
Benjamin Constant and
Rui Barbosa in the café society of
São Paulo. In 1886, alerted that the imperial government was ordering the arrest of prominent republicans, Fonseca went to
Rio de Janeiro and assumed leadership of the army faction that was favorable to the
abolition of slavery.
Emperor Pedro II had advocated the abolition of slavery for decades, freeing his own slaves in 1840, but he believed slavery should be done away with slowly so as not to damage the economy. His daughter,
Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, abolished slavery in 1888, during her third regency (while her father was away from the country). Enraged oligarchs played a role in the subsequent
coup d' etat. Fonseca's prestige placed him at the head of the military coup that deposed the emperor,
November 15,
1889, and he was briefly the head of the provisional government that called a Constituent Congress to draft a new constitution for a United States of Brazil. Soon, however, he was in conflict with the civilian republican leaders.
His
election as president in
February 26,
1891, by a narrow plurality, was backed by military pressure on Congress. A few days later he took the oath of office at
Quinta da Boa Vista, the imperial palace in Rio de Janeiro, now the
Museu Nacional.
The Fonseca government, divided by political and personal animosity between the president and vice president
Floriano Peixoto, encountered strong opposition within the Congress, which chose a policy of obstruction. During the first months of his presidency, he permitted his ministers almost unrestricted control of their ministries. Arbitrary presidential decrees, including concession of the
port of Torres to a private company, a stroke of
corporate nationalism in the style of
Napoleon III, strengthened the resistance in Congress, which coalesced round vice-president Peixoto, and soured public opinion. This also caused republicans of the South to withdraw their support from the marshal and provisional government. The situation approached a climax when Fonseca dissolved the National Congress and declared a 'state of emergency,'
November 3,
1891. A group of deputies opposed this decision and found support among the high-ranked officers of the Navy including Admiral
Custódio José de Melo. The marshal found himself on the brink of a civil war. On
November 23,
1891 he signed a resignation (to no one in particular) and turned over the presidency to
Floriano Peixoto.
Deodoro da Fonseca died in Rio de Janeiro on
August 23,
1892.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Deodoro Da Fonseca'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://deodoro_da_fonseca.totallyexplained.com">Deodoro da Fonseca Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
