Little by little

Little by little, a cycle of general instability sparked by these crises undermined the regime to such an extent that in the wake of the murder of his running mate, the defeated opposition presidential candidate Getúlio Vargas, supported by most of the military, successfully led the October 1930 Coup.[125][126] Vargas and the military were supposed to assume power temporarily, but instead closed the Congress, extinguished the Constitution, ruled with emergency powers and replaced the states’ governors with their own supporters.[127][128]

In the 1930s, three failed attempts to remove Vargas and his supporters from power occurred. The first was the Constitutionalist Revolution in 1932, led by the Paulista oligarchy. The second was a Communist uprising in November 1935, and the last one a putsch attempt by local fascists in May 1938.[129][130][131] The 1935 uprising created a security crisis in which the Congress transferred more power to the executive. The 1937 coup d’état resulted in the cancellation of the 1938 election, formalized Vargas as dictator, beginning the Estado Novo era, which was noted for government brutality and censorship of the press.[132]

Foreign policy during the Vargas years was marked by the antecedents[clarification needed] and World War II. Brazil remained neutral until August 1942, when the country entered on the allied side,[133][134] after suffering retaliation by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, in a strategic dispute over the South Atlantic.[135] In addition to its participation in the battle of the Atlantic, Brazil also sent an expeditionary force to fight in the Italian campaign.[136]