Brazilian Empire / Imperio do Brasil
Empire of Brazil /
Imperio do
Brasil
The Empire of Brazil was a
19th-century constitutional monarchy that broadly comprised present-day
Brazil under the rule of Emperors Dom (
English: Don or
Lord)
Pedro I and his son
Dom Pedro II, both members of the
House of Braganza (
Portuguese:
Bragança)—a branch of the thousand-year old
Capetian Dynasty. A colony of the
Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the
Portuguese colonial Empire in 1808, when the Portuguese
King João VI, in an attempt to escape from
Napoleon Bonaparte's conquests in
Europe, established himself and his government in the Brazilian city of
Rio de Janeiro. He later returned to
Portugal, leaving his eldest son and heir
Pedro to rule Brazil as regent.
On
7 September 1822, Pedro declared the independence of Brazil and, after waging a successful war against his father's kingdom, was acclaimed on
12 October as Pedro I, the first
Emperor of Brazil. As the head of state of a huge but sparsely-populated and ethnically-diverse empire, Pedro I was immediately faced with a number of obstacles: he entered into a long conflict of ideals with a sizable parliamentary faction over the role of the monarch in the government; and the unsuccessful
Cisplatine War against the neighboring
United Provinces of South America led to the secession of a
Brazilian province (later to become
Uruguay) in 1828. In 1826, despite his role in
Brazilian independence, he became the king of Portugal but immediately abdicated the crown to his eldest daughter, Dona (English:
Dame or
Lady)
Maria II. Two years later her throne was usurped by Pedro I's younger brother,
Dom Miguel I. Unable to deal with both Brazilian and Portuguese affairs, Pedro I abdicated on 7 April 1831, having reigned for less than nine years, and immediately departed for Europe to restore his daughter to her throne.
Pedro I's successor was his five-year-old son,
Pedro II. As Pedro II was still a minor, a weak regency was created and the power vacuum resulting from the absence of a monarch as the ultimate arbiter in political disputes led to regional civil wars between local factions.
Having inherited an empire on the verge of disintegration, Pedro II, once declared of age, transformed Brazil into an emerging power on the international stage. The nation grew to be distinguished from its
Hispanic neighbors on account of its political stability, zealously-guarded freedom of speech, respect for civil rights, vibrant economic growth and especially for its form of government: a functional, representative parliamentary monarchy. Brazil was also victorious in three international conflicts (the
Platine War, the
Uruguayan War and the
Paraguayan War) under his rule, as well as prevailing in several other international disputes and domestic tensions.
Unlike its neighbors, the Empire of Brazil was not troubled (even during the chaotic regency period) by dictatorships or repression of civil rights. The last four decades of Pedro II's reign were marked by internal
peace and economic prosperity.
Despite the lack of enthusiasm for a republic among most
Brazilians, on
15 November 1889, after a 58-year reign, the
Emperor was overthrown in a sudden coup d'état that had almost no support outside a clique of military leaders whose goal was the formation of a republic headed by a dictator.
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