Tenentism

Tenentism (Portuguese: tenentismo) was a political philosophy of junior army officers (Portuguese: tenentes, IPA: [teˈnẽtʃis], lieutenants) who contributed significantly to the Brazilian Revolution of 1930.

Background

The first decades of the 20th century saw marked economic and social change in Brazil. With manufacturing on the rise, the central government—dominated by the coffee oligarchs and the old order of café com leite and coronelismo—came under threat from the political aspirations of new urban groups: professionals, government and white-collar workers, merchants, bankers, and industrialists. In parallel, growing prosperity encouraged a rapid rise in the population of new working class Southern and Eastern European immigrants, who contributed to the growth of trade unionism, anarchism, and socialism. In the post-World War I period, Brazil saw its first wave of general strikes and the establishment of the Communist Party in 1922.

A new class of army junior officer (Portuguese: tenente) had emerged who were trained to European standards and believed themselves superior to their senior officers. In addition, various senior officers had become identified with the government and political structure, a source of criticism from the tenentes.