Short+History

Short History Brazil does not have a written history prior to the arrival of the Europeans, but various groups inhabited the area when Pedro Alvarez Cabral arrived in 1500 and claimed the region for Portugal. The Portuguese colonized Brazil; French and Dutch groups both attempted to establish colonies but eventually were driven out by the Portuguese. After Spain conquered Portugal, it controlled Brazil from 1580 to 1640. Colonization took several decades, and expansion into the interior of the country did not really begin until after 1650.

When Napoleon captured Spain and Portugal (1808), the South American colonies were initially liberated European control. However, the Portuguese royal family soon fled to Brazil and established Rio de Janeiro as the seat of the Portuguese Empire. Brazil then ceased to be a colony and became part of the Portuguese Kingdom. The royal family returned to Portugal in 1821, leaving Dom Pedro I to take charge. He declared Brazil’s independence in 1822 after people in Portugal demanded that Brazil be returned to its own colony. His son, Dom Pedro the second, was deposed in an 1889 military coup.

The military eventually seized control three more times, although with relatively little violence. With military support, Dictator Getulio Vargas ruled from 1930 to 1945, followed by elected presidents. A 1964 coup gave the military control until a return to civilian rule in 1985. A new constitution was approved in 1988.

Elections in 1989 brought Fernando Collor de Mello, a conservative, to office. Fernando was the first president to be directly elected in 29 years. His economic campaign and activities ruined the economy. In a historic test of democracy, Brazil succeeded in removing the president by office by legal, constitutional means. Before impeachment proceedings could be carried out, however, Fernando resigned in December 1992.

Vice President Itamar Franco assumed the presidency until elections in October 1994. Itamar’s finance minister, Fernando Cardoso, introduced an anti-inflation plan so successful that the economy began to boom in 1994. Fernando Cardoso, who had spent years in exile after the 1964 military coup, eventually upset the front- running presidential candidate and later became the first Brazilian president to be elected to a second consecutive term.

In 2002, the first left-wing president in 40 years came to power and was reelected in 2006. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised to reform the economy and to stop hunger. However, the nation still faces inequality of wealth and a weak economy.