As the conflict got broader, Brazil would eventually join the WW2. Allies and Axis were fighting to gain some influence over Brazil (and Latin America). Argentina sided with Germany. Brazil’s military had simpathy over Germany power and ideology. Nazis funded nazi clubs at brazilian territory. Brazil also were a good trade partners with Germany (selling rubber so the germans could make tires for their vehicles, for example). Brazil were also buying a lot of military equipment from Germany.
But Vargas (brazilian dictator at the time) were playing both sides to see how his country could gain some power (and which side would favor Brazil more). U.S.A. were also an important trade partner at the time. Despite military pressure, Brazilian diplomat Oswaldo Graça Aranha started to meet americans diplomats so they could bring both countries closer.
The germans didn’t liked it. So, as a way of pressure, they started sinking brazilian ships that were carrying goods from the U.S.A. (here’s a map of the sinkings). Also, german spies based at Rio de Janeiro tried to kill Oswaldo Aranha (which they failed, with the help of British Intelligence). Somebody could make a movie of this. Brazilian people started to make some pressure at Vargas, but still, he didn’t decided which side we’re turning to. People were angry. Some of them crashed a popular bar called Adolf (that was named after the owner at the time). They thought that the name paid homage to Adolf Hitler. Later, the bar changed the name to Bar Luiz (and still exists). In another occasion, a soccer club funded by italians change it’s name from Palestra Italia to Palmeiras (as we know, the Italians were allied to the germans).
The americans got interested in Brazil, most because of Rio Grande do Norte, Bahia, Pernambuco, Ceará. From those states, they could send airplanes and ships to North Africa (the battlefront then) and, after it, Europe. Brazil’s population were shocked by the ship sinkings. U.S.A. offered then to build a siderurgy company (CSN) and to train our militaries. So Vargas sided with the americans.
Some curiosities:
* Brazilian militaries had almost no war experience at all. We fought at the italian front. For the most part, reinforcing the italian battlefront, we helped to avoid the germans and italians to moved their italian based corps to France (which the Allies were heavy invading after D-Day). But we also helped the italians people, that were starving at the time. Most brazilian militaries were poor, so the sympathized with their situation. They gave away soups, chocolates and a lot of supplies to starved italians (at the same time the americans, burned the supplies they couldn’t use so their enemies couldn’t use it). Nowadays, at some time of the years, a few italians villages recreate the “soup rituals” imitating the way brazilians distributed soups to the italians at WW2. It’s a way to homage our “pracinhas” (nickname of our foot soldiers).
* With the help from the americans, Brazil reivented their military from almost zero (which explain the reason we entered so late at the war) but at the end of it the soldiers were so good at it that we made the second largest apprehension of a germany corps. We also captured and hold some of very important positions (Monte Castelo was the most famous of them).
* Brazil fought another war front: Amazon. The Allies needed rubber to their vehicles, so the brazilian government started a campaign to make a lot of people move the Amazon as “rubber soldiers”. These “soldiers” got the material needed for the tires of the cars and tanks. After the WW2, and the invention of synthetic rubber, the “rubber soldiers” were forgotten by the government. A lot of them died by diseases like Malaria. Some of them still lives today and tries to some sort of recognition (and payment) by the governement.
I got most of these informations from the book 1942: Brazil’s almost unknow war. João Barone, the writer (and drummer of Paralamas do Sucesso band) is a son of a pracinha. But he’s father almost never talked about the war, so he started researching about it. Good book.
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