Brazil during World War I

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Brazilian president Venceslau Brás declares war on the Central Powers.

Brazil during World War I was the only country of Latin America to have direct involvement in the war. In 1917, Brazilian President Venceslau Brás declared war against the Central Powers. During World War I (1914–1918), Brazil had a position supported by the Hague Convention, initially being neutral, in an attempt to maintain the market for their export products, mainly coffee, latex and industrial manufactured items.

Initial phase

Brazil officially declared neutrality on August 4, 1914. A Brazilian ship, the Rio Branco, was sunk by a German submarine in the early years of the war on May 3, 1916, but as this was in restricted waters, and as a ship registered under the British flag and with most of its crew composed of Norwegians, it was not considered an illegal attack from the Germans by the Brazilian government, despite the public uproar the event caused.

At the beginning of the war, although neutral, Brazil faced a complicated social and economic situation. Its economy was largely based on exports of agricultural products such as coffee, latex, and very limited industrial manufacturing. As these products exported by Brazil were not considered essential by foreign consumers, customs duties and export fees (the main source of government income) decreased as the conflict continued. This was accentuated further by the German blockade, and then a British ban on the importation of coffee into England in 1917, since the British government now considered the cargo space on ships necessary for more vital goods, given the great losses of merchant ships as a result of Germans attacks.

Relations between Brazil and the German Empire were shaken by the German decision to allow its submarines to sink any ship that breached the blockade. On April 5, 1917, the Brazilian steamship Paraná, one of the largest merchant fleet ships in the world (4,466 tons), loaded with coffee, travelling in accordance with the demands made on neutral countries, was torpedoed by a German submarine, and three Brazilians were killed.

Protests

When news of the sinking of the Paraná arrived in Brazil a few days later, several protests erupted in the capital. The Minister of Foreign Relations, Lauro Muller, a citizen of German origin with a pro-neutrality position, was forced to resign. In Porto Alegre, marches were organized with thousands of people, initially peaceful. Later, the demonstrators began attacking shops and properties owned by Germans or their descendants, like the Hotel Schmidt, the Germany Society, the club and the newspaper Deutsche Zeitung, and the Turnerbund, which were raided, looted and burned.

On November 1, 1917, a mob damaged houses, clubs and factories in Petropolis, including the restaurant Brahma (completely destroyed), the Gesellschaft Germania, the German school, the company Arp, and the German Journal, among others.

Meanwhile, in other cities there were minor demonstrations. New episodes with violence repeated until Brazil's declaration of war against Germany, in October, 1917.

Moreover, trade unionists, anarchists and pacifists opposed the war and accused the government of diverting attention from internal problems, sometimes coming into conflict with nationalist groups that supported Brazil's active participation in the war. Violent repression followed a general strike late in 1917, and the declaration of war in October also served as a means to declare a state of emergency and persecute opponents.

Diplomatic consequences

Military involvement

Brazilian Cavalry Soldiers, First World War.

In compliance with the commitments agreed upon at the Allied Conference, which met in Paris from November 20 to December 3, 1917, the Brazilian government sent a medical mission composed of civilian and military surgeons to work in field hospitals of the European theater of operations. Brazil also contributed a contingent of aviation officers, Army and Navy, to join the Air Force entente. These pilots served with the Royal Air Force, while a force equivalent in size to an Army Regiment served with the French Army.

Brazil's main military involvement in this conflict took place at sea. To fulfill this mission, the Minister of the Navy stipulated the use of part of the fleet in the anti-submarine warfare. Admiral Alexandre Faria de Alencar made the decision to organise a task force that would allow the effective participation of the Brazilian Navy in World War I. Ministerial Notice No. 501 was issued on January 30, 1918, establishing the Naval Division for War Operations (DNOG), composed of units drawn from the fleets that formed the Navy in Brazil. The dreadnoughts Minas Gerais and São Paulo, two scout cruisers, Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul were some of the battleships of the DNOG.[1]

This Division was initially tasked to patrol the maritime area covered by the triangle whose corners were the city of Dakar on the African coast, the island of Sao Vicente in the Atlantic Ocean, and Gibraltar at the entrance to the Mediterranean. The Division would remain under the orders of the British Admiralty, represented by Admiral Hischcot Grant. To command it, the Minister appointed one of the most well-regarded officials at the time, Admiral Pedro Max Fernando Frontin, appointed January 30, 1918.

The war at sea fought by Brazil's navy began on August 1, 1918, following the departure of the mission from the port of Rio de Janeiro. On August 3, 1918, the Brazilian ship Maceió was torpedoed by the German submarine U-43. On August 9, 1918, the mission reached Freetown in Liberia, staying 14 days, where the men began falling ill with Spanish flu during a pandemic.

On the night of August 25, while crossing from Freetown to Dakar, the division suffered a torpedo attack made by German submarines, but no casualties or damage were suffered by Brazil's vessels. The torpedoes passed harmlessly between the Brazilian ships, which launched a successful counter-attack using depth charges. The Royal Navy credited the Brazilians with the destruction of a U-boat.[2] Subsequently, already anchored in the port of Dakar, the crew of the division were severely hit by Spanish flu, which claimed the lives of over a hundred sailors, and kept the Division tied to the port for almost two months.

The Pará class destroyers

Among the Allied naval command, there was debate about how the forces of the Brazilian fleet should be used; “The Italians wanted them in the Mediterranean, the Americans wanted them to work closely with U.S.forces, and the French wanted to keep them protecting the commercial maritime traffic along the African coast Between Dakar and Gibraltar“.[3] This long hesitation among the Allied command, combined with a delay due to operational problems throughout 1918 that prevented launching the squadron to sea, plus the Spanish flu pandemic that struck the crew at the end of August, meant that the fleet arrived at Gibraltar at beginning of November, 1918, only to see the armistice signed within days, thus putting an end to World War I.

Brazilian War Ship "Rio Grande do Sul", First World War
Laurindo Pitta tugboat

The popular opposition in Brazil against a deeper engagement in the war, Brazil's lack of a clear foreign policy or a military-industrial infrastructure, as well as internal problems, prevented the country from increasing its participation in the conflict.

Division Naval Warfare Operations (DNOG)

The mission of DNOG, initially, was patrolling the coastal waters of Brazil; later became belligerent actions in the Atlantic Ocean, on the orders of the British Admiralty, represented by Admiral Hischcot Grant.

It was composed of the following vessels:

Military medical mission

First World War, Brazilian Medical Mission.

On August 18, 1918, the Medical Mission, led by Dr. Nabuco Gouveia and directed by General Aché, was launched with 86 doctors. On September 24, 1918, the Brazilian Medical Mission landed at the French port of Marseille, after a bumpy journey. A mission was sent to the European theater of war in order to install a hospital. In addition to physicians, other individuals took part in the mission as civilian staff, such as pharmacists, administrative support staff, and a platoon of security. The contribution of Brazil's Medical Mission gave support to the French people against a flu outbreak which ravaged that country, which ensured the continuity of logistical support to the troops at the front. The Medical Mission was terminated in February 1919.

End of the war

The squadron joined the fleet of the Entente in the Mediterranean in early November 1918.

Days later, the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, so eagerly anticipated by Europeans whose countries were ravaged by conflict. The Treaty of Versailles allowed Brazil to keep over 70 ships it had seized from the Central Powers during the war, which were then incorporated into the Brazilian naval fleet. Brazil was also financially compensated by Germany for the lost coffee shipments and ships that were sunk by German U-boats during the war.

Peace agreement

After the war's end, Brazil participated in the Conference of Versailles, with a delegation led by future president Epitácio Pessoa. Brazil was also a founder of the League of Nations after the end of the war. Upon returning to Brazil, the Division of Naval Operations for the World War was dissolved on June 25, 1919, complying fully with the mission entrusted to it.

From an economic point of view, although exports of latex and coffee fell sharply at first, creating a crisis in the economy, as the conflict wore on, Brazil eventually began to find good trading opportunities. Increased international demand for food stuffs and raw materials forced the country to change its economic structure away from what had been primarily agricultural. It was then that Brazil underwent unprecedented industrial development, also making use of immigrant labor, composed largely of Europeans who were fleeing famine, and then the war. The number of factories quadrupled in the war years, doubling the number of workers. Brazil decreased the number of imported items, changing the country's socioeconomic face.

See also

References

  1. ^ Francisco Verras; "D.N.O.G.: contribuicao da Marinha Brasileira na Grande Guerra" ("DNOG; the role of Brazilian Navy in the Great War") (Portuguese) "A Noite" Ed. 1920
  2. ^ Maia, Prado (1961). D.N.O.G. (Divisão Naval em Operações de Guerra), 1914–1918: uma página esquecida da história da Marinha Brasileira. Serviço de Documentação Geral da Marinha.
  3. ^ Paul G. Halpern; ”A naval history of World War I” U.S.Naval Institute 1994 Page 395

Bibliography

  • FROTA, Guilherme de Andrea. 500 Anos de História do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Bibloteca do Exército Editora, 2000.
  • Maia, Prado (1961). D.N.O.G. (Divisão Naval em Operações de Guerra), 1914–1918: uma página esquecida da história da Marinha Brasileira. Serviço de Documentação Geral da Marinha.
  • Records of the Great War, Vol. V, ed. Charles F. Horne, National Alumni 1923
  • Scheina, Robert L. (2003). Latin America's Wars. Washington D.C.: Brassey's. ISBN 1-57488-452-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=8aWQ_7oKJfkC. 

External links