The political formation in a German immigrants community in southern Brazil: the case of Santa Cruz do Sul (from the First Republic to the Military Regime, 1889-1965)

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion on the political formation in a German immigrants community in southern Brazil, more precisely in the city of Santa Cruz do Sul, which is located 200 km away from Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. The period analyzed is from 1889, which represents the Republic implementation, to 1965, the year when the second Institutional Act was instituted, within the Military Regime context. Based on a literature review on the local political history, supported by journalistic and institutional sources as well as electoral database of Santa Cruz do Sul, it is intended to describe the local politics dynamic into four parts: the first, analyses the fragility of the local democratic culture and its tendency to authoritarianism and conservatism; the second, approaches the relations between politics and religion in the First Republic; the third, characterizes the electoral continuity and conservatism , which was perpetuated after the Revolution of 1930; the fourth, describes the local elite position towards the legality movement as well as in relation to the military regime implementation.

Keywords

• santa cruz do sul
• autoritarismo
• história política local/regional
• regime militar
• brasil república