The Book I Read: ‘Brazil: The Fortunes of War’ by Neill Lochery
I am fascinated by the country of Brazil.
I’m not sure why. Something about the music I’ve heard, the sound of the Portuguese language, the many shades of Brazilian people and geography, and the tropical weather have always drawn me to learn more about this thing, which to me is more than a nation-state or a set of postcard images.
The land of Ipanema, thick rainforests and samba music is more than a stereotype, and that was made clear to me after I visited the country in 2018. For years, starting in college, people would look at me puzzled when I said I was learning Portuguese. Even Brazilians were at a loss for words. They asked me “why?” And I asked them back, “why not?”
That’s a long way of saying that I have a passion about Brazil that goes beyond a rational explanation. But the seeming lack of cross-cultural understanding between the United States and Brazil has always intrigued me. As a large Latin American country, it doesn’t have the same cache in the U.S. that Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico and Cuba do. Why is that, and why is Brazil important? To fill in the missing pieces of this story, I looked for historical clues. I ultimately found a book written by a British scholar that explains Brazil’s crucial role in 20th century geopolitics.
Brazil: The Fortunes of War is a nonfiction book written by Neill Lochery, a Professor of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Studies at University College London. It tells the story of Brazilian heads of state as they dealt with the rise of Nazi Germany at the onset of WWII. This period in history would prove to be a turning point for Europe, the U.S. and evidently Brazil as well.
From 1939 onwards, Brazil held a strategic role for the Allied and Axis powers as a large nation in the southern hemisphere. Receiving military supplies from Nazi Germany, Brazil was being courted as a strategic partner to other powerful political entities. The president at the time, Getulio Vargas, played this relationship deftly, using it as leverage against the United States and Great Britain. Axis interest in Brazil and Vargas was natural, due to the country’s large population of German, Italian and Japanese immigrants.
Vargas established a Great State, otherwise known as “Estado Novo”, that fixed him as a dictator from 1937 to 1945. Though Vargas was well-liked by many Brazilians during this period, he was not liked by all. A coup d’etat and assassination attempt occurred against him, which ultimately strained relations between Brazil and the Axis powers.
In 1940, the U.S. “Good Neighbor Policy” forwarded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt was seen as an olive branch to Brazil, granting large loans to the country in order to develop its infrastructure and transportation system. Vargas ultimately “switched sides” to the Allied powers for decidedly economic reasons, as an attempt to elevate Brazil’s status from tropical backwater to major world-player and industrial powerhouse. American figures like philanthropist Nelson Rockefeller, Undersecretary Sumner Welles and Secretary of State Cordell Hull were tasked with coaxing sympathy from Vargas and his regime. But make no mistake, Vargas was a resolute pragmatist who played the system to stay in power and get what he wanted.
Flanked by his daughter Alzira (his “right eye”) and his Foreign Minister Oswaldo Aranha (his “left eye”) he was able to navigate internal and external diplomatic issues. He had others to deal with in his cabinet too, like his Minister of War, Eurico Dutra. Dutra was an outspoken Axis sympathizer, but perhaps more importantly to Vargas, he was vying for his spot.
Brazil transitioned from neutral to pro-Allied throughout the course of the conflict, even sending 25,000 troops to fight in the European theater in 1944. Though this effort would prove to be “too little, too late” it still cemented Brazil on the winning side of history. By all accounts, Brazil seemed to benefit from the conflict, with improved infrastructure and more advantageous political ties. Though, this would come at great cost to Vargas’ all-around well-being. After the conflict was over, and the Allies won, Vargas found himself systematically ousted from power and was succeeded as President of Brazil by Dutra.
Though Vargas was able to resume command of Brazil, fallout from his assassination attempt incited the military against him, as well as his resignation. He did so, and in 1954 he ended his own life, complete with a suicide note meant to paint himself as a selfless leader and war hero, fighting against naysayers and the backstabbers who were closest to him. With or without his note, his legacy on his home country was certainly felt then and endures to this day.
What I Thought Reading This Book
This book gave me a different perspective on WWII, a major nexus in history that I often take for granted. The pacing is smooth, and it depicts Germany as being on a slow decline as early as 1942. If I had not known about the story of this conflict and was reading about it for the first time through this book, I would assume that the war was over by that point. The drama and uncertainty often associated with these conflicts was removed, or transformed somewhat, perhaps reflecting the neutral and detached situation that Brazil found itself in.
There are many other characters in this book also. One that struck me particularly is Orson Welles, the legendary American filmmaker who traveled to Brazil to this time presumably to make a film about Rio de Janeiro, but with diplomatic incentives attached.
Overall this was an exciting read. I feel that there are holes in the popular understanding of WWII and how it shaped our modern world. Brazil certainly plays a part in this, and even though these stories are somewhat obscure and hard to come by, they are nonetheless critical for understanding the world we live in today, including the country of Brazil.
