Republicanismos: Rio de Janeiro e Lisboa (1870-1891)

Abstract

This Master’s thesis aims at comparing Portuguese and Brazilian republican movements through an analysis of its capitals, Lisboa and Rio de Janeiro. Driven by political effervescence and guided by new schools of thought, the republicans have established themselves as a respectful force from 1870 onwards, and have had a highlighted political participation until Brazil’s Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 and the unsuccessful republican revolution in 1891 Portugal. The aforementioned comparison is proposed as a close observation of republican movements when faced with difficult political conflicts, which could provide a fresh view of their shared system of values, standards and beliefs, major channels for their perceptions of the past and aspirations for the future. Moreover, we analysed the ties that linked both movements. Our research was chiefly conducted with a cautious read of the republican press, understood as a source and as an object. On the whole, we also paid attention to republican programs, manifestos, XIX century dictionaries, always in contrast to the current historiography. We defined that the best method of reading and critique would be the history of concepts, which is used when we take a look at key concepts and therefore the meaning that words such as “república”, “democracia”, “federação”, among others, conveyed in the republican discourse. In conclusion, the research shows that Brazilian and Portuguese republicans reinforced mutual solidarity, considering themselves “brotherly peoples”, even though this sharing of democratic values and visions of the past did not result in identical political projects.