Traces of humans have been found in the interior of Brazil dating back to approximately 8000 BCE. Around 5000 BCE There were pre-ceramic folk groups scattered throughout much of the highlands. From the same time, the oldest piles of shellfish and fish waste are found on the coast. Such mounds are characteristic of this area right up to the colonial period.
Already the oldest pottery finds, from around 1000 BCE, show a clear division of Brazil into the Amazon basin and southern Brazil. The border runs along the southern edge of the Amazon rainforest.
The culture of southern Brazil was relatively isolated, while the people of the Amazon area were in turn culturally influenced by Venezuela, Guyana and the regions of the upper Amazon.
The colonial past
The Portuguese Pedro Álvares Cabral reached the present state of Bahia in Brazil on a trip to India. To see more information other than history, please visit Abbreviationfinder to learn more about climate, population, government, and economy for the country of Brazil. In 1500 he took possession of the King of Portugal. The area was soon named Brazil because of the abundance of color trees (brazil) found in the new country. Initially, Brazil was mostly used as a deportation point for criminals, but eventually many colonies were founded along the coast, and in 1538 the first African slaves were introduced to work on the sugar plantations.
In 1549, Governor-General Thomé de Souza founded the city of Bahia, which was the capital until 1762. At that time, some Jesuits immigrated, and their mission contributed greatly to colonization, including the Anla de São Paulo in 1554. In the mid-1500s, the French tried to settle down around the river Rio de Janeiro, but in 1567 General Governor Mem de Sá expelled them and founded the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Under Portugal’s union with Spain (1580-1640), the Dutch conquered Bahia in 1624 and Pernambuco (Recife) in 1630, and they gained a thriving colony which Portugal first regained in 1654 with the help of England. At the peace in 1661, the Netherlands completely defeated Brazil against Ceylon and Celebes.
When Portugal released itself from Spain in 1640, the colony was mainly used to extract gold to pay the debt to the United Kingdom. São Paulo evolved to become the heart of the colony, a center of mining that also attracted many European “fortune hunters” who felt no responsibility towards the Portuguese rulers. The Jesuits counteracted slavery which was the mainstay of the economic system, and were therefore expelled from the colony in 1759. The San Ildefonso Treaty of 1777 set Brazil’s borders to the south, and Spain gained Uruguay.
Facing Brazil, Portugal applied the usual mercantilist principle: the greatest possible exploitation of the colonial wealth; especially gold and diamond mines, while all independence in spiritual and economic terms was suppressed and all trade reserved for the motherland. Plantation cultivation, especially of coffee, became increasingly important, and the plantation owners wanted to sell their goods freely on the world market.
The upper class was influenced by the ideas of the 18th century and the American independence struggle. The wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon seemed in the same direction.
- Countryaah: Check to see the location of Brazil on the world map. Also covers major mountains, rivers and lakes in Brazil.
Brazil becomes an independent empire
When King Johan 6 was expelled from Portugal by Napoleon in 1807 and moved his residence to Rio de Janeiro, the ports were opened for free trade with other nations, and Brazil gained the title of kingdom. For Portugal, the loss of Brazil was fatal: as much as 90 percent of the country’s total foreign trade was lost. The UK transferred a large portion of its claims to Brazil since Portugal was unable to pay its debts. The “liberal revolution” in Portugal in 1820 contributed to a “recolonization” of Brazil. When Johan 6 returned to Portugal in 1821, he left his son Dom Pedro 1 d’Alcántara in Brazil. He declared Brazil’s independence in 1822 and was proclaimed emperor. His power was limited, and Britain still had a good grip on the economy. Dom Pedro left Brazil in 1831 and handed the throne to his six-year-old son, Dom Pedro 2 d’Alcántara.
When slavery was abolished in the British colonies in 1833, British slave traders began to focus more heavily on the slave trade in Brazil. Within the vast country, the 20 provinces with the new constitution in 1834 gained extensive autonomy. Coffee production has become the mainstay of Brazil’s economy. Coffee growers increasingly relied on immigrants who soon formed the new working class. All imports of slaves were banned in 1850, and a number of new laws gradually prevented slave trade between the provinces. It was not until 1888 that slavery was abolished, which led many plantation owners to oppose the empire and became supporters of the Republican movement. Within a year, the empire was overthrown, and with the intervention of the army, Brazil became a republic in 1889. Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca (1827-1892) became the first president of the republic.
First time of the Republic
The various provinces within the new republic were in varying degrees of development, but production was essentially aimed at the export market. The most prosperous regions were São Paulo with its coffee production, and the mining area of Minas Gerais. The oligarchy in Brazil had its roots in these areas. Around the turn of the century, the poor masses of cocoa and sugar plantation workers in Bahiarebellion, led by religious fanatic Antônio Maciel (“O Conselheiro”). The rebellion is known as the Jagunços uprising. The coffee barons in São Paulo and the mining aristocracy in Minas Gerais made successful attempts to monopolize the federation’s power to consolidate Brazil’s position internationally. The ones who benefited most from this were the foreign finance groups.
Foreign policy approached Brazil with Argentina and Chile, and in personal meetings between the presidents a kind of alliance was formed between the three powers, the ABC states, to safeguard South America’s special political interests, and with an agreement on arbitration in border disputes. In 1903 the border dispute with Bolivia about the Acre District was settled. Acre was incorporated into Brazil as territory and in 1907 and 1909 the borders were regulated against Peru and Uruguay. Brazil’s highly protectionist customs policy was reflected in the Tanbaté Agreement (1906) between the coffee-growing individual states, and the government guaranteed the coffee growers a minimum price.
During and after World War I
Around 1910, a serious trade crisis occurred due to the fall in prices of coffee and rubber, which also led to internal unrest. The financial decline continued during World War I, hindering the marketing of Brazil’s most important raw product, coffee. Despite energetic calls from the entente, President Venceslau Braz long opposed the breach with Germany, but when Brazilian ships were sunk by German submarines, Brazil in April 1917 broke the diplomatic link, seized German ships and declared war in October of that year. The war weakened British influence in Brazil, and the United States emerged as a strong competitor. Economic relations with the United States entailed direct investment in the burgeoning Brazilian industry aimed at the national market.
The 1920s were characterized by conflicts between industrial bourgeoisie and traditional oligarchy. The workers organized themselves, and the Communist Party PCB, established in 1921, was soon banned. The traditional alliances were about to disintegrate. A new anti-imperialist alliance emerged between opposition coffee makers, nationalist industrialists, the middle class and young officers. This Aliança Liberal took power in 1930 in what has subsequently been called the Brazilian Revolution. Getúlio Vargas assumed office.
Vargas period
The crisis in the capitalist economy that marked the beginning of the 1930s hit Brazil’s coffee exports. But the crisis gave rise to a strong nationalism and a strong development of the national industry that had to replace the lack of import goods. Vargas gained massive support in the cities, but his policies did not advance the interests of the agricultural oligarchy. Both the Communist Party PCB and the fascist party Ação Integralista (the “green shirts “), created in 1932 with great support from German and Italian immigrants, led to increasing polarization in relation to Vargas’ regime. PCBs, some unions and young officers formed the national front Aliança Nacional Libertadora (ANL) which was declared illegal in 1935. ANL made a failed rebel attempt later that year, and Vargas introducedexception state.
In 1937, Vargas gave himself dictatorial power by dissolving parliament and declaring all parties illegal. He proclaimed Estado Novo (the new state), which was characterized by the fascist state models that ruled in Germany and Italy at the same time. According to the propaganda, Vargas was “the father of the poor” and a spokesman for “the interests of the nation”. US equity interests watched with unrest on developments that weakened their influence on Brazil’s economy. The Vargas regime broke with the Axis Powers in 1941 and participated actively in World War II on the Allies’ side. The army forced Vargas to step down in 1945, and the radical winding-up of Estado Novo led American capital to become truly prevalent in Brazil. However, Vargas was elected president again in 1951 on a social reform program and made no attempt to reintroduce Estado Novo. Still, he tried to gain control of foreign investment, but Vargas lacked the populist support he had in the 1930s and control of the army. After Vargas’ suicide in 1954, the government of Café Filho (1899-1970) ensured that foreign capital regained its influence. This created unrest among the developed national bourgeoisie, which saw the industry become nationalized. After the Korean War, multinational companies gained a solid foothold in Brazil.
The military dictatorship
The economic situation was critical when João Goulart took over the presidential office in 1961. Inflation outweighed the promised wage increases, and Goulart was unable to obtain support from the working class or the army. In trying to gain support from the left, he proclaimed nationalization and land reform in March 1964. On April 1 of that year, the military seized power by a coup. Radical parties were banned, later this applied to all parties. The National Assembly was dissolved. Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco led the first military-technocratic regime in Latin America, which would soon have to settle in other countries on the continent. The ideology of “national security” was formed. It ended in a total war between “the democratic and Christian West” and “the communist and materialist east”.
Brazil became America’s most faithful ally in Latin America. The regime used all arguments to justify the violent fight against the opposition. Since Brazil is the most important country in South America, this affected neighboring countries. The building’s actions and demonstrations by workers and students in 1968 led to further austerity when General Artur da Costa e Silva took power and gave himself and his successors the right to rule with dictatorial power.
“The economic miracle”
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the military government was able to show impressive economic growth. This did not mean that living conditions improved for the average Brazilian. It was the multinational corporations that benefited the most, and the military regime attached itself to prestige technology and had obvious aspirations to become a military superpower. Brazil became a major arms exporter and installed nuclear power plants. The world’s largest hydropower plant was built in Itaipú, on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. Such projects caused the forced migration of entire indigenous communities. The regime launched hasty and poorly planned exploits of the Amazon jungle that led to ecological disaster. The demolition of vast areas in favor of road construction, power development and neo-colonization has also led to the death of several indigenous peoples. These conditions led to strong reactions to the regime’s lack of responsibility towards the social tragedies affecting the population. Hunger revolts were defended by sectors within the Catholic Church, and some bishops called for armed resistance to the regime, which led to a tense relationship between the state and the church.
During the dictatorship, the military elite founded the party Aliança Renovadora Nacional (ARENA). Until 1979, the only legal opposition party was Movimento Democrático Brasileiro (MDB), which was bound by the laws of the military to the extent that its influence was not real. The opposition was therefore largely expressed through demonstrations in the streets. Under President Ernesto Geisel (1974-1979), it became clear that factions within the military saw the time to gradually change the political system. MDB gained increasing support and posed a serious threat to ARENA in the 1978 election when General João Baptista de Figueiredo took over as president. The gradual opening meant that a new party law came into force in December 1979 that ended the two-party system. The Labor Party (PTB) leader Leonel Brizola (1922–2004) returned from exile and Tancredo Neves (1910–1985) created the Partido Democrático Brasileiro (PDB). The ruling party changed its name to Partido Demócrata Social (PDS) and the MDB was hereafter called PMDB. The purpose of the “opening” was obviously to split the opposition ahead of the next election. The unions again became legal and used the opportunity to organize extensive strikes in São Paulo, Latin America’s largest industrial center.
At the same time, the “economic miracle” began to fade. Foreign debt was formidable and still increasing. The consequences of the military’s prestige policy became dramatically visible. In the 1982 election, the ruling party PDS prevailed through an intricate electoral procedure that afforded the other parties few opportunities. Figueiredo continued as president, this time without uniform. His task was to prepare for the transition to real elections and negotiate a solution with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In fact, the country considered declaring bankruptcy a dramatic challenge to the international economic system. The election in 1985 was therefore marked by the enormous financial difficulties and a dramatically rising unemployment rate. In the first direct presidential election in 1985, the coalition prevailedAliança Democrática, and veteran Tancredo Neves symbolized the end of the military era. Before the inauguration in April, however, Neves died. His successor was José Sarney, originally from the ruling party PDS. The transition was therefore more moderate than one had expected with Neves as head of state.
Political and economic crisis
José Sarney kept a low profile and tried to implement Neves’ reconciliation policy, but without success. In 1986, the government launched Plan Cruzado, which introduced a new currency unit and price halt in an attempt to gain control of inflation. The price halt burst after six months, and inflation ran rampant. A similar attempt in 1989 was equally unsuccessful. Brazil’s major problem was the foreign debt, which was now the largest in the world. In 1988, Brazil had a surplus of US $ 19 billion in the trade balance, but everything disappeared in the bottomless debt swap that year was an incredible $ 120 billion.
In the 1988 local elections, the Labor Party Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), led by trade union veteran Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, made great progress and won in the major industrial cities. The new Constitution of 1988 opened for the first direct presidential election in 29 years and gave increased power to the National Assembly. The presidential election was considered in advance as a battle between the two veteran candidates who both had strong roots in the labor movement, Lula da Silva and Leonel Brizola. However, a young, dynamic and modern candidate emerged who thundered against Sarney’s failed policies and promised the liquidation of Brazil’s corrupt traditions. Fernando Collor de Mello from the right-wing National Liberal Party (PRN), surprisingly won the presidential election with enthusiastic support from the modern city bourgeoisie. Collor de Mello implemented a comprehensive privatization and import reduction in line with IMF recommendations. His confident and dynamic style faded as Brazil’s complicated financial problems towered and he himself began to fall victim to the corruption culture his voters thought he was going to fight. The accusations were soon made public, and the new constitution did not give the president the same privileges that Latin America was accustomed to. Collor de Mello was dismissed as president in December 1992, and Itamar Franco took over as interim president until the 1994 elections. There was a dramatic but instructive taste of the new democratic principles in Latin America. New scandals in the National Assembly and government continued throughout 1993, causing serious ethical problems.
A 1993 referendum stipulated that Brazil should remain a republic and have a presidential system. The 1994 presidential election was won by former Finance Minister Fernando Henrique Cardoso of the PSDB, with Lula da Silva losing just as badly as in 1989. Cardoso launched another economic giant plan; the so-called “real plan”, to stabilize the economy. The plan contributed to a positive development fairly quickly, and Cardoso was re-elected as president in 1998, after a constitutional change the year before made it possible for reelection. His Social Democratic Coalition could thus continue. Not least, the measures to attract foreign investors bear fruit. But just as visible was the vulnerability of the fast-growing economy with this deficit on the state budget and trade balance. Only then the collapse of Russia’s economy and recent financial crisis in Asia sent shock waves out in the international community in 1998 to 1999, Brazil was hit with full force. Speculation that the country would become the next “domino chip” in a global collapse led to dramatic currency flight. The interest rate rose to 45 percent, the stock exchanges plunged, and after a devaluation attempt, the currency became real free.
Lula da Silva and new hopes
However, the crisis at the beginning of the new century was short-lived and had less severe consequences than feared. But the basic problems in the Brazilian economy were equally unsolved. Fairly enough, the government accelerated its efforts to privatize state business, which eventually helped to reduce the budget deficit. A larger loan package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1999, and the accompanying requirement to cut public spending, pointed in the same direction. In the autumn of 2002, however, the national debt rose to USD 330 billion, and significant stock exchange and currency declines were experienced throughout the year. This time it was the sweeping “tango crisis” in neighboring Argentina which caused the problems to accelerate. A domestic reason for a historic bottom level for the currency and turmoil in the financial market were the polls that announced victory for left-wing socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the presidential election this fall. The IMF entered into new loans, the largest ones to date, to prevent Brazil from pursuing an economic collapse. In parallel, new, serious corruption revelations came, and a general distrust of the community elite triggered mass demonstrations on several occasions.
Lula da Silva became the first socialist to win a democratic election in Brazil, and he became the first president with a working background without formal education. And never has anyone received such a great support; 61 percent of the vote when he defeated Cardoso’s candidate, José Serra, in the second round. Lula da Silva, who had participated in all presidential elections since the fall of the junta, had been raised in the votes of the trade union movement, the political left and the economic underclass. But through his political career he had purposefully acquired a broad political and social platform. He appointed the multi-billionaire José Alencar (1931–2011) as vice president, and the political program offered a center course. The election promises meant some effort to balance the economy – and a responsible down payment on the huge foreign loans – as the basis for large-scale programs in areas such as unemployment, school, health care, poverty., family farming and land reform. At the start of his presidential term, Lula da Silva succeeded in gathering a broad majority in the National Assembly behind his politics. He also succeeded, to an unusual extent, following South American conditions, in starting the period as a popular president – and as a role model in neighboring countries as well.
Foreign policy Lula da Silva formed a new force in strengthening regional cooperation in South America, and he sought closer cooperation with the EU – as part of a strategy for more equality in relation to the United States. His social program corresponded with a strong commitment to a more just world trade and global leveling. Lula emerged as a central figure both in the newly formed World Social Forum, with Porto Alegre as the host city, and in the Socialist International, which during its congress in Sao Paulo in 2003, the center of gravity moved more towards the Third World. In parallel, he emphasized upgrading Brazil’s international role as a large nation, including to the industrialized countries’ G8 forum and by demanding a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Social and ecological crisis
The seemingly insoluble financial problems have had major social side effects. Social programs and assistance to the underprivileged have been hit by the country’s poor economy. The slums in big cities have grown explosively, and thousands of children live on the streets and live off petty crime and begging. In the 1990s, private death squads systematically murdered street children, and in 1994 a massacre against street children in Rio de Janeiro was revealed. The police have been accused of being behind or known about the offenses, and the fight against crime is struggling in the headwind. 50,000 killings in 2003 give Brazil a second place in international statistics.
If there were strong fluctuations in the Brazilian economy in the years around the turn of the millennium, the curves of poverty development moved more smoothly – in the wrong direction. In 2002, almost every third inhabitant lived below the poverty line. President Lula da Silva tackled a very real problem with his “zero hunger program” in 2003, under the motto “Three meals a day for everyone by 2006”. Monetary policy contributed to a steady and strong increase in exports, the current account surplus increased to NOK 150 billion in Lula’s first year as president. But Brazil was still high on international statistics on the distribution of land and property. At this time, 47 percent of all arable land was collected by one percent of the population; 20 percent set with 90 percent of the earth. Changing governments have advocated land reform, but the implementation has proved difficult. The grass root movement MST (Movimento Sem Terra; The movement of the landless) has become an important political power factor, and has, among other things, initiated the occupation of agricultural properties which were unused and of public buildings; actions that have been met with private militia.
The crisis has also intensified the ecological problems. Particular international attention has been devoted to the state of the Amazon region, the largest rainforest area and the last extensive pioneer front in the world. In the mid-1990s, it was estimated that about ten percent, or 426,000 square kilometers (km²), of the Brazilian rainforest had been cut down. In the 1987 peak alone, 37,000 km² of rainforest was destroyed. Deforestation then began to decline, partly because of the economic problems in the country; in 1991 it was 11,000 km².
The cause of deforestation is steam projects, mining, cattle farming and the influx of thousands of landless farmers. Gold diggers and others who are looking for short-term gain threaten the foundations of life for both indigenous peoples and other small communities. This process is about to destroy the world’s richest ecological diversity, which, among other things, contains animal and plant species that have not yet been mapped, but which can be of great importance, inter alia, in medicine. The conflicts often turn into violent confrontations. A martyr in this regard has been the leader of the rubber tapping union, Chico Mendes (1944–1988), who was murdered by a rancher on December 22, 1988. President Collor de Mello was influenced by international opinion pressure and created new reserves in the northern areas. where The Yanomamö people have declined dramatically in recent years.
The turn of the millennium should also be a 500 year mark for the colonization of the Portuguese, and thus the starting point for today’s Brazil. But the celebration was overshadowed by protests against a policy that has led to an indigenous population of an estimated five million in the 16th century being reduced to around 350,000. A power development plan that would touch large areas of the Amazon also led to protests; the background was a growing energy shortage that occasionally resulted in power rationing. Similarly, soybean cultivation puts increasing pressure on the rainforest; The position as the world’s largest producer of soybeans has demanded that huge forest land be burnt.
In the decade following the turn of the millennium, biofuels could be added to the list; Beetroot is the most important raw material in the production of bioethanol. Internationally, the major producer Brazil – with around 30 percent of world production – had to defend itself against double criticism; respectively to use agricultural land to make fuel and to use rainforest land for agricultural purposes. Deforestation was now in waves, with a peak in 2003/04 when an area the size of Hedmark county was chopped or burned. After a sharp decline, a new increase followed in 2007/08, despite satellite monitoring and promises of more tangible countermeasures. In August 2008, however, President Lula da Silva launched the Amazon Foundation, which, with contributions from a number of countries, including Norway, will finance and quality-assure countermeasures as part of international climate work. Deforestation in Brazil is estimated to be equivalent to one fifth of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
A great power in the matter
Brazil has emerged as the world’s third largest exporter of agricultural products, contributing significantly to the country’s economic growth during the international food crisis, which pushed prices down towards the end of the first decade of the 2000s. New, huge oil and gas discoveries off the coast simultaneously pointed to a future as the world’s sixth largest petroleum nation, the state oil and gas company Petrobras now emerged as the fourth largest in the world. With its strong focus on hydropower, Brazil aims to become a major power in renewable energy as well. These natural factors form part of the precondition for the role the country has played in the international arena under President Lula da Silva.
The so-called BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – are all characterized by strong economic growth and are increasingly counterbalancing the US. Also within the so-called G20 group, Brazil has taken a central position, especially in the fight against the richest countries’ agricultural support and export subsidies. The first EU-Brazil Summit took place in 2007. On its own continent, Brazil appears to be an economic locomotive, leading to the establishment of a Latin American trade-political alliance – thus setting the foot for the United States’ All-American Free Trade Model, FTAA. However, President Lula da Silva emphasizes having a good relationship with the United States, in sharp contrast to his rival over the leadership role in Latin America, Venezuela’s former President Hugo Chávez.
In Lula da Silva’s last presidential term, many economic indicators pointed in the right direction. The previously so burdensome foreign debt was repaid in the winter of 2008, when Brazil became a net creditor in the international financial market. Unemployment had dropped noticeably, and more and more – 20 million people in the years 2006-2007 – were rising from poverty to the lower middle class, which now accounted for almost half the population. Low inflation and stable currency led to a main objective of his political program being achieved. Various support schemes related to the large-scale plan “Bolsa Família” led to increased purchasing power also for the poorest quarter of the population; the proportion of people living in extreme poverty had been halved, from 16 to 8 percent since the mid-1990s. Tax revenues rose steeply, and before the financial crisis hit, foreign companies doubled their investments in Brazil in one year. In addition to agriculture and oil, industry and tourism are important focus areas. Reforms in the traditionally heavily stratified school system also contributed to social equalization in the country, which for many years had been characterized by the largest poverty gap in the world; however, a report in 2008 showed that more than one in four of the country’s just over five million child workers did not receive schooling. And financial crime,Corruption, mafia and a world-class violence and murder rate were still a brake on development. Regardless, President Lula da Silva again scored high on popularity polls – despite a somewhat limited political armistice as a result of his party, PT, having lost the majority in parliament.
Lula da Silva’s Labor Party, PT, which is often compared to the Norwegian SV, came weakened by the election in 2006. In the presidential election, which was held at the same time, Lula also had to note a clear decline compared to the election year four years earlier; second round voting gave him 61 percent of the vote against Social Democrat Geraldo Alckmin’s 39 percent; the electoral scheme explains some of the margin. Lula came out best in the economically weak northern and northwestern states, while the middle-class south dominated the house of Alckim’s core voters. The year before the 2006 election, however, a re-election was almost written off, when a serious and very extensive corruption affair shook the party. A large number of government ministers and central party officials had to go, and every fifth TP representative in the National Assembly was indicted – in the party that came to power in 2002 just to fight the culture of Brazilian politics. But Lula da Silva himself became clear, and both the role of the police and the media, as well as the politics’ own self-cleaning ability, were seen as a confirmation that Brazil is developing positively, not only economically and socially but also democratically. The government’s broad-based settlement with the junta era, and the promise that everything will now come to light and all those responsible will be brought to justice, fits into the same picture.
History of Overview of Brazil’s
Brazil – a brief historical overview
| 1000 BC | Agricultural cultures in parts of the country |
| 1530s | The Portuguese colonization begins |
| 1567 | Rio de Janeiro is founded |
| 1600s | Continued colonization and strife with Englishmen and Dutch |
| 1762 | Rio de Janeiro becomes the capital of the previously established Viceroy of Brazil |
| 1807 | The Portuguese king is expelled from Napoleon’s homeland and settles in Brazil |
| 1815 | Brazil becomes an independent monarchy in personnel union with Portugal |
| 1822 | Rebellion leads to full independence as an empire |
| 1849-1852 | War with Argentina |
| 1865-1870 | War with Paraguay |
| 1889 | Revolution leads to the abolition of slavery and the fall of the empire |
| 1891 | Republican Constitution. Persistent financial difficulties in the late 1800s |
| 1900 years | Border adjustments with Bolivia, Peru and Uruguay |
| 1917 | The World War causes a crisis for coffee exports. Brazil is joining the war on the entente side |
| 1930 | President Vargas comes to power |
| 1930 | Increasing dictatorship. Economic depression |
| 1942 | Brazil joins the Second World War against the Axis powers |
| 1945 | Vargas is overthrown |
| 1951-1954 | Vargas back in power. Increasing industrialization |
| 1956-1961 | The country’s economy is being weakened by the construction of a new capital, Brazil, under President Kubitschek |
| 1960-61 | A large part of the administration is transferred to Brazil |
| 1964 | Military dictatorship is introduced |
| 1970 | Economic growth, but skewed income distribution. The development of the Amazon creates conflicts with the Native American population |
| 1978-1988 | A total of 220 000 km 2 of rainforests disappear |
| 1980 | Increased opposition to military rule and some liberalization |
| 1984 | Free elections, Tancredo Neves is elected president, but dies before the inauguration |
| After 1985 | Huge financial problems, constant currency reforms and the world’s highest foreign debt create increased poverty |
| 1990 | Major social problems, human rights violations and conflicts in the Amazon are affecting the country |
| Around 2000 | Growing economy is affected by international crises. Mass demonstrations against corruption |
| 2002 | Lula is elected president. He raises high hopes with his financial program, and is aiming for a leadership role internationally |