Patrianovism
The Brazilian Patrianovist Imperial Action, Pátria-Nova, or simply Patrianovism, was a monarchist organization that was present in many Brazilian states and that expressed the nationalist ideals of the 1920s and 1930s. Idealized by Arlindo Veiga dos Santos, it sought to establish a new organic monarchy in Brazil based on traditionalist policies, unlike what the now-defunct Empire of Brazil, which the patrianovists saw as liberal.
Patrianovism is considered to be the pioneer of the ultra-right movement in Brazil, being the most expressive prior to the existence of the Brazilian Integralist Action. Even though they are considered the most relevant monarchist organization of the First Brazilian Republic, the party never managed to rally the masses to join their ranks, making it a vanguardist movement composed mostly of the middle-class. Some journalists claimed that patrianovism was just another movement portrayed as the new trend.
Etymology
The term Pátria-Nova originated from Portuguese integralism, which sought to create a "New Portugal" by recovering the many medieval institutions and adapting them to the modern age. This ideology supported the establishment of an organic, traditionalist, and anti-parliament monarchy based on Catholic, nationalistic and anti-liberal ideals. Such ideas were aligned with the Brazilians who sought to establish a similar form of government. Thus, In Brazil, Pátria-Nova became synonymous with searching for a new fatherland with its basis in tradition.History
The dawn of the 20th century raised opposition to liberalism, democracy and republicanism, not only in Brazil but also in Portugal and most of the world, in the form of fascism. This line of thought strengthened radical monarchism in those two countries, during the rise of the First Brazilian Republic and before the First Portuguese Republic.The Catholic Church also poised itself to stand against Socialism and promote a "spiritual revolution" in Brazil. For this reason, Jackson Figueiredo established the Centro Dom Vital in 1922. The vitalistas based their line of thought from the Catholic social teaching and integralist movements, like the Action Française and Lusitanian Integralism.
These events led to a rise in Traditional Monarchism which is different from other monarchist movements and groups like the Diretório Monárquico do Brasil or the Monarchist Party of São Paulo.
First phase (1928–1937)
In 1928, a group of young Catholic intellectuals from the Brazilian middle class, mostly from the University of São Paulo and from of the Marian Congress of Saint Ifigênea, following the lead of Arlindo Veiga dos Santos, a black poet, founded the Monarchist Center of Social Culture and New-Fatherland Politics, which sought to study national problems, uniting the ideas of corporatism to anti-liberal monarchism. This centre was the first group in Brazil to have a fascist-leaning outlook.In 1932, after a period in which the monarchists grouped together with what would become the Brazilian Integralist Action, Pátria-Nova would then become the Ação Imperial Patrianovista Brasileira, a separate organization. At this point, the patrianovists already had elaborated their policies, to promote the instauration of an Organic Empire, with an emphasis on taking a different governmental approach to what the Brazilian Empire had taken, and also had established centres for the propagation of such ideals in almost all Brazilian provinces, founding more than 200 centres for meetings and studies as of 1935, ranging from the Brazilian South to the Amazon, with notable examples such as the Centro de Cultura Social Dom Henrique in the state of Pernambuco.
In 1934, Veiga resigned from his post as the president of the AIPB, alleging particular motivations. The reason why he left his post is unclear, but it could have been either due to indiscipline or disrespect for authority. Some historians speculate that he decided to leave his post because other high-ranking Patrianovists were racist. While he was away, Patrianovism still was running somewhat normally, performing celebrations and events, such as the celebration of Dom Pedro Henrique, the then pretender to the Brazilian throne. Nonetheless, he re-assumed the position of president in 1936.
Patrianovism persisted in Brazilian politics, expanding to more than fifteen states, being predominant in the south of Brazil, where pátria-nova competed with the integralists, especially in areas of Germanic heritage, appealing to such demographic by exposing Dom Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza as a true German, as many of the Brazilian House of Bragança had married German nobility. Patrianovism expanded irregularly, due to communication hardships, personalist leaders, faulty propaganda and scarce funds. The consequence of such a situation is the empty state the AIPB was left in 1936. The situation remained the same until President Getúlio Vargas prohibited the existence of all political organizations with his proclamation of the Estado Novo in 1937. The patrianovists applauded the measures taken by the new regime and identified themselves with it.
Second phase (1945–1978)
The Patrianovists resurfaced in 1945, after the end of Vargas' rule, but the group was almost empty. When parties became legal again, the Political Police started to follow dos Santos on the basis that he was an Integralist. He was never able to reproduce the capability of mobilization Patrianovism witnessed in its first phase. The organization was only formally reactivated in 1955, under the name AIPB.In 1964, military and civilian forces organized a coup d'état. The Patrianovists were yet again supporters of the new regime, as they were part of the conspiring forces. In the following years, political liberties were weakened by the new dictatorial government. Patrianovism was also affected as the movement progressively crumbled. In 1978, Arlindo Veiga dos Santos died, after persisting in the political exclusion he found himself in.
The Historian Teresa Malatian, who kickstarted the study on patrianovism in 1981, noted that "There were no archives, nor bibliographies, nor documentation" when she began her studies, only managing to do so by a chance encounter with someone who knew a patrianovist. This showcases how small the movement was, even though it was in a part of Brazilian history, the biggest ultra-right organization.
Paramilitary
In 1932, the paramilitary group Guarda Imperial Patrianovista, called the camisas brancas and who bore the patrianovist red arrow cross, meaning the "union of the cross of Christ and the arrows of the indians", on their left arm, was formed to "defend a Christian Brazil against the attacks of communism" and prepare the country for the establishment of the third Empire. Patrianovists thought of themselves as "mythical warriors of Christianity".Ideology
Patrianovism is rooted in Catholicism, the political teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, nationalism, and the rejection of liberalism and a constitution. It thus criticizes not only the process of Brazilian independence, from the perspective that the country had achieved independence in 1815 – when Brazil was elevated to the status of constituent kingdom of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves – but also those seeking to restore the empire with the 1824 Brazilian Constitution. They argued that there were more self-ruling liberties for municipalities than after the "separation".For Patrianovists, when a monarch signs a constitution, no matter the circumstances that they were in, they become subject to those who were once their vassals. The AIPB argued that the notion of the absolute king being a despot is false and that liberalism is the true despotic government since despotism is when the one or the many in power do not recognize any other principle except their own will.
Eight points
The eight points made in the party's newspaper Pátria Nova in 1929 were the following:- Creed – Roman Catholicism should be made mandatory in every institution;
- Monarchy – A responsible monarch should be able to rule and govern freely. The monarchy is the basis for syndicalist municipalism;
- Brazilian fatherland and race – Affirmation of the Brazilian people in every stance: religiously, physically and economically;
- New method of administrative division – Brazil should be divided into smaller provinces and regions, solely for administrative reasons, to prevent regionalism and consecutively separatism;
- Syndicalist organization – Both spiritual and economical productions should be organized in syndicates.
- Imperial capital at the center/heart of the Empire;
- Foreign relations based on Christianity;
- Special agreement relationship with Ibero-America.
Manifesto
We are Pátria-Nova, radical and violent extreme Right, affirmers of God and His Church, affirmers of the Imperial, Catholic Nation, irreconcilable and intolerant enemies of bourgeoisism, plutocratism and the materialist, atheist, mocking, exploitative, internationalist, Judaizer and Freemasonic capitalism; enemies of the republic, of the parties, of parliamentarism, in short, of religious, political and economic liberalism; that is, also as enemies of the Bolshevik anarchy that with equally big mistakes intend, in vain, to "correct" the tyranny of liberal bourgeoisie, as enemies of the lying social order, installed virtually all over the world.