Socialism and General Strikes in Brazil in the Immediate Aftermath of World War I (original) (raw)

In June and July 1919, victorious general strikes took place in Salvador, capital of Bahia, and in Recife, capital of Pernambuco, the Northeast region of Brazil. Agripino Nazareth (1886-1961) and Joaquim Pimenta (1886-1963), two important socialists, led the protests that mobilized thousands of workers. The strong economic and social impacts of the First World War (1914-1918) and the political expectations aroused by the Paris Peace Conference (1919) influenced both strikes. The objective of this paper is to analyse these strikes by comparatively examining their similarities and differences, set in the national and international political and ideological scenarios. For that matter, I intend to compare these workers protests with other general strikes that occurred between 1917 and 1919 in Porto Alegre, South of Brazil, and in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the two metropolises in the Southeast of Brazil. I am particularly interested in highlighting how these movements and leaders treated relations of class, gender, nation, nationalism, internationalism and anti-racism. I will also point out the impact of different practices among unionists and anarchist and socialist groups in each city. Finally, I will describe how Brazilian socialists and anarchists interpreted the events in Russia and in Western Europe between 1917 and 1919. My research is based on a wide and varied types of sources: newspapers and magazines (including the ones edited by trade unions and working class leaders); articles and books written by Agrippino Nazareth, Joaquim Pimenta and other socialist and anarchist leaders; reports, journals and other government publications; Anais da Câmara dos Deputados (House of Deputies – [Member of Parliament or House of Representatives Proceedings]); factories, companies and business associations reports.