This week the naval school here in Vitoria celebrated it’s 50th birthday. They marked the occasion with a series of events culminating in the unveiling of two commemorative stamps by the post office.
In case you were caught off guard by the birthday or the fact people still make commemorative stamps, don’t worry. There was a big enough turnout among the naval community in Vitoria to keep the Commandante happy. As a former naval officer my husband is part of this community and I joined him at the Marine corps concert. Despite the unfortunate artistic decision to include “Can You feel the Love Tonight,” which was neither appropriate following Carmen nor improved by the addition of bagpipes, the band was excellent.
I’ve been to a few Naval events during my time in Brazil and it took me a while to realize my husband was in the military during a military dictatorship.
When asked “So, being part of an all powerful military, what was that like?” he explained that A) by the time he was an officer the military was ceding power and the country only a few years away from becoming a Democracy, B) supply officers don’t go on power trips and C) the navy was not really in power during the dictatorship.
Here’s a little Brazilian history. The army has rivalry with the navy that goes beyond an annual sporting event and the dictators of the 20th century came exclusively from the army.
Brazil has the 16th longest coastline in the world, 4,650 miles, and has one of the most extensive river systems in the world. Given this geography, the navy, already an important part of Portuguese culture before their arrival in Brazil, continued to be crucial to the develop and defense of the country. Both the Portuguese royalty during the colonial period and the Brazilian aristocracy during the empire were closely tied to the navy.
When the republic was declared in 1889, it was the army funded by rich but not royal coffee farmers that overthrew the emperor. A people’s army was not eager to share power with an aristocratic navy.
It was your typical armed forces rivalry. “The aristocracy always loved you best.” “Because you’re an undisciplined mess who never touches up the paint on your bases,” etc.
The tension came to a head just a few years into the republic, in 1893, after some bungled governance and a president who ignored the constitution. Several high ranking officers and admirals sent a letter to the president (such nice manners those naval officers) calling for the constitutionally mandated elections. The president’s response was to issue arrest warrants for every officer who signed the letter.
Rather than go to jail, naval officers in Rio de Janeiro attempted a coup and for several days Rio was under siege as the navy exchanged fire with the army. The navy failed to garner popular support, possibly because many of its officers were believed to be sympathetic to the monarchy, and those involved were forced to flee south where they were captured in 1894.
Thus a rivalry was born. Fortunately today, both branches work in support of the democratically elected government. There’s still a competitive edge between them but it only manifests during school fencing and judo tournaments. Or who’s been issued the most commemorative stamps.
