Tenentismo

Tenentismo refers to a Brazilian political and military movement in the 1920s formed by junior army officers, primarily lieutenants (tenentes), who challenged the oligarchic arrangements of the Old Republic (Republica Velha) and the rule of the coffee with milk politics. The movement arose from dissatisfaction with corruption, the influence of regional caudillos, and the perceived need to modernize the Brazilian state and its armed forces. Its program combined call for reform of electoral and administrative systems with a push for greater civilian control over the military and broader social and political modernization.

The Tenentes organized a series of uprisings and conspiracies in the early to mid-1920s, most notably in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Although these revolts did not immediately overthrow the government, they disrupted the political order and stimulated the formation of wider reformist and revolutionary currents. The movement produced prominent figures such as Isidoro Dias Lopes and Miguel Costa, and, later, Luiz Carlos Prestes, who would become a central leader of the Coluna Prestes—a long march (1925–1927) through Brazil’s interior intended to rally regional uprisings and advocate for national reform. The Tenentes also helped popularize anti-corruption and anti-oligarchic themes, influencing subsequent political realignments.

Legacy and influence: Tenentismo contributed to the breakdown of the Old Republic and helped set the stage for Getúlio Vargas’s rise to power in 1930. It left a lasting imprint on Brazilian military and political culture, contributing to later constitutional and reformist currents and shaping debates about civilian supremacy, modernization, and national identity. Some tenentes later aligned with leftist movements, including the Brazilian Communist Party, during the subsequent political transitions.