Pajama Putsch

In November of 1923, the famous Beer Hall Putsch (a German word meaning a violent attempt to overthrow a government) took place in Munich, Germany.  Adolph Hitler and about six hundred of his Nazi Party followers marched to a beer hall in the center of the city where the Bavarian Prime Minister was addressing about 3,000 businessmen.  Hitler took over the meeting and announced his intention to overthrow the government.  He and his Nazi followers were later confronted by the police.  Sixteen Nazis and four policemen where killed in a shoot-out.  Hitler was wounded and then arrested. 

After a trial that lasted more than a month, Hitler was convicted of treason and sentenced to five years in prison.  After eight months, he was released because of his good behavior.  Almost ten years after the Beer Hall Putsch, in January of 1933, Hitler was appointed as the Chancellor of Germany by the recently re-elected President Paul Von Hindenberg.    Hitler had received the second highest number of votes (13,418,547 or 37% of the total) in the presidential election.  Hitler’s tenure as Chancellor lasted twelve years until his death by suicide (to avoid capture by the Red Army) in April of 1945 near the end of the war he started in September of 1939.

In May of 1938, Brazil had its own putsch, known as the Pajama Putsch.  At that time, Brazil was ruled by a dictator, President Getulio Vargas, who had come to power in the Revolution of 1930.  The Brazilian Integralists, a fascist-like movement, launched an uprising against President Vargas.  They were similar to European fascists, except that they did not preach racial hatred, which would not have made sense in a multi-racial society like Brazil. 

A small group of armed Integralists attacked the Guanabara Palace in Rio de Janeiro (capital of Brazil in 1938) one night while Vargas and his family were asleep.  Vargas was aroused by the noise and, while still in his pajamas, joined his security forces in their attempt to repel the rebels.  “Police and army troops arrived at the last minute and the ensuing gunfight ended with around twenty casualties.”  The Pajama Putsch failed like the one in Germany.

During World War II, Vargas sided with the United States and its allies and sent an expeditionary force (25,000 Brazilian soldiers) to fight in Italy in the second half of 1944.  He resigned his presidency in October of 1945.  However, in 1951 Vargas became President of Brazil again, this time in a free election.  However, in August of 1954, he committed suicide during a political crisis when the Brazilian military demanded his resignation.