The Great Depression in Brazil Dylan Schuler
Causes ●Dependency on coffee export o In the 1920s, coffee exports were the source of over 70 % of the entire country’s revenue o Demand for coffee fell dramatically during the Great Depression
Causes Cont. ●Valorization program failure o The government bought and stored surplus coffee when the demand for coffee fell and sold it when the demand for coffee rose again o Depended on taxes and US loans, which fell; Program abandoned o Sold off gold to attempt to fix, but gold used up and currency falls
Effects: Vargas Era ●Destruction of coffee industry combined with pre- existing issues led to Revolution of 1930, coup installs Vargas after his defeat in election o Institutes New Deal -esque policies, similar recovery to US o Populism, nationalism, and protectionism, originally o no land reforms (agricultural elite still in power) Disparity North and South (ironic) o Shift away from previous reform, increasingly reactionary and fascist
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