The rise and fall of Brazil’s first emperor

　　Generally speaking, those independent countries that were former colonies generally adopt an attitude of keeping a distance from the culture of the former colonial master country. In Brazil, the situation is more subtle. Don Pedro I (D. Pedro I), who was born in the Portuguese royal family and was the “first emperor of Brazil”, once again became an important role on the 200th anniversary of Brazil’s independence.
　　The founding king, who spent most of his life in Brazil, had a successful reign in South America, but he was exhausted in his later years. He finally returned to Europe and gained the support he needed in his last moments in Porto, Portugal.
heart back to brazil

　　The heart of Don Pedro I was brought back from Portugal for the first time to mark the 200th anniversary of Brazil’s independence, and it will be the centerpiece of a series of exhibitions on the soil of the country he led to independence. Before that, few people knew that the heart and body of the first emperor of the country were not preserved together.
　　The remains of Don Pedro I have been buried in Brazil since 1972 in the crypt of the Monument to Independence at the Ipiranga Museum in São Paulo, where, as regent at the time, he uttered the cry for Brazilian independence 200 years ago place.
　　Since the emperor’s death, his heart has been preserved in a glass container of formalin for 187 years. The container is housed in the Nossa Senhora da Lapa church in the city of Porto, Portugal.
　　On August 22, 2022, the heart of the First Emperor Pedro I returned to this land of South America for the first time. According to the diplomatic language of Brazil’s presidential palace, the relic received the same state honor as other heads of state who visited the country, paying tribute to the first emperor who declared Brazil’s independence.
　　At the climax of the celebration, the Brazilian people observed the heart of the first emperor through the exhibition “An Eager Heart: The Life and Relics of Don Pedro I” in the Santiago Dantas Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brasilia.

The heart of Don Pedro I is displayed in a formalin container in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, on August 24, 2022
Lebus Pu

　　The inextricable relationship between Brazil and Portugal cannot be summed up simply by “colonial” and “anti-colonial”.
　　In April 1500, the navigator Pedro Alvarez Cabral, commanding the Portuguese expedition fleet that deviated from the course due to the storm, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and landed on the coastline of the northeastern part of Brazil today. Exploration of the land where generations have lived.
　　In 1530, the King of Portugal sent more than 400 nobles to Brazil to establish a colony. This American coast is rich in a kind of red wood – Pau-Brasil, which was widely mined in the early days of the colonial occupation. This new continent was discovered and was eventually named “Brasil” (Brazil).
　　In the 16th and 17th centuries, most of the sugar in Europe came from Brazil. At its peak, 80% of the world’s gold came from this rich paradise on earth.
　　When Napoleon rose, Portugal had already declined in the fierce competition in Europe and became a small marginal country on the European continent. In 1807, after Lisbon was captured by Napoleon’s army, the regent João VI abandoned the people of Portugal and led the royal family to flee to colonial Brazil in a galleon, where he established a government in exile and broke away from Europe. The fiery situation paved the way for Brazil’s independence in the future.

　　Rather than saying that September 7, 1822 was the first day of the founding of Brazil’s independence, it is better to say that Brazil’s independence is a continuous process triggered by several factors.

“Voice of Ipiranga” Incident Oil Painting

　　In 1815, João VI announced the establishment of the Portugal-Brazil-Algarve United Kingdom following the example of the United Kingdom’s “United Kingdom”, which made Brazil rise to the same political status as Portugal. Although the king was willing, the native Portuguese nobles believed that the royal family hiding in Brazil had given the colony too high a political status, and they all demanded to suppress this colony full of “monkeys, niggers and bananas”.
　　In 1821, at the request of the Lisbon Constituent Assembly and the rebellion of the Brazilian army, João VI was forced to embark on a ship returning to Portugal. Before returning, Joao VI declared Crown Prince Pedro the Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil, handing over Brazil to his son, Pedro de Alcantara.
From the Portuguese Crown Prince to the First Emperor

　　In December 1821, the Portuguese Congress urged Crown Prince Pedro, who was staying in Rio de Janeiro at that time, to return home on the grounds of completing the political education of the prince, and stipulated that the provinces of Brazil were directly under the jurisdiction of Lisbon. Under the impetus of the Brazilian independence faction, Pedro rejected the order of the Portuguese Parliament, established a new government, and in May 1822 established himself as the “Permanent Protector of Brazil”.
　　The Portuguese Parliament therefore deposed the post of Regent of Brazil. On September 7, 1822, Pedro, who had just arrived in Sao Paulo, learned of this resolution and decided to cut off the link between Brazil and Portugal. He ordered all those present to take off their Portuguese badges from their uniforms, and on the banks of the Ipiranga River in Sao Paulo, drew their swords and swore to the guards accompanying him: “Independence or death!” Voice” event.
　　The events of this day are considered by later generations to be the beginning of Brazil’s independence. On October 12, Pedro was embraced by the Brazilians as emperor, and a coronation ceremony was held on December 1, with the title of Don Petro I.
　　History professor Juliana Bazeha believes that there is no consensus among historians on the authenticity of the “Call of Ipiranga” incident. In her view, rather than saying that September 7, 1822 was the first day of Brazil’s independence, it is better to say that Brazil’s independence is a continuous process triggered by several factors. The correct term to use for the story of “Brazilian statehood” is therefore “process.” Before and after the official independence, Brazil gradually obtained the independence of judiciary and administration from the Lisbon court.
　　Another factor for independence was that the native Brazilian economic elite wanted to end the Portuguese commercial monopoly that had existed since the beginning of colonization, and the absolute monarchy brought about by the Portuguese suzerainty. Although Napoleon failed at that time, the ideological fire left by him spread all over Europe. Under the influence of the Enlightenment, various countries initiated constitutional monarchy one after another.

　　For quite a long time in the 19th century, Brazil became one of the few newly independent countries in South America that practiced a monarchy.

　　The colonies of countries such as Spain and Portugal became independent in the first half of the 19th century, but marginalized groups during the colonial period, such as enslaved people and indigenous people, still did not gain more rights or participate in politics after the country declared independence. Slavery in Brazil continued for a long time, ending in 1888.
From the first emperor to the king of Portugal

　　In the year after the “Voice of Ipiranga” incident, the forces loyal to Portugal were driven out of Brazil, but Brazil in the early days of independence faced the threat of fragmentation. The reason why Pedro I called the emperor instead of the king was to emphasize the diversity of Brazil’s provinces on the one hand, and on the other hand to emulate Napoleon and try to play the role of an enlightened monarch.
　　For quite a long time in the 19th century, Brazil became one of the few newly independent countries in South America that practiced a monarchy.
　　Pedro I negotiated with the rebel parties in the northeast and south, which was quite effective and maintained the unity of the country. Portugal did not recognize Brazil’s independence until 1825 and signed the Treaty of Peace and Alliance. King João VI of Portugal proclaimed himself the “Honorary Emperor of the Brazilian Empire”.
　　On March 10, 1826, his father Joao VI passed away. Pedro I, who was already the emperor of Brazil, inherited the Portuguese throne and was called “Pedro IV, King of Portugal and the Algarve”. Pedro I offended many forces in balancing the interests of the Portuguese aristocracy and local elites, and the citizens who had high hopes for him began to be disappointed. Coupled with Uruguay’s formal independence in 1828, Brazil’s defeat in the Uruguay War, which subsequently triggered a domestic economic crisis, and the people were generally dissatisfied with Pedro I.
　　On March 13, 1831, residents and soldiers of Rio de Janeiro jointly held anti-monarch demonstrations, and uprisings took place everywhere. On April 7, an anti-Pedro I riot broke out in Plaza Ana in Rio de Janeiro. Pedro I was forced to abdicate the throne of Brazil to his son Pedro II and returned to Portugal by himself.
　　Pedro, nicknamed “The King of Soldiers” and “The Liberator,” had intricate ties to the Brazilian and Portuguese thrones. Maybe we can sort out his throne yearbook: he was the emperor of Brazil from 1822 to 1831 (during which he was also the king of Portugal and the Algarve from March 10 to May 28, 1826), and he was the regent of Portugal from 1832 to 1934.
　　Because Brazil is one of the few countries in South America that has not been reborn through violent revolution, and its independence is the result of top-down results, many people think that Pedro I is a contradictory monarch: because Brazil’s independence was established by the Portuguese royal family. Self-declared, Brazil actually continues to be under the command of the Portuguese royal family, although Portugal is no longer the suzerain of Brazil in name.
　　Brazil and Portugal have a complicated and interesting relationship since the independence process is not a “clean break” resistance model with the original suzerain. Luis Faro Hammers, Portuguese Ambassador to Brazil, said in the lecture “Portugal and Brazil: Past, Present and Future Relations” held at the University of Coimbra last year: We will certainly commemorate the common past and will There is a golden opportunity to celebrate the present and look to the future.
　　According to the ambassador, although Portugal and Brazil have been divided for two centuries, they have experienced many changes together in the past 200 years. The monarchy was replaced by a republic, and then ruled by a military government. Today, both countries have become nation-states. He firmly believes that culture, language, love of football, and even a common taste in food will enable the two countries to continue to appreciate and influence each other.