Imperial Brazil Trivia Quiz

Answer: Portugal

When the Portuguese Royal Family came to Brazil in 1808 fleeing Napoleon's invasion of their kingdom, Brazil became part of the "United Kingdom of Portugal, Algarve and Brazil", thus ceasing to be a colony. After the return of the Royal Family to Portugal, there was pressure from many factions to "re-colonize" the territories in South America, and to apply once more the strict regulations and taxes that had been revoked.

These measures caused extreme discontent in Brazil and were one of the main factors behind independence.

Answer: Dom Pedro I

Dom Pedro I, son of Portuguese King Dom João VI, was born in Portugal but came to Brazil as a child. Even though he became emperor of the newly born Brazilian Empire, he still played a significant role in Portuguese politics after 1822. He even interfered in the Portuguese Civil War (1828-1834) to ensure his daughter, Maria da Glória, would be Queen of Portugal.

Answer: Dom Pedro II was too young to assume the throne, so during some years a series of regents governed in his stead.

The Regency, which lasted from 1831 to 1840, was one of the most agitated and violent periods of Brazilian history, regional revolts aiming for secession or social change exploded everywhere, and were all duly quelled by the central government. Dom Pedro II's legal majority was changed in an attempt to unify the country politically, and he assumed the throne at the age of fourteen.

Answer: Giuseppe Garibaldi

Garibaldi and his volunteer army of "Red Shirts" were one of the main forces responsible for the unification of Italy.

Answer: Coffee

The political power wielded by the "coffee barons" lasted well into the 20th century, being all-important in the Old Republic.

Answer: Italians, Germans, Japanese, Spaniards & Portuguese

São Paulo has today the biggest ethnic Japanese community outside Japan. In southern Brazil the influence of Italian & German cultures is extensive.

Answer: To attain more territory and influence in the economically invaluable Plate Basin.

Paraguay ultimately lost, along with the war, more than one third of its population and large swaths of territory to Brazil and Argentina. There was actually a 19th century war for nitrate reserves in South America, but it was fought by Bolivia and Peru against Chile, and was known as the Pacific War. Chile won and still holds territory conquered then.

Answer: Great Britain

The United States were not "united" for most of the war´s duration, as it was the height of the Civil War. Austria-Hungary was on the track of financial, military and institutional decline, having just lost the 1866 war with Prussia. The German Empire came into being the year after the war ended, 1871. Great Britain was at the height of its power and prosperity, with an Empire "on which the sun never set".

Answer: The Golden Law - "Lei Aurea"

Many pressure groups fought a relentless struggle for emancipation: intellectuals, urban workers, students, escaped negroes, among others. The process was carried out without any immediate violence, though slavery left a horrific scar on Brazilian society. An it cost the Emperor the support of his main backers: the great south-eastern coffe planters, one of the many reasons for his fall.

Answer: A centralised government headed by military leaders, under the influence of "positivist" ideas.

The Brazilian Empire had its positive and negative aspects. On one hand, it kept the territorial integrity of the vast expanse of Portuguese America, while Spanish America shattered into numerous nations. It also provided the country with a reasonably administered bureaucracy and a stable central government. On the other hand, it allowed the miseries of slavery to extend almost to the close of the century, and deepened the gap between the privileged (mainly great landowners), and the underprivileged (most of the others in Brazil). For good or/and bad, it was a major force in the shaping of modern Brazil.