Coup Atlas Research Database
← Back to explorer
14010291945SuccessfulMilitary coup

Brazil, 1945 — military coup

Brazil (BRA)South America, AmericasOctober 29, 1945

Event Summary

On October 29, 1945, senior Brazilian Army commanders forced President Getulio Vargas to resign, ending the fifteen-year Vargas era and the authoritarian Estado Novo. The military, led by War Minister Eurico Gaspar Dutra and Army Chief of Staff General Pedro Aurelio de Goes Monteiro, acted out of fear that Vargas intended to hold on to power despite having scheduled December elections; the immediate trigger was Vargas replacing the Federal District police chief with his own brother, Benjamin Vargas, on October 25. The takeover was essentially bloodless.

Chief Justice Jose Linhares became interim president, since the 1937 constitution had no vice president, and he prepared the country for the December 2, 1945 election, won by Dutra, and a new democratic constitution in 1946 that opened the Fourth Brazilian Republic.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Getulio Vargas, President of Brazil (deposed, forced to resign)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Getulio Vargas (deposed president)
Eurico Gaspar Dutra (War Minister, later elected president)
Pedro Aurelio de Goes Monteiro (Army Chief of Staff)
Jose Linhares (Supreme Court chief justice, interim president)

Sources

The Brazilian Army forced President Getulio Vargas to resign on 29 October 1945, ending his first presidency, out of concern that he intended to seize absolute power.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "1945 Brazilian coup d'etat" open source ↗
The immediate trigger was Vargas removing the Federal District police chief on 25 October 1945 and replacing him with his own brother, Benjamin Vargas.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "1945 Brazilian coup d'etat" open source ↗
The coup was led by generals from Vargas's own ministry; he formally resigned and was replaced by Supreme Federal Court president Jose Linhares, as the 1937 constitution provided no vice president.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "Estado Novo (Brazil)" open source ↗
Senior military officials forced Vargas to step down on October 29, 1945; a general election followed on December 2, 1945, won by former War Minister Eurico Gaspar Dutra.
SOURCE REVIEWED Library of Congress, Brazil-U.S. Relations research guide, "The Vargas Era" open source ↗

Editorial Note

Sources agree the ouster was a largely bloodless military coup driven by fear Vargas would cancel or manipulate the scheduled elections. Wikipedia, the Library of Congress research guide, and the Estado Novo article were read directly this session and are consistent on date, leaders, trigger, and succession.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
14010291945

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Getulio Vargas, President of Brazil (deposed, forced to resign).

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; placed under house arrest. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Luttwak

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

The Austin Statesman

“Linhares In Power After Brazil Coup,” October 30, 1945

Christian Science Monitor

“Vargas Held After Ouster In Rio Coup: Resigns Vargas Guarded After Ouster in Rio Coup At Helm Until Dec. 2 ‘Reconstructive’ Step Halled Sudden Move What Next at Rio?” October 30, 1945

Los Angeles Times

“President Vargas Ousted in Military Coup,” October 31, 1945

New York Herald Tribune

“Brazil Swears In New President; Coup Explained,” October 31, 1945

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

Know something about this event?
Tips are reviewed against sources before anything is added.

Related Records

Brazil — Military coup, 19541954-08-25SuccessfulSouth AmericaBrazil — Military coup, 19551955-11-11SuccessfulSouth AmericaBrazil — Military coup, 19551955-11-21SuccessfulSouth America