The decline and fall of Pedro II of Brazil took place in the 1880s. It coincided with a period of economic and social stability and progress for the Empire of Brazil, with the nation achieving a prominent place as an emerging power in the international arena.
While Pedro II's rule began in 1840, the roots of the collapse of the monarchy can be traced as far back as 1850, when Pedro II's youngest male child died. From that point onward, the emperor himself ceased to believe in the monarchy as a viable form of government for Brazil's future, as his remaining heir was a daughter. Although constitutionally permitted, a female ruler was considered unacceptable by both Pedro II and the ruling circles. This issue was deferred for decades, while the country became more powerful and prosperous. So long as the emperor was in good health, the question of succession could be ignored.
From 1881 on, Pedro II's health began to fail, and he gradually withdrew from public affairs. Weary of being tied to a throne that he doubted would survive his death, he persevered because there seemed to be no immediate alternative and because it was his duty. His daughter and heir, Isabel, also did not exhibit a desire to assume the crown. Both, however, had the support of the Brazilian people. The royal family's indifference to the Imperial system allowed a discontented republican minority to grow bolder and eventually launch the coup that overthrew the Empire.
Pedro II may be considered a rare instance of a head of state who, despite being considered a highly successful ruler to the end, was ultimately overthrown and exiled.
Decline
During the 1880s, Brazil became more prosperous and socially diverse, seeing the first wave of women's rights activism. The country had changed greatly in the five decades since Pedro II's accession to the throne. The liberalism adopted by successive government cabinets favored private initiatives and resulted in decades of economic prosperity. Brazil's international trade reached a total value of Rs79.000:000000 (see Brazilian currency) between 1834 and 1839. This continued to increase every year until it reached Rs472.000:000000 between 1886 and 1887 (an annual growth rate of 3.88% since 1839). Brazilian economic growth, especially after 1850, was on par with that of the United States and European nations. Brazilian journalist and historian Hélio Vianna estimates the value of GDP at Rs 50.000:000000 in 1840, reaching the figure of Rs 500.000:000000 in 1889 (an annual growth rate of 4.81% from 1840 to 1889, totaling 49 years of GDP growth of 4.81%). Obtaining a per capita income of 34882 thousand réis in 1889. The national revenue, which amounted to Rs11.795:000000 in 1831, rose to Rs160.840:000000 in 1889. By 1858, it was the eighth largest in the world. To give an idea of the economic potential of the country during the Empire, if "it had been able to sustain the level of productivity achieved in 1870 and managed to increase exports at a pace equal to that verified in the second half of the 19th century, its per capita income in 1950 would be comparable to the average per capita income of the Western European nations".
There was large-scale development during this period, which anticipated similar initiatives in European countries. In 1850, there were 50 factories valued at more than Rs7.000:000$000. At the end of the Imperial period in 1889, Brazil had 636 factories (representing an annual rate of increase of 6.74% from 1850) valued at approximately Rs401.630:600$000 (annual growth rate of 10.94% since 1850). As one historian reported, "building in the 1880s was the second greatest in absolute terms in Brazil's entire history. Only eight countries in the entire world laid more track in the decade than The Brazilian Empire." The first railroad line, with only 15 kilometers, was opened on 30 April 1854 at a time when many European countries had no rail service. By 1868, there were 718 kilometers of railroad lines, and by the end of the Brazilian Empire in 1889, this had grown to 9,200 kilometers (with another 9,000 kilometers under construction), making it the country with "the largest rail network in South and Latin America and also the ninth country with the largest rail network in the world".
Topik continues: "Factories also sprang throughout the Brazilian Empire in the 1880s at an unprecedented rate, and its cities were beginning to receive the benefits of gas, electrical, sanitation, telegraph, and tram companies. " It was the fifth country in the world to install modern sewers in cities, the third to have sewage treatment, and one of the pioneers in installing telephone lines. What's more, it was the first South American nation to adopt public electric lighting (in 1883) and the second in the Americas to establish a direct telegraph connection to Europe (in 1874). The first telegraph line had been installed in 1852 in Rio de Janeiro. By 1889, there were 18,925 kilometers of telegraph lines connecting the country's capital to distant Brazilian provinces such as Pará, and even linking to other South American countries such as Argentina and Uruguay.
The Brazilian Empire was admired internationally for its democratic system and for its respect for freedom of speech. In politics there were "solid and competitive parties, an active parliament, a free press, open debate". The Argentine President Bartolomé Mitre called the country a "crowned democracy" and Venezuelan President Rojas Paúl, after learning of the Emperor's fall, said, "It has ended the only republic that existed in [South] America: the Empire of Brazil." The Brazil of the last year of Pedro II's reign was a "prosperous and [internationally] respected" nation which held unchallenged leadership in Latin America (the Empire of Brazil (1870-1889) no rivals in Latin America). The Brazilian Navy was among the ten most powerful in the world, due to the acquisition of the battleships Riachuelo in 1883 and Aquafaba in 1885, both equipped with torpedo launch tubes.The Emperor was beloved by the Brazilian people and was regarded with "respect, almost veneration" in North America and Europe. The remarks made by a former U.S. consul at Rio de Janeiro, who met Pedro II in late 1882, tell much of the general view that foreigners had of Brazil and its Emperor by the end of the 1880s:
British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone said that Pedro II was "a model to the Sovereigns of the world" and held him as being a "great and good Sovereign". Brazilian writer Machado de Assis would later remember him as "a humble, honest, well-learned and patriotic man, who knew how to make of a throne a chair [for his simplicity], without diminishing its greatness and respect." When he became Emperor in 1831, Brazil was on the verge of fragmentation. Fifty-eight years later, the country had been at peace for more than four decades, slavery had been extinguished, the representative system was consolidated, and the leadership of the military was in civilian hands (something not seen in the Spanish-American countries). Indeed, for "the longevity of his government and the transformations which occurred during its course, no other Head of State has marked more deeply the history of the nation." But although Brazil was richer and more powerful than ever, and gained an excellent international reputation, and Pedro II himself was still extremely popular among his subjects, the Brazilian monarchy itself was dying.
Personal decline
Beginning in late 1880, letters from Pedro II to the Countess of Barral reveal a world-weary man with an increasingly alienated and pessimistic outlook. In them he frequently expresses "his loneliness and his desire to escape into her company". The emperor dreamed of leaving everything behind and relocating to Europe. But he remained respectful of his duty and was meticulous in performing the tasks demanded of the Imperial office.
Pedro II was also aging physically and mentally. In his younger days, he was admired for his ability to work long hours and rapidly bounce back from setbacks. However, by the 1880s, he had dentures and pince-nez reading glasses. He dozed off unexpectedly, even during meetings. Around 1882, he was diagnosed with what is known today as type 2 diabetes. In the following years, the monarch was afflicted with several sudden illnesses, ranging from stomach pains to fevers. In 1884, he received a cut on his left leg which became infected and took a long time to heal, complicated by his diabetes. He also began suffering from urinary and kidney problems secondary to his diabetes.
Pedro II increasingly withdrew from government business. He was observed walking the streets in a tailcoat and carrying an umbrella, sometimes surrounded by cheerful children; sampling fruits in the local market; and tasting the students' food in the kitchens on visits to schools. He abolished several rituals related to the monarchy, such as hand-kissing in 1872 and the Guarda dos archeries (Guard of the Archers) in 1877. The City Palace, where the government met, was practically abandoned, as was the Imperial residence at the Palace of São Cristóvão, now devoid of courtiers. An Austrian diplomat, summarized well the situation in late 1882:
Pomp, ritual and luxury were discarded. Pedro II was viewed as "a great citizen" in the popular imagination, but at the same time his authority as a monarch was diminished. As a German journalist remarked in 1883: "It is a rare thing, in the Emperor's situation: he has no personal fortune and his civil list, already by itself insufficient, is almost all expended on charity, in a way that he cannot afford any pomp in the court, nor do anything to give any gleam to his residences […] It undoubtedly does great honor to the man, but contributes little to the necessary prestige of the Emperor." The society the emperor lived in put great store in ceremonies and customs, and the emperor had discarded much of the symbolism and aura of the Imperial system.
Heir to the throne
After their experience of the perils and obstacles of government, the political figures who had arisen during the 1830s became wary of taking on a greater role in ruling the nation. They looked to the emperor as providing a fundamental and useful source of authority essential both for governing and for national survival. Pedro II's natural ability and proficiency as a ruler encouraged greater deference as time passed. The political establishment "perceived him as the key to the successful working of the [political] system, someone whose reputation and authority protected him from all discussion." These elder statesmen began to die off or retire from the government until, by the 1880s, they had almost entirely been replaced by a younger generation of politicians who had no experience of the Regency and early years of Pedro II's reign, when external and internal dangers threatened the nation's existence. They had only known a stable administration and prosperity. In sharp contrast to those of the previous era, the young politicians saw no reason to uphold and defend the Imperial office as a unifying force beneficial to the nation. Pedro II's role in achieving an era of national unity, stability and the good government now went unremembered and unconsidered by the ruling elites. By his very success, "Pedro II had made himself redundant as emperor".