“Como se em política fosse possível agir sem manha, sem o senso de oportunidade”: o processo de formação e atuação do Partido Libertador e suas lideranças no Brasil Republicano (1922-1933)

Abstract

The thesis deals with the process of formation and action of the Liberator Party (PL) and its foremost leaders during the years 1922-1933 in Republican Brazil, with emphasis on the participation of Joaquim Francisco de Assis Brasil, Raul Pilla, and João Baptista Lusardo. The starting point for the investigation is placed in two historiographical concerns: the predominance of certain lines of argument, mainly, the focus on the ideological element, and the few in-depth analyses of political party oppositions in Rio Grande do Sul during the First Republic. Based on this, the study aims to answer some questions: considering the unified front that originated the PL to be composed of individuals from different political sectors and factions and with, according to several studies, "antagonistic and irreconcilable political-ideological orientations", how is it possible to explain its articulation in a single party? What elements help to understand the connections, practices, and resources of these agents? Likewise, how can we demonstrate that the so-called antagonistic and historic rivalry projects between oppositions and the Republican Party of Rio Grande do Sul were brought together in a united front (FU)? As a hypothesis, we work with the understanding that the interests and conjuncture alliances, pragmatic behaviors, capitals, socioeconomic, family and professional ties of the leaders and the search for the power of the state apparatus, emerge as central to the understanding of party politics and, consequently, libertadores and FU. In the analysis, personal collections of political leaders were consulted, memoirs and biographies of contemporaries, and newspapers of the time. The structure of the thesis follows three chapters. The first of them presents a problematization of the main lines of argument by historiography about the political system, with emphasis on the arguments surrounding the formation of PL and FU. Chapter two performs a prosopography of the libertadores power nucleus and examines the trajectories of three of their main leaders. The last chapter analyzes the libertadores politics in different nuances: party congresses; accommodation and dissent of ideas and leadership in the organization; participation in elections; alliances with other groups; and the performance in the main events and political problems of the time. In the same topic closing of the work, we present the aspects, meanings, and consequences of the alliance with the hitherto PRR opponents.