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{{Nation|common_name=Reino do Brasil|full_name=Kingdom of Brasil|capital=Rio de Janeiro|government_type=Constitutional monarchy|flag=KofBrasilflag.png|
The '''Kingdom of Brasil''' (Portuguese: ''Reino do Brasil)''
Brasil shares borders with [[Bahia]] to the north, [[Equador]] to the northwest, [[Paraguay]] to the southwest and the [[Riograndense Republic]] to the south.
== Etymology ==
The etymology of the word Brasil is a tricky topic. Some historians and linguistics trace the origin of the word to the celtic word of Hy-Brasil, a mythical island of old Irish folklore. But the most accepted one is that Brasil comes from the Portuguese for brasilwood trees (pau-brasil) which, due to its strong red color, received the adjective of “red like fire” (vermelho como brasa). Throughout its existence, Brasil also was referred as Ilha de Veracruz e Terra de Santa Cruz in its early moments of exploration.
== History ==
=== Establishment ===
==== Early History (1500-1750) ====
Prior to the first contact with Europeans, the estimated native population was around three million people. Differently from Mesomaerica or the Andes, these millions of people lived in thousands of communities across the whole territory. In 1500, the first Portuguese fleet, led by Pedro Álvares Cabral, took shore in Brasil where is now the city of Porto Seguro, in Bahia.
In 1494, Portugal and Spain signed the Treaty of Tordesillas which divided the world between the two colonial powers. It's at this point where the first Brasilian official borders are drafted. Colonization effort would happen only thirty years after first arriving, especially to defend trade of brasilwood tree with the natives from the French, English and Spanish. The first colonization model was the Hereditary Captaincies (Capitanias Hereditárias) which failed. The model was soon substituted by a more centralized government around Salvador.
The economy of the colony was based upon cultivation of sugarcane, coffee and mineral extraction, all of them heavily relying on enslaved labor force brought from Africa.
The Brasilian territory during this period suffered frequently from foreign invasions and occupation, especially by the French and the Dutch.
==== Clashes in the Southern Cone (1750-1762) ====
===== War on Rio de La Plata =====
During the Great Silesian War (1750-1755), Spain and Portuguese forces clashed in the Rio de La Plata over the control of the Colônia de Sacramento. A Portuguese outpost on the upper bank of the river.Sacramento was taken by the Spanish in 1752. The colony is kept under occupation for the rest of the conflict.
In the Treaty of Vienna (1755), it's decided that the colonial situation in the Southern Cone should come back to what was before the war, but due to Spain unwilling to have a Portuguese colony so close to Buenos Aires, the country decided to sign a treaty apart from Vienna with Portugal.
===== Treaty of Seville (1756) =====
The Treaty of Seville was signed in late 1756. The treaty finally defied the borders between the two colonial powers in South America, which weren't discussed since Tordesillas in 1494. The main point of the agreement was Portugal cede Sacramento in exchange to the northern section Spanish Pampas along the west bank of upper Uruguay river. Borders were also reshaped in the Amazon.
===== The Luso-Indian War (1757-1762) =====
On the upper Uruguayan west bank, Spanish Jesuits built a series of settlements in the mission to convert natives to catholicism still in the 17th century. By 1755, these settlements grew to the point to become towns of thousands of inhabitants.
After the Treaty of Seville, these settlements all fell under the Portuguese Crown, therefore, the Spanish ordered all Jesuits to leave the region, and move to Asuncíon and Buenos Aires. Unwilling to leave the region, the Jesuits kept their activities the way it was under Spanish control. The natives also feared they would lose their protected status under Portugal.
In 1756, the Vicentine Ultimatum was declared by Portugal, which gave the order to the Spanish Jesuits to leave the region immediately, or troops from São Vicente, in the Captaincy of São Paulo, would soon take them away by force.
The war happened mostly by raids on both sides. Through the 5 years of conflict, farms, villages and towns were sacked and destroyed. By 1759, three years after the purchase of Carolina by Britain, the British joined the Portuguese against the Natives and Jesuitsdue to fear of anglo colonists coming from Acadia being attacked.
The bloodshed of the conflict only ended in 1761, as the last bastion of Native-Jesuit resistance were crushed.
==== Revolutionary 19th century ====
===== Brasil during the Spring Of Nations =====
The 1830s and 40s were a turbulent period for Brasil. The colony faced secession movements across the majority of its territory. Although many attempts were made, in the early to mid 19th century, only Bahia and the Reiograndense Republic managed to achieve independence.
From 1836 to 1838, the Captaincy of Pernmabuco, along other northeastern captaincies proclaimed the short-lived Caatinga Republic. In the Captaincy of Maranhão and Piauí, revolutionary governments lasted only a few months. The same in Grão-Pará.
===== The Vila Rica Conspiracy (1837-1838) =====
On nowadays Brasilian territory, the major secession movement happened in the Captaincy of Minas Gerais, more specifically in the town of Vila Rica, the captaincy capital.
By 1837, the colony was already in a broken state, the only exceptions being Rio, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, the core of the colony. In february 1837, a coalition of ten mine owners of the town gathered to plan a way to create an independent republic in Minas. The Vila Rica Independent Council.
The leader of the group, Manuel Joaquim Xavier, already an influential figure in the region, who, in the previous decade, influenced by republican ideals, and unsettled by the Portuguese economic policies over Brasil, used his wealth to travel to New Netherland, where gathered information about the country way of governing, in the hope of bringing it to a new country in South America.
The plan developed from february to late march, consisted in killing the captaincy president, Álvaro Baltasar, during Easter. Following this, the Republic of Minas would be established and follow a similar rule as New Netherland. With Manuel being granted the title of Estatutário (Portuguese for Stadtholder).
The first phase of the plan went successful, after the Easter celebrations, the captaincy president was killed along with his wife by mercenaries once the couple got home. Chaos shortly took the capital, and in april 13th, 1837, the Republic of Minas was proclaimed.
The country lasted only 9 months. Due to its geographic isolation, and conflicts with the Bahian rebels in the north because of territorial claims, the republic was completely crushed by the Portuguese forces by a last reinforcement coming from Rio de Janeiro in january of 1838. Manuel and his colleagues were arrested and publicly executed on january 24th.
After the failed Vila Rica Conspiracy, Brasil would only see another large-scale attempt of political reform in the early 20th century.
==== Path for decolonization (1877-1879) ====
===== Abolsihment of slavery and independence of Equador =====
After the independence of Bahia, Brasil was cut in half. To better manage what lasted from its former holdings, the colony was divided in two. Brasil in the south, comprising Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais e Mato Grosso. While the northern captaincies were reorganized as the colony of Equador.
In 1877, Portugal abolished slavery in the totality of its territories. In South America, where most of the empire slave labor was located, plantations owners, after many disagreements about economic reparations over their former slaves rebeled across the colony.
===== Creation of the Autonomous Territory of Brasil (1879) =====
Revolts happened in São Paulo, and Minas Gerais, two major coffee growing regions, although they weren't successful, differently from the North, where the rebels were capable of establishing the Republic of Equador in 1877. Although the country was only recognized in 1879.
In the same year, fearing its last holding in the New World to revolt shortly, the Portuguese parliament passed the Brasilian Autonomy Act, which ended colonial rule over Brasil. The former colony was now the Autonomous Territory of Brasil. Politically, the Autonomous Territory became ruled by a parliament, where the seats were occupied by directly voted candidates by the population, but only the male and literate could vote. The Autonomous Territory top position was the Governor General, which was directly appointed by the Portuguese Crown. The Governor General had the total power to dissolve the parliament and convoke new elections.
Economically, Portugal ceases to be under the colonial economic policies from Portugal, but it didn't mean full economic liberty. The Friendly Nations Trade Act only permitted Brasil to have economic ties with Portuguese allies. Although the economy of Brasil wasn't completely free, this period saw a spike in industry and infrastructure investments both from foreigin countries and former plantation owners interested in transitioning Brasil into the industrial revolution. Even with the enormous amount of investments in other areas, coffee production was still the core of the economy.
==== The Luso-Brazilian Compromise (1922) ====
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