Why did Brazil Join World War 2? (Short Animated Documentary)

Brazil was one of the larger allies during the Second World War when it declared war in 1942. But given that it had good relations with Germany and that it could have avoided the war quite easily why did it join? Why did Brazil join the allies? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

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[rodrigodepierola]

I never get tired of the "jumping across the field of flowers" part.

[connorgolden]

I love getting answers for questions I don’t ask

[vitorluigi]

Fun fact: despite being a dictator for about 15 years in Brazil, after Vargas was ousted from the government he winned an election to senator, and then president in 1951. It's like Napoleon coming from Elba; our Waterloo was his suicide in 1954.

[Gabriel-nzbj]

Just a minor mistake: Brasilia didn't exist during Vargas' lifetime. It was inaugurated in April 21st 1960. Back then the capital of Brazil was Rio. Aside from that, great video!

[caiobartholomeu]

In Brazil, we learn that Vargas was a pragmatist leader. He waited till the last second to join the war, as he wanted to be on the winners side. That said, as an authoritarian dictator allying with democracies to fight dictatorships, he knew that eventually his power would come to an end, and just accepted it.

Edit: When I said that he "accepted it", I was only referring to his authoritarian rule. 5 years after being deposed as a dictator, he was democratically elected president, and upon realizing he would be deposed again due to yet another political crisis, he committed suicide.

[stanleysmith]

Vargas 1944: "Holy shit, my forces can actually fight! Better disband the whole thing quickly..."

[AndreVictorGoncalves]

1:15 It's impressive how Brazil knew Germany attacking USSR and Japan attacking USA was a terrible idea, but the axis couldn't see that.
*It was a terrible strategy from the start.*

[pagansbasin]

Dictator: I’ll join the axis
James bisonette, the main financial backer of the allies: I think I could persuade you

[braziliantsar]

I knew a veteran when I was young. After the war, he became a strong alcoholic, because the soldiers didn't have clothes for the harsh cold temperatures of Northern Italy, and of course, had no ideia of what really cold temperatures were like, so they drank a lot to have that warm feeling. Glad he overcame the alcoholism and became a pastor in the church I used to go when I was young. Died in 2010, may he rest in peace in heaven.

[joaofreire]

The only thing I would point out is that Brasília hadn't been built yet as it was inaugurated only in 1960, so the newspaper would be more appropriately called "Rio Times" 😁

[The_Republic_of_Ireland]

I only ever knew of Brazil's involvement in WWII due to a film called The Lost Patrol, about soldiers from the Brazilian Expeditionary Force trying to regroup with US forces but end up discovering German plans on their way

[TheGhostbuster]

Allies: So why did you join us against Hitler?

Brazil: Money!

[Joleyn-Joy]

I love how whenever Brazil is shown, there's a portrait of Pedro II in the background.

[cassianoneto]

And that’s why, in the UN Security Council video, Brazil was considered for a sixth seat. In modern times, in fact last week, multiple countries defended a reform of the UN Security Council that would be more representative of the world, adding countries like India and Brazil, since these two are disproportionately larger than their neighbors they rotate with in the regular seats and would arguably deserve permanent representation.

[macblackadder]

I was expecting a Sabaton reference somewhere. Theres a song called Smoking Snakes. It tells the tale about 3 members of the BEF, who fought to the death against the Nazis. The Germans quite surprisingly honoured the brave heroes and gave them military honours.

[ComicalRealm]

"I am 1/2 Brazilian but I was born in the UK. My Brazilian grandfather also fought in Italy as a combat medic. Men like him still don't get the recognition they deserve by many within Brazil itself.
" - Blanka from Street Fighter

[marcosfonseca]

Petition: how was life in Central Asia during the Soviet Union?
Great video!

[charm]

So glad someone is finally talking about the epic Brazilian troops. They don’t get enough recognition

[Owari-No-Kami]

As a Japanese Brazilian, I would also like to say that Vargas was also responsible for prohibiting people that migrated from (or were descendants from) the axis countries from speaking their native (or parent's) country's language (which were Japanese, German and Italian), and it was briefly enforced even after the war, up to the 1950s, it's one of the reasons as to why many people that are of Italian, German or Japanese descent in Brazil speak basically nothing of the language that their grandparents spoke.

[scaper]

Vargas: “I’m going to be an intelligent leader and use the conditions of the war to improve both the wealth and prestige of my country.”
Also Vargas, somehow: “Now I’m going to disband the army fighting for Brazil because people like them and they obviously won’t be upset.”