The recorded history of Brazil began in 1500 when the Portuguese mariner, Pedro Cabral, discovered Brazil (Elizabethan Era: Pedro Alvares Cabral n.d.). This claim led to three centuries of Portuguese rule and established Portuguese as the country’s language. By the mid-1500s profitable sugar growing boosted the European population and led to a demand for slaves. With the decimation of the native population from European diseases, African slaves were brought in great numbers (Economist Country Briefings:
Brazil 2005). When Napoleon’s troops occupied Portugal in 1807, the Portuguese monarch moved the court to Brazil and later declared a united kingdom of Portugal and Brazil (Economist Country Briefings: Brazil 2005). Brazil became free from Portuguese rule in 1822. From 1822 to 1889 the country was ruled by descendents of the Portuguese royal family as an empire. During this time coffee exports supplanted sugar as the mainstay of the economy (Economist Country Briefings: Brazil 2005). The abolition of slavery in 1888 triggered the fall of the emperor and the proclamation of a republic (CIA World Factbook - Brazil 2009). Since the formation of the republic, the country has had a turbulent history with periods of democracy interspersed with long periods of military rule. Notable leaders include Getulio Vargas, who seized power in 1930, ruled until 1945, and served as an elected president from 1950 to 1954. He was followed by President Juscelino Kubitschek. Kubitschek’s slogan was "50 years (of progress) in five" (Areal 2007). In addition to a new capital and turning attention to the development of Brazil’s interior, the Kubitschek years began Brazil’s era of hyperinflation and set the stage for a modern round of military intervention in Brazil’s government (Economist Country Briefings: Brazil 2005). The military took power in 1964 bringing some economic stability but waged a dirty internal war of repression. Military rule ended in 1985 and after some difficult political periods Brazil today is a vibrant democracy (Economist Country Briefings: Brazil 2005) organized as a federative republic (BBC Country profile: Brazil 2009).