 The government of Brazil declared war on Hitler's Germany on August 22, 1942, and you'd best believe that the over-paid photographers of Click Magazine were Johnny-on-the-spot to document all the joyous mayhem that let loose on those flag-strewn boulevards of the Brazilian capitol:
"Brazilians are fighting mad. When Brazil joined the United Nations in war on August 22nd, the formal declaration was a climax to the democratic action of its citizens who began, months ago, to let the world know how they felt about the Axis."
"The pent-up rage of a sorely-tried nation burst in earnest when war was declared. With unanimous enthusiasm, the people mobbed the streets, cheering everything that was part of the Allied cause...Day after day, anti-fascist demonstrations, and pageants choked the streets of Rio de Janiero, where the pictures on this page were taken." "Brazil and the U.S.A. have signed a trade agreement whereby Brazil's army gets needed war equipment in exchange for raw materials needed in the United States... During the last year, large quantities of arms and material have reached Brazil from the U.S. for development of defense at vital ports and construction of airdromes to guard Brazil's 5,700 miles of seacoast." You can be sure that when Brazil declared war upon Nazi Germany in 1942, there was no talk of "our diversity is our strength" - for they were worried about the 1,000,000 Teuto-brasileiros (German-Brazilians) who dwelt among them who seldom, if ever, made much of an effort to assimilate:
"The Germans, in their towns and communities, have set up schools of their own, schools in which German teachers, with better equipment than the Brazilian national schools provide, have been preaching loyalty to the German fatherland... It was charged by investigators that German school children were being taught obedience to Hitler and the German clergymen were taking their texts from Mein Kampf."
The attached Yank article was written from the perspective of the American G.I.; it lays out a few peculiar facts about life in the World War Two Brazilian Army: "Every type of South American racial strain is represented. This gives a squad the appearance of a capsule League of Nations, except that there are no blonds."
Mexico preferred not to participate in the war, but they did kick all the Fascist spies out of their country, click here to read about it...
When Brazil joined forces with the Allies in 1942, they were soon lavished with numerous ships, submarines and armaments that would aid them in their struggle against global Fascism. By the time 1945 rolled around, it became clear to anyone in the region that Brazil had become the second mightiest nation in the hemisphere. | | |
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