The Rio-Deutsche and the structure of germanophile campaign in Brazil over First World War

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34096/hyg.n8.15989
Keywords: German immigration, Rio-Deutsche, germanophilie, First World War

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the role of the German-Brazilian community in Rio de Janeiro in articulating the pro-German narrative throughout World War I. The then federal capital housed the oldest urban German-Brazilian community, formed in 1808. With high economic power, its members, known as Rio-Deutsche, were part of the cultural and political elites of the Republic. When the belligerence broke out, they made use of these networks of contacts to undertake initiatives to win over public opinion in favor of the Central Powers. Thus, it is proposed to identify and briefly examine the main representatives of the Rio-Deutsche in the political and cultural spheres, their interlocutors, and strategies to gain the sympathy of Brazilian society for the German campaign throughout the Great War, understood as a global war.

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Author Biography

Livia Claro Pires, Independent researcher, Brazil
Livia Claro Pires is a PhD candidate in the Social History Program at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where she is developing the project Invencível Alemanha: os discursos e ações germanófilas entre a intelectualidade brasileira durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial. She holds a Master's degree in Political History from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, which she obtained in 2013 with his dissertation Intelectuais nas trincheiras: a Liga Brasileira pelos Aliados e o debate sobre a Primeira Guerra Mundial. The research led to the book Intelectuais nas trincheiras, released in 2019. Researcher on the First World War, its impacts and understandings in Brazil.

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Published
2025-05-14
How to Cite
Claro Pires, L. (2025). The Rio-Deutsche and the structure of germanophile campaign in Brazil over First World War. Historia & Guerra, (8), 31-51. https://doi.org/10.34096/hyg.n8.15989
Issue
No 8 (2025): July-December
Section
Dossier

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