O general apressado: Olympio Mourão Filho nos antecedentes de 1964: Golpe Militar ou Golpe de Classe? (1961-1964)

Abstract

This work consists of investigating the main reasons for the 1964 civil-military coup in Brazil through the detailed analysis and presentation of relevant facts contained in the biography of General Olympio Mourão Filho, directly responsible for the deposition of democracy in Brazil and the installation of military dictatorship, being one of the main conspirators during the analyzed period, main element for that the whole process was triggered. The theoretical framework of this work consists of the presentation of two opposing and open strands that aim to explain the motivations of the coup currently in historiography: the organizational conception and the instrumental conception of the Armed Forces. The methodology consists of comparing the information contained in the diary of the general, which served as the primary source for this work, with the bibliography of the period analyzed (1961-1964) to establish which of the two conceptions may, in fact, better explain the motivations of Olympio Mourão Filho to take the initiative of the deposition of President João Goulart.