A Escola Superior de Guerra e a Doutrina de Segurança Nacional (1949-1966)

Abstract

This work deals with the vision of a prominent group of military inside the Armed Forces. This group was responsible for the creation of the Escola Superior de Guerra (ESG Portuguese for Superior School of War), a nucleus of strategical studies destined to design programs for security and development of Brazil. The military who were agglutinated in the ESG formulated the Doutrina de Segurança Nacional (DSN or National Security Doctrine). The purpose of the DSN was to establish performance criteria so that Brazil could reach and keep the National Objectives that, according to them, should be the main goal of the National State. The main National Objectives, that the School called Objetivos Nacionais Permanentes (ONP Permanent National Objectives) were Security and Development. The doctrine of the school found bedding in the concept of total war, a war that would involve all the sectors of the society and, therefore, who depended on the entire potential of the Nation. The total war characterized the shock between the two powers that had initiated an ideological conflict in the post-World War II era: the Soviet Union and the United States. Following ESG s line of thoughts, we could analyze the military actions in the conjuncture that lead to march 31st 1964 coup d etat. In 1964, the actions of that group of military strictly followed the DSN. Based on the doctrine we can understand the Brazil/USSR and Brazil/USA bilateral relations, both in the coup-minded conspiracy and through the first military government. These relations are reflected in the esguians behavior concerning core politics ahead of the Brazilian state. The work shows the group s aversion for regimens considered to be personalists, Populists and demagogical, and also the persistent concern with communist infiltration. The intervention took place when ESG considered that João Goulart s government was being driven away from DSN s proposals. With Goulart s deposition, the government that is established is now headed by an ESG military - Humberto de Alencar Castello Branco whose policies tried to fit to the principles of DSN. This way, the government Castello Branco has based its internal measures, as well as the foreign affairs of the country, in the doctrine of the ESG