In general terms, Brazilian historiography that analyzes the Estado Novo takes the latter's centralizing, nationalist and authoritarian character as its point of departure, constrasting these traits with the federalism that was in vigor until 1930 and was recovered, if only partially, in 1934. In a similar sense, the very intellectuals who were linked to the regime presented it as the form that was most adequate to our reality and most appropriate for the construction of national unity, in opposition to the private interests of the states and their local elites. It this study we attempt to demonstrate the syncretic nature of this new State: on the one hand, it imposed limits on states' autonomy and the power of their elites, but on the other, it was obliged to make a number of concessions and political agreements with these groups, in order to guarantee the order and national unity that were desired. Initially, we use intellectuals' discourse as the basis for an analysis of how the Estado Novo sought to legitimate itself to Brazilian society; next, we use the case of the Rio Grande do Sul interventors to discuss the regime's political practice and its need for cooptation and reconciliation with oligarchic interests.
Vargas Era; Estado Novo; interventors; intellectuals; Rio Grande do Sul