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26 Army Hist. 1 (1993)

handle is hein.milandgov/aryhsy0026 and id is 1 raw text is: ARMY HISTORY T HE PROFESSIONAL BULLETIN OF ARMY HISTORY PB-20-93-3 (No. 26) Washington, D.C. Spring 1993 The Forca Expedicionaria Brasileira in the Italian Campaign, 1944-45 Frank D. McCann Prof Frank I) McCann. Lkeparzmeia q( H/istory. LU n Cel3g NewH 'lmsieo lyga!vpr seued tis paper we th Army's Conference of Army Hliseori- tin in Washzyagn D ( 9 hene 1992 T oday, most In ited States citizens arc surpnsed to learn that Brazil committed troops in World War II. Thbe of the war generation may hav e a inm reeollec rirm but among Ameicans bor after the nr, those who do lmow dhat there w as a Farma Ezpc dwwnarza Bralra FEB)on the IlaIan Irom usually learned of it from a relative who served in the 10th Mountain Dvi i ion, the IV Corps, or xomewhr'c Ilse in the ifd Army Historie a1 the war rarely mak in mton of it or, mdeed, of Bra/il's other contributions to the Allied aue in truth, the F:B did not alter the courve of the cam c pi n oro wlth wrum Europe itssignifi- cance lies less in the history of the war than in the hiory of railanAmncan relations and in the history of Brail In these two areas of history it has LOO ldeable weigL ven if the AmeiC ua ulIic and S ha ranof it But theFEB did provde the Amencanand Brazillan Armies wthexpe- nence in the cre on fand lunig in ional rmiltry forces. 1 lt 1EB was unusual in Ame nw an mahtary hi - tory It was not a colonial force, as were the British Inilan units, or a Commonwealth militar, such as Canada. New Zealand, or South A frca, nora Free this or that? such as the IPlsh or Irceh contIngemts: no, tisn w as adividon draw~n troum the army of an indepen dent sovere ign slate that voluntarily placed its men atdcr Un dit Suites command. But it was riot just nnnand ilat was involved in the relationship; the FEB was American advised, trained, equipped, uni- f r m , s , and fed. The relarionshipe ould not have beeC closer and sti have maintained the itegrity of the force's command structure. Despite the high level of ine ratin i the Fli never lost ts ideity aB - inn, and the Americans never thoughiofiI 'rw i Why an FER? The frlt question Americans (and young Bra/!- lana) usually ask is why was there an FEB? There are several reasons, the emotional response of the HraiI In pepI To h war b. bcves ofth ,Rili civilian arid military Icader; anid United States objec' tives. The Brazilian people were angered at the AM submarine sinking of national vessels that led to the recognitionof astate of war with Germ any and taly il August 1942; the FEB was an act of revenge, a way t reestablish national honor, while contributing to the great struggle to save civiliratao -at least that a the way government pmopaganda presented it President Getullo Vargas ad his foreign minister, a .waldo Arafiha, were looking toward the peace table, to the postwar reorganization of the world, and remein- bering the difficulties that Brazit faced after Worid Warl, Iwhlcthenation did no iparticipatem mI tmrily 1They opted for commitment. -ranklin D. Rooeve, encorad bis line af thinking by teliln Vra dr thein February 194l neeting in Nat that he waTed him at his side at the peace conference More- over. Vargas likely hoped to ditract the military, to give himself more pohcal space in which to orgaize a populist base to corinu what htcon tiered the gains of hisidictatonial repine. Hisopponenis soon saw the FEB as a guarantee that the regime would not swrive the war They argued that Brazilans could not ftght against ty ranny abroad and continue to live under It at home. Foreign MinisterAranha saw the waranid ihe FED as a way to expand Brazil's hustoric cooprCafon with the United States into a true lliance of dii. That policy of cooperation had been, Aranha Ioted, a source of secunty for Brazi,. since by givig the

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