Thread replies: 11
Thread images: 2
Thread images: 2
File: 450px-Pedro_II_circa_1887b_transparent.png (310KB, 450x599px) Image search:
[Google]
310KB, 450x599px
Is he the greatest ruler in history?
1/2
>Inheriting an Empire on the verge of disintegration, Pedro II turned Portuguese-speaking Brazil into an emerging power in the international arena. The nation grew to be distinguished from its Hispanic neighbors on account of its political stability, zealously guarded freedom of speech, respect for civil rights, vibrant economic growth and especially for its form of government: a functional, representative parliamentary monarchy. Brazil was also victorious in three international conflicts (the Platine War, the Uruguayan War and the Paraguayan War) under his rule, as well as prevailing in several other international disputes and domestic tensions. Pedro II steadfastly pushed through the abolition of slavery despite opposition from powerful political and economic interests. A savant in his own right, the Emperor established a reputation as a vigorous sponsor of learning, culture and the sciences. He won the respect and admiration of scholars such as Charles Darwin, Victor Hugo and Friedrich Nietzsche, and was a friend to Richard Wagner, Louis Pasteur and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, among others.
>"I was born to devote myself to culture and sciences," the Emperor remarked in his private journal during 1862. He had always been eager to learn and found in books a refuge from the demands of his position. Subjects which interested Pedro II were wide-ranging, including anthropology, history, geography, geology, medicine, law, religious studies, philosophy, painting, sculpture, theater, music, chemistry, physics, astronomy, poetry and technology, among others. By the end of his reign, there were three libraries in São Cristóvão palace containing more than 60,000 books. A passion for linguistics prompted him throughout his life to study new languages, and he was able to speak and write not only Portuguese but also Latin, French, German, English, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Chinese, Occitan and Tupi.
>>
>>1816857
2/2
Pedro II became a member of the Royal Society, the Russian Academy of Sciences, The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium and the American Geographical Society. In 1875, he was elected to the French Academy of Sciences, an honor previously granted to only two other heads of state: Peter the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte. He exchanged letters with scientists, philosophers, musicians and other intellectuals. Many of his correspondents became his friends, including Richard Wagner, Louis Pasteur, Louis Agassiz, John Greenleaf Whittier, Michel Eugène Chevreul, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Arthur de Gobineau, Frédéric Mistral, Alessandro Manzoni, Alexandre Herculano, Camilo Castelo Branco and James Cooley Fletcher. His erudition amazed Friedrich Nietzsche when both met. Victor Hugo told the Emperor: "Sire, you are a great citizen, you are the grandson of Marcus Aurelius," and Alexandre Herculano called him a "Prince whom the general opinion holds as the foremost of his era because of his gifted mind, and due to the constant application of that gift to the sciences and culture."
>>
If he was so good, why Brazil is so shit?
>>
>>1816873
Because the freemasonic republicans deposed him.
Also niggers.
>>
>>1816873
Because of republicans. Under Pedro II's rule, Brazil:
>Was the fourth largest economy in the world and the ninth largest empire in history
>Had an average economic growth of 8.81% per year
>Had an average inflation of 1.08% per year
>Had 14 taxes, in comparison to 92 today
>Had a currency with the same value of the dollar and the pound
>Had the second largest navy in the world
>Was the first country in Latin America and the second in the world to have telephone lines, only after the United States
>Was the second country to have special education for the deaf and visually impaired, only after England
>Was the world's greatest railroad builder with over 26,000 kilometers
>>
>>1816897
So... Why they deposed him if he was so good?
>>
>>1816904
because republicans wanted the power.
most republican revolutions post-france had absolutely nothing to do with monarchs being shit, but rather an emerging merchant class growing in influence and looking for more power
>>
>>1816904
A military elite fell for the Positivist and Republican meme. They deposed him in the dead of night with zero popular support. In some parts of rural Brazil they didn't know about it until months later. In some parts there was resistance and would be resistances. There were loyalists all over the place, but Pedro himself was too much of a humanitarian and wanted to avoid bloodshed.
>>
>tfw he wanted soil from Brazil to be put in his grave just in the case he dies far from it
>>
>>1816857
The only thing that went wrong with him was not supporting industrializtion since the begining of his reign. Because of that the coffee planter elite had almost total control of the economy for nearly a century
>>
>>1816904
He didn't have a son
Thread posts: 11
Thread images: 2
Thread images: 2