October 5, 1897: War of Canudos

Following the proclamation of the Republic and the separation of Church and State, many revolts broke out in Brazil. The most serious was undoubtedly the one that ended in a bloodbath in Canudos, in the state of Bahia.

Thousands of faithful gradually joined, in an abandoned farm, Antônio Maciel, a preacher who announced the end of times and vomited the republic, the separation of Church and State and secular marriage, while inciting not to pay taxes.

A real city of more than 20,000 inhabitants developed in Canudos, well structured around livestock, agriculture and religion. It is also a challenge for the large landowners, whose all-powerful domination over their workforce is thus called into question, for the Church, which is committed to eradicating superstitions, and for the State, which is looking towards modernity.

Three military expeditions are routed by the men of Canudos, before a fourth finally triumphs, after very hard fighting between June and October 1897. The "advisor" Antônio Maciel is killed there on October 5, 1897. The repression is fierce, denounced by the great writer Euclides Da Cunha in Highlands, The War of Canudos, published in 1902 and which has become a classic. More recently, Mario Vargas Llosa has made a novel about it, The War at the End of the World.