For many World War II historians, this book can be surprising.

How would the military-oriented publishing world react to the release of never-before-seen details of the largest operation launched by the Third Reich against a country in the Americas?  

 

Going one-step further, how would historians react to the revelation that the turning of the tide of WW II in favor of the Allies could be traced to an episode that is undocumented in military literature? 

 

The German naval offensive against Brazilian ports and shipping lines is the central point of this work, which reveals the extent of Brazil’s involvement in WWII, including some notable episodes that occurred during the administration of Getúlio Vargas (1930-1945) during a critical period of conflict.

 

Operation Brazil reveals the true origin of the events that led Brazil to participate in the war, bringing to the light the unexplored details of military action that not only changed the destiny of that country, but also altered the unfolding of the conflict.

 

This story is the result of three years of intense research, carried out in some of the most important archives of Germany (Federal Archive - Bundesarchiv), Brazil (the Documentation Center of Navy, Army Historical Archives, the National Library Foundation and the Getúlio Vargas Foundation) and the United States  (U.S. Army Center of Military History, Naval History & Heritage Command, U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, National Archives & Records Administration  and Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and others). 

 

Based on this research, numerous primary and official sources in Brazil and elsewhere  were consulted, especially with regard to the plans prepared by the Kriegsmarine, including  the War Diary of Commander-in-Chief of the Submarine Force, the War Diary of the German submarine U-507, the collective archives of the Brazilian Naval History, the History of the Brazilian Army, the Brazilian Air Force History, the "Green Books" of CHM - Center of Military History, the War Diaries of the U.S. Navy, and a substantial part of the diplomatic correspondence of the German and American embassies, then located in Rio de Janeiro.

 

In the biographical field, were consulted a series of memoires, biographies and personal diaries of some of the main protagonists of the conflict, including those of Roosevelt, Getúlio Vargas, Dutra, Goes Monteiro Aranha, Churchill, Dönitz, Admiral Ingram, Montgomery and Rommel.

 

This is the first book ever published that describes the largest attack planned by Nazi Germany against a nation of the Americas:  Operation Brasilien.  Yet, despite its magnitude and consequences, more than 70 years later, the origin of Brazil’s  declaration of war against the Axis is still been described incorrectly by the most respected national and foreign sources.

 

Surprisingly, this research on this naval offensive against Brazil also enabled the discovery of some treasures, bringing to light capital events for Allied victory - unknown by military historiography. Captured almost intact after the war, the files of the German Navy were cross-referenced to the records of Allied Command, resulting in a high-quality literary production about the Battle of the Atlantic.

 

Understandably, the North American and European authors reconstituted, in detail, incidents that took place in the North and Central Atlantic, but only superficially touched upon the war as it unfolded in the South Atlantic. Thus, very little has been written about the naval operations of the Axis powers south of the equator.   

 

Meanwhile, Brazilian literature has been rife with descriptions of that country’s  shipping and passenger losses, and the combat actions of its own Navy and Air Force, but has lacked a multilateral approach to military operations, leaving a gap between the two thematic strands.

 

Operation Brazil aims to fill this gap, combining the strengths of the historiography of Brazil and other countries, and reconstructing a critical period of WW II, by means of an extremely rare narrative: military aggression against Brazil narrated simultaneously through the eyes of the Germans, Brazilians and Americans.

 

More than this. Discover how the course of monumental battle for the future of civilization surprisingly passed through the hands of a single man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: Operation Brazil was written in Portuguese.

Suggest this work to a book publisher in your country.

 

 

Summary

- Introduction

- Abbreviations

- Preface

- Chapters

 

1. The totalitarian threat

Background - Anauê! - The Head of nazi hydra - Aranha enters the scene - "Persona non grata" - Clash of nationalisms.

(Activities of the Nazi Party in Brazil in the 1930s and 1940s)

 

2. Uncertain alliance

The breakup - The lord of the sea - Wolf in sheep's clothing - Missed opportunities.

(The difficult political and military approach between Brazil and the U.S., with emphasis on the role of Roosevelt, Marshall and Admiral Jonas Ingram)

 

3. Chess war

Parnamirim Field - The secret agreement.

(The secret military agreement between Brazil and the U.S. and the role of Parnamirim Field: The "Trampoline to Victory")

 

4. The edge of the cliff

The plans - "What are you doing here?  Get to the sea!”  - The brazilian "Pearl Harbor" - Tropical apocalypse.

(Operation Brasilien Plans, U.S. plans to invade Brazil and its tragic consequences)

 

5. Lone wolf

The month of heartbreak - Terror on board - The U-507 in Salvador

(Reveals the true origin of the events that led Brazil to WWII)

 

6. Facts and myths

In the dock - In search of answers - "When I get back, I’ll deal with Pernambuco." - "We should have been better advised."

(Presents the evidence, based on the documents of the Nuremberg Trial, the U-507 War Diary, and Kriegsmarine official files)

 

7. Metamorphosis

"We swear to avenge this outrage!" - Metamorphosis

(Results of Brazilian declaration of war for the global geopolitical chessboard)

 

8. Treasure ship

Egypt on fire - "What can we do to help?" – “The ship the nazis had to get.”  

(Reveals a previously unknown event of military historiography that was critical to the Allied victory in North Africa, the USSR and Asia)

 

9. The balance

  "Send us more shermans" - Secrets of war - The last dive - undoubted errors.

(The fight of the Allies against the Afrika Korps, highlighting the role of Churchill, Montgomery and Rommel)

 

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