A política imigratória do Período Vargas (1930-1945) e o projeto de colonizaçâo de Andreas Thaler em Santa Catarina

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to present the results of our doctoral research which aimed at analyzing the project of Austrian settlement undertaken in the West of Santa Catarina State, in the region of Barra de São Bento, where the colony of Dreizehnlinden (Treze Tílias) was established in 1933. In this regard, we sought to comprehend to what extension this settlement project, led by a conservative Catholic politician, Andreas Thaler (1833-1939), was linked to migratory policies of the Brazilian State between 1930 and 1945. Moreover, this research attempted to verify how the settlement of Dreizehnlinden was connected to the immigration policy of Getúlio Vargas´s government, performing the function of occupying a territory which combined issues such as occupational vacuum of Brazilian hinterland, in a space troubled by agrarian problem and the attempt to foster modernization of social relations in the rural areas. Furthermore, this colony of Austrian immigrants stood out as a case study which allowed analyzing various aspects of legal norms implemented by the State, as well as existing eugenic and ethnic-racial elements in the Brazilian migratory policy since Vargas era. The thesis hypothesis is that the settlement process of Dreizehnlinden is a case in point that shows several aspects of that immigration policy formulated in that period, including its contradictions and results. In addition to that, there are secondary hypotheses such as that this project of settlement encompasses racial contents and features of construction of a new agrarian policy. From a methodological standpoint, this research was supported by a systematic survey of information compiled from books, articles, journals, memory books as well as legal documents from that period, among them the 1934 and 1937 Brazilian Constitutions and some decree-laws and decrees published over the decades of 1930-40. In parallel, we selected and analysed official documents and correspondences written at that time by local authorities, immigrants and the federal government. The investigation into journalistic materials included reports, photos and immigrants ´testimonies issued in the most popular Austrian, German and Brazilian magazines in order to examine narratives and memories related to the colony´s way of life in the studied period. After conducting research, it was remarkable that the Austrian colony of Dreizehnlinden represented a peculiar and modular model of settlement, experiencing directly contradictions derived from such policies. That is exactly why the colony was at the mercy of fluctuations in discourse and practices which took place in that historical period, adjusting to the political position adopted by the Brazilian government, including in the context of international relations, especially in the face of World War II. In relation to the experiences shared by the Austrian immigrants, it is noteworthy that the process of facing difficulties and unfolding lives, now on Brazilian soil, was very much associated with the religious experience brought from Austria, which was based on Catholicism.