The military and the space of Rio de Janeiro: a research program on Urban Geography and Geopolitics

Abstract

The geopolitical and military aspect in the city’s occupation only deserves much attention if we take into consideration the episodes of its foundation. However, taking the Brazilian geopolitical primacy between the halves of the 18th and 20th centuries, the urban space of Brazil’s old capital was extensively marked by military institutions. The highest point of this situation takes place in the first half of the 20th century with the armed forces modernization process as well as the growing political protagonism of the military corporation in the Brazilian life and in the city, with the settlement of more than a quarter of all the military personnel in the old Federal District. It is possible to find several military units in all sectors of the urban area, some with the same extension as many districts. The axis of this research project is to investigate the armed forces as a shaping agent of Rio de Janeiro’s urban space in the first half of the 20th century.