Não tivemos outro jeito: ou morríamos ou nos defendíamos, uma análise acerca da Batalha do Irani (1912).

Abstract

The present dissertation proposes to examine the battle that marks the beginning of the Contestado War, that occurred in a region that had been the subject of disputes over jurisdiction between the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina, and as a result of it was called the "Contested Area". Between 1912 and 1916, this region, which currently corresponds to the Midwest of Santa Catarina, experienced an armed conflict that opposed a large number of sertanejos and members of federal and state military forces, becoming an important event in the history of Brazil. Its initial milestone goes back to the episode that occurred in the early morning of October 22, 1912;, when a portion of the troops of the Paraná State Security Regiment, led by its commander, Coronel João Gualberto Gomes de Sá, came into confrontation with a popular religious leadership, the monk José Maria, and some local residents who followed him. This meeting took place in Banhado Grande, region of Irani, until then belonging to the state of Paraná. As it is one of the first episodes of the Contestado War, the Battle of Irani has been mentioned in the historiography in many ways, not constituting itself as a new object of study. However, it is precisely this profusion of versions about the Battle that makes necessary to revisit it. When carrying out a historiographical review, it appears that the different representations about the Battle of Irani were constituted between repetitions, permanences and some advances. Therefore, coming from the conceptions of microhistory and seeking an intensive use of sources, through the analysis of military and crime processes, newspapers from Paraná and Santa Catarina, telegrams, photographs of the time and so many other sources, it is sought to understand this episode of the War not as an isolated event, but as a response from the sertanejos of the region and the ruling local class by facing social and cultural changes, especially those that took place in the interior of the states of Santa Catarina and Paraná. To this end, a new narrative about the events surrounding the Battle of Irani is proposed, investigating what would have been the role of the press in the episode, inquiring how was the capitalist insertion, through foreign companies in the hinterlands of the States of Paraná and Santa Catarina, is related to the events of October 22, 1912, as well as analyzing the trajectory of some characters involved to better understand this episode. Thus, it can be seen that the Battle of Irani went far beyond the exchange of fire and the disorder established that morning in Banhado Grande. Throughout the production of this work, it was noted that there is no way to disassociate the occurrence of this event from the framework of possibilities and ambitions present in the performance of the main agents involved, taking into account their social, personal and political networks.