Before starting the actual construction of the Breguet XIV, I had said that it was for an unusual user. I think the time has come to talk about it. The BM-1 is one of two Breguet XIVs employed by the Military Brigade of the State of Rio Grande do Sul in the second Federalist Revolution of 1923.
The history of Brazil is extremely complex, and particularly bloody between the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, marked by numerous civil conflicts, which generally rebelled against state or federal authorities.
In general, the causes and reasons stem from disputes over land, over power between elites of one political group or another, or through social differences and income concentration.
Practically all the states of Brazil had conflicts, the bloodiest being the Canudos revolt (1897) in the state of Bahia, and the federalist revolutions in Rio Grande do Sul state (1898 and 1923), the first revolution being known as the "war of the sticking". ", since the opponents did not take prisoners and cut each other's throats.
A general reason for all these conflicts was the transition via coup that overthrew the Brazilian monarchy (which was actually the Portuguese that fled Portugal when Napoleon invaded this country) and divided the ruling classes in the country. The Republic installed from 1889 followed the molds of the USA (It is not by chance that the old name of Brazil is "Republic of the United States of Brazil"), the difference is that the states had some power prerogatives that should belong to the government federal government, including having army-level security forces and coining its own money.
These military troops formed second-line armies that had a dual purpose: they functioned as both a police force and a defense force for the state. It should be said that these institutions still exist in Brazil and are the country's overt police forces at the state level.
In general, these civil conflicts like the federalist revolutions were local wars within the states where these forces with heavy weapons faced local warlords, in general, ranchers with small private armies, the federal government only intervened with the regular army if the conflict exceeded the state and occurred in more units of the federation.
I'm not going to abuse historical information, but the 1923 conflict, the second federalist revolution, took place due to the dispute over the state's political power, where a part of the state's agrarian elite accused the other of rigging the election (which actually happened, since the governor at the time (Borges de Medeiros) had been in power since 1905, holding elections that were census-based and open).
The revolt was crushed because the Brigada Militar create by Borges de Medeiros was equipped with modern weapons from remnants of the World War I, that easily reached Rio Grande do Sul via Paraguay and Argentina (this first country was also in civil upheaval at the time), among them two Breguet XIV planes that created one of the first police air services in all of latin america and were used in combat. But that part of the story goes a little further when I have already started something of the model.
This year in December the Federalist Revolution celebrates its 100 year old anniversary, of the civil wars in Brazil before 1930 it is very interesting, and for Brazil in general it is extremely important, because its thought, influence the end of the so-called "Old Republic, or Café com Leite Republic" and creates a truly "modern" Brazil. But it is not the scope of our forum, although I will still explain about the Brigada Militar and its aerial operations in 1923 with the two Breguet 14s.
Regarding the Breguet 14, there are few photos and little information about the Brigada Militar aircraft, which is known that one of them was a military one, version A2 that was used until it literally fell. The second machine was never clear whether it was a T or GR version (the Brigada Militar documentation about 1923 revolution was lost in a fire in the 90s). Therefore, the safest option is to represent BM1. The colors are not known for sure, but there is a consensus that the plane had natural dope from the factory.
