A The building of a construction program

the motivations and efforts that made the 1936-46 military shipbuilding outbreak possible

Abstract

In the first half of the twentieth century, the construction of warships in Brazil was concentrated between the 30s and 40s, declining in the following decade. The activity is seen as a constructive outbreak, among four identified since the Independence of Brazil. This article presentes the motivations and efforts that made this industrial activity possible between the 30s and 40s, at the international context of the Great Depression, the Second World War and, on domestic politics, the so-called “Era Vargas” (The Age of Vargas). The article also seeks to link four elements to account for the complexity of the subject, arguing that it can’t be explained addressing only one of them. They are: international relations, military needs, the need to absorb technologies, and economics.