Hermes da Fonseca faced, in the first week of his government, in November 1910, the
Revolt of the Lash, planned for about two years and which culminated in a mutiny of the sailors in the battleships
Minas Gerais,
São Paulo,
Deodoro and the cruiser
Bahia. The revolt was led by
João Cândido. After the mutineers achieved their objective, ending the application of the lash punishments in the
Navy, and the granting of amnesty to all the more than two thousand mutinous sailors, the government betrayed them and began a process of expulsion of sailors. The first mutiny, now under control, was followed by an uprising in the
Marines battalion without apparent cause. President Hermes then ordered the bombardment of the ports and placed the country under a
state of exception. More than 1,200 sailors were expelled and hundreds were arrested and killed. Despite being quite popular when elected, Hermes' image was greatly shaken after the revolt. Two years later, another revolt came to disrupt his presidency, the
Contestado War, which was not quelled until the end of his government. During his presidency, the so-called Salvation Policy was carried out, which, either through electoral maneuvers or the use of military force, tried to promote federal interventions in the states of São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Pernambuco, Bahia, Piauí, Ceará and Alagoas, claiming the intention was to put an end to state political schemes and the practice of corruption, appointing new rulers to support his government. It was, therefore, a centralist policy. Despite being successful in the states of Pernambuco, Bahia and Alagoas, the Salvation Policy provoked violent popular and political opposition and caused a rupture in his relations with senator
Pinheiro Machado, who was in favor of the
status quo. Many elements of state politics engaged in armed struggle and managed to defeat the government, with the most violent fighting taking place in Ceará, where state politicians allied with the popular Catholic priest
Cícero Romão to oppose government intervention in what became known as the Juazeiro Sedition. In his government, there was a new renegotiation of the Brazilian foreign debt, in 1914, with a second funding loan (the first had been negotiated by
Campos Sales), as Brazil's financial situation was not going well. His foreign policy maintained the rapprochement with the United States, outlined by the chancellor, the Baron of Rio Branco, who continued as minister of Foreign Affairs until 1912, when he died. Internally, the program for the construction of railways continued, including the
Madeira-Mamoré railroad and technical-professional schools, outlined in the Afonso Pena government. The University of Paraná was created. Fonseca also completed the renovations and works of the Vila Militar de Deodoro and the Central Hospital of the Army, among others, in addition to the workers' villages in Rio de Janeiro, in the suburb of
Marechal Hermes and in the neighborhood of
Gávea. With the increasing union mobilizations in Rio de Janeiro, president Hermes took an attitude hitherto unheard of in the First Brazilian Republic, which tended to repress union movements; In 1912, by transporting and providing facilities, he sponsored the holding of the Fourth Brazilian Workers Congress, which had been organized by his son, then deputy Mário Hermes. Such government action, however, was viewed with suspicion by union leaders, who disliked the so-called "yellow" unionist current, which sought collaboration with the government. He was the only president to marry during the presidential term, his first wife, Orsina Francioni da Fonseca, whom he married on 16 April 1879, died on 30 November 1912. His second wife was the caricaturist
Nair de Tefé von Hoonholtz, daughter of the
Baron of Tefé. Nair would later be considered a feminist; she took part in the first celebrations of the International Women's Year. The civil and religious ceremonies took place on 8 December 1913, at the
Rio Negro Palace, in
Petrópolis. During his government, a decree was issued instituting the use of the presidential sash in Brazil. Hermes da Fonseca was the first president to use it and the first to pass it on to his successor. Since then, all presidents have received it on inauguration. Hermes da Fonseca is one of the only three military officers who reached the presidency of the republic in a direct and electoral way. The other two were
Eurico Gaspar Dutra and
Jair Bolsonaro. Throughout his tenure he was in military uniform, including during ministerial meetings. == Later years ==