Brazil in World War II

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Brazil was on the Allied side in World War II (1939–1945) despite the fascist sympathies of its ruling Estado Novo regime. German and Italian submarines torpedoed Brazilian ships in February 1942 in retaliation to Brazil's adherence to the Atlantic Charter, which called for automatic support for any nation on the American continent which was attacked by an extra-continental power. Over several months 36 Brazilian merchant ships were sunk causing a total of 1,691 shipwrecks and 1,074 deaths.