Canudos affects the political scene immediately when…

Canudos affects the political scene immediately when a returning soldier, the foil in a high-level Jacobin conspiracy, attempts to assassinate President Prudente de Morais but kills the minister of war instead, thereby acting as a catalyst for rallying support for the government.

The abortive assassination makes possible the election of Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales (president, 1898-1902).

In the army, the attempt consolidates the hold of generals who oppose Floriano Peixoto and are interested in professionalizing the institution.