Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛʁmis ʁoˈdɾigis dɐ fõˈsekɐ]; 12 May 1855 – 9 September 1923) was a Brazilian field marshal and politician who served as the eighth president of Brazil between 1910 and 1914.

During his term, at the suggestion of the Baron of Rio Branco, he sent Brazilian officers for training in the German Empire, who, after returning to Brazil, became known as the "Young Turks" .

[2] He also reformed the Army and the Ministry of War with the creation of large permanent units, known as the "Strategic Brigades", and technical and administrative services.

In November 1908, after returning from a trip to Germany, where he had witnessed military maneuvers as a guest of Kaiser Wilhelm II, he was nominated for presidential succession.

He had the support of president Nilo Peçanha, who replaced Afonso Pena, and state representatives at the National Congress, except for the representatives of São Paulo and Bahia, who supported senator Ruy Barbosa and the president of São Paulo state, Albuquerque Lins, as Barbosa's vice-presidential candidate.

With the invitation of Nilo Peçanha to return to the Ministry of War, Fonseca strengthened his position and won the 1910 election against Ruy Barbosa.

In the 1910 election on 1 March 1910 the country was divided: Bahia, São Paulo, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and part of Minas Gerais, supported Ruy Barbosa, who had the president of São Paulo, Albuquerque Lins, as his running mate; the other states supported Hermes da Fonseca, who had Venceslau Brás as his vice president.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Internally, the program for the construction of railways continued, including the Madeira-Mamoré railroad and technical-professional schools, outlined in the Afonso Pena government.

Upon leaving the presidency, in November 1914, he ran for the Senate for Rio Grande do Sul, but refused to assume the chair, due to the murder of Pinheiro Machado, on the day he was supposed to be inaugurated, in September 1915.

Arrested again on July 5, accused of conspiracy in the revolt that began on that date in Rio de Janeiro, he spent six months in prison, released on habeas corpus in January 1923.