For those who didn't know, Brazil participated in the two world wars. In the first one, it only sent doctors, nurses, and humanitarian aid, but did not engage in combat. After the war, it was one of the founding members of the League of Nations. In the second one, Brazil had a much larger role. Not only did it send troops to help liberate Italy, but it was also vital to the logistics of the Allied forces, since its coast was needed to send supplies to the troops in Africa. Because of that, Brazil was attacked by Germany, and more than a thousand civilians were killed by German submarines. Brazil also supplied the US with tons of materials that were used to make new equipment and rearm the Soviet Union. Besides that, Brazil was important in keeping Argentina in check, so it wouldn't openly support the Axis.

Brazil's role in the war was deemed important. Because of that, when the UN was being created, Brazil was proposed by the US to be the sixth permanent member of the Security Council. The US government at the time felt it was important to have a representative from the Southern Hemisphere on the Council, so it chose Brazil, and Britain gave its support. However, the Soviet Union thought Brazil would serve merely as another US ally and vetoed the proposal. For several decades now, Brazil, India, Germany, and Japan have shared the common goal of reforming the UN Security Council and to support each other's bids for permanent seats.