This article highlights the renewed interest in the history of the coup of 1964 and the dictatorship that followed in Brazil, as well as some debates involved in the production of memoirs, investigative journalism and academic research on the topic. It analyses at more length one of the polemics: the increasing use of the term ‘civilian‐military’ to qualify the coup, the rule, and the dictatorship. It argues that – independent of the use of the term – the most important aspect is to understand the complex relationship between the military and civilians as part of a broader process of conservative modernisation during this period.