Presidential Republic (1925–1973)
Republic of Chile República de Chile | |||||||||||
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1925–1973 | |||||||||||
Anthem: Salvador Allende Gossens last | |||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
• Admitted to the United Nations | 25 October 1945 | ||||||||||
11 September 1973 | |||||||||||
Currency | Chilean peso | ||||||||||
ISO 3166 code | CL | ||||||||||
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History of Chile |
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Timeline • Years in Chile |
The Presidential Republic (
Carlos Ibáñez and Arturo Alessandri Palma
Headed by Colonel
Alessandri's second government began with the support of left-wing and radical groups. However, this second group began to distance itself from the President. In March 1925, Alessandri's government repressed a demonstration, leading to the Marusia massacre (500 deaths), soon followed by La Coruña massacre.
Henceforth, Alessandri encountered opposition from his own
Ibáñez then published an open letter to the President, recalling him that he could only issue decree through his approbation, as he was the only minister of the cabinet. Alessandri then decided to nominate Luis Barros Borgoño as Minister of Interior, and resigned a second time from the presidency on October 2, 1925.
This break with the working classes caused Alessandri to try to maintain a right-wing-radical alliance until 1937, when it took a turn towards the left.
Emiliano Figueroa Larraín (1925–1927)
Alessandri's resignation prompted Ibáñez to convince the parties to find a common candidacy, as required by Alessandri.
In February 1927, Ibáñez succeeded in being designated as Minister of Interior (who, in case of a vacancy in the presidency, would be designated
Carlos Ibáñez (1927–1931)
.In 1929, Ibáñez requested from Chile's political parties a list of their candidates for the general elections, in order to select for himself which ones would be permitted to campaign.[clarification needed] Ibáñez then traveled to the resort town of Termas de Chillán, from where he selected members of both houses. The resulting legislative body which emerged from his choices became known as the “Congreso Termal.”[citation needed]
Ibánez's popularity was buoyed by loans from American banks, which helped to promote a high rate of growth in the country and the launching important
Ibáñez also reformed the police in 1927, merging the Fiscal Police, the Rural Police, and the Cuerpo de Carabineros into the
In June 1929, Ibáñez signed the Treaty of Lima with Peru, whereby Chile agreed to return Tacna Province—which had been seized during the War of the Pacific—to Peru in exchange for financial compensation.
Ibáñez's popularity diminished once the effects of the
Although Ibáñez's government increased
Ibáñez's lavish public spending did not alleviate the situation; his opponents, primarily the exiled Grove and Alessandri, began to plan a comeback. Several conspiracies attempted to remove Ibáñez from power.[citation needed]
Public unrest followed, during which students from the
The Socialist Republic (1931–1932)
Meanwhile, Alessandri had returned to Chile, and the presidential campaign began, with Alessandri running against Juan Montero. The
A short time after his investiture in December 1931, President Montero was confronted by the
The military junta dissolved Congress, ordered to the Caja de Crédito Popular banking institution to return pawned objects to their owners and decreed three days of closure of the banks. The new junta was however deeply divided, and on June 16, 1932, less than two weeks after the coup, Carlos Dávila deposed Grove and Matte and deported them to the Easter Islands. Dávila proclaimed himself "provisional President" on July 8, 1932.
The Armed Forces did not support Dávila. On September 13, 1932, they forced him to cede power to his Minister of Interior, General
General Espejo, who was not keen on organizing elections, and who was in turn threatened with a mutiny from the garrisons of
Arturo Alessandri (1932–1938)
In order to see off the threats of a coup, Alessandri relied on the republican forces, trusted to repress any revolts and to not get involved in politics. They were created shortly before Alessandri's return, as a consequence of the civil movement. They functioned in secret and then publicly, marching in a great parade May 7, 1933 in front of the President, who saluted them. They disbanded in 1936, having considered their mission complete. The President asked the Parliament on several occasions to vote for a state of constitutional exception, resulting in actions such as the famous burning of the 285th issue of the satirical magazine Topaze, which published a caricature of Alessandri he considered offensive.
Such precautions were not without reason, especially considering the appearance of new violent movements, such as the
In the economic sphere, the recovery from the
The Radical Governments (1938–1952)
The
Pedro Aguirre Cerda (1938–1941)
The first Radical President,
Pedro Aguirre Cerda promoted the development of technical-industrial schools as a means to promote the training of technicians for the nascent industrialization of the country. He also created thousands of new regular schools and the expanded the university system to cover the whole of the country.
A strong
The
During Aguirre's first year he had to face the military opposition to his plans, which boiled over with the Ariostazo in August 1939, led by General Ariosto Herera and Ibáñez. The leaders of the attempted putsch, in particular General Herera, were strongly influenced by Italian fascism: Herera had served in Italy as a military attaché in the 1930s.
Aguirre also campaigned for a
In 1941 due to his rapidly escalating illness, Aguirre appointed his minister of the Interior, Jerónimo Méndez as vice-president, and died soon after, on November 25, 1941.
Juan Antonio Ríos (1942–1946)
The left-wing coalition remained intact after President Aguirre's death, united by a common opponent, General
In 1944, the Radical Party presented a series of proposals to Rios, which he deemed unacceptable. Those included the break-off of relations with Francoist Spain – diplomatic and especially economic pressure had caused him to finally break off relations with the Axis Powers in January 1943 – the recognition of the USSR and a cabinet exclusively composed of Radicals.
By breaking off relations with the Axis, President Ríos made Chile eligible for the United States' Lend-Lease program, and obtained loans necessary to help Chile's economic recovery. The close relations that developed with the United States were, however, problematic for him at home. Furthermore, his refusal to implement the Radical Party's propositions caused the resignation of all of the Radical ministers, leaving the President without a party. These internal divisions partly explained the right-wing success during the 1945 legislative elections, which were a debacle for the Socialists and the Communists, who obtained close to no seats in Parliament. The Radicals themselves lost a number of seats.
Furthermore, the repression of riots on
Gabriel González Videla (1946–1952)
For the second time in five years, a
González was elected with 40% of the votes against 29% for the conservative candidate, Cruz Coke, and 27% for the liberal candidate Alessandri Rodríguez. Since González did not reach the necessary 50%, he had to be confirmed by Congress. He was duly confirmed on October 24 that year, following various negotiations between the parties, which led to the creation of a composite cabinet, including liberals, radicals and communists.
Once in the presidency, González had a fallout with the communists. Following the municipal elections, during which the Communist Party greatly increased its representation, the PCC demanded more cabinet seats, which González refused to grant. On the other hand, afraid of the success of the PCC, the Liberal Party withdrew from the cabinet. In June 1947, incidents during a strike affecting public transport in Santiago led to several casualties and the proclamation of a
Finally, under the pressure of the United States, González enacted a
González's new supporters, who approved of his anti-communist stance, were the two right-wing parties, the
González's tough stance against
In the parliamentary elections of 1949, the pro-government parties triumphed. However, the unity between right-wing parties and radicals and socialists did not last long. Radicals were unhappy with the economic policies of the right-wing Finance Minister, Jorge Alessandri, no matter how successful they were in controlling inflation. When a protest by government employees broke out in 1950, the radicals immediately declared their support for the protesters' demands. The right-wingers responded by resigning from González's cabinet.
By losing the liberal and conservative support, González lost the pro-government majority in Congress. He was of course unable to achieve much thereafter, but he did manage to make significant improvements in women's rights. González appointed the first female cabinet minister and the first female ambassador, and created the Oficina de la Mujer.
Despite this political, social and economical instability, González's government did achieve some important successes, including the complete integration of women in political life, the remodeling of the city of
Start of mass politics (1952–1964)
Chile undertook an important economic transition after World War II. Due to the
On the other hand, the
Carlos Ibáñez (1952–1958)
Four main candidates ran in the
Ibáñez's first issue was the
Ibáñez's second term was a very modest success. By that time he was already old and ailing, and he left government mostly to his cabinet. Elected on a program promising to put an end to chronic inflation in the Chilean economy, Ibáñez decided to freeze wages and prices, leading to stagnation of economic growth and in turn a relative increase in civil unrest. Inflation, however, continued, skyrocketing to 71% in 1954 and 83% in 1955 [citation needed]. Helped by the Klein-Sacks mission, Ibáñez managed to reduce it to 33% when he left the presidency. During his term, public transport costs rose by 50% and economic growth fell to 2.5%.[citation needed]
Now much more of a centrist politically, Ibáñez won the support of many left-wingers by repealing the Ley de Defensa de la Democracia (Law for the Defense of Democracy), which had banned the
Some Chileans continued to support an Ibáñez dictatorship. These ibañistas, most of whom were young army officers inspired by the Argentine
At the end of his presidency, Ibáñez also clashed with the Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile (FECh) students' union because of his decision to increase the public transport fares. 20 people were killed and many more injured during demonstrations in April 1957.
Jorge Alessandri (1958–1964)
This succession of problems led the Partido Agrario Laborista (PAL) to withdraw from Ibáñez's government, leaving him isolated. On the other hand, the Radicals, Socialists and Communists organized the
Alessandri's narrow victory made the 1960 municipal elections decisive. Although the liberal-conservative coalition did not win these elections, it succeeded in having a decent score enough to face the left-wing opposition. Alessandri continued to receive their support after the 1961 legislative elections, while the Radical Party entered the governmental coalition, leading the President to have control of both Chambers of Parliament, something which had not occurred in recent times.
Despite these electoral successes, Alessandri's tenure had to face two successive earthquakes, one on May 21, 1960, day of the inauguration of the
Thousands of volunteers helped survivors in rebuilding local infrastructures, while the United States, Cuba, Brazil, France, Italy and other countries sent international aid. Chile's situation forced the state to accept the US conditions for the receiving of aid via John F. Kennedy's assistance plan for Latin America, the Alliance for Progress, including the first steps of the Chilean land reform. The disaster led to renewed inflation, and consequently to important strikes during 1961, followed by copper miners, teachers, physicians, banks and ports. Despite this, the country was retained as the host for the 1962 FIFA World Cup, initially awarded to the country in 1956.
In the 1963 municipal elections, the liberal-conservative coalition lost many seats, while the Christian-Democrats and the FRAP (Socialists and Communists) made major gains.
From the Christian-Democracy to the Popular Unity
For the first time in fifty years, a major new party appeared on the Chilean political scene, the
Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970)
In the
Eduardo Frei Montalva, who had been Minister of Public Works in 1945 in
Frei's administration began many reforms in Chilean society. "Promoción Popular" (Social Promotion), "Reforma Agraria" (agrarian reform), "Reforma Educacional" (education reform), and "Juntas de Vecinos" (neighborhood associations) were some of his main projects. He also took measures to rationalise drug supply.
Furthermore, in 1966, the
Salvador Allende (1970–1973)
See also
References
- ^ Intervenciones militares y poder factico en la politica chilena (de 1830 al 2000) Archived 2007-06-17 at the Wayback Machine, Luis Vitale, 2000 (p. 38) (in Spanish)
- ^ Levantamiento campesino en Ranquil, Lonquimay (in Spanish)
- ^ CIA Reveals Covert Acts In Chile, CBS News, September 19, 2000. Accessed online 19 January 2007.
- ^ "CIA Site Redirect — Central Intelligence Agency". ODCI.gov. Archived from the original on 30 September 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2017.