History of Chile during the Parliamentary Era (1891-1925)
Encyclopedia
Chilean Civil War
The Chilean Civil War of 1891 was an armed conflict between forces supporting Congress and forces supporting the sitting President, José Manuel Balmaceda. The war saw a confrontation between the Chilean Army and the Chilean Navy, which had sided with the president and the congress, respectively...
, and spanned until 1925 and the establishment of the 1925 Constitution. Also called "pseudo-parliamentary" period or "Parliamentary Republic
Parliamentary Republic
The Parliamentary Republic can refer to:* A republican form of government with a Parliamentary system and a ceremonial head of state or head of state elected by parliament - see Parliamentary republic...
", this period was thus named because it established a quasi-parliamentary system based on the interpretation of the 1833 Constitution following the defeat of President José Manuel Balmaceda
José Manuel Balmaceda
José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández was the 11th President of Chile from September 18, 1886 to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile...
during the Civil War. As opposed to a "true parliamentary" system
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
, the executive was subject to the legislative but checks and balances of executive over the legislature were weakened. The President
President of Chile
The President of the Republic of Chile is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible of the government and state administration...
remained the head of state but its powers and control of the government were reduced. The Parliamentary Republic lasted until the 1925 Constitution drafted by President Arturo Alessandri
Arturo Alessandri
Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma was a Chilean political figure and reformer, who served twice as the President of Chile, first between 1920 and 1924, and then again in 1925, and finally from 1932 until 1938....
and his minister José Maza. The new Constitution created a presidential system, which lasted, with several modifications, until the 1973 coup d'état.
In the late 19th century and early 20th Chile temporary resolved its border disputes with Argentina with the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina, Puna de Atacama Lawsuit of 1899 and the 1902 General Treaty of Arbitration.
Parliamentarism
The pseudo-parliamentary systemParliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
was established in Chile following José Manuel Balmaceda
José Manuel Balmaceda
José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández was the 11th President of Chile from September 18, 1886 to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile...
's defeat in the 1891 Civil War
Chilean Civil War
The Chilean Civil War of 1891 was an armed conflict between forces supporting Congress and forces supporting the sitting President, José Manuel Balmaceda. The war saw a confrontation between the Chilean Army and the Chilean Navy, which had sided with the president and the congress, respectively...
. Whereas in a complete parliamentary system the chief of government is designed by the parliamentary majority, and usually belongs to it, the function of chief of government was hereby un-officially assumed by the Minister of Interior
Ministry of the Interior (Chile)
The Ministry of the Interior and Public Security is the cabinet-level administrative office in charge of "maintaining public order, security and social peace" within Chile. It is also charged with planning, directing, coordinating, executing, controlling, and informing the domestic policies...
. The National Congress
Ex Congreso Nacional
The Former National Congress Building is the former home of the Chilean Congress. Congress met in this building in central Santiago until Salvador Allende's socialist government was overthrown by Augusto Pinochet's military coup d'état on September 11, 1973.During the Pinochet dictatorship,...
indirectly controlled his nomination and the rest of the cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
through the vote of the periodical laws (leyes periódicas), that is the budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
, the military credits, etc. Others means of control included the refusal, by any one of the two Chambers
Bicameralism
In the government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses....
(Senate
Senate of Chile
The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile.-Composition:...
or Chamber of Deputies) to vote a motion of confidence or the refusal to vote laws of lesser importance proposed by the executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
.
While the Parliament may withdraw his confidence to the Prime minister in a standard parliamentary system, the head of government is normally granted the power of dissolution of parliament
Dissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
, leading to the calling of new elections in order to have the sovereign people
Sovereign People
Sovereign People is a political party in Curaçao, the Netherlands Antilles. Pueblo Soberano has a progressive slant and is headed by controversial leader Helmin Wiels. At the legislative elections in the Netherlands Antilles of 27 January 2006, the party won no seats...
arbitrate between the legislative and the executive. However, in the Chilean system, the President of the Republic did not dispose of this power of dissolution, thus restricting his margins of decision.
The system of parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
was very fluid, functionning on the basis of groups depending on individual personalities or caudillos who held the control of the parties and could form or dissolve cabinets. Furthermore, there was no established voting discipline in the parties. The custom was soon established for the President to nominate "universal cabinets" which included ministers from all parties. The stability of these cabinets was therefore dependent on the political intrigues in the National Congress.
Parliamentary instability
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
was quite strong during this period, with a large rotation of cabinets. This pseudo-parliamentary system was terminated with the 1925 Constitution which declared incompatible the charges of ministers with parliamentary offices and made the approval of the Ley de Presupuestos automatic, which included the organization of the state income, if the Congress did not approve it after a while. It also enacted the election of the President at universal direct suffrage.
Political structure and electoral practices
The main parties between 1891 and 1925 included, from right to left, the Conservative PartyConservative Party (Chile)
The Conservative Party of Chile was one of the principal Chilean political parties since its foundation in 1836 until 1949, when it broke apart. In 1953 it reformed as the United Conservative Party and in 1966 joined with the Liberal Party to form the National Party...
, close to the Roman Catholic Church; various liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
groups in the center belonging to the National Party
National Party (Chile) (1857-1933)
The National Party of Chile, also known as the Montt-Varist Party was a Chilean political party formed in 1857 by the supporters of President Manuel Montt and Interior Minister Antonio Varas. The National Party had a liberal ideology and was primarily supported by businessmen and bankers,...
(aka Monttvarista after Manuel Montt
Manuel Montt
Manuel Francisco Antonio Julián Montt Torres was a Chilean statesman and scholar. He was twice elected President of Chile between 1851 and 1861.-Biography:...
and Antonio Varas
Antonio Varas
Antonio Varas de la Barra was a Chilean political figure, statesman and conservative politician. He served several times as minister....
), the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Chile)
The Liberal Party of Chile was a Chilean political party created by a faction of pipiolos in 1849. After the conservative victory in the Chilean Civil War of 1829 the liberals became the principal opposition party to the Conservative Party...
, the Liberal Democratic Party
Liberal Democratic Party (Chile)
The Liberal Democratic Party is the name of two Chilean liberal political parties. The first one, formed by Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, lasted very little and the second one called also balmacedist was one of the impellers of the Chilean parliamentary system from 1891 to 1925.-Vicuña Mackenna's...
(or Balmacedista); and on the left the Radical Party
Radical Party (Chile)
The Radical Party of Chile was a Chilean political party. It was formed in 1863 by a split in the Liberal Party. Not coincidently, it was formed shortly after the organization of the Grand Lodge of Chile, and it has maintained a close relationship with Chilean Freemasonry throughout its life...
and the Democrat Party. At the end of the 1910s, the Socialist Workers Party, associated with the labour movement
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
, began to gain some importance.
These parties allied themselves either in the Coalition
Coalition (Chile)
The Coalition , also but rarely known as Conservative Coalition, was a Chilean coalition formed in 1891 after the Chilean Civil War and it was the main opposer of the Liberal Alliance. The Coalition was formed by the Conservative Party, democrats, nationals and different liberal organizations...
, grouping the Conservative Party and the liberals, or in the Liberal Alliance
Liberal Alliance (1891)
In 1891, after the Chilean Civil War and the dissolution of the coalition between conservatives, radicals and antibalmacedist liberals the Radical Party, the Democrat Party and several liberal organizations formed the Liberal Alliance . It was the main opposer of the Coalition...
, composed by the liberals and the Radical Party.
As opposed to the Conservative Republic (1831–1861) or the Liberal Republic (1861–1891), the executive power did not interfere in the elections as it did through intendant
Intendant
The title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...
s, governors and inspectors. Elections were organized by the municipalities of Chile
Municipalities of Chile
A commune is the smallest administrative subdivision in Chile. It may contain cities, towns, villages, hamlets as well as rural areas. In highly populated areas, such as Santiago, Valparaíso and Concepción, a conurbation may be broken into several communes...
, held by various local caudillos. Bribes
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
, electoral fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
, stealing of ballot boxes were frequent in rural zones.
Social groups
Three main social classes composed the Parliamentary Republic: the oligarchyOligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
, the middle classes and the working classes.
The aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
was formed by the landlord
Landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
s, politics, saltpeter
Sodium nitrate
Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO3. This salt, also known as Chile saltpeter or Peru saltpeter to distinguish it from ordinary saltpeter, potassium nitrate, is a white solid which is very soluble in water...
entrepreneurs (many of whom were foreigners), bankers, physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s, intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
s, etc. They were used to live in neoclassic
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
palaces or mansions, following European fashion
History of Western fashion
The history of Western fashion is the story of the changing fashions in clothing for men and women in Western Europe and other countries under its influence from the 12th century to the present.-History of fashion by period:...
, etc. The oligarchy, however, was internally divided on some points, explaining the many parties and the two main shifting alliances, with the liberals joining either the Conservative Party or the Radical Party.
The working classes were formed by saltpeter workers, industrial workers and workers in public works, as well as landless peasants. The first lived in the North, in huts in Calamina, where differences in temperature between day and night spanned 30 degrees Celsius. Others workers lived in conventillos (dormitories) or in round quarters (rooms without windows or lighting). Peasants lived in ranches. All worked without contract
Employment contract
A contract of employment is a category of contract used in labour law to attribute right and responsibilities between parties to a bargain.On the one end stands an "employee" who is "employed" by an "employer". It has arisen out of the old master-servant law, used before the 20th century...
between 12 to 16 hours daily without Sunday sabbath. Some were paid by company scrip
Company scrip
Company scrip is currency issued in certain industries to pay workers. Such scrip can only be exchanged by wage-earners in company stores owned by their employers and often charging inflated prices. In the UK, such systems have been formally outlawed under Truck Acts.In the United States, mining...
s.
The economy of saltpeter
SaltpeterSodium nitrate
Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO3. This salt, also known as Chile saltpeter or Peru saltpeter to distinguish it from ordinary saltpeter, potassium nitrate, is a white solid which is very soluble in water...
was the main resource
Natural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
of Chile and all of the economy
Economy of Chile
The economy of Chile is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank, and is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations, leading Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, economic freedom, and low perception of...
revolved around it. A third of the profits
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
of saltpeter were taken by foreigners, another third by the state, which obtained it by tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
ing exports, and the last third was used to re-invest
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
in the saltpeter mines. The state used the revenue received by saltpeter to build infrastructures (roads, railroads, ports, etc.).
Presidents of the Parliamentary Republic
The charge of Vice-President was exerced as an interim by the Minister of Interior if the President died.- Alm. Jorge Montt Álvarez (1891–1896)
- Federico Errázuriz EchaurrenFederico Errázuriz EchaurrenFederico Errázuriz Echaurren was a Chilean political figure. Born in Santiago, he served as President of Chile between 1896 and his death in 1901. Federico Errázuriz was of Basque descent.-Early life:...
(1896–1901) - Germán Riesco ErrázurizGermán Riesco ErrázurizGermán Ignacio Riesco Errázuriz was a Chilean political figure, who served several times as minister between 1919 and 1950. He was of Basque descent....
(1901–1906) - Pedro Montt Montt (1906–1910)
- Elías Fernández Albano (1910 as Vice-President)
- Emiliano Figueroa Larraín (1910 as Vice-President)
- Ramón Barros LucoRamón Barros LucoRamón Barros Luco was President of Chile between 1910 and 1915.Barros Luco was born in 1835 in Santiago, Barros Luco was son of Ramón Luis Barros Fernández and Dolores Luco Fernández de Leiva. He graduated from Law School in 1858...
(1910–1915) - Juan Luis SanfuentesJuan Luis SanfuentesJuan Luis Sanfuentes Andonaegui was President of Chile between 1915 and 1920. He was son of writer and politician Salvador Sanfuentes Torres and Matilde Andonaegui....
(1915–1920) - Arturo Alessandri Palma (1920–1924)
- September Junta and January Junta (1924–25)
- Arturo Alessandri Palma (1925 - 1925)