Socialist Republic of Chile
Encyclopedia
Government Junta of Chile (1932)
Government Junta of Chile , was a political structure established during the anarchy that followed the resignation of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo...
that took over that year.
Background
President Juan Esteban MonteroJuan Esteban Montero
Juan Esteban Montero Rodríguez was a Chilean political figure. He served twice as president of Chile between 1931 and 1932.-Early life:...
had assumed on November 15, 1931. By mid-1932, he was already in serious problems, due to the economic impact of the market crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
. To the very grave social and economic problems he faced, he could add the growing political instability that was gripping the country. He was pictured as an inefficient and unpopular and the number of conspiracies that sought to displace him was growing by the day.
On June 4, 1932, a group of young socialists under the leadership of Eugenio Matte; some air force personnel under colonel Marmaduke Grove; and some army personnel (followers of former president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as dictator between 1927 and 1931 and as constitutional President from 1952 to 1958.- The coups of 1924 and 1925 :...
) under Carlos Dávila
Carlos Dávila
Carlos Gregorio Dávila Espinoza , was a Chilean political figure, Chairman of Government Junta of Chile in 1932, and Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1954 until his death in 1955.-Early life:...
staged a coup d'état by taking over the Air Force base of El Bosque, in Santiago, demanding the resignation of President Montero.
Montero refused to call on the army to put down the coup, and instead chose to resign. That same night, the victorious revolutionaries organized a Government Junta
Government Junta of Chile (1932)
Government Junta of Chile , was a political structure established during the anarchy that followed the resignation of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo...
composed of retired General Arturo Puga
Arturo Puga
General Arturo Puga Osorio , was a Chilean military officer and Chairman of Government Junta in 1932.On June 4, 1932 he became Chairman of the Government Junta that was established after the resignation of President Juan Esteban Montero...
, Eugenio Matte and Carlos Davila, with colonel Grove as their minister of Defense. They immediately proceeded to proclaim the Socialist Republic of Chile.
Creation and fall
The proclamation took by surprise and divided public opinion immediately. The Communist Party of ChileCommunist Party of Chile
The Communist Party of Chile is a Chilean political party inspired by the thoughts of Karl Marx and Lenin. It was founded in 1922, as the continuation of the Socialist Workers Party, and in 1934 it established its youth wing, the Communist Youth of Chile .In the last legislative elections in Chile...
(PCCh) and the trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s manifested their opposition, because they considered the coup as "militarist". At the same time, businessmen, professionals and students of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile also heatedly opposed it, also on ideological grounds. At the end the new republic received only the guarded support of the socialists and the employees' associations.
A few days following the proclamation of the new “Socialist Republic of Chile,” the Junta dissolved Congress and, among other measures, stopped evictions from low-rental properties, decreed a three-day bank holiday (which was followed by strict controls on withdrawals), and ordered the “Caja de Crédito Popular” (a savings and loan bank for Chileans of modest means) to return clothes and tools which had been pawned there.
The new Junta ordered a half-million free meals served daily by the Government to Chile's unemployed. State pawnshops had to obey an order to return, free of any charge, sewing machines and all tools pawned by the "certified unemployed." After only a few days in office the Government began to run short of funds, so it ordered the police to raid all the jewelry shops in Santiago, seizing valuables from helpless jewelers. To avoid what it could be termed as a "confiscation", the police gave each jeweler "compensation" in the form of a receipt which they could cash in paper pesos. Credits and deposits in foreign currency in the national and foreign banks operating in Chile were declared the property of the State. They also pardoned all the people involved in the Sailors' mutiny
Sailors' mutiny
The Chilean naval mutiny of 1931 was a violent rebellion of the Chilean Navy enlisted men against the government of Vice President Manuel Trucco.-Background:...
. A General Commissariat of Subsistence and Prices was also established with the authority to fix the price of staple foods.
The division of public opinion was also present inside the Government Junta, where the followers of General Ibáñez opposed the radicalization of the socialist movement promoted by Grove and Matte. On June 13, Carlos Dávila resigned in protest. Three days later, on June 16, and with the support of the army, he proceeded to expel the socialist members of the government, and replace them with his own supporters. Eugenio Matte and Marmaduque Grove were arrested and exiled to Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
. Some authors consider this date as the true end of the socialist republic.
With army support, Carlos Dávila, proclaimed himself provisional President of the “Socialist Republic of Chile”. At the same time he declared a state of emergency, press censorship, and a host of centrally-planned economic measures. Nonetheless, the lack of military and public opinion support forced him to resign on September 13, 1932. The office was passed onto General Bartolomé Blanche
Bartolomé Blanche
General Bartolomé Guillermo Blanche Espejo was a Chilean military officer and provisional president of Chile in 1932....
, who was replaced, under threat of a military uprising, by the President of the Supreme Court, Abraham Oyanedel
Abraham Oyanedel
Abraham Oyanedel Urrutia was president of Chile in 1932.He studied law at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, and in 1897 received his law degree. During the Chilean Civil War in 1891, Oyanedel fought for the Congressional army.In 1927, he was appointed a member of the Supreme Court of Chile ,...
, who immediately called for presidential and congressional elections.
See also
- Presidential Republic
- Government Junta of 1932Government Junta of Chile (1932)Government Junta of Chile , was a political structure established during the anarchy that followed the resignation of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo...
- List of Government Juntas of Chile
- List of coup d'état in ChileChilean coup d'étatThis is a list of the coups d'état that have taken place in Chile during its independent history:-1780s:...
- List of Heads of StatePresident of ChileThe 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...