1.) Origins, development, and nature of the regime:
a. Several factors resulted in Perón’s establishment of central leadership.
i. Support of the GOU
1. A secret military society, which was responsible for the overthrow of Roman Castillo, the conservative President prior to 1943.
a. Came from middle to lower class backgrounds, extremely nationalistic, anti-communist, pro-catholic
2. Goals:
a. End corruption within the conservative regime
b. Build national industry, strengthen military defense
c. Attract workers through improvements in welfare in order to prevent them from turning to Communism following WWII
d. Wanted Argentina to remain neutral in WWII.
3. Perón’s involvement with the GOU gave him political clout in the newly established government
ii. Support of Unions and Workers
1. Centralized unions, or brought them under government control. The largest trade union, CGT split into two groups after the coup. He dissolved one, believing it to be too communist. He restructured the first group, and assimilated it into the party, asked that it respond to him.
iii. Represented an alternative to the leaders of the Infamous Decade
1. A decade of conservative leaders, put into power illegally without popular support
2. Marked by widespread corruption.
3. Lacked support of working class, intellectual class
Perón maintained his support by working to retain popular support. Political, social, and economic measures were taken to achieve this, as will be demonstrated below.
b. Perón’s initial aims were centered around protecting the interests of the working class, and gaining some foreign independence.
i. Upon gaining power in February of 1946, Perón stated that his two main goals were economic independence and social justice.
ii. He wished to close the widening gap between the upper and lower classes by increasing employment and wages.
iii. He improved working conditions for laborers.
iv. He sanctioned unions, and advocate for syndicalism.
c. Peronism, or Justicialism represented the basis of Perón’s political ideology.
i. Based in populism, support derived from the masses.
1. Working class advocate
ii. Strong centralized government with authoritarian tendencies
1. Censorship, elimination of opposition, propaganda, etc.
2. Operates within the framework of a social democracy
iii. Nationalistic
iv. Sought to maintain independence from foreign influence.
1. Economically, politically, socially.
v. Economically moderate.
1. Did not align itself with Socialism or Capitalism
2. Somewhat corporativist economy
vi. Enduring legacy in Argentina
1. The party has endured, and been the basis for Argentinean government since Perón
2. 8 out of 10 governments following Perón have subscribed to Peronist ideology.
What is Peronism?
Speech August 20th, 1948
Juan Domingo Perón
In Congress a few days ago, some of our legislators have asked what Perónismis. Perónism is humanism in action; Perónism is a new political doctrine, which rejects all the ills of the politics of previous times; in the social sphere it is a theory which establishes a little equal ity among men, which grants them similar opportunities and assures them of a future so that in this land there may be no one who lacks what he needs for a living, even though it may be necessary that those who are wildly squandering what they possess may be deprived of the right to do so, for the benefit of those who have nothing at all; in the economic sphere its aim is that every Argentine should pull his weight for the Argentines and that economic policy which maintained that this was a permanent and perfect school of capitalist exploitation should be replaced by a doctrine of social economy under which the distribution of our wealth, which we force the earth to yield up to us and which furthermore we are elab orating, may be shared out fairly among all those who have contributed by their efforts to amass it.
That is Perónism. And Perónism is not learned, nor just talked about: one feels it or else disagrees. Perónism is a question of the heart rather than of the head. Fortunately I am not one of those Presidents who live a life apart, but on the contrary I live among my people, just as I have always lived; so that I share all the ups and downs, all their successes an all their disappointments with my working class people. I feel an intimate satisfaction when I see a workman who is well dressed or taking his family to the theatre. I feel just as satisfied as I would feel if I were that workman myself. That is Perónism.
d. Perón achieved totalitarian rule to a limited extent.
i. He did not seek to control every aspect of his citizens’ lives.
ii. He did employ some media censorship, but mainly relied on mechanisms that had been put in place by previous regimes, regarding this issue.
iii. He was elected into office fairly in each term.
1. Cultivated image of a benevolent leader.
iv. He used violence against vocal opposition.
1. Did not seek to create culture of fear.
v. Perón did have complete control of the military
2.) Establishment of power
a. There were 3 main factors that enabled Perón to gain* and maintain control of Argentina.
i. Populist appeal and wide working class support.
1. Perón’s regime represented the continued upward trajectory of the leftist “Radical” movement, who first gained power in 1916, and maintained power until 1930. This government had the support of the growing, middle labor class.
2. Prior to this, Argentina was lead by conservative leaders, who were loyal to the European colonizers, who had invaded and occupied Argentina. This government represented a more feudalistic agricultural system.
ii. Support of the military
1. In 1943, there was a military coup, which overthrew the conservative government, which had gained power through fraudulent means.
2. Perón, as a colonel in the army, participated in this coup.
3. He was put into the role of the head of the Department of Labor. He established contacts and made alliances with national syndicates and socialist organizations.
a. With this growing support, his military power increased, along with his popular influence.
iii. Popularity of his wife, Eva Perón
1. Eva used her celebrity as an actress and radio broadcaster to campaign for her husband. She was well-liked by the people, and worked on behalf of the lower classes. She was the first Latin American wife to appear on the campaign trail with her husband. She represented progress and modernity.
2. In her “Rainbow Tour” through Europe, she was something of a cultural ambassador for Argentina.
3. She set new precedents for women, and worked tirelessly to promote women’s and children’s rights, even founding the Socieded de Beneficencia, a charity group that was later adopted by the government.
*Juan Perón legally assumed power when he won the 1946 Presidential election. The information above provides an explanation of the way in which achieved this.
Data table showing voting margins in the 1956 Presidential Elections. The Labor party, Perón's party, is shown at the top.
ELECCIONES NACIONALES DE PRESIDENTE Y VICE. AÑO 1946 Fórmula triunfadora: Juan Domingo Perón-Jazmín Hortensio Quijano. | |
| PARTIDO | TOTALES |
Partido Laborista | 1.527.231 (56%) |
Unión Democrática | 1.207.155 |
Demócrata Nacional | 43.499 |
UCR Bloquista | 13.469 |
UCR Santiago del Estero | 12.362 |
UCR Lencinista | 3.918 |
En Blanco | 23.735 |
Otros | 47.558 |
Fecha de la elección: 24 de febrero de 1946 | |
b. Juan Perón’s regime could be classified as fairly left wing.
i. The labor movement emerged as a viable alternative against the conservative incumbents. They were in opposition to the right.
ii. Economically, the regime adopted a highly regulated form of capitalism, which veered slightly into socialism. It sought to balance between Capitalism and Socialism, it was this ideology that governed his regime, and endures as a part of contemporary Argentinean politics. It’s often referred to as Justicialism or Peronism. Also, In light of the emerging Cold War, the government felt it would be unwise to align themselves definitively with either system. Perón sought to stimulate the economy, in hopes of creating economic independence, and reducing reliance on foreign investors. He hoped to stimulate growth by instating a 5-year-plan, which aimed to regulate exports, increase trade efficiency, and stimulate agricultural and industrial sectors. Established IAPI, which was a government entity that regulated trade.
iii. Socially, Perón was very progressive for the region and the time period. He established the Argentinean Ministry of Health and built thousands of hospitals. He also expanded education, building many schools, and investing a great deal of capital into the educational system. He invested in private housing. Women’s suffrage was granted in 1947. He also improved working conditions for lower to middle class laborers, and sanctioned trade unions.
Eva Perón Hospital, San Martin
This picture shows a military production line 1940-1950
c. The treatment of the opposition was less harsh than many dictators
i. He did not attempt to control the media, or deprive oppositionists of their press outlets.
ii. Violence was used in some cases, and grew harsher in his third term. Triple A, was a security force that was used to exterminate dissenters, on both the left and the right. These were conducted largely on a case-by-case basis.
1. An example of larger scale violence occurred at the Ezeiza Massacre. Snipers open fired on a gathering of about 3.5 million people who were waiting in the airport for Perón’s return from Spain. In the crowd were the Montoneros, extreme leftist products of an ideological schism within the justicialist party. An estimated 400 casualties were suffered.
iii. There were some examples of torture of individuals.
Domestic policies and impact:
a. The key component in the structure of Perón’s government was it’s strong centralism, working from a presidential, representative, democratic republic.
i. Perón increased executive power by appointing loyal party members into cabinet positions, and increasing their influence.
ii. As commander and chief, and a former army officer, he held a tight grip on the military.
iii. He minimized power in the legislative and judicial areas, though he did not officially dissolve them. Instead, he placed members of his own party in power within each of these governing entities.
1. Through these tactics, he worked within the framework of the electoral system.
b. Perón is perhaps most known for his social reforms. His work on behalf of the labor class base was what gave him broad appeal, and protected his power.
i. One of the broadest and most enduring changes was the widespread unionization of Argentina’s workers. This was extremely popular amongst the lower and middle classes, and cemented his electoral base.
1. Unions also improved the abhorrent working conditions, which previously existed in industrial jobs.
ii. His housing policy, in which efforts were made to build and provide inexpensive residences for lower classes, was successful and extremely popular with Perón’s base.
c. Catholicism was a factor of influence in Perón’s government
i. The GOU was largely comprised of Catholics. The church supported social reform within Argentina, as they believed it would draw support away from traditional Marxism, which was anti-religion in its ideology.
ii. Perón also preached a similar type of national solidarity, recognizing the power of the Catholic Church.
iii. His education reforms also covered religious education, which gave him the support of the Catholic Church.
d. Perón used propaganda to gain popular support, and to promote and publicize his policies of social reform.
i. He sought the gratitude of the masses for his fight on their behalf.
1. One example of this was his creation of a national holiday, what came to be known as St. Perón’s day during which he attempted to foster the relationship between his regime and his people. On this day, he gave a speech filled with good news and information about progress of the government. This instilled popular confidence in his leadership.
ii. He frequently held rallies to reinforce faith in his regime.
1951 GCT rally
iii. The issue of women’s suffrage held much electoral appeal. Perón capitalized on this by creating the Women’s Peronist Party, whose purpose was to travel to remote areas, and teach about the establishment of women’s suffrage, and to instill blind faith in the regime.
iv. Magazines were published with images of Eva and Juan, accompanied by articles, which praised their actions. This was done for saturation purposes, to reinforce the other propaganda measures.
A cover of a magazine showing the faces of Juan and Eva superimposed with an image of the Argentinean seal.
This ad is meant to show solidarity with workers in small villages, and demonstrate that the party supports social justice.
A series of political cartoons illustrating Perón’s rise to power.
e. One of the most significant and distinctive parts of Perón’s regime was his foreign policy
i. A main hallmark Peronism is the reduction of dependency on foreign monetary aid. Perón sough to eliminate foreign influence. He called it ”The Third Way” and presented it as an alternative to the duplicity of the Cold War system.
ii. Also, in light of WWII, Perón believed that reducing Argentina’s foreign involvement would protect them from a future international conflict.
iii. Perón maintained a very anti-US stance, one that has clouded Argentinean and American relations to this day.
iv. Perón expressed his admiration of Benito Mussolini and his brand of Italin Facism. Historians argue whether or not Perón himself could be considered a Facist. He did incorporate some of Mussolini’s policies in regard to giving speeches and rallying the masses, but this could be considered an isolated borrowed part that really serves to contribute to Perón’s pragmatic populism.
1. Perón has been painted as a Nazi sympathizer, which adds to his Facist reputation. While he provided asylum to many Nazi leaders, he did not share the racist sentiments of the Nazis, even appointing several Jewish figures onto his cabinet.
Bibliography
"Argentina Country Profile." BBC News. BBC , November, 2011. Web. 25 Nov 2011.
History of Argentina." History of Nations. N.p., 2005. Web. 25 Nov 2011.
"The Legacy of Juan Perón." State and Revolution. Columbia University, 2005. Web. 25 Nov 2011.
Perón, Juan. "What is Peronismo?." 20 August, 1948. Address.
Authoritarian and Single Party States. Chicago: Pearson, 2000. 9-21. Print.
