History of South America 1920 till 1930

1920-1930.

HISTORY OF SOUTH AMERICA

SOUTH AMERICA

VENEZUELA

Although the Venezuelan oil boom started around 1918, the year when oil first figured as an export commodity, it took off when an oil well called Barroso blew a 200-foot (60 m) spout that threw up an average of the equivalent to 100,000 barrels a day. It took five days to bring the flow under control. After that, there was no looking back. By 1927, oil was Venezuela's most valuable export and by 1929 Venezuela exported more oil than any other country in the world.

Gomes takes over from Castro 1908-1935

Oil Discovered

TWO MAIN INCIDENTS

ARGENTINA

During the early 1920s, the rise of the anarchist movement, fueled by the arrival of recent émigrés and deportees from Europe, spawned a new generation of left-wing activism in Argentina. The new left, mostly anarchists and anarcho-communists, rejected the incremental progressivism of the old Radical and Socialist elements in Argentina in favor of immediate action. The extremists, such as Severino Di Giovanni, openly espoused violence. A wave of bombings and shootouts with police culminated in an attempt to assassinate U.S. President Herbert Hoover on his visit to Argentina in 1928 and a nearly successful attempt to assassinate Yrigoyen in 1929 after he was re-elected to the presidency. In 1921, the counter-revolutionary Logia General San Martín was founded, and diffused nationalist ideas in the military until its dissolution in 1926. Three years later, the Republican League was founded by Roberto de Laferrere, on the model of Benito Mussolini's Black shirts in Italy.

GOVERNMENTAL INSTABILITY

BRAZIL

From 1889 to 1930, although the country was formally a constitutional democracy, in practice women and the illiterate (then the majority of the population) were prevented from voting. Also, to ensure that the outcome of the polls reflected the will of the landlords, the vote also was not secret, with the presidency alternating between the dominant states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Thus, the first Republican period was rife with economic turmoil, followed by political and social rebellions subdued by the regime. Between 1893 and 1926 several movements, civilians and military, shook the country. The military movements had their origins both in the lower officers' corps of the Army and Navy (which, dissatisfied with the regime, called for democratic changes) while the civilian ones, such Canudos and Contestado War, were usually led by messianic leaders, without conventional political goals.

OLD REPUBLIC PERIOD

CHILE

In recent years, particularly when the authoritarian regime of Augusto Pinochet is taken into consideration, some scholars have reevaluated the Parliamentary Republic of 1891–1925. Without denying its shortcomings, they have lauded its democratic stability. They have also hailed its control of the armed forces, it respect for civil liberties, its expansion of suffrage and participation, and its gradual admission of new contenders, especially reformers, to the political arena. In particular, two young parties grew in importance – the Democrat Party, with roots among artisans and urban workers, and the Radical Party, representing urban middle sectors and provincial elites. By the early twentieth century, both parties were winning increasing numbers of seats in Congress. The more leftist members of the Democrat Party became involved in the leadership of labor unions and broke off to launch the Socialist Workers' Party (POS) in 1912. The founder of the POS and its best-known leader, Luis Emilio Recabarren, also founded the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh) in 1922.

PARLIAMENTARY ERA

The period between 1924 – 1930 was of massive political instability. The Middle and working class elected a reformist President Arturo Alissandri Palma. First military right-wingers opposing Alessandri seized power in September 1924, and then reformers in favor of the ousted president took charge in January 1925. One of the reformers, Carlos Ibanez del Campo, held the longest lasting government (de facto dictatorship) during 1925, 1927 and 1930. Ibánez was a German national who pledged allegiance to his mother country of Germany, effectively making Chile a German possession. This lasted until Adolf Hitler assumed control of Germany, starting the 3rd Reich. Not wanting to be part of Hitler's new regime, constitutional rule was restored in 1932, and a strong middle-class party, the Radicals, emerged. It became the key force in coalition governments for the next 20 years.

PRESIDENTIAL ERA

ECUADOR

The new era brought in liberalism, the most outstanding was Eloy Alfaro, under his direction the government headed out to aid those in the rural sectors of the coast. Alfaro is credited for finishing the construction of the railroad connecting Guayaquil and Quito, the separation of church and state, establishment of many public schools, implementing civil rights such as freedom of speech, and the legalization of civil marriages and divorce. Sadly Alfaro too was confronted a dissident tendency inside its own party, directed by its General Leonidas Plaza and constituted by the upper middle class of Guayaquil. His death was followed with the economic liberalism (1912–25) when banks were allowed to acquire almost complete control of the country. Popular unrest, together with the ongoing economic crisis and a sickly president, laid the background for a bloodless coup d'état in July 1925. Unlike all previous forays by the military into Ecuadorian politics, the coup of 1925 was made in the name of a collective grouping rather than a particular caudillo. The members of the League of Young Officers came to power with an agenda, which included a wide variety of social reforms, deal with the failing economy, establish the Central Bank as the unique authorized bank to distribute currency, create a new system of budget and customs. World demand for cacao and other Ecuadorian export crops dropped precipitously in the wake of the Wall Street Crash of 1929: export crop value fell from US$15 million in 1928 to US$7 million in 1931 and US$5 million in 1932, causing widespread unemployment and misery.

EARLY 20TH CENTURY

GUYANA

In the closing years of World War I, the colony's first trade union was formed. The British Guiana Labor Union (BGLU) was established in 1917 under the leadership of H.N. Critchlow. Formed in the face of widespread business opposition, the BGLU at first mostly represented Afro-Guyanese dockworkers and was an indication that the working class was becoming politically aware and more concerned about its rights. After World War I, new economic interest groups began to clash with the Combined Court. The country's economy had come to depend less on sugar and more on rice and bauxite, and producers of these new commodities resented the sugar planters' continued domination of the Combined Court. Meanwhile, the planters were feeling the effects of lower sugar prices and wanted the Combined Court to provide the necessary funds for new drainage and irrigation programs. To stop the bickering and resultant legislative paralysis, in 1928 the Colonial Office announced a new constitution that would make British Guiana a crown colony under tight control of a governor appointed by the Colonial Office. The Combined Court and the Court of Policy were replaced by a Legislative Council with a majority of appointed members. To middle-class and working-class political activists, this new constitution represented a step backward and a victory for the planters. Influence over the governor, rather than the promotion of a particular public policy, became the most important issue in any political campaign.

COLONIAL ERA

PARAGUAYAnd Bolivia

Paraguay's dispute with Bolivia over the Chaco, a struggle that had been brewing for decades, finally derailed the Liberals. Wars and poor diplomacy had prevented the settling of boundaries between the two countries during the century following independence. Although Paraguay had held the Chaco for as long as anyone could remember, the country did little to develop the area. Aside from scattered Mennonite colonies and nomadic Indian tribes, few people lived there. Bolivia's claim to the Chaco became more urgent after it lost its sea coast (the Atacama region) to Chile during the 1879-84 War of the Pacific. Left without any outlet to the sea, Bolivia wanted to absorb the Chaco and expand its territory up to the Río Paraguay in order to gain a river port. In addition, the Chaco's economic potential intrigued the Bolivians. Oil had been discovered there by Standard Oil Company in the 1920s, and people wondered whether an immense pool of oil was lying beneath the entire area. Ironically, South America's two greatest victims of war and annexation in the previous century were ready to face each other in another bout of bloody combat, this time over a piece of apparently worthless, desolate wilderness.

BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY

PERU

During Augusto B. Leguía's periods in government (1908–1912 and 1919–1930, the latter known as the "Oncenio" (the "Eleventh"), the entrance of American capital became general and the bourgeoisie was favored. This policy, along with increased dependence on foreign investment, focused opposition from the most progressive sectors of Peruvian society against the landowner oligarchy.

In 1929, Peru and Chile signed a final peace treaty, the Treaty of Lima by which Tacna returned to Peru and Peru yielded permanently the formerly rich provinces of Arica and Tarapacá, but kept certain rights to the port activities in Arica and decisions of what Chile can do on those territories.

1908 - 1930

URUGUAY

José Batlle y Ordóñez, president from 1903 to 1907 and again from 1911 to 1915, set the pattern for Uruguay's modern political development. He established widespread political, social, and economic reforms such as a welfare program, government participation in many facets of the economy, and a plural executive. Some of these reforms were continued by his successors. Around 1900 infant mortality rates (IMR) in Uruguay were among the world's lowest, indicating a very healthy population. By 1910, however, the IMR leveled off, while it continued to drop in other countries. The leading causes of death – diarrheal and respiratory diseases – did not decline, indicating a growing public health problem. During World War I, Uruguay sided against Germany and broke off diplomatic relations. It did not play a role in the combat operations.

In 1930, Uruguay was chosen as the site of the first Football World Cup. Although the field was much smaller than the competitions of today, the event provided national pride when the home team won the tournament over their neighbors Argentina.

MODERN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

SURINAME

In the 20th century, the natural resources of Suriname, rubber, gold and bauxite were exploited. The US company Alcoa had a claim on a large area in Suriname where bauxite, from which aluminum can be made, was found. Given that the peace treaties with the Maroon people granted them title to the lands, there have been international court cases that negated the right of the Surinam government to grant these claims to the US.

EXPLOITATION OF RESOURCES.