Military Rule in Chile: The Revolutions of September 5, 1924 and January 23, 1925

Abstract

NvT EARLY A CENTURY of nonparticipation by the military in Chilean politics came to an end on September 5, 1924, as army officers cast tradition aside to deliberate politics openly, and a general was named minister of the interior. Disturbed by the inability of politicians to cope with inflation, unemployment, and other pressing issues, and anxious for legislation to improve their own conditions, junior army officers demanded action. When their demands resulted in the toppling of civilian government and the establishment of a reactionary military regime the junior officers had second thoughts. Within five months they revolted again to insure fulfillment of their original goals. A study of these military revolutions and of power struggles within the armed forces during the brief period of military rule provides an opportunity to observe an early example of organized military support for social and political reform in twentieth-century Latin America. Such conduct by army officers was unique in Chilean history. As early as the 1830s Diego Portales had confined the army to military activities. Later, in 1885, a German military mission led by General Emil K6rner began the modernization of what became the most professional army in Latin America. A further impediment to political activities by the military was the stability of Chilean politics during the period from 1830 to 1891. After the Civil War of 1891, in which congress revolted against Jose Manuel Balmaceda, politics degenerated from the stable, vigorous presidential system of the preceding sixty years into a weak imitation of British parliamentary government. This system proved incapable of dealing with Chile's social and economic problems. Numerous voices were raised against the Parliamentary Republic. On several occasions there were rumblings of discontent from the military. Nevertheless the parliamentary system withstood all challenges until 1920.