Argentina Under Peron
IB Objectives
 Populist leaders in Latin America: rise to power;
characteristics of populist regimes; social, economic
and political policies; the treatment of opposition;
successes and failures
IB Paper 3 Sample Questions
 Compare and contrast the rise to power of two
populist leaders in Latin America between 1945 and
1979.
 For what reasons was Getulio Vargas’s era (1930–
1945) a significant turning point in Brazilian history?
 Examine the methods used and the conditions which
helped the rise to power of one single party state
leader in one country of Latin America in the
first half of the twentieth century.
IB Paper 3 Sample Questions
 How did either Getulio Vargas of Brazil or
Juan Perón of Argentina gain and retain the
support of the urban workers?
 For what reasons, and with what success, was there
opposition to the Vargas regime between 1930 and
1945?
 For what reasons, and what with results, did Populist
movements emerge in Latin America in the first half
of the twentieth century? Support your answer with
specific examples from one country of the region.
IB Paper 3 Sample Questions
 For what reasons, and by what means, did either
Perón or Vargas obtain power?
 Assess the nature and effectiveness of opposition to
either Juan Domingo Perón (1946–55) or
Getulio Vargas (1930–45).
 Analyse the aims and achievements of one populist
leader in Latin America in the first half of the
twentieth century.
 In what ways, and with what results, did either
Perón or Vargas pursue populist policies?
Lecture Outline
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Argentina and WWII
Juan Peron
Peron the Populist
Peron and the Economy
The Fall of Peron
Key Terms
 Concordancia
 Juan Peron
Argentina and WWII
 From 1932 until 1943 Argentina was ruled by a
coalition of parties called the Concordancia.
 Argentina was the only country in the Americas that
did not contribute to the Allied war effort.
 It appeared that President Castillo would manipulate
the 1943 election so that Robustiano Patron Costas
would win.
 Nationalists believed that Costas would end
Argentina’s neutrality and have the country enter the
war against the Axis Powers.
Argentina and WWII
 A military coup overthrew the Castillo regime on
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June 6, 1943.
General Pedro Ramirez became president.
1943 US placed new financial and trade restrictions
on Argentina and pressured other Latin American
countries to do the same.
US increased its military aid to Brazil and Argentina
was afraid Brazil would attack.
Ramirez agreed to break diplomatic relations with
the Axis by the end of January 1944.
Argentina and WWII
 Nationalists in the government forced Ramirez to
resign and Vice President General Edelmiro Farrell
became president.
Juan Peron
 Advocated the army taking a major role in the
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government in order to reshape the economy and
society.
Born the son of a farmer in 1895
Served as Argentina’s military attaché to fascist Italy.
With the overthrow of Ramirez, Peron became
Argentina’s Vice President and Minister of War.
Farrell scheduled a national election for February
1946.
Juan Peron
 Peron established the Partido Laborista (Labor
Party) and began to campaign for the presidency.
 Peron won by 300,000 votes out of the 2.7 million
cast (54%).
Peron the Populist
 In 1947 Peron disbanded the Labor Party and
replaced it with the Sole Party of the National
Revolution.
 Women received the vote in 1947 and Peron had
Congress pass legislation that increased women’s
access to education and improved their wages and
working conditions.
 From 1941 to 1950, the number of women admitted
to universities more than doubled.
Peron the Populist
 In the presidential election of 1951, 90% of registered
women, eligible to vote for the first time, voted and
65% cast their votes for Peron.
 7 women senators and 24 women deputies were
elected to Congress, the largest female delegation of
government representatives in the Americas.
 Peron changed the name of his party to the Partido
Peronista ( Peronist Party)
Peron and the Economy
 Prior to the 1946 election the junta had taken control
of the Central Bank and established price and
production boards.
 Peron’s economic program was initially successful
and in July 1947 Argentina paid off its entire foreign
debt.
 From 1949 onward Peron’s programs were less
successful.
Peron and the Economy
 To raise money to fund the creation of new
industries, the government created the Instituto
Argentino de Promocion del Intercambio (Argentine
Institute for the Promotion of Trade) or IAPI.
Peron’s Fall from Power
 Except for a short recovery during the Korean War,
after 1949 Argentina entered a period of severe
recession which included several drought-induced
bad harvests.
 The 1948 Marshall Plan gave loans and credits to
Western European countries that could be used only
in the US and Canada.
 Exports dropped so low that in 1952 Argentina
actually had to import wheat.
Peron’s Fall from Power
 Real wages dropped 20% from 1949 to 1952 as
inflation reached 30 % per annum.
 The amount of money in circulation increased from 6
to 45 billion pesos during Peron’s two terms.
 Starting in 1951, the regime grew more repressive.
 In 1953 Peron gave Standard Oil the rights for
exploration, drilling, refining, and distribution in
Argentina and this was the last straw for the
nationalist military.
Peron’s Fall from Power
 September 1955 military overthrows Peron.