‘Union leaders understood perfectly
well that if Peron lost power, the
progress they had been making would
swiftly deteriorate.’
‘He began to
characterise his base of
support as ‘the people,’
while referring to the
opposition as ‘the
oligarchy.’
‘Internal relations
between industrialists &
workers completely
changed in nature.’
‘The mass goes wherever its rulers take
it; otherwise, it overflows and god
forbid.’
‘Peronism
is a
question
of the
heart
rather
than the
head.’
‘Peronism … rejects all
the previous ills of the
politics of previous
times…’
Juan Peron’s Argentina
Topic 3: Origin of Authoritarian and
Single Party States
Paper 2
Three periods to examine
• Rise to power or emergence of SPS – what kind of
circumstances made it possible?
• Establishment of SPS – how is power maintained
once power has been assumed?
• Domestic policies & impact – how is the state
structured & what kinds of policies (social &
economic)? Role of women, attitudes to religion,
culture inside the state?
Hint: organise your notes under
these headings
Lesson 1a – Peron: Origin and Rise
Essential Question
Why did Peron come to Power?
Learning Outcomes - Students will:
– Learn what the Great Leap Forward was?
– Learn about their consequences
Success Criteria
I can differentiate between the Shortterm and Long-term reasons why Peron
came to power
Reading
• 10~28
• How is the rise of Peron
similar and different to
Hitler’s rise in Germany?
Vocab
• Infamous Decade
Quick historical background
• Independence from Spain 1816
• Economy in 19th & 20th century = export of food
(wheat, meat) & import of manufactured goods
• European immigrants = rural working class & skilled
labourers  continuous increase in agri output
• Euro & US capital investments  developed
meatpacking, communications & service industries 
Buenos Aires = major port
• Ruling class = landowners  sustained growth until
Great Depression
How are the non-ruling class likely to feel about the
ruling class? What do you think conditions for the
non-ruling class are like?
‘The Infamous Decade’ 1930 - 1943
• Depression = difficulties importing goods that it
didn’t produce
• 1930 – econ difficulties = overthrow of ruling
democratic party = start of Infamous Decade
– Presidents came to power through coups or electoral
fraud
– Lots of econ & social changes – develop national
industries, reduce dependency on imports
– Traditional parties banned from elections, opponents
persecuted, widespread corruption, no faith in system
The international context
What is going on in the world between 1930
and 1946?
How would these events impact Argentina?
Pick 1 & write a few sentences.
Great Depression
Fear / spread of communism
Emergence of fascism
The international context
What is going on in the world between
1930 and 1946 as Peron is rising to power?
Great Depression: difficulties importing goods which
it didn’t produce – and it didn’t produce much that could be
immediately consumed
Fear / spread of communism: social & economic
conditions could have attracted people to communism – as in
Russia
Emergence of fascism: Italy & Germany are fascist
– people disillusioned with ‘democracy’ in infamous
decade see improved conditions there
What factors contributed to Peron’s rise to power?
Create a chart and use pages 12-14 to fill it in.
Long term factors
Short term factors
Do you think long term or short term factors contributed most to
Peron’s rise to power? Pick at least one type of each factor to
explain in more detail.
Lesson 1b – Peron: Origin and Rise
Essential Question
Why did Peron come to Power?
Learning Outcomes - Students will:
– Review: Short-term and Long-term effects
– Learn about their consequences
Success Criteria
I can explain why Peron rose to power
What factors contributed to Peron’s rise to power?
Create a chart and use pages 12-14 to fill it in.
Long term factors
Short term factors
Corruption & ‘fake’ democracy Outbreak of WWII
Middle class / intellectuals =
no voice
Military coup
Working class disorganised /
lacked a leader to address
issues
GOU & its programme
Buenos Aires too influential &
provinces suffered
Vocab
•
•
•
•
•
Autarky
Nationalization
Protectionism
3 Peronist Principles
descamisados
Peron: Rise to power
Complete the chart to help you keep track of the
steps Peron took in his rise to power and what
influenced his ideology (Peronism). You may work in a
pair / group.
Make sure that you can answer the question at the
bottom of the page; the answer can be found in the
book.
30 minutes
Key terms – Peron’s economic goals
Autarky: self sufficiency
Nationalisation: when the state takes property
previously owned by private individuals & companies
Protectionism: Government policies promoting home
industries by preventing the competition of foreign
goods. Importation of goods is checked or
discouraged by putting tariffs, quotas or regulations
in place.
Three Peronist Principles
1. Social justice
– Wealth / privilege needs to be fairly distributed
– State should be involved in this
– No class struggle
2. Political sovereignty
– State should represent all classes
– State should be ‘above’ social classes
3. Economic independence
– Nationalisation & autarky
– Protectionism
The Peronist economic reform had 2 main purposes. One was to
preserve the country’s resources from the appetites of foreign
interests and to put them at the service of the state. The other was to
divide up those resources fairly so that there would be no excessively
wealthy people at the expense of excessively poor ones. Policy
directors did not speak of socialism, of course, but rather of the social
reform of the capitalist system: the capitalist system would remain in
place but it would be restricted by state management.
From Monica Esti Rein, Politics and Education in Argentina, 19461962, 1998. (page 21)
a) Why did Peron favour nationalisation?
b) How does economic independence relate to social justice and
political sovereignty?
Who supported & opposed Peron?
Supporters
• Working class / native
Argentinians
• CGT (General Confederation of
Labour – union)
• Labour Party
• Unions
• Army
Opposition
•
•
•
•
Wealthy landowners / farmers
Industrialists & businessmen
Traditional political parties
Uni lecturers, intellectuals,
newspapers – afraid of Peron’s
growing power
• Traditional Catholics in armed
forces
Use your book to help you write a few keywords or ideas to
summarise why each group supported or opposed Peron. You
may work with a partner / split up the work. Pages 22-23.
17 October 1945
Read the description of the events on page
24, then discuss the following questions with
a partner.
1. Who are the ‘descamisados’?
2. List a few characteristics of 17 October
that made it stand out.
3. What is significant about the protest?
17 October 1945
1. Who are the ‘descamisados’?
–
‘the shirtless’ – Peron’s followers / workers
2. List a few characteristics of 17 October
that made it stand out.
– Broke ‘dress code’; washed in the fountains;
broke social codes; workers / powerless won
3. What is significant about the protest?
– Workers secured Peron’s release
TOK connection
1946 elections
• Labour Party support, trade unions,
radical parties
• UD = opposition but lots of internal
problems, including with US ambassador
• Christmas bonus = more support for
Peron, but why?
• Wins by 55% of the vote
What do you think?
• What are the most significant factors
that led to the rise of Peron?
• Name 2 groups that opposed Peron
and suggest why.
• How important was Peron’s role as
Secretary of Labour and Welfare?