Moxon said:
Could you explain what you mean by a 'semi-coup' and how this applies to Peron's first government?
Moxon said:
Could you explain what you mean by a 'semi-coup' and how this applies to Peron's first government?
It'll be my pleasure! But remember I'm not a historian, and that it's always better to go to the sources.
The Nation had experienced its first sadly successful military coup since Constitutional times in 1929 or 1930 by Colonel J.E. Uriburu. It was a restoration of the previous 1880s oligarchy after the first 3 freely elected administrations were deemed disappointing by both the immigrant masses and the threatened criollo upper class.
Peron was a military colonel (self appointed general), but a military man "of the people". In that laid his success.
To understand Peronism one must first understand two things:
The Caudillo culture (that's easy to understand as it applies everywhere, the worship or general trust in a powerful-looking warlord ) and what Fascism actually means. This deserves a short explanation.
Fascism does not equate mass murder, and it's philosophically very far from German Nazism. It is said that Hitler was more akin to Stalin than to Mussolini. Taking into account that the man liked war rather than peace it is only understandable that he liked his enemies more than his allies. Hitler praised Stalin's steel policies, but looked down to his peacemonger ally of the south.
Furthermore when Germany "annexed" Austria (a good example of a semi-invasion), it was a fascist led country he was invading: Austria was ruled by E. Dollfuss a Clerical Fascist.
Fascism is
- Nationalist on the social sphere, uniting the crowd under a single flag like a bundle of sticks tied to an axe, a fascio. Force through unity" (
and unity through force)
and
- Corporativism on the economic sphere: using and uniting all syndicates under a National Council and in the end under a single leader in order to control from top to bottom all productive forces, thus the Nation becoming a Corporation in its strict sense a body (in which its individual cells are disposable). Under a Corporativist government no one can work independently but has to be enlisted into a syndicate. Eventually one can only work if it's a member of the party, and in extreme cases only if one's a loyal member of it. Private property still exists in paper, but not in reality. De lex but not de facto. You can own property but you can't dispose of it how you like - only under permission of the government. In that it differs from Socialism.
Because Fascism takes over a man's profession, his mind, it is worse than Communism which is brutally materialistic and only regards man as a collection of bone and muscle to be remote-controlled from a ministry. In its brute dumbness, Communism allows for a healthy black market to sustain its starving population. Fascism controls all productive activity, so even if fed, your mind is a slave. Some people like the Austrian economists go so far as to say that in fact the most successful fascist leader was FDR. But FDR was democratically elected! you'd say. True, but so was Hitler and every single other fascist leader - for you see, fascism is actually very democratic (but not the least Republican) and I'm not talking about political parties but political philosophies: Rule of the majority and rule of law respectively. But FDR was not a tyrant like the others! you'd say. Well it depends on how you regard the myriad of gov agencies he created, and what's your opinion on drafting thousands into cannon fodder to save European ass (or to consolidate new markets).
On a personal note I thank all American soldiers who saved my parents' homeland from the hell they got into 70 years ago.
Now back to Argentina and Perón, and why I say it was a semi-coup and not a full blown coup:
1929: The Conservatives ask the Army to protect their interests. Although literal, they don't know they are playing with fire, and they wouldn't know it for another 15 years. The first coup since the foundation of the Republic goes smoothly with almost no casualties. The army hands the power to a conservative political party no one would have voted for, and then back to the army, on and off. Gradually the once professional, legally-bound institution of the Army deteriorates as power greedy factions begin to form.
One of that factions was a secret society called the United Officers Group, GOU (grupo de oficiales unidos). Within its ranks Juan Peron is a charismatic Colonel trained in fascist Italy and nazi Germany. To the Army he is a Colonel, but within the GOU he is appointed (maybe self-appointed) General.
In 1943 the GOU leader, Arturo Rawson takes power in a coup - by all definitions. Peron is appointed minister of labor or something like that, and begins working ties with the major syndicates. Eventually the power of the alliance between the syndicates and Peron grows to the point that he can overthrow his own leader, and that's when he's imprisoned.
Massive demonstrations staged by the syndicates push for his excarceration and he is democratically elected.
Once in power he suppresses directly or indirectly all opposition and begins a program of actively buying of general populace, and particularly a group that had been left forgotten by the criollo aristocracy and the immigrants: I'm talking about the pre-existing NOT aristocratic criollo population, the "cabecitas negras" as blonde Eva referred to them.
His main tactic consisted of handing out a lot of free fish, while making fishing illegal (unless in the frame of a government approved and controlled syndicate - which is not fishing but wasting time and resources).
So, while he was a military man who betrayed his oath during the Rawson coup, he technically rose to head of state through democratic elections.
By the end of his destructive first two administrations more than half the Argentine population was happy with their free fish and unconcerned with the lack of fishing rods, and so they would keep voting for him indefinitely.
Another coup followed the "Revolución Libertadora" that forbade Peronism all together and then called elections.
When he came back during the 70s he sowed the seeds for 10+ of state sponsored terror.
Viva Peron Carajo!
