1838-1871 1918-1945







Guatemala, 1871-1918



In 1871 a revolution brought the liberals in power, under strongman General JUSTO RUFINO BARRIOS (pres. 1873-1885). He introduced many reforms, confiscated church property. He was a protagonist of Central American unity, supported the liberal presidents of Honduras. In February 1885 he invaded El Salvador and died in the BATTLE OF CHALCHUAPA; his successor, General Barillas, concluded peace with El Salvador April 14th. In 1898, MANUEL ESTRADA CABRERA became president, an office he held on to until 1920. A liberal, he focussed on developing the country's economy, ruled oppressively and enriched himself at his country's expense.
In Guatemala, COFFEE had been grown since 1870; later, BANANA cultivation was introduced, the infrastructure (railroads etc.) developed. The UNITED FRUIT COMPANY established itself in Guatemala in 1901.
In World War I, Guatemala joined the Entente in declaring War on the Central Powers, without dispatching combat troops.
In 1872 the population numbered 1,190,754, in 1886 the figure had risen to 1,322,544 (Meyers).






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Article from Catholic Encyclopedia : Santiago de Guatemala
Armed Conflict Events Data : Guatemala 1800-1999, from OnWar.com
DOCUMENTS Map of Central America 1892, from Perry Castaneda Library, UTexas; watch Guatemalan-Mexican border
O.J. Victor, Guatemala, from Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Nov. 1885, pp.886-901, from Cornell Digital Libray Collection
Guatemala, P.1, P.2, P.3, P.4, from Meyers Konversationslexikon 1888-1890 edition, in German
News from Guatemala, in "The Great Round World and What is Going on in it", Vol.1 No.50, October 1897, posted by Gutenberg Library Online
REFERENCE Article : Guatemala, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 pp.1084-1085 [G]
Article : Guatemala, in : Statesman's Year Book 1878 pp.539-543, 1895 pp.658-661, 1898 pp.656-660, 1901 pp.747-751, 1905 pp.812-818 [G]
Article : Central America, in : International Year Book 1898 pp.169-171 [G]
Article : Guatemala, in : International Year Book 1898 pp.381-383 [G]
Article : Guatemala, in : Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events 1886 pp.412-414, 1894 p.342 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on October 19th 2007

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