1943-1946 1955-1972






Argentina 1946-1955



After the election, the Peron government passed a number of social reforms, introducing the 8-hour workday, restricting work on sundays, safeguarding workers' rights, enforcing the improvement of working conditions. Other measures included a pension system and a housing program. Argentina had experienced an increased urbanization, and Peron aimed at the urban poor whom he wanted to attract as his followership. Peron pursued a policy of state-planned industrialization, formulated in the 1946 Five-Year-Plan, which aimed at reducing Argentina's independence on the import of machinery. In this context, a policy of permitting the immigration of German and Italian fascists continued, as they were regarded technocrats who would contribute to Argentina's industrialization. Key industries were nationalized, among them the railroads. Peron was revered by his supporters as El Lider (the leader), personal cult fascist style.
In 1947 the woman's suffrage was introduced, for which the president's wife, Evita Peron, had campaigned.
Peron reorganized his Labour Party first as the Party of the National Revolution and then, in 1947, as the Partido Peronista. In 1947-1948, Argentina sent a naval expedition to the British-held Falkland Islands, but, under international diplomatic pressure, recalled it.
The Marshall Plan of 1947/48 had grave consequences for Argentina, as the European export market for grain and meat was lost to the USA. The Argentinian Peso, in comparison to the US Dollar, after having been stable since 1941, lost half its value in 1948 and continued to drop until 1951. Poor harvests and increased home consumption further contributed to reduced exports.
Peron was reelected in 1952, because the Peronist Party was well-organized; the opposition (the Radical Party) was limited in her action, the press curtailed by censorship. Strikes indicated a rising dissatisfaction with the economic situation.
In October 1951, Argentina's first tv station began broadcasting.
Evita Peron died on July 26th 1952. The ambitious economic policy was revised in the Second Five Year Plan of 1953 which stressed improvements in the agricultural sector and the combat of inflation. Successes were achieved in regard of the latter; the Argentine Peso gained slightly against the US Dollar in 1952-1953.
In 1954 Peron alienated the employers by again granting wage raises to striking workers, and the Catholic church by pressuring her to support his campaign to have his deceased wife Evita canonized. In a public speech on August 31st 1955, Peron spoke of a forthcoming civil war and rallied his supporters; this speech cost him the support of the Armed Forces. An armed rebellion began on September 16th; Peron resigned on September 19th.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles from infoplease : Argentina
Populismo : El Tercera Position (Populism - the Third Position), from lafacu.com, in Spanish
Historia del Pais, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, in Spanish, illustrated (on Argentina)
L'Argentina de Juan Domingo Peron (1943-1955), from La Pagina de la Historia, in Catalan
DOCUMENTS Agreement Concerning the Utilization of the Rapids of the Uruguay River in the Salto Grande Area Done in Montevideo; in force 28 January 1947, from International Water Law Project
1948 Document on the Falkland Crisis, from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Canada
REFERENCE David Rock, Argentina 1516-1987, Univ. of California Press, 1989, KMLA Lib. Call Sign 982 R682a
Daniel K. Lewis, The History of Argentina, Greenwood 2001, 240 pp., KMLA Lib. Call Sign 982 L673h
Article : Argentina, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1947 pp.73-75, 1948 pp.69-72, 1949 pp.61-62, 1950 pp.64-65, 1951 pp.62-63, 1952 pp.58-59, 1953 pp.57-59, 1954 pp.57-59, 1955 pp.118-119, 1956 pp.54-56 [G]
Article : Argentina, in : Americana Annual 1947 pp.38-40 (on events of 1946) [G]
Article : Argentina, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1952 pp.41-43 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on February 8th 2003, last revised on September 10th 2007

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