History ETDs

Allen Gerlach

Publication Date

3-21-1973

Abstract

This is a study of civil-military relations in Peru from 1914 to 1945. The contours of the Republic's history offer a sharply defined periodization of the subject. Specifically, Peru was dominated by military presidents to the exclusion of civilian executives from independence in 1822 until 1872 when the country's first viable political party was formed and elected Peru's first civilian president. The brief four-year interlude of civilian administration was followed by a return to military dominance, solidified by the War of the Pacific, which continued until the civil war of 1894-1895 in which civilian forces defeated the regular army. Following the end of the civil conflict Peru entered its second period of civilian rule, and one civilian president after another governed the country until 1914. Although civilians governed for approximately twenty-one of the thirty-one years between 1914 and 1945, the armed forces executed four successful golpes during the period and were decisive in the assumption of power of every Peruvian president throughout the era. The use of the terms army, military, and armed forces is not meant to suggest an institutional unanimity. In point of fact, the armed forces came to reflect accurately the political, social, and economic tensions prevailing in the national body politic throughout the period under study. The constitutional crisis of 1913-1914, for example, wracked the military and found ultimate expression in the coup d'etat of 1914. Similarly, the currents of reform and radical ideologies of the tumultuous 1930s found their way into the armed forces, producing divisions and instability within the military. Increased military discontent during periods of economic decline, moreover, paralleled civilian tensions and conflicts during the same years. Throughout all periods, however, civilians as well as men in uniform acted within a long-established tradition of Peruvian politics: violence and repression were employed by the political "in" faction to maintain power and exclude their main opponents; and the political "outs" resorted to conspiracy and insurrection to gain power. The armed forces, at any given moment, acted as an extension of civilian politics. Finally, although this inquiry focuses upon the relationship between politics and the armed forces, social and economic conditions as well as diplomacy receive attention because they impinged directly upon the course of civil-military relations. The primary objective of this study is to provide an insight into one aspect of the history of the Republic crucial to an understanding of twentieth-century Peru.

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Degree Name

History

Department Name

History

First Committee Member (Chair)

Edwin Lieuwen

Second Committee Member

Troy Smith Floyd

Third Committee Member

Illegible

Language

English

Project Sponsors

A National Defense Education Act fellowship

Document Type

Dissertation

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