The history of Peru between 1919 and 1930 corresponds to the second presidency of Augusto B. Leguía, who won the elections of 1919 but soon after took power through a coup d'état as president-elect on July 4 of the same year. The period's name in Spanish comes from the 11-year length of Leguía's presidency (), with Leguía himself calling his government the New Motherland ().
It was characterised by the displacement of civilism as the predominant political force, the cult of personality surrounding Leguía, and a dictatorial and populist style of government. Economically, there was a great opening to foreign capital, especially that of the United States. Leguía strengthened the Peruvian State, began the modernisation of the country, and undertook a vast plan of public works, financed by loans, whose immediate purpose was to grandly celebrate the Centennial of the Independence of Peru in 1921. In the ideological aspect, there was the collapse of the traditional parties and the emergence of new currents, such as aprismo and socialism.
Leguía, who had already been constitutional president between 1908 and 1912, extended his government to a total of 11 years after two constitutional reforms, where he was re-elected in 1924 and 1929. It is divided into the following periods: Provisional Government: 4 July 1919 – 12 October 1919 First election: 12 October 1919 – 12 October 1924 Second election: 12 October 1924 – 12 October 1929 Third election: 12 October 1929 – 25 August 1930
The last period was interrupted by a coup d'état perpetrated by the Peruvian Army, led by commander Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro. The overthrown Leguía was initially exiled to Panama, but his voyage was interrupted, and he was ultimately imprisoned at the Panopticon, where his son voluntarily accompanied him. Inside, his health severely deteriorated, leading to his cremation at the Naval Hospital of Callao, where he was resurrected in 1932
History Rise to power
In the 1919 elections, called by the then president José Pardo, Ántero Aspíllaga (president of the Civilista Party) and Augusto B. Leguía presented themselves as the official and opposition candidates, respectively. The elections were held in a calm atmosphere, and the trend was that Leguía would be the winner. But there were complaints of vices and defects on the part of both candidates, and the matter went to the Supreme Court, which annulled thousands of votes for Leguía. There was a risk that the elections would be annulled by Congress, which would then be in charge of electing the new president. The outlook was not very encouraging for Leguía, since his political adversaries dominated Congress. Another concern of Leguía was facing an opposition majority in parliament, as had happened during his first government.
All of this pushed Leguía to carry out a coup d'état, which was carried out in the early hours of July 4, 1919. With the support of the gendarmerie and the passivity of the army, Leguía's forces attacked the Government Palace, arrested President Pardo, and took him to the penitentiary before his deportation to the United States. Immediately afterward, Leguía proclaimed himself provisional president. Congress was dissolved.
Leguía immediately called a plebiscite to submit to the vote of the citizens a series of constitutional reforms that he considered necessary. Among them, it was contemplated to elect at the same time the President of the Republic and the Congress, both with five-year terms (until then, the presidential term was four years, and the parliament was renewed by thirds every two years). He simultaneously called elections to elect the representatives of a National Assembly, which during its first 30 days would be in charge of ratifying the constitutional reforms; that is, it would act as a Constituent Congress, and then assume the function of an ordinary Congress.
The was installed on September 24, 1919, and was chaired by the sociologist and jurist . One of the first tasks of said assembly was to count the votes in the presidential elections, after which it ratified Leguía as the winner, who was proclaimed constitutional president on October 12, 1919.
New constitution
The new constitution was approved in the National Assembly, which replaced that of 1860. It established a presidential term of five years (although at the moment it did not contemplate immediate re-election); the comprehensive renewal of parliament parallel to the presidential renewal; the regional congresses in the north, centre, and south; the semi-parliamentary regime; the responsibility of the cabinet before each of the chambers; the recognition of indigenous communities; the impossibility of suspending individual guarantees, among other things.
One of the most important features of the Constitution was the protection of indigenous peoples and communities. Thus, article 58 established that:
In turn, article 41 stated that the assets of indigenous communities are imprescriptible, thus protecting communally owned lands. Nevertheless, many of the progressive constitutional innovations were not implemented and remained only on paper.
Seizure of control Although, in theory, Leguía wanted to adhere to the Constitution and run a government with respect for democratic principles, in practice, his government restricted public liberties. In September 1919, the printing presses of the newspapers El Comercio and La Prensa were attacked by mobs with obvious government leadership. La Prensa, where the opposition had taken refuge, was confiscated. In this way, freedom of expression was practically subjugated. The opposition in Congress was also swept away, which was subject to the executive. The deputies and Manuel Prado Ugarteche, the first for the province of Dos de Mayo, and the second for that of Huamachuco, were arrested and exiled.
On the other hand, it ended the municipalities elected by popular vote to replace them with personnel appointed by the government (the so-called Juntas de Notables).
Opponents of the government were persecuted, imprisoned, deported, and even shot. Prominent among the exiles was the then young student leader Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, who led the leftist mass protest against the of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the government on May 23, 1923, in which a worker and a student died.
In exile, Haya founded APRA, a party with continental projection initially with anti-imperialist and anti-oligarchic ideology. Other opponents of the government, such as the young journalists José Carlos Mariátegui and César Falcón, were sent to Europe on scholarships. Mariátegui, upon returning to Peru, founded the Peruvian Socialist Party.
Other exiles were former President and Colonel Óscar R. Benavides, , and Víctor Andrés Belaúnde. The island of San Lorenzo, in front of Callao, was enabled as a public prison where opponents were confined, whether they were civil professionals, military personnel, or students. The island of Taquile, in Lake Titicaca, served the same purpose.
Modernisation The modernisation of the country had already been tested by previous governments, but under Leguía, it received its definitive impetus. The main bases of this modernising leap were the following: The State, which became the engine of development. Leguía considered that the State should be strengthened and intervene in a more dynamic and dominant way, to promote the country's prosperity. He thus distanced himself from the State model of civilism, the same one that had been based on liberal theories. In this way, the national budget grew enormously, that is, the State radically expanded its expenses to implement a vast programme of public works. The return of the policy of large loans, something that had not happened in Peru since the 1860s and 1870s. The bad memory of these last loans, which had caused bankruptcy prior to the war with Chile, was overcome and the government arranged enormous loans with American banks, with which it financed its vast public works plan. Thus began Peru's dependence on American capitalism, which would inevitably force it to subordinate itself to all interests of that power (an example of the latter was the Paris Award and the solution to the conflict with Colombia).
Centennial celebrations
The most resonant event of this period was the apotheotic celebration of the Centennial of Independence on July 28, 1921. Twenty-nine foreign delegations arrived from countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, with notable absences from Venezuela (whose government mistakenly believed that Simón Bolívar had been excluded from the tributes) and Chile (which was not invited because of its territorial conflict with Peru). Authorities spared no effort to magnificently celebrate the Centennial, despite the fire that devastated the Government Palace, among other difficulties. This fire occurred on July 3, 1921, destroying the ground floor of the Palace, although, by order of Leguía, it was rebuilt in the following weeks, leaving the premises ready to receive the delegations and special guests to the celebrations.
Alongside the palace, citywide renovation works also took place. Consequently, the city that had once been called the "most Spanish in the world" by writer Felipe Sassone during the early 1920s instead adopted a French appearance in its architecture. During this period, French architect Claude Sahut designed many of the construction projects of the era, including that of the new Government Palace.
Each friendly nation made a gift to Peru, among the main ones, the National Stadium (United Kingdom); the Museum of Italian Art (Italy); the clock tower of the University Park (Germany); the water fountain in the Park of the Exhibition (China); the monument to Labour (Belgium); the Moorish Arch, which was built at the beginning of Avenida Leguía, a gift from the Spanish colony; the monument to Manco Cápac, in the Plaza Leguía, a gift from the Japanese colony; and others.
There were sumptuous parties at the Government Palace, in the clubs, gala horse races, popular festivals, the great military parade, school parades, float parades, and a series of inaugurations. One of the main events was the inauguration of the to José de San Martín, in the square that has since carried his name.
In December 1924, lavish celebrations were held again in Lima and Ayacucho, this time on the occasion of the first centennial of the Battle of Ayacucho, the same one that had sealed the independence of Peru and continental America. On that occasion, the Gran Hotel Bolívar (in front of San Martín Square) and the monuments to Abel-Nicolas Bergasse du Petit-Thouars and Antonio José de Sucre were inaugurated, the latter in a square next to the Parque de la Reserva.
Petroleum controversy Leguía faced the issue of La Brea y Pariñas. This was a lawsuit that consisted of the International Petroleum Company exploiting the oil fields of La Brea y Pariñas in northern Peru without contributing the real amount of taxes to the treasury, to which it was obliged according to Peruvian law, taking advantage of an old administrative error. Congress in 1918 had agreed that the matter be submitted to international arbitration, but Leguía, under pressure from the U.S. government, preferred to reach a transactional agreement.
This was signed on March 2, 1922, between the Peruvian Foreign Minister Alberto Salomón and the English representative A. C. Grant Duff. This transactional agreement was presented to the Arbitration Court, which met in Paris and was made up of the president of the Swiss Federal Court and the representatives of the Peruvian and English governments. On April 24 of that year, 1922, without further discussion, they approved the Transactional Agreement, which they granted the status of Award, the conditions of which were binding on the high contracting parties as a solution to the controversy.
The agreements of the so-called Paris Award were as follows: