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The Changing Role of the Military in Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Robert A. Potash
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Extract

The Argentine military emerged as a major political force with its overthrow of the Irigoyen government in September, 1930. It remains an active political force to this day. The role the military has played during this period has varied in terms of the specific objectives sought, the methods used, and the intensity of its action, but at no time did it cease to be a political force, at no time have the governing authorities whether military or civilian been able to discount its desires or demands. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the nature of the role the military played between 1930 and 1958 and to attempt an assessment of its more recent activities. As used in this paper, the term “military” will refer to the officers, active and retired, of the three armed services. The oneyear conscripts who have comprised the bulk of the enlisted men in the army and a substantial part of those of the navy and air force have never been initiators of political action.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Inter-American Studies , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , October 1961 , pp. 571 - 578
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1961

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References

Bibliographical Note

This paper embodies tentative conclusions arrived at through reading of selected Argentine newspapers, memoirs, chronicles, and secondary works, and of the standard English-language and other non-Argentine works on recent political history. Among the most useful Argentine sources were: General Sarobe, José María, Memorias sohre la revolución de 6 de sep'iembre de 1930 (Buenos Aires, 1957): Rear Admiral Plater, Guillermo D., Una gran lección (La Plata, 1956); Palacio, Ernesto, Historia de la Argentina (¡515-1938) (Buenos Aires, 1954); Romero, José Luis, Las ideas políticas en Argentina (Mexico, 1946); and Goldstraj, Manuel, Años y errores (Buenos Aires, 1957), the memoirs of a former Radical Party leader and secretary to ex-President Alvear. Of the non-Argentine sources consulted, Nuestros vecinos justicialistas (10th ed., Santiago, 1955) by the Chilean, Alejandro Magnet, contributed helpful data as did Ysabel Rennie, The Argentine Republic (New York, 1945); Alexander, Robert J., The Perón Era (New York, 1951); Whitaker, Arthur P., The United States and Argentina (Cambridge, 1954); and Pendle, George, Argentina (London and New York, 1955)Google Scholar