Notes

El Salvador 1900-1932
1901-industry
>coffee production earned the country's foreign exchange, paid for its imports, provided the revenue for central and local gov, financed the construction of roads, ports and railways, gave employment-permanent or seasonal-to a large part of the population and made the fortunes of a few.
>the coffee planters formed an aristocracy of wealth and political power.
>coffee planters manipulated the process of political change to ensure the continuance of political stability and the existing economic order
Aristocracy
> a form of gov in which power is held by the nobility
>the highest class in certain societies, especially those holding hereditary titles or offices
1901-US involvement
>the united states expected the Salvadorian gov to adopt political, financial, and commercial programs that would facilitate american penetration of that society
>while us political and economic influence was growing in El Salvador, that society was supposed to benefit materially through a transformation toward more liberal,democratic institutions.
1903-Politics
>from 1903 to 1931, all presidents were formally elected. however, despite the universal male suffrage, in force since 1883, the elections had little political significance and the electoral competition was restricted to a small oligarchy
>oligarchy: a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution
1907-central american peace conference
>us president Theodore Roosevelt... brought about a conference in Washington. the central american peace conference began on 14 November 1907, and ended on 20 December, having created six major treaties
>a series of agreements were consummated to prevent future wars
>each nation again pledged to refrain from supporting paramilitary movements against neighboring states while also vowing not to recognize govs that come to power through coup de'tats
>lastly, the conference resulted in the Establishment of the central american court of justices. this institution was set up to mediate future conflicts in the region as an alternative to war
1912-coffee expansion
>the pattern of coffee expansion in areas of relatively dense indigenous settlement, resulting in the exportation of indigenous property and the widespread displacement of rural populations
1915-"los catorce"
>by 1915 the wealthiest families known as the 'fourteen'(w/e their actual # might have been) were well established socially and economically, but without the participation of many other elite sectors and family groups
1925-communist party
>in 1925, with the assistance of Mexican and Guatemalan agents, the first organized communist group was established in San Salvador
1930
>great depression:most producers preferred to let the harvest of 1930 rot in the fields
>some 28 percent of the coffee holdings in the country changed hands during the early years of the depression, the small growers generally suffering more than the large
>male rural unemployment in 1929 was estimated at 40%, and it was still climbing the following year
>thousands of people were attending popular universities presented in the countryside by radical students to encourage peasant organization
1932-la matanza
>the matanza of 1932--the massacre of 10000-40000 peasants in response to an uprising organized by communist leader augustin farabundo marti.
>central turning point in the history of the country, an event that deeply influenced the right and the lefts view of their enemies in the violent decades to come.
>the massacre demonstrated the brutal lengths to which the regime that was established over the preceding decades would go to defend the status quo and also instilled a reactionary fear of communism in those who were determined to preserve their societal status
la matanza
>1932. an unprecedented peasant uprising