CONSERVATIVE HEGEMONY: CAUSES, CHARACTERISTICS, CONSEQUENCES, PRESIDENTS - HISTORY - 2024

The conservative hegemony was a period in the history of Colombia in which the Conservative Party remained in power uninterruptedly for 44 years. This stage began in 1886 and ended in 1930, when the Liberals regained power.

The confrontations between political factions had been constant in Colombian history since its independence. In 1863, the radical liberals promulgated the Constitution of Rionegro, with which they established a federal republic. Despite some achievements in the area of ​​freedom, at the end of the 1970s the country was going through a major crisis.

Rafael Nunez

Rafael Núñez, liberal in its beginnings, promoted a movement that he called Regeneration. His intention was to repeal the reforms decreed by the Liberal Party and regain administrative centralism. When he reached the presidency, supported by the conservatives, Núñez promulgated a new constitution, a circumstance that began the conservative hegemony.

During the four decades of conservative governments, Colombia went through difficult times such as the Thousand Day War or the separation from Panama. On the positive side, already in the 20th century the country experienced a great economic improvement, which served to improve its infrastructure.

Background

Colombia, with its various names, had never achieved political stability since its proclamation as an independent country. This instability had been caused, among other aspects, by the confrontation between the federalists (usually liberals) and the centralists (mostly conservatives).

One of the frequent civil confrontations ended up bringing Tomás Cipriano Mosquera to the presidency. A supporter of federalism, he renamed the country the United States of Colombia.

Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera

Radical Olympus

When the civil war ended in 1863, radical liberals promulgated the Constitution of Rionegro, which marked the beginning of the period called Olympus Radical.

Shield of the United States of Colombia. Source: Travail personnel - Ivanics / Shadowxfox

This stage lasted until 1886 and was characterized by the attempt of the liberals to transform the country. In addition to the implementation of federalism, the leaders promoted economic liberalism and measures that sought to modernize Colombia and leave colonial structures behind.

Regeneration

The political and economic model imposed by the Radical Olympus began to crumble in the 1870s. Colombia was going through a major economic crisis, due to the weakness of the private sector, the decline in exports (except in the case of coffee) and the lack of industry.

In this context, a faction of the liberals gave their support to Rafael Núñez for the presidential elections of 1876. Although he lost to Aquileo Parra, Núñez established himself as the leader of the independent liberals and began to demand structural reforms based on what he called Regeneration..

Aquileo Parra

Among the changes that Núñez demanded was the end of federalism and the central government intervening in the economy. For him, the state should boost industry, build more infrastructure and encourage foreign investment.

In 1878, Núñez was elected a member of the Senate, already as a candidate for the Conservative Party. Likewise, he held the presidency of Congress until 1880. That same year, Núñez prevailed in the new elections for the presidency of the Republic.

Constitution of 1886

Rafael Núñez won the 1884 elections again, although an illness delayed his incorporation into office. The following year, an internal confrontation in the state of Santander was used by radical liberals to start an uprising that spread throughout the country and led to a civil war.

Congress of the Republic of Colombia / Public domain. Congress of the Republic of Colombia / Public domain

The radical liberals had the ultimate goal of overthrowing Núñez. His attempt was unsuccessful and the Conservatives were the winners of the contest. After this, Núñez himself announced that the Constitution of Rionegro was no longer valid.

On September 10, 1885, the Colombian president called a Constituent Assembly. The result was a new Magna Carta, approved in 1886, that ended the centralism and liberal principles of the previous one.

Causes

Critical cartoon with conservative hegemony published in 1929 - Source: Ricardo Rendón

The first president of the conservative hegemony was José María Serrano, who took office in 1886. However, the country's strong man was Rafael Núñez.

Economic problems

The liberal government had tried to improve the economy through a system based on liberalism. However, the results were not as expected, especially after 1870.

The lack of a strong private sector and lower state participation in the economy led to the impoverishment of the country. The internal market, already weak, declined further.

Opposition to federalism

The confrontation between federalists and centralists was constant from the very declaration of independence. The Constitution of Rionegro organized the country as a federal state, with broad powers for the provinces.

During the time when the country was called the United States of Colombia, instability was constant. In addition, the electoral system, with voting on different dates depending on the state, caused problems when forming the governing bodies.

Núñez affirmed that this federalism was ruining the country and made its elimination one of the bases of Regeneration.

Relations with the Church

The Catholic Church in Colombia had a power inherited from the colonial era. The Liberals, especially their radical faction, tried to reduce their political and social influence. For this they decreed the effective separation between the State and the Church, in addition to promoting secular education.

Conservatives, for their part, maintained historical ties with the ecclesiastical institution and were against it losing its power. For Núñez, for example, taking a position against the Church meant not respecting the vast majority of the people, who were deeply Catholic.

Characteristics of conservative hegemony

The Constitution of 1886 reflected all the characteristics of the conservative hegemony. This Magna Carta, based on Regeneration, reorganized the country as a centralist state, with a President who accumulated legislative power and control of public order.

Return to colonial traditions

The social base that supported the conservative hegemony was composed mainly of the upper classes: landowners, clergy, military and oligarchs. All of them agreed on the desire to maintain the structures inherited from the colonial era, both in politics and economics.

This led, for example, to the land ownership structure remaining unchanged, as well as the rejection of the abolition of slavery.

Closeness to the Church

The alliance between the conservatives and the Church led the government to negotiate a concordat with the Vatican that gave enormous powers to the clergy.

During the conservative hegemony, Catholicism became the official religion of Colombia. The Church succeeded in handing over the administration of the educational system, which meant that it was responsible for ensuring that education was consistent with religious morale.

Economy

The Conservative Party tried to limit the free market policy that the liberals had imposed. However, the first years of that period were not good for the Colombian economy, especially due to events such as the Thousand Day War or the separation of Panama.

Officials of the government army in 1899 - Source: Page of the government of Colombia under the Creative Commons Generic Attribution / Share-Alike 3.0 license. In 1904, the situation began to improve. President Rafael Reyes granted aid to merchants and farmers, which favored consumption and exports. A few years later, the United States paid a large compensation for having appropriated the Panama Canal, money that was used to build infrastructure.

On the other hand, Colombia was also favored by the boom in coffee exports, which became the main source of foreign exchange for the country.

The hiring of the Kemmerer Mission served to modernize Colombian economic structures. Likewise, the country began to industrialize. Despite all of the above, at the end of the 20s of the 20th century a new crisis hit the nation.

Political and union repression

The conservatives also repealed part of the laws enacted by the liberals in the area of ​​individual liberties. Thus, censorship became common in the country again, many journalists were jailed and many newspapers closed.

Likewise, the conservative hegemony ensured that the liberals could not access relevant positions. To this must be added that many opponents were sent to prison or exile.

The industrialization of the country, already in the 20th century, caused the appearance of trade union organizations that tried to improve the rights of workers. The confrontation between conservative governments, business advocates, and workers' movements was a constant for years.

The repression unleashed had its climax in the so-called massacre of the banana plantations. Thousands of United Fruit Company workers were killed in the course of a strike called for job improvements.

Consequences

The conservative hegemony had important consequences for Colombia. Some of them, such as the formation of stable, positive public institutions. Others, such as censorship or union repression, are negative.

Expansion of coffee cultivation

Conservative governments modernized the coffee industry to make this product the base of their exports. To do this, they helped large businessmen to improve production.

The result was a significant increase in income thanks to the export tax on grain. That money, despite accusations of corruption, was partly used to improve infrastructure.

Transportation development

At the beginning of the 20th century, the governments of the conservative hegemony expanded the railroad networks throughout Colombia.

In 1919, commercial aviation began to operate in the country. The person in charge was a company with German participation.

Image of the early years of the Colombian Air Force / Public domain

Industry development

The conservatives also promoted the industrialization of the country to try that agriculture was not the only important economic activity. At first, they had to import machinery from abroad, although little by little this changed. Much of these industries were in foreign hands.

On the negative side, this industrialization caused the migration of many former agricultural workers to the cities. The working and living conditions were very negative, with many pockets of poverty. The unions' attempt to improve this situation was violently repressed by the government.

Thousand days war

The Liberals, removed from power by the Conservatives, staged several armed uprisings in the provinces. In 1899, one of them ended up leading to a bloody civil war.

An estimated 100,000 people died during the conflict and the country was completely devastated.

Presidents

The presidents during this period were José María Campo Serrano, Eliseo Payán, Rafael Núñez, Carlos Holguín Mallarino, Miguel Antonio Caro, Manuel Antonio Sanclemente, José Manuel Marroquín, Rafael Reyes, Ramón González Valencia, Carlos Eugenio Restrepo, José Vicente Concha, Marco Fidel Suárez, Jorge Holguín Mallarino, Pedro Nel Ospina and Miguel Abadía Méndez

All the presidents during the conservative hegemony in Colombia (1886-1930).

Each presidential term had its own characteristics: some presidents, like the first two, ruled for just a year, so they hardly had an impact; others allowed figures from the Liberal Party to enter their government; and some, like Rafael Reyes, played an important role in Colombian history.

José María Campo Serrano (1886-1887), Eliseo Payán (1887) and Rafael Núñez (1887-1888)

The first presidential period of the conservative hegemony had three different presidents, since Rafael Nuñez, who was supposed to hold the position, was ill.

The first, José María Campo Serrano, took office on March 30, 1886. His contributions included sanctioning the new constitution and improving the lighting in the capital.

In January 1887, Campo Serrano was replaced by Eliseo Payán, then Governor of Cauca. His mandate only lasted a few months, as his decisions did not like the conservatives. Thus, the president decreed freedom of the press and tried to negotiate with the radical liberals. The latter led to his dismissal in June of the same year.

Rafael Núñez could then hold the presidency. The ideologue of the Regeneration negotiated a concordat with the Vatican that returned to the Church all the power lost during the liberal mandate.

Carlos Holguin Mallarino (1888-1892)

Núñez's illness caused that in December 1888 he had to leave the presidency again. In this case, Congress elected Carlos Holguín Mallarino as his replacement. His mandate was characterized by the construction of new infrastructures, among which the first military hospital in Bogotá stood out. He was also the one who founded the National Police

Miguel Antonio Caro (1892-1898)

The 1892 elections were won, once again, by Rafael Núñez. However, his illness caused his vice president, Miguel Antonio Caro, to assume the presidency.

Political instability led Caro to ask Núñez to assume power, but he died on September 18, 1894. The following year, a revolution organized by the Liberals was put down by General Rafael Reyes.

Manuel Antonio Sanclemente (1898-1900) and José Manuel Marroquín (1900-1904)

Miguel Antonio Caro imposed as his successor Manuel Antonio Sanclemente, who by then had more than 80 years. The vice president was José Manuel Marroquín, also very old. The purpose of this election was to continue exercising power in the shadows, but without succeeding.

Sanclemente had to face stiff opposition, both from the Liberals and from the historic sector of the Conservative Party, led by his own vice president. This resulted in the outbreak of the Thousand Day War in 1899, a conflict that pitted the Liberals against the government.

Mallorquin, encouraged by the conservatives themselves, overthrew Sanclemente in a coup in July 1900. The war continued during his mandate and the separation of Panama occurred.

Rafael Reyes (1904-1909) and Ramón González Valencia (1909-1910)

The conservative victory in the Thousand Day War caused many conservatives to oppose any deal with the liberals. However, when he became president, Rafael Reyes brought some members of that party into his government.

Colombia was in a very delicate situation. The war had devastated the country and the separation from Panama had worsened the economic situation. Reyes tried to boost the economy by supporting the establishment of new industries. On the other hand, he promulgated a series of progressive measures.

This provoked the rejection of many of his fellow conservatives. Reyes, to avoid that opposition, became more authoritarian. Finally, he banished his rivals, closed Congress, and formed a Constituent Assembly.

The president suffered an assassination attempt and, despite having considerable popular support, decided to hand over power to Jorge Holguín Mallarino in June 1909. Once the resignation was formalized, Congress appointed Ramón González Valencia as the new president for the remainder of the presidential term.

Carlos Eugenio Restrepo (1910-1914)

Restrepo came to the presidency with the support of the two Colombian political parties: the Conservative and the Liberal. Upon taking office, the economy was in a very delicate situation, especially due to the fiscal deficit.

The president raised taxes and reduced all expenses, measures with which he achieved a surplus in just one year. In addition, it doubled exports.

On the other hand, the Restrepo government clashed with the Church in its attempt to avoid its interference. The president was a supporter of freedom of worship, of the press and of expression.

José Vicente Concha (1914-1918)

After being defeated by Restrepo in 1910, José Vicente Concha managed to become president in 1914.

Marco Fidel Suárez (1918-1922)

Conservatives presented Marcos Fidel Suárez as a presidential candidate in 1917. After winning the elections, the president founded SCADTA, the first aviation company in the country.

Pedro Nel Ospina (1922-1926)

Nel Ospina's presidential term was favored by the payment of 25 million dollars by the United States as compensation for the loss of the Panama Canal. With that money, the government strongly promoted infrastructure.

In addition to this investment in public works, Nel Ospina paid great attention to education. In this field he passed numerous laws, although without the support of Congress. The reason for this rejection was the president's decision to strip the Church of its power in public education.

Miguel Abadía Méndez (1926-1930)

The last president of the conservative hegemony came to office after an election in which he was the only candidate.

Abadía Méndez focused part of his mandate on improving international relations. In this sense, it reached agreements with several neighboring countries to end border conflicts.

However, his presidential term went down in history due to a tragic event: the Bananeras Massacre.

References

1. National Library of Colombia. The Conservative Hegemony. Obtained from Bibliotecanacional.gov.co
2. Restrepo, Giovanni. February 9, 1930: The end of the hegemony. Retrieved from Semana.com
3. Colombia.com. Presidents of Colombia. Obtained from colombia.com
4. Robert Louis Gilmore, William Paul McGreevey. Colombia. Retrieved from britannica.com
5. Global Security. Decline of the Conservative Hegemony. Retrieved from globalsecurity.org
6. Hutber, Jenna. Conservative Party. Obtained from colombiareports.com