BOLIVIAN REVOLUTION OF 1952: CAUSES, CHARACTERISTICS, CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The Bolivian Revolution of 1952, also called the National Revolution, was the period in the history of Bolivia in which the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ruled. This stage began on April 9, when a popular insurrection ended with the Military Junta that had taken over the country.

The reasons that led the MNR to power were, fundamentally, two. The first was the effects of the Great Depression on the Bolivian economy, while the second was the Chaco War, which made citizens begin to question the political system of the moment.

Víctor Paz Estenssoro - Source: Harry Pot

The 1951 elections were won by the MNR, although without an absolute majority. However, the ruling class did not accept this result and handed over power to the military. On April 9, 1852, an armed uprising in which various popular sectors participated led Víctor Paz Estenssoro to the presidency.

Among the measures taken by the new government were the introduction of universal suffrage, the nationalization of the mines and an agrarian reform that tried to solve the problems of the peasants. In 1964, a coup d'état overthrew the MNR government, putting an end to the revolution.

Causes

The 1952 revolution was caused by various reasons, although the bad economic situation was one of the most important. Despite the fact that the country had advanced a lot, its productive structure, essentially agricultural, was not enough for the population to have an acceptable standard of living.

Great Depression

The Crisis of 29, which began in the United States, soon morphed into what has become known as the Great Depression. Its effects reached all parts of the planet, causing the fall of economies in many countries.

In the case of Bolivia, the crisis caused a large drop in the prices of its most valuable mineral, tin. The decline in this source of income prompted the country to declare the suspension of payments on the foreign debt.

Chaco War

In 1932 a war began between Bolivia and Paraguay that lasted almost three years. The reason was the dispute over a territory called Chaco Boreal.

This confrontation meant that the two countries, which were already among the poorest in the region, spent an enormous amount of resources.

At the end of the war, the peace treaty granted three-quarters of the disputed territory to Paraguay. This result, together with the aforementioned spending of resources, caused part of the population to begin to question the political model.

The dominant oligarchy began to be criticized by the rest of the social classes. Given this, the oligarchs chose to impose their power through repression. During a few years, several governments led by the military followed one another.

On the other hand, the working class began to organize in a more effective way. This would be clearly seen during the days that marked the triumph of the 1952 revolution.

Social and economic causes

Bolivian society, although it had advanced in the decades prior to the revolution, continued to maintain a structure dominated by the oligarchy. The bourgeoisie is very scarce and there were a large number of indigenous peasants with hardly any rights.

On the other hand, the workers, especially the miners, had begun to organize and demand job improvements.

By 1950, the Bolivian population had doubled since the beginning of the century. Although this phenomenon also affected cities, the country was still very rural. It is estimated that the number of people working in the fields was more than 70% of the population. The ownership of these lands was in the hands of large landowners.

As for the great export activity of the country, mining, it was dominated by the so-called tin barons. The State only kept a very small part of those obtained.

Features and development

The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement had been founded just after the end of the Chaco War, when the country was in a crisis of confidence. The ruling classes, oligarchs, tin barons, and large landowners began to be criticized.

This political party appeared with the intention of defending the interests of the workers and the middle classes. It also had a strong nationalist content and did not rule out revolution as a method of reaching government.

1951 elections

The 1951 elections were held with the victory of the MNR, whose leader, Víctor Paz Estenssoro, was in exile. Although it won with a notable difference in votes, the party failed to obtain an absolute majority.

Before the President was elected, who had to leave some of the three most voted parties, the then president decided to hand over power to the military.

After a year under the government of a Military Junta, on April 9 the revolution broke out. It all started when Antonio Seleme, a police general, carried out an armed uprising. Seleme had the help of Siles Suazo and Juan Lechín, both leaders of the MRN. Likewise, the carabineros participated in the insurrection.

It was soon found that this uprising had a lot of popular support, especially among the miners and workers.

On the 11th, Lechín led the capture of the Miraflores Barracks and the Quemado Palace. With this, the MNR came to power in Bolivia. The revolution had ended with 490 dead, but the army had been defeated. The Presidency was occupied by Paz Estenssoro, who returned to the country to hold the position.

First Phase (1952-56)

The first government of the MNR was chaired by Paz Estenssoro. During this stage, the Central Obrera Boliviana had a very important impact on the decisions taken.

It was during this legislature when the most important measures were approved, from the agrarian reform to the nationalization of the mines.

Likewise, the government completely reformed the military establishment. Most of the officers were replaced and peasant and urban militias were formed that went on to carry out a good part of the work of the security forces.

Paz Estenssoro launched a campaign of repression against opposition groups. The one that suffered the most was the Bolivian Socialist Falange, which had tried to carry out a coup.

Second phase (1956-1960)

The following elections, held in 1956, determined that Hernán Siles and Ñuflo de Chávez seized power in the country.

During this period, the large increase in inflation stood out. The United States and the IMF forced the Bolivian government to take measures to control this rise. The workers rejected the decree that issued them, which began to distance the MNR from the trade union organizations.

Third Phase (1960 1964)

The aforementioned anti-inflation policies led the MNR to run divided in the 1960 elections. Finally, the winners were Vïctor Paz Estenssoro and Juan Lechín.

This did not prevent relations with the unions from becoming increasingly strained. In 1963, the Central Obrera Boliviana broke relations with the government and called several strikes in the following months.

In 1961, the government approved a new Constitution. One of his points was the legalization of presidential reelection, something that Paz Estenssoro was looking for.

The 1964 elections yielded a very favorable result for the MNR candidate. However, in November of that same year, he was overthrown by a military coup.

Help from the USA

One of the characteristics of the Bolivian revolution was that it succeeded in getting the United States to support the government that emerged from it.

Despite having nationalized the mines, the Americans viewed the MNR as a nationalist and not a communist movement. Over the years, this support was materialized in economic aid and food shipments when Bolivia had shortage problems.

Central Obrera Boliviana

Among the organizations that had the most influence during the revolution is the Central Obrera Boliviana. This was created in 1952, when several unions, from all labor sectors, were grouped in it.

Its first leader was Juan Lechín, who, in turn, held the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum in the first government of Paz Estenssoro.

This organization was decisive in pushing the government to nationalize the mines and rail communications. He also pressed for the agrarian reform to become a reality.

During the last two stages of the revolution, relations between the Central Obrera and the government began to deteriorate. This caused several strikes to be called against some government decisions.

Consequences

According to many Bolivian historians, the governments of the revolution represented a step forward for the country. The policies developed were a great change in all areas.

Universal suffrage

One of the first measures approved by the MNR government was the introduction of universal suffrage. Until July 1952, when the measure was approved, neither illiterate, indigenous nor women could vote. The number of voters increased by more than 800,000 people.

Army reform

After having defeated him in the days of April 1952, the new government undertook a thorough reform of the army. To begin with, he legislated to go from having 20,000 troops to only having 5,000.

Another measure was the reduction of the budget allocated to the Armed Forces to 6.7% of the total.

To replace the military, militias were created, both in the countryside and in the city. These had a lot of power until 1956. From that year they were losing prerogatives in favor, again, of the army.

Nationalization of mines

Before the revolution, the Bolivian mines were in the hands of three large companies: Aramayo, Patiño and Hoschild).

At first, Estenssoro was not clear whether to proceed to nationalize, since, previously, the position of the MNR had been to implement more control by the State but without expropriating them.

His first step was in that sense. The President preferred that the Banco Minero have a monopoly on exports and that all the foreign exchange obtained be paid into the Central Bank.

However, the Central Obrera pushed for the nationalization of all the mining deposits. Paz Estenssoro continued to doubt, as he feared the external reaction, especially that of the United States.

Finally, the government commissioned a commission to study how to proceed. The conclusion was that nationalization could be carried out as long as the companies were duly compensated.

Thus, on the last day of October 1952, the government made the decision official. From that moment, 163 mines were in the hands of the State, which created the Corporación Minera de Bolivia to manage them.

Agrarian reform

The land ownership structure in pre-revolution Bolivia was dominated by large landowners. 70% of the farmland was in the hands of only 4.5% of the population.

The workers, for their part, suffered from miserable working conditions. The Indians, very numerous among these workers, were forced to bring their own tools and even the seeds.

On the other hand, the productivity of agricultural holdings was really low. In fact, the country had to buy from abroad much of the food it needed.

All this explains the need for an agrarian reform that would solve the problems. As with the mines, the government commissioned a commission to study how to carry it out. After some time of analysis, the law was promulgated in August 1952.

This agrarian reform expropriated a large part of the land from the latifundistas, who were economically compensated. The indigenous people received the lands, although they were prevented from selling them later.

Despite good intentions, the agrarian reform started with many difficulties. It was not until after 1968 that the results began to be positive.

Education reform

More than 65% of Bolivians, according to data from 1952, were illiterate. The MNR government created the National Commission for Educational Reform to solve this great social deficiency.

The resulting legislation was intended to extend education throughout the country. The results were uneven: in the cities the initiative was developed successfully, but in the countryside, despite the growth in the number of students, the education provided did not have the necessary quality.

Protagonists

Victor Paz Estenssoro

Paz Estenssoro came to the world on October 2, 1907, in Tarija. During his political career, this lawyer held the presidency of the country four times.

Estenssoro was the first president to emerge from the revolution, in 1952. He was responsible for some of the most important measures that were developed at that stage, from the nationalization of the mines to the introduction of universal suffrage.

The politician regained office in 1960 and, again, won the 1964 elections. However, a coup d'état prevented him from completing that last legislative period. After this, he had to go into exile.

However, Estenssoro returned to political activity in the 1970s, when he collaborated in the Banzer government.

After another four years in exile, in 1978 he again presented his candidacy as president of the country. In the mid-1980s he held office for the last time and had to face a delicate economic crisis characterized by high inflation.

Victor Paz Estenssoro lived the last years of his life retired from politics. His death occurred in Tarija, in June 2001.

Hernán Siles Zuazo

Siles Zuazo was one of the main leaders of the revolution in Bolivia. The politician was born in La Paz in March 1913 and became vice president during the first legislature of the MNR.

Their participation was fundamental for the approval of some of the most important social measures of the Paz Estenssoro government.

In 1956, he became president. His four years in office were not uneventful, as there were several coup attempts. Later, he was appointed ambassador to Uruguay.

During the last years of the revolution, Siles distanced himself from the party leaders. For this reason, he founded his own political organization and opposed Estenssoro's intention to run for reelection.

In 1980, Sales Zuazo won the presidential elections, as the candidate of the Popular Democratic Unity. A military coup prevented him from serving. The politician had to wait until 1982 to fill that position.

Juan Lechin Oquendo

Lechín Oquendo, a native of La Paz, played a very important role during the revolutionary days of April 1952. This miner led the popular movement that allowed the army to be defeated.

This politician stood out for his participation in trade union movements. Thus, he remained as general secretary of the FSTMB (miners' union) between 1944 and 1987. Likewise, he was executive secretary of the Central Obrera, which he helped found in 1954.

His institutional positions in the different governments were two: Minister of Mining and Petroleum (1954 - 1960) and Vice President of the government (1960 - 1964).

Lechín was located in the most leftist sector of the MNR. This led him to have confrontations with some of his companions, more moderate. In 1964 he created his own party, the Partido Revolucionario de Izquierda Nacional, which supported the coup that overthrew Paz Estenssoro. After the revolution he was forced to go into exile.

References

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2. Hoybolivia. History: 1952 Revolution in Bolivia. Obtained from hoybolivia.com
3. Sánchez Berzaín, Carlos. The Bolivian national revolution. Obtained from diariolasamericas.com
4. Source Watch. 1952 Bolivian Revolution. Retrieved from sourcewatch.org
5. Rittman, Paul. History of the 1952 Revolution in Bolivia. Recovered from paulrittman.com
6. de la Cova, Antonio Rafael. The Bolivian National Revolution 1952-1964. Retrieved from latinamericanstudies.org
7. Global Security. Bolivian Revolution (1952). Retrieved from globalsecurity.org
8. History Channel. Bolivian National Revolution. Retrieved from historychannel.com.au