Republican Party

The Republican Party, formally called the Republican Union, was formed in 1914 by an offshoot of the Liberal Party and other opposition groups and ruled Bolivia from 1921 to 1934. Marred by continual infighting, the Republicans espoused a traditional liberal ideology like their predecessors, the Liberals. Juan Bautista Savedra, the first Republican president (1921–1925), passed some social legislation but also permitted the massacre of miners at Uncía in 1923. Hernán Siles Zuazo, president from 1926 to 1930, supported university reform, but had to deal with the beginnings of the Great Depression. Siles tried to remain in office past his term, but a military junta overthrew his government and in 1931 gave the reins of power to Daniel Salamanca, one of the founders of the party. As the economic and social situation worsened, Salamanca dragged Bolivia into the disastrous Chaco War, bringing about his own downfall in 1934 and the demise of the Republican Party as a political force.

See alsoBolivia, Political Parties: Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR) .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The best analysis of the Republican period is in Herbert S. Klein, Parties and Political Change in Bolivia: 1880–1952 (1969), pp. 64-159. See also David Alvéstegui, Salamanca, su gravitación sobre el destino de Bolivia, 4 vols. (1957–1970); Porfirio Díaz Machicado, Historia de Bolivia, vols. 1-3 (1954–1955).

Additional Bibliography

Irurozqui, Marta. "A bala, piedra y palo": La construcción de la ciudadanía política en Bolivia, 1826–1952. Sevilla, Spain: Diputación de Sevilla, 2000.

Lorini, Irma. El nacionalismo en Bolivia de la pre y posguerra del Chaco (1910–1945). La Paz, Bolivia: Plural Editores, 2006.

                                             Erick D. Langer