The Popular Front (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Frente Popular'') in Chile was an electoral and political left-wing coalition from 1937 to February 1941, during the Presidential Republic Era (1924–1973). It gathered together the Radical Party, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

, the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

, the Democratic Party and the Radical Socialist Party, as well as organizations such as the '' Confederación de Trabajadores de Chile'' (CTCH) trade-union, the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...

movement which unified itself in the ''

Frente Único Araucano Frente! (or Frente) were an Australian folk-pop and indie pop group which originally formed in 1989. The original line-up consisted of Simon Austin on guitar and backing vocals, Angie Hart on lead vocals, Tim O'Connor on bass guitar (later repl ...

'', and the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

Movimiento Pro-Emancipación de las Mujeres de Chile Pro-Emancipation Movement of Chilean Women ( es, italic=no, Movimiento Pro-Emancipación de las Mujeres de Chile) (often known as MEMCh or MEMCH) was both a historic women's rights organization, which pressed for equality between 1935 and 1953 and a ...

'' (MEMCh).

Formation of the Popular Front

Since 1935, the

advocated a Popular Front strategy, in agreement with the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

's directions and in hope of succeeding in winning elections as in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. With this aim in mind, the Communist Party toned down its revolutionary discourse, advocating compromise with "

bourgeois democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into dif ...

" and supporting industrial development of the country. On the other hand, the Socialist Party remained skeptical towards such an alliance, and entered the Popular Front only when the electoral victory of the right-wing candidate,

Gustavo Ross Gustavo is the Latinate form of a Germanic male given name with respective prevalence in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. It has been a common name for Swedish monarchs since the reign of Gustav Vasa. It is derived from Gustav /ˈɡʊstɑːv/, ...

, seemed inescapable.El Frente Popular (1936-1941) - Amplio bloque de izquierdas
(with documents) The Popular Front presented the Radical Pedro Aguirre Cerda as their common candidate for the 1938 presidential election. He narrowly defeated the right-wing candidate. Following Cerda's death in 1941, the left-wing coalition developed into the Democratic Alliance which united the same parties for the 1942 presidential election. The presidential candidate for 1938 was designed during the ''Convención Presidencial de Izquierdas'' (Presidential Convention of the Left) on 15–17 April 1938 in the

National Congress ''National Congress'' is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures . Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress (Guyana) *India: Indian National Congress *Iraq: Iraqi Nati ...

. 400 delegates of the Radical parties, 330 Socialists, 120 Communists, 120 members of the Democratic Party and 60 from the CTCH trade-union attended the convention. Initially, none of the proposed candidates obtained the required majority of 684 votes out of 1,030. On the first two days, Aguirre Cerda won 520 votes (Radicals and Democrats),

Marmaduque Grove Marmaduke Grove Vallejo (; July 6, 1878 – May 15, 1954), his name erroneously spelled Marmaduque Grobeh, was a Chilean Air Force officer, political figure and member of the Government Junta of the Socialist Republic of Chile in 1932. Early lif ...

360 (Socialists and parts of the CTCH) and

Elías Lafertte Elías Lafertte Gaviño (December 19, 1886 – Santiago, February 17 , 1961) was a Chilean worker in saltpeter mining and a communist politician. Lafertte ran in the 1931 and 1932 presidential elections ending in third and fifth place. He was sen ...

150 (Communists and parts of the CTCH). In the same time, the Extraordinary General Congress of the Socialist Party was being held, during which it was decided to withdraw Marmaduqe Grove's candidacy and to support Aguirre Cerda.

Government of the Popular Front

The Popular Front created the

CORFO The Production Development Corporation (CORFO, from es, Corporación de Fomento de la Producción de Chile) is a Chilean governmental organization that was founded in 1939 by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda to promote economic growth in Chile. ...

after the 1939 earthquake, which launched public works schemes, etc. Pedro Aguirre Cerda also nominated

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

as Special Consul in Paris for immigration, and the latter organized the journey of the ''

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

'', which brought to Chile 2,200 Spanish Republican refugees. The Popular Front also implemented its education program by building 1,000 primary schools and creating 3,000 offices for teachers. The Popular Front was supported by artists such as Neruda,

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Li ...

or the

Surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

collective '' La Mandrágora'', created in 1938 by Teófilo Cid, Enrique Gómez-Correa and Braulio Arenas.El Frente Popular (1936-1941) , Presentación
The Proletarian Novelist group of the Generation of 1938 also were great supporters of the Popular Front, and included the novelists Nicomedes Guzmán, Óscar Castro, Volodia Teitelboim, Juan Godoy and others.

Leaders

*President: Pedro Aguirre Cerda *Minister of Health:

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

*President of Popular Front:

Formation of the Popular Front

Government of the Popular Front

Leaders

Composition

See also

References

Further reading

See also