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Parliamentary Republic (Chile)

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The Parliamentary Era in Chile began in 1891, at the end of the Civil War , and spanned until 1925 and the establishment of the 1925 Constitution . Also called "pseudo-parliamentary" period or " Parliamentary Republic ", this period was thus named because it established a quasi-parliamentary system based on the interpretation of the 1833 Constitution following the defeat of President José Manuel Balmaceda during the Civil War. As opposed to a "true parliamentary" system , the executive was not subject to the legislative power but checks and balances of executive over the legislature were weakened. The President remained the head of state but its powers and control of the government were reduced. The Parliamentary Republic lasted until the 1925 Constitution drafted by President Arturo Alessandri and his minister José Maza . The new Constitution created a presidential system , which lasted, with several modifications, until the 1973 coup d'état .

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38-695: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chile temporarily resolved its border disputes with Argentina with the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina , the Puna de Atacama Lawsuit of 1899 and the Cordillera of the Andes Boundary Case, 1902 . The pseudo- parliamentary system was established in Chile following José Manuel Balmaceda 's defeat in the 1891 Chilean Civil War . Whereas in

76-400: A 12-year sunset for its commerce and navigation articles. Chilean trade and culture were oriented towards Europe and therefore the complete control of the strait was a core Chilean interest. In contrast the rest of Patagonia was seen by influential Chilean politicians as a worthless desert. This view was shared by Diego Barros Arana and was inspired by Charles Darwin 's description of

114-514: A complete parliamentary system the chief of government is designed by the parliamentary majority , and usually belongs to it, the function of chief of government was hereby unofficially assumed by the Minister of Interior . The National Congress indirectly controlled his nomination and the rest of the cabinet through the vote of the periodical laws ( leyes periódicas ), the budget , the military credits , etc. Others means of control included

152-436: Is a novel written by Jules Verne in 1897 and published posthumously in 1909, after it had been rewritten by Verne's son Michel under the title Les naufragés du "Jonathan" . The novel tells the story of a mysterious man named Kaw-djer who lives on Nueva island, whose motto is "Neither God nor master". He refused any contact with western civilization , relying on himself in order to survive and also provides assistance to

190-730: The Conservative Coalition , was a Chilean coalition formed in 1891 after the 1891 Chilean Civil War and it was the main opposer of the Liberal Alliance . The Coalition was formed by the Conservative Party , democrats, nationals and different liberal organizations. Along with the Liberal Alliance, it was one of the two parties of the bipartisan system of that time. Between 1920 and 1925 it took as name National Union and during that period it

228-553: The Liberal Republic (1861–1891), the executive power did not interfere in the elections as it did through intendants , governors and inspectors. Elections were organized by the municipalities of Chile , held by various local caudillos . Bribes , electoral fraud , stealing of ballot boxes were frequent in rural zones. Three main social classes composed the Parliamentary Republic: the oligarchy ,

266-727: The Minister of Interior if the President died. The original version of this article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Misplaced Pages, which was accessed in the version of 4 May 2007. Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina The Boundary Treaty of 1881 ( Spanish : Tratado de Límites de 1881 ) between Argentina and Chile was signed on 23 July 1881 in Buenos Aires by Bernardo de Irigoyen , for Argentina, and Francisco de Borja Echeverría , for Chile, with

304-709: The conquest of Chile in the 16th century by Pedro de Valdivia , arguing that Pedro de Valdivia obtained rights from the Spanish crown to establish a captaincy limited by the Strait of Magellan to the south. Pedro de Valdivia subsequently founded several cities through southern Chile with the goal of reaching the Strait of Magellan. However, the remoteness of the region and the Mapuche in the War of Arauco limited further expansion to

342-416: The middle classes and the working classes . The aristocracy was formed by the landlords , politicians, saltpeter entrepreneurs (many of whom were foreigners), bankers , physicians , intellectuals , etc. They lived in neoclassical palaces or mansions, followed European fashion , etc. The oligarchy, however, was internally divided on some points; hence the many parties, the two main alliances, with

380-480: The quaternary glaciations , changing their outlets to the west. In 1902, war was again avoided when King Edward VII of Britain agreed to mediate between the two nations. He established the current border in the Patagonia region in part by dividing many disputed lakes into two equal parts; most of these lakes still have one name on each side of the frontier. The dispute that arose in the northern Puna de Atacama

418-571: The treaty of 1984 maintained the Chilean interpretation of the treaty, at least in so far as the land border line. There could be other reasons for the Argentine difficulties over the interpretation. Michael Morris observes about the Argentine policy: The Southern Patagonian Ice Field is the last still pending issue to apply the 1881 Boundary Treaty. Coalition (Chile) The Coalition ( Spanish : Coalición ), also but rarely known as

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456-820: The Argentine Minister of Foreign Relations Carlos Tejedor agreed to put the question to arbitration. However, the new Argentine president Nicolás Avellaneda , boosted by internal popularity, cancelled the agreement in 1875. Attempts to clear up the dispute about Patagonia were unsuccessful until 1881, when Chile was fighting the War of the Pacific against both Bolivia and Peru . Chile had already defeated Bolivia's and Peru's regular armies and had large contingents in occupying Peru and fighting Andrés Avelino Cáceres' guerrillas. To avoid fighting Argentina as well, Chilean President Aníbal Pinto authorized his envoy, Diego Barros Arana , to hand over as much territory as

494-649: The Cabo) giving 626 km to Argentina. Different interpretations of the borderline north of latitude 52°S led to the Arbitration of the British King Edward VII in 1902. Border disputes continued as Patagonia was still an unexplored area. The concept of the continental divide was easy to apply in northern regions, but in Patagonia, drainage basins crossed the Andes, which led to disputes over whether

532-631: The Chilean view was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration in the Beagle dispute : Some errors that would allow a Pacific coast for Argentina in Última Esperanza Sound and an Atlantic coast to Chile in San Sebastián Bay were later corrected, the border in Tierra del Fuego was moved from 68°34'00"W (as FitzRoy erroneously marked the "Cabo del Espiritu Santo") to 68°34'40"W (true longitude of

570-458: The aim of establishing a precise border between the two countries based on the uti possidetis juris principle. Despite dividing largely unexplored lands, the treaty laid the groundwork for nearly all of Chile's and Argentina's 5600 km current border . Argentina declared its independence in 1816 and Chile did the same in 1818. Once the Spaniards had been expelled, relations between

608-522: The area as a useless moorland . Mapuches and araucanized Indians had for a long time ranged the Argentine southern frontier in search for cattle that were later taken to Chile through the Camino de los chilenos . The cattle were sometimes traded in Chile for weapons and alcoholic beverages . These tribes had strong connections with Chile and therefore gave Chile influence over the pampas . Argentine authorities feared an eventual war with Chile over

646-464: The border in three articles. It defined the border down to latitude 52°S as the line marked by the continental divide and the highest mountains of the Andes . Articles 2 and 3 recognise the area around the Strait of Magellan (South of the 52°S) as Chilean as well as the islands south of Beagle Channel . Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego was divided in two parts. Furthermore, the treaty defines

684-607: The calling of new elections in order to have the sovereign people arbitrate between the legislative and the executive. However, in the Chilean system, the President of the Republic did not dispose of this power of dissolution, thus restricting the Prime Minister's margins of decision. The system of parties was very fluid, functioning on the basis of groups depending on individual personalities or caudillos who held

722-469: The control of the parties and could form or dissolve cabinets. Furthermore, there was no established voting discipline in the parties. The custom was soon established for the President to nominate "universal cabinets" which included ministers from all parties. The stability of these cabinets was therefore dependent on the political intrigues in the National Congress. Parliamentary instability

760-561: The eastern third or, at a minimum, the eastern mouth of the strait. The United Kingdom and the United States did not directly intervene in the distribution of land and maritime areas, but the U.S. ambassadors in Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires, Thomas A. Osborn and Thomas O. Osborn , did serve as mediators. The concern of the great powers was free navigation through the strait. The U.S. administration declared immediately before

798-688: The election of the President at universal direct suffrage . The main parties between 1891 and 1925 included, from right to left , the Conservative Party , close to the Roman Catholic Church; various liberal groups in the center belonging to the National Party (aka Monttvarista after Manuel Montt and Antonio Varas ), the Liberal Party , the Liberal Democratic Party (or Balmacedista ); and on

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836-424: The far south, about 42°S to 52°S, Article 1 of the treaty posed problems of interpretation and application. Some Argentine political publicists argue that Articles 2 and 3 of the treaty were ambiguous. Nonetheless, the later Argentine interpretations were refused by the international tribunal , that Argentine maps of the first decade also applied the Chilean interpretation and the two papal proposals as well as

874-554: The highest peaks would be the frontier, favoring Argentina, or the drainage basins, favoring Chile. Argentina argued that previous documents referring to the boundary always mentioned the Snowy Cordillera as the frontier and not the continental divide . Argentine explorer Francisco Perito Moreno suggested that many Patagonian lakes draining to the Pacific were part of the Atlantic basin but had been moraine-dammed during

912-498: The indigenous peoples of Magellania. However, the 1881 Boundary Treaty will destroy his paradise of individualist anarchism because it will end the state of terra nullius in the region. Because each side was convinced of the legitimacy of its own claim, the pretensions of the other party were considered usurpatory, an ill-omened beginning that burdened the relations of both countries. The treaty did resolve an immediate concern of each side, but subsequently it became evident that in

950-888: The left the Radical Party and the Democrat Party . At the end of the 1910s, the Socialist Workers Party , associated with the labour movement , began to gain some importance. These parties allied themselves either in the Coalition , grouping the Conservative Party and the liberals, or in the Liberal Alliance , composed by the liberals and the Radical Party. As opposed to the Conservative Republic (1831–1861) or

988-639: The liberals joining either the Conservative Party or the Radical Party. The working classes were formed by saltpeter workers, industrial workers and workers in public works, as well as landless peasants. The first lived in the north, in huts made of Calamina , where differences in temperature between day and night spanned 30 degrees Celsius. Others workers lived in conventillos (dormitories) or in round quarters (rooms without windows or lighting). Peasants lived on ranches. All worked without contracts between 12 and 16 hours daily without Sunday sabbath. Some were paid by company scrips . Saltpeter , sodium nitrate,

1026-501: The negotiations leading to the treaty: Prior to the U.S. statement, in 1873, via a diplomatic letter to major shipping nations, Chile had already promised freedom of navigation through and neutralization in the strait. The colonial powers, United Kingdom and France, viewed Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego as Terra nullius . Jules Verne described in The Survivors of the "Jonathan" his view of Tierra del Fuego: Regarding

1064-722: The position of the USA towards the region, on 28 December 1831, the US Navy Captain Silas Duncan with the USS Lexington destroyed the Port Louis, Falkland Islands settlement in response to Argentine activities. The captain declared the islands to be free of government. The United Kingdom established effective control over the Falklands in 1833. In 1874 Chilean minister Guillermo Blest Gana and

1102-526: The refusal, by any one of the two Chambers ( Senate or Chamber of Deputies ) to vote a motion of confidence or the refusal to vote laws of lesser importance proposed by the executive . While a Parliament may withdraw its confidence in the Prime minister in the Westminster-style parliamentary system, the head of government is normally granted the power of dissolution of parliament , leading to

1140-573: The region where the natives would side with the Chileans, and that the war would be therefore fought in the vicinities of Buenos Aires . In the 1870s, Argentina built a more than 500-km long trench called Zanja de Alsina , which Argentina had undertaken during the Conquest of the Desert from 1876 to 1878 to defeat the araucanized Indians occupying northern Patagonia and which aspired to control

1178-552: The south. The Republic of Chile founded Fuerte Bulnes in 1843, and later moved that settlement to the site of Punta Arenas in 1847, giving a strong impulse to steam navigation through the Strait of Magellan and probably averted the occupation of the strategically crucial strait by the European powers or the United States . As stated in a book about the Strait of Magellan: The 1855/1856 treaty's Article 40 established

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1216-502: The status of the Strait of Magellan: Article 6 states that older boundary treaties became obsolete and both countries agreed to submit any future disputes to the decision of a friendly third country. The law of the sea at the time of the 1881 treaty was different from the articles of the 1982 Law of the Sea , which meant that Chile and Argentina adhered to the accepted practice of a three-nautical-mile (5.6 km) territorial sea. Therefore,

1254-474: The treaty emphasized the delineation of land boundaries including islands but did not stipulate the offshore limits, which have since been expanded to 200 nautical miles (370 km). According to the Argentine view of the treaty, called the Magellan/Atlantic transfer, the general agreement was that Argentina was an Atlantic country, and Chile was a Pacific one. Chile has never accepted that and

1292-636: The two nations soured primarily due to a border dispute: both claimed to have inherited overlapping parts of Patagonia . The Chilean constitution of 1833 established the Andes as its eastern boundary. That was challenged in 1853 by Miguel Luis Amunategui's book Titles of the Republic of Chile to Sovereignty and Dominion of the Extreme South of the American Continent in which he put forward that Chile had valid arguments to claim all of Patagonia. [2] These claims traced Chilean claims back to

1330-554: Was needed to avoid Argentina siding with Bolivia and Peru. Yet the Chilean situation was not all that fragile. While Argentina had taken advantage of Chile's conflict to push for a favorable boundary in Patagonia, Chilean diplomacy only agreed to sign the treaty after the triumph at Lima showed Chile to be in a position of power. Thus, the Argentine plans to negotiate with a weakened and troubled Chile were partly forgone with Chile's display of military prowess in Peru. The treaty defined

1368-513: Was quite strong during this period, with a large rotation of cabinets. This pseudo-parliamentary system was terminated with the 1925 Constitution which declared incompatible the charges of ministers with parliamentary offices and made the approval of the Ley de Presupuestos automatic, which included the organization of the state income, if the Congress did not approve it after a while. It also enacted

1406-439: Was resolved with the Puna de Atacama Lawsuit of 1899, though its real cause was out of the scope of the 1881 boundary treaty and originated from transfers between Bolivia and Argentina of land occupied by Chile during the Pacific war. To prevent relations from being aggravated and to complement the treaty a succession of protocols and declarations had to be signed: The Survivors of the "Jonathan" , also known as Magellania ,

1444-409: Was the main resource of Chile and the economy revolved around it. A third of the profits of saltpeter mining were taken by foreigners, the second third by the state, which taxed exports, and the last third was used to re-invest in the saltpeter mines. The state used the revenue to build infrastructure (roads, railroads, ports, etc.). The charge of Vice-President was exercised as an interim by

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