From 1944 to 1954 Guatemala went through major social, economic, and political change, this is a period in Guatemalan history known as the Ten Years of Spring or the Guatemalan Revolution. The revolution began as the dictator at the time Jorge Ubico was forced out of power by a popular revolt after 13 years of dictatorship. In December Jorge Ubico was replaced by Juan Jose Arevalo who had just recently returned from exile in Argentina. By March of 1945, Juan Jose Arevalo had already come up with a new constitution stating that the Guatemalan Government would give more attention to the struggles of the middle and lower classes while also decrease the power and privilege of the upper classes as well as foreign capitalists. The new constitution allowed for the voices of many more Guatemalans to be heard, giving women the right to vote, also allowing freedom of speech and press. Labor unions, as well as political parties that were banned, were allowed to organize.
Arevalo, an anti-communist with his main concerns being about cooperation and the well being of the common welfare. In the middle of Arevalo's service as president, he developed an advanced social security system, as well as a labor code protecting workers rights and benefits. Arevalo aided the forming of many labor unions and promoted the participation of everyone in politics. He created reforms in the healthcare and education systems and promoted new industries and advancements in agriculture.
Throughout Arevalos 5 year term he gained favor with the majority of the Guatemalan people, yet the elite class was still in opposition to the social and economic reforms he advocated, and they attempted 20 militant attacks to take him out of power. Capitalist organizations such as United Fruit opposed his pro-labor policies. These organizations were then able to convince the U.S Government that Guatemala was moving too far to the left. The U.S was in the midst of the cold war with the Soviet Union, and the anti-communist sentiment was at a high. As well as having the U.S Government in opposition to Arevalo, the Roman Catholic Hierarchy opposed him after one of the reforms in the 1945 constitution restricted the political and economic activity of the clergy.
In 1951 Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, a prominent leader in the 1944 uprising, took over Arevalo's role as president and turned the Guatemalan Revolution even more sharply to the left. In June of 1952 Arbenz came up with a revolutionary land reform, that attempted to take unused agricultural land away from the large property owners and give it to the impoverished rural workers with no land. The law was written and aimed directly at United Fruits large banana plantations. The reform was successful and in 1953 225,000 acres of United Fruits land was taken as well as an additional 400,000 acres of government land was distributed among the rural workers. While this was going on Arbenz began allowing the Communist party to organize and was including leftist labor leaders as his advisors.
United Fruit was horrified and launched a propaganda campaign against the Guatemalan Revolution that heavily influenced the U.S Government, which was fighting a war against communists in Korea while also trying to contain communist influence in Eastern Europe and Asia. In may of 1954 Guatemala began receiving weapons from Eastern Europe, and the U.S Government made a plan to overthrow Arbenz. The CIA and U.S Marines trained and armed a group of exiled Guatemalans led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas. On June 18 the group invaded Guatemala and by June 27 Arbenz had been forced to resign. Castillo Armas replaced Arbenz and the new Government under Armas was a military Government. The new Government disbanded the legislature, released around 600 political prisoners arrested under Arbenz's power, and arrested eminent communist leaders, thus ending the Ten Years of Spring.
Arevalo, an anti-communist with his main concerns being about cooperation and the well being of the common welfare. In the middle of Arevalo's service as president, he developed an advanced social security system, as well as a labor code protecting workers rights and benefits. Arevalo aided the forming of many labor unions and promoted the participation of everyone in politics. He created reforms in the healthcare and education systems and promoted new industries and advancements in agriculture.
Throughout Arevalos 5 year term he gained favor with the majority of the Guatemalan people, yet the elite class was still in opposition to the social and economic reforms he advocated, and they attempted 20 militant attacks to take him out of power. Capitalist organizations such as United Fruit opposed his pro-labor policies. These organizations were then able to convince the U.S Government that Guatemala was moving too far to the left. The U.S was in the midst of the cold war with the Soviet Union, and the anti-communist sentiment was at a high. As well as having the U.S Government in opposition to Arevalo, the Roman Catholic Hierarchy opposed him after one of the reforms in the 1945 constitution restricted the political and economic activity of the clergy.
In 1951 Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, a prominent leader in the 1944 uprising, took over Arevalo's role as president and turned the Guatemalan Revolution even more sharply to the left. In June of 1952 Arbenz came up with a revolutionary land reform, that attempted to take unused agricultural land away from the large property owners and give it to the impoverished rural workers with no land. The law was written and aimed directly at United Fruits large banana plantations. The reform was successful and in 1953 225,000 acres of United Fruits land was taken as well as an additional 400,000 acres of government land was distributed among the rural workers. While this was going on Arbenz began allowing the Communist party to organize and was including leftist labor leaders as his advisors.
United Fruit was horrified and launched a propaganda campaign against the Guatemalan Revolution that heavily influenced the U.S Government, which was fighting a war against communists in Korea while also trying to contain communist influence in Eastern Europe and Asia. In may of 1954 Guatemala began receiving weapons from Eastern Europe, and the U.S Government made a plan to overthrow Arbenz. The CIA and U.S Marines trained and armed a group of exiled Guatemalans led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas. On June 18 the group invaded Guatemala and by June 27 Arbenz had been forced to resign. Castillo Armas replaced Arbenz and the new Government under Armas was a military Government. The new Government disbanded the legislature, released around 600 political prisoners arrested under Arbenz's power, and arrested eminent communist leaders, thus ending the Ten Years of Spring.
Sources
Calderón, Maria Jose. “Timeline: Guatemala's History of Violence.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/guatemala704/history/timeline.html. N/A. “Timeline: Guatemala.” BBC News, BBC, 3 July 2012, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1215811.stm. N/A. “1954 Guatemalan Coup D'état.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Jan. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Guatemalan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat. Gomez, Milton. “Revolution in Guatemala.” Guatemalan Revolution, www.yachana.org/teaching/students/webpages/revsfall98/guatemala/guatemala.html. |