Populism and the Military, and the Struggle for Democracy - Essay Example

Juan Peron Peron came into power in the year 1946 where he won the election, garnering 54% of the total votes (Pearson 14). He gained power by sympathizing with labourers and the military who had been extensively oppressed by the previous government. His wife, Eva also played a major role in his campaign and helped him get votes from the worker unions and the military. Peron gained fame with the working class as he rallied them against the wealthy few and also the foreign businesses that had held the country’s economy hostage.

Peron worked to level the economic status between the very rich and the middle class people. This gained him a lot of support from the large majority who were being oppressed and this saw him get elected in 1946 as the president. His ideologies later became known as the populist nationalism (Pearson 17). He maintained his power by ensuring that the urban working class had improved social and economic lives than their previous status in any other government. Peron played a major role in the development of Argentina.

His government was considered as one of the most progressive governments in the 20th century. In the historical development of Argentina, Peron established trade unions in every industry to represent the working class. Thus, the Peronism era contributed largely to the development of the country and its people economically (15). In his era, he managed to liberate Argentina from foreign holds by buying major industries back from the British and he laid groundwork to ensure that Argentina became independently stable economically.

He also monopolized the export industry resulting in larger sales of Argentina’s products overseas. He also introduced new programs such as free education for his people and this greatly empowered them. Peron was a reformer as his developmental changes were aimed at equally distributing the country’s wealth to everyone in the country. Works CitedPearson Global Schools. Juan Perón and Argentina. n.d. http://assets.pearsonglobalschools.com/asset_mgr/current/201219/HistoryASPStatesChapter2.

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