The Popular Front ( Spanish: ''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, the Communist Party, 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 ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

movement which unified itself in the '' Frente Único Araucano'', and the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

'' Movimiento Pro-Emancipación de las Mujeres de Chile'' (MEMCh).

Formation of the Popular Front

Since 1935, the Communist Party advocated a Popular Front strategy, in agreement with the Comintern's directions and in hope of succeeding in winning elections as in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. With this aim in mind, the Communist Party toned down its revolutionary discourse, advocating compromise with " bourgeois democracy" 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, 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. 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 360 (Socialists and parts of the CTCH) and Elías Lafertte 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 after the 1939 earthquake, which launched public works schemes, etc. Pedro Aguirre Cerda also nominated Pablo Neruda 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

'', 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. Several reforms in other areas were also carried out, such as in social security.Social Security in Latin America Pressure Groups, Stratification, and Inequality By Carmelo Mesa-Lago, 1978, P.23
/ref> The Popular Front was supported by artists such as Neruda, Gabriela Mistral or the

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

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 Nicomedes Guzmán (June 25, 1914 in Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central vall ...

, Óscar Castro, Volodia Teitelboim, Juan Godoy and others.

Leaders

*President: Pedro Aguirre Cerda *Minister of Health: Salvador Allende *President of Popular Front: Marmaduque Grove

Formation of the Popular Front

Government of the Popular Front

Leaders

Composition

See also

References

Further reading

See also