Chile: 20th Century Developments

For much of the twentieth century, Chile was governed under a relatively stable constitutional democracy, even as the country experienced cycles of economic difficulty and political polarization between conservative and left-wing movements. By the 1960s, calls for deeper social and economic reform had intensified, setting the stage for one of the more dramatic political transformations in Latin American history.

In 1970, Salvador Allende was elected president as the candidate of the Popular Unity coalition, becoming the first democratically elected Marxist head of state in the Americas. His government pursued nationalization of major industries and land redistribution, but by 1973 the country faced high inflation, shortages, and severe political unrest.

On September 11, 1973, a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet overthrew Allende's government, ending 46 years of unbroken democratic rule and installing a dictatorship that would last until 1990. Pinochet's regime suspended the constitution and banned political parties, and thousands of Chileans were arrested or killed, before a 1988 referendum led to the restoration of civilian government.