Palm Sunday Coup | |||||||
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![]() Soldiers in San Salvador during the coup attempt. | |||||||
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Salvadoran Army |
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The Palm Sunday Coup (Spanish language: golpe de estado del Domingo de Ramos ) was an attempted military coup d'état in El Salvador which occurred in early-April 1944. The coup was staged by pro-Axis sympathizers in the Salvadoran Army against President General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez.
Background[]
General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez became president of El Salvador following a military coup d'état on 4 December 1931 against President Arturo Araujo and the dissolution of the Civic Directory.[1] During the lead up to World War II, Hernández Martínez heavily sympathized with Germany and Italy.[2] Despite his sympathies for the Axis, El Salvador joined the Allies on 8 December 1941 following the Attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan.[2][3][4]
Coup[]
Hernández Martínez held an election in January 1944 and was reelected to a third term as President.[5] His action angered many businessmen, politicians, and military officer since he blatantly violated the Constitution.[6]
On 2 April 1944, military officers who had pro-Axis sympathies from the 1st Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Artillery Regiment initiated a coup against Hernández Martínez.[6] The coup started on Palm Sunday and most senior military and government officials were either at home or attending church.[6][7] The rebels rose up in the departments of San Salvador and Santa Ana.[7] They took control of the national radio station and the police headquarters of Santa Ana during the coup.[7] The Salvadoran Air Force joined the conspirators and bombed the city of Santa Ana while the army attacked civilians and overthrew the local government.[7]
By the end of the day, Hernández Martínez ordered military units still loyal to him to crush the revolt.[7] The coup was suppressed on 3 April, martial law was declared, and a national curfew was put in place.[7]
Aftermath[]
Following the coup attempt, Hernández Martínez initiated reprisals that lasted for two weeks.[7] Civilian protestors eventually forced Hernández Martínez to resign on 9 May in the Strike of Fallen Arms.[7][8]
See also[]
- Strike of Fallen Arms
References[]
Citations[]
- ↑ Grieb 1971, pp. 154–155.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Haggerty 1990, p. 17.
- ↑ Astilla 1976, p. 184.
- ↑ Armstrong & Shenk 1982, p. 34.
- ↑ Nohlen 2005, p. 287.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Haggerty 1990, p. 18.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Zunes, Stephen (October 2010). "Movements and Campaigns - El Salvador: 1944". http://nonviolent-conflict.org/index.php/movements-and-campaigns/movements-and-campaigns-summaries?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=34&sobi2Id=32.
- ↑ Ackerman, Peter; DuVall, Jack (2015). A Force More Powerful: A Century of Non-violent Conflict. St. Martin's Press. pp. 256–263.
Bibliography[]
- Armstrong, Robert; Shenk, Janet (1982). El Salvador: The Face of Revolution. Boston: South End Press. ISBN 0896081389.
- Carmelo Francisco Esmeralda Astilla (1976). "The Martinez Era: Salvadoran-American Relations, 1931-1944.". Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4001&context=gradschool_disstheses.
- Grieb, Kenneth J. (1971). "The United States and the Rise of General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez" (in en). pp. 151–172. Digital object identifier:10.1017/S0022216X00001425. JSTOR 156558.
- Federal Research Division Library of Congress (1990). El Salvador: A Country Study. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress. https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/frd/frdcstdy/el/elsalvadorcountr00hagg/elsalvadorcountr00hagg.pdf. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
- Nohlen, Dieter (2005). Elections in the Americas: A Data Handbook. 1.
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The original article can be found at Palm Sunday Coup and the edit history here.