Militarizing Argentina: The Impact of the Military on Civil Society, 1901–30

Starting with the enactment of military conscription in 1901, the role of the military in Argentine society increased steadily. Through the military and voter enrollment laws of 1911, and the subsequent hardening of enforcement of obligatory military service and suffrage, the steady expansion of a network of military districts, the application of martial law in reaction against labor, the military administration of prisons, and the increasing presence of the military in building national infrastructure, Argentines experienced a steady militarization of everyday life. Argentine historiography has generally focused on explaining the rise and collapse of liberal democracy but has ignored the impact of the armed forces on civil society in the period before the first dictatorship. Using state archives, military publications, and the popular press, this paper demonstrates both the widespread militarization of everyday life, but also the myriad ways that Argentines mobilized to challenge this process. Many did so with the realization that an ever more powerful military represented a grave threat to rule of law and individual freedoms.