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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Chile
Index
A weaver in Donihue in central Chile
Courtesy Embassy of Chile, Washington
Beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century,
Chile's
cities grew rapidly. They absorbed a trickle of immigrants
from
abroad and then vast numbers of migrants from the Chilean
countryside. Improved transportation and communications in
the
second half of the nineteenth century facilitated these
population
movements. Although Santiago led the way, smaller cities
such as
Valparaíso and Concepción also swelled in size.
The founding of the Industrial Development Association
(Sociedad de Fomento Fabril--Sofofa) in 1883 was another
indication
of urbanization. It promoted industrialization long before
the
intense efforts of the 1930s to the 1960s. Manufacturing
grew in
importance in the latter decades of the nineteenth century
and the
opening decades of the twentieth. Most industry remained
smallscale , with most of the labor performed by artisans.
Protected
industrialization did not become the vanguard of economic
development until the period between the world wars.
The urban middle class also grew in size and became
more
politically assertive by the turn of the century. Whereas
the
economy and the society became more urban and diversified,
the
political system lagged behind, remaining mainly in the
hands of
the upper class. Nevertheless, more members of the middle
class
began appearing in party leadership positions, especially
among the
Democrats and Radicals. They were also prominent in the
Chilean
Student Federation (Federación de Estudiantes de
Chile--FECh),
based at the University of Chile. Equally important was
their
presence among the top commanders in the armed forces, who
increasingly identified primarily with middle-class
interests.
In the closing years of the nineteenth century, labor
organizations gathered force, first as mutual aid
societies and
then increasingly as trade unions. In the opening decades
of the
twentieth century, labor organizing, unrest, and strikes
reached
new levels of intensity. In the northern nitrate and
copper mines,
as well as in the ports and cities, workers came together
to press
demands for better wages and working conditions. Attracted
strongly
to anarchist, anarcho-syndicalist, and socialist
ideologies, they
were harshly repressed during the Parliamentary Republic.
The
government carried out several massacres of miners in the
nitrate
camps; the most notorious took place in Iquique in 1907.
Thus, a
pattern of violent clashes between soldiers and workers
took shape.
Organizational efforts in the mines and cities
culminated in
the creation of the first national labor confederation,
the
Workers' Federation of Chile (Federación Obrera de
Chile--FOCh) in
1909. The organization became more radical as it grew and
affiliated with the PCCh in 1922, under the leadership of
Recabarren. Its greatest strength was among miners,
whereas urban
workers were more attracted to independent socialism or to
anarchosyndicalism . The latter movement grew out of resistance
societies
and evolved into the Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW). Unlike
the FOCh, the IWW spurned ties with political parties.
The emergence of working-class demands and movements
spawned
the so-called social question. Intellectuals and writers
began
criticizing the ruling class and the Parliamentary
Republic for
their neglect of workers and of social ills. New census
data and
other studies at the beginning of the twentieth century
shocked the
proud Chilean elite with revelations about the extent of
poverty,
illiteracy, and poor health among the vast majority of the
population. Especially alarming were infant mortality
figures that
far exceeded those of Western Europe. Realization of the
squalor
and anger of the working class inspired new reform
efforts.
Data as of March 1994
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