The Regime of Anastasio Somoza, 1936-1956 / Edition 1

by Knut Walter

Overview

To many observers, Anastasio Somoza, who ruled Nicaragua from 1936 until his assassination in 1956, personified the worst features of a dictator. While not dismissing these characteristics, Knut Walter argues that the regime was in fact more notable for its achievement of stability, economic growth, and state building than for its personalistic and dictatorial features. Using a wide range of sources in Nicaraguan archives, Walter focuses on institutional and structural developments to explain how Somoza gained and consolidated power. According to Walter, Somoza preferred to resolve conflicts by political means rather than by outright coercion. Specifically, he built his government on agreements negotiated with the country's principal political actors, labor groups, and business organizations. Nicaragua's two traditional parties, one conservative and the other liberal, were included in elections, thus giving the appearance of political pluralism. Partly as a result, the opposition was forced to become increasingly radical, says Walter; eventually, in 1979, Nicaragua produced the only successful revolution in Central America and the first in all of Latin America since Cuba's.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807844274
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/01/1993
Edition description:	1
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.73(d)
Lexile:	1630L (what's this?)

About the Author

Knut Walter is professor of history at Universidad Centroamericana in San Salvador.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A complete and balanced description of Somoza's long rule. . . . [The book] is a significant contribution to both Latin American history and political science and serves especially as an excellent supplement and corrective to the important work of Richard Millett.—R. L. Woodward, Jr., Tulane University

Editorial Reviews

A complete and balanced description of Somoza's long rule.

R. L. Woodward, Jr., Tulane University

"A complete and balanced description of Somoza's long rule.

R. L. Woodward, Jr., Tulane University"

From the Publisher

While Walter does not neglect the popular stereotype of the Latin American despot who thrives on corruption, self-interest, and brutal repression, he emphasizes the political and economic dynamics, including the longstanding close relationship with the United States, that marked the Somoza regime in Nicaragua . This study tracks Somoza's successful rise to power both through his control of the military and his ability to gain and maintain enough support from the two major political parties. Walter, a professor of history in San Salvador, argues that with its complex domination of political and economic life and its coercive powers, the Somoza regime brought about the modern Nicaraguan state to ensure the continued success of an export economy. Suitable for students of political history and Latin America.-- Charles E. Perry, East Central Univ., Ada, Okla.

Library Journal

Deepens the simplistic view of the Nicaraguan dictator as a military tyrant enriching himself and his family by corrupting the nation's wealth, through an exploration of the network of economic and political domination of which his regime was only the visible manifestation. Argues that the Sandinista revolution has failed to remake society because the old order was merely lopped off, and not pulled out by the roots. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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