La extraordinaria sequía de 1924: Crisis socio-ecológica e irrupción del poder militar en Chile

Abstract

The interactions between climate and history have been insufficiently studied, but have acquired new urgency in the context of the current global climate crisis. Most Chilean territory is affected by the oceanic-atmospheric El Niño-Southern Oscillation, but the political, economic and social impacts of this climate fluctuation (that results in either severe droughts or extremely wet years) have not been investigated in our country. This research is based on the analysis of the literature referring to the 1924 Chilean political crisis --es-pecially period’s sources such as press releases, sessions of the National Congress, and central government statements. This article explores the aforementioned political crisis from a socio-ecological perspective, proposing that the harshest drought recorded over two centuries was a major underlying factor of the increased social unrest that preceded the irruption of military power in Chile, as well as the massacres of Marusia and La Coruña.