Guatemala, its history
Guatemala was the center of ancient Mayan civilization, so many of its cities, such as Tikal or Uaxactún belonging to the classical period (300 to 900 AD) have been excavated. The largest center is Tikal, located in the region of El Peten. More than 3,000 buildings, including major temples and palaces, covering an area of about 15.5 km2. It is believed that Tikal could have kept a population of 50,000 inhabitants in its period of maximum splendor, which was abandoned at the end of the tenth century for unknown reasons.
Colonization and independence
The country was conquered by the Spaniards under the command of Pedro de Alvarado in 1523. A year later, Alvarado founded on the site of the former Iximché, the city of Santiago de los Caballeros in Guatemala, while three years later moved to a place known as Almolonga Water at the foot of the volcano, near the place where he stands the current Guatemala City. However, due to its destruction by the eruption of the volcano, the capital was moved to a new city, later known as Antigua Guatemala. Since 1543 he was part of the hearing of the enclosure; in 1565 became dependent on the Hearing of New Spain in 1570 and established the Captaincy General of Guatemala, a division of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, whose area of operation stretched across Central America from Chiapas to Costa Rica. In 1742 established the first Archbishop of Central America. In 1773 the city of Antigua Guatemala, headquarters of the Captaincy General, was destroyed by the eruption of Fuego volcano, three years later, authorized the construction of a new capital city built on a plot near Santiago de los Caballeros, naming it left to acquire in Guatemala.
After three centuries of Spanish domination, Guatemala declared its independence on September 16, 1821. Almost at the same time, Agustin de Iturbide joined this territory to the Mexican Empire. Guatemala does not regained its independence until 1823, when a liberal revolution in Mexico forced to abdicate Iturbide, proclaimed in the country a federal republic. That same year, the federation was established in the United Provinces of Central America, comprising the existing republics of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Chiapas, however, remained under Mexican authority. The federation was held with great difficulty, with frequent civil strife, until it was finally disbanded in 1842.
First dictators
The government of Guatemala was in the hands of military almost since its beginnings as a republic, who came to power through frequent revolutions. In 1854, Rafael Carrera, that fourteen years earlier had been done to power in Guatemala and in much of Central America in a dictatorial rule, became president for life pursuing a political conservative. In 1873, eight years after his death, after which they were constant civil strife, Justo Rufino Barrios (1873-1885), former Army commander in chief, was named president. Barrios began a period of liberal governments that would last until 1920, although it continued to rule in a dictatorial. In its attempt to revive the federation of the United Provinces of Central America by military means, invaded El Salvador and died in the campaign. His successor, General Manuel Lisandro Barillas, restored relations with El Salvador and other Central American countries. José María Reina Barrios, elected president in 1892, was assassinated six years later.
Last Dictators
Over the next 22 years, the politician Manuel Estrada Cabrera (1898-1920) ruled Guatemala. In 1906 the former president Barillas organized a rebellion against his regime, provoking a war that enveloped the entire Central America, with the exception of Nicaragua. Hostilities ceased after the intervention of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, and Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, who organized an armistice. In 1920 Estrada Cabrera forced the president to resign. Carl Herrera and Luna was appointed interim president, but was overthrown in 1921 by General Jose Maria Orellana, who held the presidency until his death in 1926. He was succeeded by former Army officer, Lazaro Chacon. In 1930 the effects of economic depression and allegations of corruption against the dictatorship of President Chacon caused his ouster. Gen. Jorge Ubico Castaneda was appointed chairman in February 1931; under his regime, the Guatemalan economy managed to recover from the economic depression of 1930, although the main beneficiary was the U.S. company United Fruit, as well as large families from the national oligarchy. However, the harshness of his regime caused a civic-military movement forced him to resign in June 1944, finishing well with the military dictatorships that had dominated the country for a century.
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