HST2114 - From Democracy to Dictatorship: the 1973 Coup in Chile 

Module Summary

On 11 September 1973, the Chilean armed forces overthrew the government of Salvador Allende, Latin America’s first democratically-elected Marxist president (1970-73). This violent military coup ended a three-year experiment in democratic marxism which had drawn global attention to Chile, a long, thin country on the Pacific coast of South America. In the days after 11 September, the Chilean military subjected supporters of the Allende government to indiscriminate violence - including murder - with survivors placed in improvised concentration camps across the length of the country. For the next seventeen years, the Commander in Chief of the Chilean Army, General Augusto Pinochet, ruled Chile under a military dictatorship. 

This document option explores the coup of 11 September 1973 as a turning point in Chilean, Latin American and global history. It will use primary sources to explore events on both sides of this critical date, casting light on life in Chile under both democracy and dictatorship. This module will also situate the Chilean coup in international and global history, asking why events in a small Latin American country held such global importance. We’ll use government documents to explore why  the United States found it necessary to intervene against the Allende government and assist the reactionary forces who supported the military coup and transcripts of interviews to grasp how everyday life changed for Chileans in 1973. We’ll also explore the significance of events in Chile for the wider global Cold War, using music, art and documents left by activists to ask why everyday people in countries across the world - including the United Kingdom - mobilised in solidarity with the Chilean people and in the name of human rights, and we’ll also assess the impact this activism had.