On The Early Modernization Of Chile(1879-1932)

The War of the Pacific ushered in an economic cycle from1879to1932in Chile. The economic growth driven by nitrate exports had gradually broken through the traditional mode of production and gave birth to the new productivity represented by modern industry and mining, leading to the overall changes of Chile’s social structure, political system and ideological trend of culture, which was the process of early modernization of Chile.The internal and external factors, which included the previous foundation for the development, the economic and political influences of the War of the Pacific and the opportunity of nitrate exports, launched the process of early modernization of Chile. The previous economic development laid the material foundations for Chile to go on participating in the international division of labor. The constitutional tradition safeguarded the stability of initial stages of modernization. Territorial expansion established the modern territory of Chile. The exploitation of natural resources in the new territory gave a direct impulse to early modernization of Chile. The War of the Pacific exacerbated the geopolitical pressure of South America, which induced Chilean government to be aware of taking the modernization as the safeguard for national security. Nitrate industry differed from the traditional export economy. It not only became the engine of economic growth, but also broke through the traditional mode of production, which promoted the early industrialization and urbanization.Industrialization, urbanization, democratization and secularization were the main content of early modernization of Chile. The thought of industrialization, the government’s economic policies, foreign immigrants and export growth promoted the process of early industrialization of Chile, leading to the establishment of industrial system based on non-durable consumer goods production. Land ownership structure had been adjusted. Traditional rural labor system and social relations began to change. The domestic market promoted agricultural growth. Economic development led to changes in social structure. The pattern of modern urbanization with the Central Valley at its core had been formed. The middle class and working classes grew up as the emerging social classes. The changes of economic and social structure impacted the traditional oligarchic system. The emerging social classes and their political parties promoted social legislation and constitutional reform process. The modernization impacted the traditional value system dominated by Catholic culture and gave birth to secular popular culture with the modern urban society as the carrier.Early modernization laid the foundation for the development of Chile, while had a lot of limitations. The incipient industrial sector and the transportation system were directly transformed into productivity in the period of import substitution industrialization. The Constitution of1925contained the concept of institutional change under the framework of the constitutional system, which was the institutional origin of Chile’s structural reforms Post-World War Ⅱ. The coexistence of the three factions of the left-middle-right political party pattern formed, which laid the foundation of modern party system of Chile. The early modernization of Chile was driven by exports of primary products, which was fettered by the system of capitalist world economy and the legacy of traditional systems. Therefore, it had a series of limitations. The domestic economy of Chile was liable to be affected by the periodic crises of balance of payments. The rate of private industrial capital formation was low. The industrial structure was relatively single. The hacienda system continued to exist for a long time, hindering the improvement of agricultural productivity and the expansion of the domestic market. The speed of the urbanization exceeded that of industrialization, thus exacerbating social division. The political reform lagged behind the economic and social development.The case of Chile not only embodied the general rule of early modern modernization in Latin America, but also had some unique characters. With major countries of Latin America, the main driving force of early modernization of Chile was the growth of exports of primary products. Its main characters were industrialization and urbanization. There was a political trend from dictatorship to democracy. The trend of secularization appeared in the field of culture. But compared to other Latin American countries, Chile had different geographical conditions, ethnic structure and opportunities for development, which brought about some unique characters of the early modernization of Chile. The government implemented coherent tariff protection and support policies for industries. The constitutional system played a leading role in the process of political transition. The modern party system with the spirit of compromise had taken shape on the whole. Its secularization reform was relatively mild.