A COMPARISON OF THE LEGION CIVICA ARGENTINA AND THE

BICENTENARIO. REVISTA DE HISTORIA DE CHILE Y AMÉRICA, Vol. 4, N° 1 (2005) pp. 65-80
Santiago de Chile, Centra de Estudios Bicentenario
WHITE GUARDS, REACTIONARIES, OR FASCISTS?
A COMPARISON OF THE LEGION CIVICA ARGENTINA AND THE
MILICIA REPUBLICANA
Marcus Klein*
Ph.D., Institut of Latin American Studies
University of London
Abstract. The paper compares the Legión Cívica Argentina (LCA) and the Milicia Republicana
(MR), the two most important and influential paramilitary groups of the 1930s in Argentina and
Chile respectively. It will focus on their activities as well as their (changing) relationships with the
state, the political establishment, the social and economic elites, and the military. Special attention
will be paid to the impact they had on, and the roles they played in, the development of democracy
in their countries. It will be argued that whereas the LCA contributed to the weakening of
democracy, the MR played a significant part, albeit a questionable and problematic one, in the
consolidation of a limited democracy. Despite this difference, both can be described as white
guards, for they defended the interests of the traditional elites in their countries.
Keywords: Legion Civica Argentina - Milicia Republicana -Jose F. Unburn - Arturo Alessandri paramilitary groups.
Resumen. "¿Guardias blancos, reaccionarios o fascistas? Una comparación entre la Legión Cívica
Argentina y la Milicia Republicana". Este artículo compara la Legión Cívica Argentina (LCA) con
la Milicia Republicana (MR), los dos grupos paramilitares más importantes de Argentina y Chile
respectivamente en la década de 1930. El texto se detiene en las actividades y en las relaciones
(cambiantes) que dichos grupos tuvieron con el Estado, el establishment político, las elites
económicas y sociales y los militares. Se prestará atención especial al impacto y el rol que jugaron
estos grupos en el desarrollo de la democracia en sus países. Se argumentará que mientras que la
LCA contribuyo al debilitamiento de la democracia, la MR jugó un papel significativo, aunque
cuestionable y problemático, en la consolidación de una democracia limitada. A pesar de sus
diferencias, ambos pueden ser descritos como guardias blancas, ya que defendían los intereses de
las elites tradicionales en sus países.
Palabras clave: Legión Cívica Argentina - Milicia Republicana - fose P. Uribuni - Arturo
Alessandri - grupos paramilitares.
MARCUS KLEIN, Ph.D. (University of London). Author of Our Brazil Will Awake/ The Accdo
Integralisla Brasileira and the Tailed Quest for a Fascist Order in the 1930s (Amsterdam, CEDLA,
2004) and Im langen Schatten des Nationalsozialismus: Faschistische Bewegungen in Chile
zwischen der Weltwirtschaftskrise und dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges (In the Long Shadow
of National Socialism: Fascist Movements in Chile Between the World Economic Crisis and the
End of the Second World War) (Frankfurt on the Main, Vervuert, 2004). His articles on Chilean
and Argentine history have appeared in, for example, the Journal of Latin American Studies,
the Bulletin of Latin American Research, Historia, and The Americas. An earlier version of this
article was presented at the Annual Conference of the British Society for Latin American Studies, Leiden, the Netherlands. 2-4 April 2004. E-mail: marcuskleinl@compuserve.com