Date of Award
2014
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Goff, Brendan
Keywords
Guatemala, Arévalo, Juan José, Cold War, Truman, Harry S., Guatemalan Revolution
Area of Concentration
Social Sciences
Abstract
This thesis examines the presidency of Juan José Arévalo (1945-1951) during the first half of the Guatemalan Revolution (1944-1954). By highlighting the significance of Arévalo’s presidency to Guatemalan history, this thesis demonstrates how Truman’s perception of communism in the Guatemalan Revolution was not just the result of early Cold War anxieties, but part of a long list of U.S. intervention in Latin America that the Cold War radicalized. The first chapter places Truman’s Cold War policy of “containment” in the historical context of U.S. policy toward Latin America. The second chapter explores the socioeconomic conditions in Guatemala that led up to Arévalo’s election and the Guatemalan Revolution. The third chapter presents the Guatemalan Revolution as a response to the conditions explored in Chapter 2 and provides an explanation for Truman’s misinterpretation of the Revolution.
Recommended Citation
Scrivener, David, "UNRAVELING THE REVOLUTION: DISTANCING TRUMAN’S COLD WAR NARRATIVE FROM GUATEMALA’S TEN YEARS OF SPRING" (2014). Theses & ETDs. 4940.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/4940