Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 9-28-2012 Natural Disasters and Comparative State- Formation and Nation-Building: Earthquakes in Argentina and Chile (1822-1939) Quinn Dauer Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI12120403 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Dauer, Quinn, "Natural Disasters and Comparative State-Formation and Nation-Building: Earthquakes in Argentina and Chile (1822-1939)" (2012). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 764. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/764 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida NATURAL DISASTERS AND COMPARATIVE STATE-FORMATION AND NATION-BUILDING: EARTHQUAKES IN ARGENTINA AND CHILE (1822-1939) A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in HISTORY by Quinn P. Dauer 2012 To: Dean Kenneth G. Furton College of Arts and Sciences This dissertation written by Quinn P. Dauer, and entitled Natural Disasters and Comparative State-Formation and Nation-Building: Earthquakes in Argentina and Chile (1822-1939), having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. ______________________________________ N. David Cook ______________________________________ Sherry Johnson ______________________________________ Richard S. Olson ______________________________________ Mark D. Szuchman, Major Professor Date of Defense: September 28, 2012 This dissertation of Quinn P. Dauer is approved. ______________________________________ Dean Kenneth G. Furton College of Arts and Sciences ______________________________________ Dean Lakshmi N. Reddi University Graduate School Florida International University 2012 ii © Copyright 2012 by Quinn P. Dauer All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION For Roland A. Gurgel, who inspired and encouraged a love of learning and athletics. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Research projects would be impossible to undertake without financial support. This project was generously funded by Florida International’s University Graduate School through the Dissertation Acquisition Fellowship and Dissertation Year Fellowship. The Tinker Foundation also provided support to carry out preliminary dissertation research. In addition to financial support, no historical study would be possible without the help of archivists and librarians. The archivists and librarians at national and provincial or regional libraries and archives in Argentina and Chile graciously filled many requests for documents, microfilm, periodicals, and books. Time is the greatest gift a person can give to another. Dr. Mark D. Szuchman has generously given of his time to guide me through the graduate process. In addition, Dr. Sherry Johnson, Dr. N. David Cook, and Dr. Richard S. Olson lent their expertise to this project in innumerable ways. Their mentorship will always be greatly appreciated. Dr. Mark Healey’s informal discussion of the dissertation’s outline with me on a cool fall day in Boston was also very much appreciated. Dr. Gwyn Davies has also been instrumental in shepherding me through the final stages of graduate school. Any deficiencies in this manuscript are solely the responsibility of the author and his inability to execute excellent advice and heed appropriate criticism. Carolina Zumaglini and her family welcomed us to Argentina and made our first trip to the River Plate an enjoyable experience. Likewise, the Sadir family in Tucumán and Salta included us in their celebrations and introduced us to many regional varieties of food and music. Erika Edwards was also quite helpful to me in making a smooth v transition from Miami to doing research in Buenos Aires. Dario Procopio shared his love of all things Argentine with us, especially his encyclopedic knowledge of rugby and fútbol. The history department’s graduate student community at FIU has been a sustaining force. The Department of History Graduate Student Association (DOHGSA) provided opportunities to organize and participate in conferences and journals. The fellowship, friendships, and camaraderie it created among graduate students will be remembered fondly. The Argentine “mafia”—Erika Edwards, Carolina Zumaglini, and Melissa Armitage—provided good conversation in seminars and outside of class. Amanda Snyder kindly retrieved documents from the Archivo General de Indias for me during her stay in Seville. FIU graduate, Jesse Hingson, provided not only hospitality during a stay in Jacksonville but also advice for navigating the waters of graduate school. Roberto Pacheco has engaged me in many intellectually stimulating and fruitful conversations. I most appreciate his friendship and fellowship during my years in Miami. Finally, my family has supported me throughout graduate school in countless ways. My parents helped me find suitable accommodations and move my belongings from Minnesota to Florida. Although Dakota and Bailey entered my life at the later stages of this project, they, nevertheless, provided necessary distractions and companionship during long days of writing. My loving wife, Samantha, has patiently supported this project. She has endured my absence for long periods of time with grace. In the final writing stages she understandingly tolerated my absence at countless social events and activities. vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION NATURAL DISASTERS AND COMPARATIVE STATE-FORMATION AND NATION-BUILDING: EARTHQUAKES IN ARGENTINA AND CHILE (1822-1939) by Quinn P. Dauer Florida International University Miami, Florida Professor Mark D. Szuchman, Major Professor Natural disasters in Argentina and Chile played a significant role in the state- formation and nation-building process (1822-1939). This dissertation explores state and society responses to earthquakes by studying public and private relief efforts reconstruction plans, crime and disorder, religious interpretations of catastrophes, national and transnational cultures of disaster, science and technology, and popular politics. Although Argentina and Chile share a political border and geological boundary, the two countries provide contrasting examples of state formation. Most disaster relief and reconstruction efforts emanated from the centralized Chilean state in Santiago. In Argentina, provincial officials made the majority of decisions in a catastrophe’s aftermath. Patriotic citizens raised money and collected clothing for survivors that helped to weave divergent regions together into a nation. The shared experience of earthquakes in all regions of Chile created a national disaster culture. Similarly, common disaster experiences, reciprocal relief efforts, and aid commissions linked Chileans with Western Argentine societies and generated a transnational disaster culture. Political leaders vii viewed reconstruction as opportunities to implement their visions for the nation on the urban landscape. These rebuilding projects threatened existing social hierarchies and often failed to come to fruition. Rebuilding brought new technologies from Europe to the Southern Cone. New building materials and systems, however, had to be adapted to the South American economic and natural environment. In a catastrophe’s aftermath, newspapers projected images of disorder and the authorities feared lawlessness and social unrest. Judicial and criminal records, however, show that crime often decreased after a disaster. Finally, nineteenth-century earthquakes heightened antagonism and conflict between the Catholic Church and the state. Conservative clergy asserted that disasters were divine punishments for the state’s anti-clerical measures and later railed against scientific explanations of earthquakes. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1. INTRODUCTION: THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF DISASTERS .............. 1 Historical Background ............................................................................................ 3 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................... 8 What is a Disaster? ................................................................................................ 11 Review of the Literature ....................................................................................... 12 Sources and Organization ..................................................................................... 28 2. EXPANDING THE STATE: CATASTROPHES AND STATE-FORMATION ........ 31 The 1861 Mendoza Earthquake ............................................................................ 33 The 1868 Arica Earthquake and Tsunami: An International Disaster .................. 53 The 1894 San Juan and La Rioja Earthquake ....................................................... 65 The 1939 Chillán Earthquake ............................................................................... 70 Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 86 3. WEAVING THE NATION: NATIONALISM AND IDENTITY IN THE AFTERMATH OF DISASTERS .....................................................................................