Guillermo Billinghurst

{{Short description|President of Peru from 1912 to 1914}} {{About|the Peruvian president||Billinghurst (disambiguation)}} {{family name hatnote|Billinghurst|Angulo|lang=Hispanic American}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Guillermo Billinghurst | image = Guillermo Billinghurst 3.jpg | office = 37th [[President of Peru]] | prime_minister = [[Elías Malpartida]] [[Enrique Varela Vidaurre]] Federico Luna y Peralta [[Aurelio Sousa Matute]] | term_start = 24 September 1912 | term_end = 4 February 1914 | vice_president = [[Roberto Leguía]] [[Miguel Echenique]] | predecessor = [[Augusto B. Leguía y Salcedo|Augusto B. Leguía]] | successor = [[Óscar R. Benavides]] | office2 = [[President of the Congress of Peru|President of the Senate]] | term_start2 = 28 July 1896 | term_end2 = 28 July 1897 | predecessor2 = Manuel Pablo Olaechea | successor2 = [[Manuel Candamo]] | office3 = [[Vice President of Peru|First Vice President of Peru]] | term_start3 = 8 September 1895 | term_end3 = 8 September 1899 | president3 = [[Nicolás de Piérola]] | predecessor3 = ''Vacant'' (Last held by [[César Canevaro]] in 1895) | successor3 = Isaac Alzamora | office4 = [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Senator from Tacna]] | term_start4 = 28 July 1895 | term_end4 = 28 July 1899 | constituency4 = | predecessor4 = Manuel Pablo Olaechea | successor4 = [[Manuel Candamo]] | office5 = [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Member of the Chamber of Deputies]] | term_start5 = 28 July 1878 | term_end5 = 28 July 1880 | constituency5 = [[Department of Tarapacá (Peru)|Tarapacá Province]] | birth_name = Guillermo Enrique Billinghurst Angulo | birth_date = {{birth date|1851|7|27|df=yes}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1915|6|28|1851|7|27|df=yes}} | party = [[Democratic Party of Peru]] | profession = [[Entrepreneur]] | birth_place = [[Arica]], Peru | death_place = [[Iquique]], Chile | relatives = [[Susana Ferrari Billinghurst]] (cousin) }}

'''Guillermo Enrique Billinghurst Angulo''' (27 July 1851 – 28 June 1915) was a [[Peru]]vian politician who served as the 37th President of Peru from 1912 until his overthrow in 1914.

Billinghurst was one of the leaders of the Democratic Party (El Partido Demócrata), whose members primarily representatives of the national bourgeoisie and middle-class in the south of the country, and oriented toward the domestic market. They were opposed by the Civilistas, whose interests were directly or indirectly linked to foreign capital and were typically oriented to the foreign (export) of raw-material commodities. During his presidency, Billinghurst became embroiled in an increasingly bitter series of conflicts with [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress]].

A liberal, he proposed and attempted to pass advanced social legislation in favour of the working classes. This was blocked by the conservative and oligarchic factions in the Peruvian Congress. To get around them, Billinghurst attempted to call fresh elections, which prompted these same Conservative factions to call upon the Peruvian military, led by [[Óscar R. Benavides]], to carry out a [[1914 Peruvian coup d'état|coup d'état]]. As a result of the coup, which resulted in Benavides becoming President, Billinghurst was sent into exile in [[Chile]] where he died shortly thereafter.

==Early life== {{More citations needed section |date=April 2024}} Billinghurst was born into a wealthy family of English origin, and raised in comfortable circumstances. An Anglo-Peruvian, Billinghurst's surname is a locational name; [[Billingshurst]] is a small town and civil parish in [[Sussex]]. He was part of the [[Civilista Party|Civilista]] group, the political group whose members were considered the architects of unprecedented political stability and economic growth in the country, but who also set in motion profound social changes that would, in time, alter the political panorama of Peru.

During his presidency, Billinghurst became embroiled in an increasingly bitter series of conflicts with [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress]], ranging from proposed advanced social legislation to the settlement of the [[Tacna-Arica compromise|Tacna-Arica dispute]]. This provoked a military uprising organised by civilian opponents to his regime, who used the military to carry out a coup. As a result of the uprising, Billinghurst was sent into exile in Chile, where he died shortly thereafter.

As [[Vice President of Peru|First Vice President of Peru]] under the [[Nicolás de Piérola|Piérola]] Administration (1895–1899),<ref name="institution">{{cite web |url=http://repositorio.unprg.edu.pe/bitstream/handle/UNPRG/3549/BC-TES-TMP-2356.pdf |title=LA INSTITUCIÓN DE LA VICEPRESIDENCIA DE LA REPÚBLICA EN LA CONSTITUCIÓN PERUANA |author=Abog. Freddy Ronald Centurión González |access-date=2019-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019194834/http://repositorio.unprg.edu.pe/bitstream/handle/UNPRG/3549/BC-TES-TMP-2356.pdf |archive-date=2019-10-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Billinghurst was involved in several attempts to solve the [[Tacna-Arica compromise|Tacna and Arica]] territorial dispute with [[Chile]]. On 9 April 1898, a memorandum was subscribed between the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Raimundo Silva Cruz and Billinghurst. It established that before a plebiscite could be held between both countries, an arbitrage would first be requested to the [[Monarchy of Spain|Queen of Spain]], [[Maria Christina of Austria|María Cristina de Habsburgo-Lorena]] (1858–1929) to determine the conditions of the vote. Subsequent events led the ''Protocol of Billinghurst-Latorre'' not being ratified by the [[Chamber of Deputies of Chile|Chilean Chamber of Deputies]]. A direct result of this setback was the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Peru and Chile in 1901.

Billinghurst served as [[President of the Congress of Peru|President of the Senate]] from 1896 to 1897.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.congreso.gob.pe/participacion/museo/congreso/presidentes/Guillermo_billinghurst|title = Guillermo Eduardo Billinghurst Angulo profile|website=congreso.gob.pe|access-date=17 April 2024}}</ref>

==1912 elections== The elections of 1912 were the most passionate ones of the so-called ''[[Aristocratic Republic (Peru)|Aristocratic Republic]]'' (a term coined by Peruvians referring to those in power that were mostly from the social elite of the country). The ''[[Civilista Party]]'' rallied behind the candidacy of [[Ántero Aspíllaga|Antero Aspíllaga]], one of the most prominent and conservative members of the Party. His opponents accused him of being a Chilean-born Peruvian unfit for office.

The Civilistas, however, were unable to manage the new social forces that their policies unleashed. This first became apparent in 1912 when the millionaire businessman Guillermo Billinghurst-–the reform-minded, populist former mayor of [[Lima]]-–was able to organize a general strike to block the election of the official Civilista presidential candidate and force his own election by Congress.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 29, 1915|title=Peru's Ex-President Dies|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/06/29/104649035.pdf|website=The New York Times}}</ref>

==Presidency== {{More citations needed section |date=April 2024}} One of the main accomplishments of the Billinghurst administration was the establishment of important legislation that guaranteed the [[eight-hour day]] in Peru. When Congress opened [[impeachment]] hearings against Billinghurst in 1914, he threatened to arm the workers and forcibly dissolve Congress.

Billinghurst was overthrown on 4 February 1914, in a [[1914 Peruvian coup d'état|military coup]] headed by colonel [[Oscar R. Benavides]], {{ill|Jorge Prado Ugarteche|es|lt=Jorge Prado}}, [[Manuel Prado Ugarteche|Manuel Prado]], and conservative members of the [[Civilista Party]]. Benavides became president.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Madrid |first=Raúl L. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/birth-of-democracy-in-south-america/A8EA21756D12D27A6171337F2BF3F415 |title=The Birth of Democracy in South America |date=2025 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-63381-9 |pages=238}}</ref>

Later in exile, Billinghurst declared: ''"The young Prado, in an extense and pathetic speech, gave me the details and motives behind the coup: All of them (the mutineerered) recognised my patriotism, integrity and my capability to handle the government. However, the only and most serious mistake that I made was the course that my internal politics was doing to the country and, finally, I think the sons of former president Prado must «clean his fathers memory»."''

==See also== * [[List of presidents of Peru]] * [[Politics of Peru]]

== References == <references />

==External links== * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Guillermo Billinghurst}}

{{S-start}} {{s-off}} {{Succession box | before = [[César Canevaro]] | title = First [[Vice President of Peru]]| years = 1895–1899 | after = [[Isaac Alzamora]] }} {{Succession box | before = [[Federico Elguera]] | title = Mayor of [[Lima]]| years = 1909–1912 | after = [[Nicanor Carmona]] }} {{Succession box | before = [[Augusto B. Leguía y Salcedo|Augusto B. Leguía]] | title = [[List of Presidents of Peru|President of Peru]]| years = 1912–1914 | after = [[Oscar R. Benavides]]}} {{S-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Billinghurst, Guillermo}} [[Category:1851 births]] [[Category:1915 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century mayors of places in Peru]] [[Category:Billinghurst family|Guillermo]] [[Category:People from Arica Province]] [[Category:Peruvian people of German descent]] [[Category:Peruvian people of English descent]] [[Category:Mayors of Lima]] [[Category:Presidents of Peru]] [[Category:Vice presidents of Peru]] [[Category:Presidents of the Senate of Peru]] [[Category:Democratic Party (Peru) politicians]] [[Category:Leaders ousted by a coup]] [[Category:Peruvian exiles]]