History IA: Part B; To what extent was the Catholic Church the cause of the loss of support for, and rise in opposition to, Juan Perón leading to his downfall in 1955?

IntroductionPerón’s downfall can be attributed to two key factors: the loss of support from his working class – descamisados – power-base throughout his second term [1951-1955] and the rise of opposition among military leaders. An evaluation of the role of the Catholic Church should therefore consider the extent to which the Church’s influence affected these factors. It has been the traditional viewpoint that the conflict with the Catholic Church undermined the Peronista regime in all aspects, however more recent historiography suggests it was Perón’s policies in his first term [1946-51] that were the regime’s inherent problems and his subsequent drastic reversals that primarily accelerated his overthrow. Key thesis presented, structure of the essay clearly signposted. Shown knowledge of historiographal debate, though it is clear that the purpose of the essay is not mere comparison of the different perspectives on the question, but empirical analysis of the evidence presented. Subsequent paragraphs:• Perón alienated support by his policy disagreements with the Catholic Church throughout 1954. The conflict was therefore critical to Perón’s loss of support; however it can only be considered a true weakness for the Peronista regime when coupled with the empowerment of anti-Peronist opposition. • The Church was a direct source of opposition to Perón, actively encouraging anti-Peronist sentiment. The Church’s call to revolution was answered gladly by Perón’s opposition, and should be considered the immediate cause of the downfall of Perón. • On the other hand, Perón’s social-economic policies heavily contributed to the loss of support in his second term, independently from the Catholic Church conflict. The Standard Oil deal might therefore be considered a short-term rallying point of opposition among the nationalist military opponents alongside the church-state conflict. • Dissent also arose from Perón’s agriculture policies. From starvation and low sales, Perón’s agricultural policies created disaffection among the rural population. • Support from workers dwindled as industrial growth slowed. The decline in Perón’s popularity is directly linked to his overthrow: Perón could no longer threaten civil war, encouraging revolutionary opposition generals. • Measures Perón took to secure the loyalty of the army actually enabled revolutionary opposition. Perón ineffectiveness at exerting control invited constant conspiracy and coup until Lonardi’s Revolución Libertadora overthrew the regime in 1955. Paragraphs divided by topic. First sentence in each should be made thesis/argument and exert a judgement that answers the question. Last sentence should be the natural conclusion drawn from the evidence and say a similar thing to the judgement originally posed. Body of each paragraph should be relevant and concise evidence supporting the judgement.In conclusion, the Catholic Church was the critical factor in creating what could be described as a ‘revolutionary situation’ that led to the downfall of the Peronista regime. The conflict with the Church reduced Perón’s support and empowered his enemies. As a short-term factor however, it served only to escalate the inherent issues in Perón’s regime – that of populist policies and reversals forcing economic hardship on the working and rural population – and the inability of the regime to exert control over the military. Such policies made it inevitable that Perón would lose the support he had gained in his first term. The conflict with the Church merely provided the means by which these disaffected groups – the rural population, disaffected workers, and the army – could form the united opposition that led to revolution. Conclusion summarises the key judgements made and creates an overarching thesis that takes into account the role and significance of all factors. The main judgements should already have been made known in the introduction.