Editing Caudillo (section)

{{Short description|Type of personalist leader wielding political power}}
{{For|the documentary film|Caudillo (film)}}
{{Italic title}}
[[Image:Spanish peseta coin with Franco 1963.gif|thumb|A 1963 [[Spanish peseta]] coin with the image of ''[[Generalissimo]]'' [[Francisco Franco]], and inscription ''Caudillo de España, por la Gracia de Dios'' (Spanish: "''Caudillo'' of Spain, [[by the Grace of God]]")]]
[[Image:Juan Manuel de Rosas.jpg|thumb|[[Juan Manuel de Rosas]], c. 1841 by [[Cayetano Descalzi]], the ''caudillo'' paradigm]]
A '''''caudillo''''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɔː|ˈ|d|iː|(|l|)|j|oʊ|,_|k|aʊ|ˈ|-}} {{respell|kaw|DEE(L)|yoh|,_|kow|-}}, {{IPA|es|kawˈðiʎo|lang}}; {{langx|osp|cabdillo}}, from [[Latin language|Latin]] {{lang|la|capitellum}}, diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of [[Personalist dictatorship|personalist leader wielding military and political power]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=caudillo {{!}} Definición |url=https://dle.rae.es/caudillo?m=form |access-date=12 June 2022 |website=[[Diccionario de la Lengua Española]] |language=es}}</ref> There is no precise English translation for the term, though it is often used interchangeably with "[[Military dictatorship|military dictator]],"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-06 |title=Definition of CAUDILLO |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caudillo |access-date=2024-08-01 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dictionary.com {{!}} Meanings & Definitions of English Words |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/caudillo |access-date=2024-08-01 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en}}</ref> "[[warlord]]" and "[[Political strongman|strongman]]". The term is historically associated with [[Spain]] and [[Hispanic America]], after virtually all of the regions in the latter won independence in the early nineteenth century.

The roots of ''caudillismo'' may be tied to the framework of rule in medieval and early modern Spain during the [[Reconquista]] from the [[Moors]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/2707650 |jstor=2707650|title=Toward a Theory of Spanish American Government|journal=Journal of the History of Ideas|volume=15|issue=1|pages=71–93|year=1954|last1=Morse|first1=Richard M}}, reprinted in [[#Hamil|Hamil]], pp. 72–86.</ref> Spanish [[conquistadors]] such as [[Hernán Cortés]] and [[Francisco Pizarro]] exhibit characteristics of the ''caudillo'', being successful military leaders, having mutual reliance on the leader and their supporters, and rewarding them for their loyalty.<ref name=h38>Hamill, Hugh M. (1996) "Caudillismo, Caudillo" in ''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Vol. 2, pp. 38–39.</ref> An important characteristic of the ''caudillo'' is their charisma, which drew in followers who could be utilized to change the political climate and shape state-formation in the post colonial era. The followers of ''caudillos'', called ''gauchos'', were common people whom the ''caudillos'' could charm and persuade into joining their cause.  Often the caudillo would take on the role of the provider as a substitute for the shortcomings of those in the government.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=De la Fuente |first=Ariel |title=Children of Facundo: Caudillo and Gaucho Insurgency during the Argentine State-Formation Process (La Rioja, 1853-1870) |date=2000 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-8019-1 |location=Durham}}</ref> It created a type of father-child bond between the ''caudillo''  and ''gaucho'' that strengthened loyalties and made the ''caudillos'' powerful.<ref>{{Cite book |last=De la Fuente |first=Ariel |title=Children of Facundo: caudillo and gaucho insurgency during the Argentine state-formation process (La Rioja, 1853 - 1870) |date=2004 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-2596-3 |edition=2. print |location=Durham}}</ref> However, the paternalist view towards the relationship between the caudillo and the gaucho assumes that the caudillo has all of the power in the relationship and ignores that much of that power comes from the gaucho's decision to follow a particular caudillo.<ref name=":2" />

During the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|colonial era]], the Spanish crown asserted its power and established a plethora of bureaucratic institutions that prevented personalist rule. Historian [[John Lynch (historian)|John Lynch]] argues that the rise of ''caudillos'' in Spanish America is rooted not in the distant Spanish past but in the immediate context of the [[Spanish American wars of independence]]. The wars overthrew colonial rule and left a power vacuum in the early nineteenth century. ''Caudillos'' were very influential in the history of Spanish America and left a legacy that has influenced political movements in the modern era.<ref>[[#Lynch|Lynch]], p. 437.</ref>[[File:AguinaldoMP.jpg|thumb|337x337px|[[Emilio Aguinaldo]], first president of the Philippines. "El Caudillo" ''in The Struggle for Freedom and Total Independence of His People''. Also in Hispano-Asia ([[Philippines]]) Emilio Aguinaldo was invested by popular acclamation as ''the Caudillo Libertador'' of the "Philippine Revolutionary War", he is the leader of a national liberation against the Spanish Empire and an anti-imperialist resistance against the [[US]].]] However, the term is also used for the authoritarian regimes of [[Francisco Franco]] in Spain and [[Antonio Salazar]] in Portugal. The term is often used pejoratively by critics of a regime. However, Spain's General [[Francisco Franco]] (1936–1975) proudly took the title as his own<ref>"Introduction", pp. 5–6 in [[#Hamil|Hamil]].</ref> during and after his military overthrow of the [[Second Spanish Republic]] in the [[Spanish Civil War]] (1936–1939). Spanish censors during his rule attacked publishers who applied the term to Hispanic American strongmen.<ref>Payne, Stanley G. (1987) ''The Franco Regime, 1936–1975''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, p. 625. {{ISBN|0299110702}}</ref> ''Caudillos''' exercise of power is a form considered [[authoritarian]]. Most societies have had personalist leaders at times, but Hispanic America has had many more,<ref>"Introduction", p. 3 in [[#Hamil|Hamil]]</ref>{{dubious|date=November 2024}} the [[List of Hispanic American Caudillos|majority]] of whom were not self-described ''caudillos''. However, scholars have applied the term to a variety of Hispanic-American leaders.<ref>"Hidalgo and Calleja: The Colonial Bases of Caudillismo", pp. 99–114 in [[#Hamil|Hamil]].</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1478-0542.2004.00113.x|title=Juan Manuel de Rosas: Authoritarian Caudillo and Primitive Populist|journal=History Compass|volume=2|pages=**|year=2004|last1=Shumway|first1=Jeffrey M}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/2511708|jstor=2511708|title=The Creation and Control of a Caudillo|journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=44|issue=4|pages=481–490|year=1964|last1=Haigh|first1=Roger M}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/1006928|jstor=1006928|title=The Taming of a Colombian Caudillo: Juan Nepomuceno Moreno of Casanare|journal=The Americas|volume=42|issue=3|pages=275–288|year=2015|last1=Rausch|first1=Jane M|s2cid=147633176 }}</ref><ref>Grieb, Kenneth J. (1979). ''Guatemalan Caudillo: The Regime of Jorge Ubico, Guatemala 1931–1944''. Athens OH: Ohio University Press.</ref>