Editing Costa Rica (section)

==== 20th century ====
{{See also|Reform State}}
Historically, Costa Rica has generally enjoyed greater peace and more consistent political stability than many of its fellow Latin American nations. Since the late 19th century, however, Costa Rica has experienced two significant periods of violence. In 1917–1919, General [[Federico Tinoco Granados]] ruled as a military dictator until he was overthrown and forced into exile. The unpopularity of [[Dictatorship of the Tinoco Brothers|Tinoco's regime]] led, after he was overthrown, to a considerable decline in the size, wealth, and political influence of the Costa Rican military. In 1948, [[José Figueres Ferrer]] led an [[Costa Rican Civil War|armed uprising]] in the wake of a disputed presidential election between [[Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia]] (who had been president between 1940 and 1944) and [[Otilio Ulate Blanco]].<ref>See [https://archive.today/20120717062137/http://reachian.googlepages.com/seniorthesis2 Ian Holzhauer, "The Presidency of Calderón Guardia" (University of Florida History Thesis, 2004)]</ref> With more than 2,000 dead, the resulting 44-day [[Costa Rican Civil War]] was the bloodiest event in Costa Rica during the 20th century.

The victorious rebels formed a government junta that [[military of Costa Rica|abolished the military]] all together and oversaw the drafting of a new constitution by a democratically elected assembly.<ref name="nytimes-military"/> Having enacted these reforms, the junta transferred power to Ulate on 8 November 1949. After the ''coup d'état'', Figueres became a national hero, winning the country's first democratic election under the new constitution [[Costa Rican general election, 1953|in 1953]]. Since then, Costa Rica has held 15 additional presidential elections, the latest [[Costa Rican general election, 2022|in 2022]]. With uninterrupted democracy dating back to at least 1948, the country is the region's most stable.<ref name="peace"/><ref name="pacifism"/>