The martyrology of Radicalism. The significance of revolution and democracy at the beginning of the 20th century in Argentina

The sacralization of politics as a central phenomenon in the configuration of national-popular identities is a well established subject matter in European historiography, but it is not yet consolidated elsewhere. Applying that theory, this article focuses on the interpretation of the Union Civica Radical's (UCR) revolutionary past during its accession to power in Argentina. The exaltation of their dead as 'martyrs' of a regeneration cause was often associated with its electoral success and the democratization process followed by the party. We analize the main intellectual formulations during this historical period, of the ritualized commemorations organized by the UCR, and of a series of particularly conflicting events. In that matter, we took into consideration partisan and opposing media pieces, texts of a wide scope and images which illustrate the period. The article hypothesis states that the revolutionary past of Radicalism was initially embodied in the popularity of the party, though it later became problematic when antagonisms within and outside the UCR led to the 1930 coup d'etat.