First Costa Rican Republic

Republic of Costa Rica
República de Costa Rica
1848–1948
Flag of First Costa Rican Republic
Flag
Coat of arms of First Costa Rican Republic
Coat of arms
Location of First Costa Rican Republic
CapitalSan José
Official languagesSpanish
GovernmentPresidential republic
President 
• 1848-1948
List
LegislatureConstitutional Congress
Historical eraLiberal State
August 31, 1848
12 March to 24 April 1948
CurrencyCosta Rican peso
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Free State of Costa Rica
Second Costa Rican Republic

The First Costa Rican Republic is the name given to the historical period between the proclamation of the Republic of Costa Rica in the 1848 reformed Constitution and the official decree by then President José María Castro Madriz on 31 August 1848 and the Costa Rican Civil War of 1948 which ended with the enactment of the current 1949 Constitution on 7 November 1949 starting the Second Costa Rican Republic.[1][2]

The First Costa Rican Republic marked the dominion of the liberal ideology and the hegemony of a very powerful liberal oligarchy that ruled the country for most of its history. The liberal hegemony was so prevalent that the period between 1870 and 1940 is known as the Liberal State. However, the exhaustion of the model and discontent from the working classes would result in a series of left-leaning social-reformist governments in the 1930s and 1940s and the consequent civil war.

  1. ^ "Fundación de la república". Costa Rica web. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Fundación de la República". Archivo nacional. Retrieved 22 December 2018.