The Costa Rican Civil War' was the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa Rican history. It lasted for 44 days (from 12 March to 24 April 1948), during which approximately 2,000 people are believed to have died. The conflict was precipitated by the vote of the Costa Rican Legislature, dominated by pro-government representatives, to annul the results of the presidential elections held in February, alleging that the triumph of opposition candidate Otilio Ulate against Soviet-aligned Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia had been achieved by fraud. This caused a rebel army under commander José Figueres Ferrer  to rise up against the government of President Teodoro Picado ; the government was quickly defeated . After the war, Figueres ruled for a year and a half as head of a provisional government junta which abolished the military and oversaw the election of a Constitutional Assembly in December, which subsequently produced the new 1949 constitution. The junta then stepped down and handed power to Ulate. Costa Rica has not experienced any significant political violence since.
The Costa Rican Civil War' was the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa Rican history. It lasted for 44 days (from 12 March to 24 April 1948), during which approximately 2,000 people are believed to have died. The conflict was precipitated by the vote of the Costa Rican Legislature, dominated by pro-government representatives, to annul the results of the presidential elections held in February, alleging that the triumph of opposition candidate Otilio Ulate against the ruling party's Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia had been achieved by fraud. This caused a rebel army under José Figueres Ferrer , a businessman who had not participated in the elections, to rise up against the government of President Teodoro Picado . The official Costa Rican army was small and ill equipped, and most of the resistance against the insurgents came from the militias of the Communist People's Vanguard Party, which was part of the ruling coalition. The rebels rapidly defeated the government forces and its Communist allies . After the war, Figueres ruled for a year and a half as head of a provisional government junta which abolished the military and oversaw the election of a Constitutional Assembly in December, which subsequently produced the new 1949 constitution. The junta then stepped down and handed power to Ulate. Costa Rica has not experienced any significant political violence since.
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Soviet-aligned
the ruling party's
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commander
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, a businessman who had not participated in the elections,
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; the government was quickly defeated
. The official Costa Rican army was small and ill equipped, and most of the resistance against the insurgents came from the militias of the Communist People's Vanguard Party, which was part of the ruling coalition. The rebels rapidly defeated the government forces and its Communist allies