Leguiísta victory: The 1919 Peruvian coup d'état took place on July 4, 1919, headed by former president and president-elect Augusto B. Leguía, with the support of the gendarmerie forces of Lima, against the outgoing government of José Pardo y Barreda.

The result of the coup was successful for Leguía, who began the political process known as the New Motherland, through which he sought to modernise the country through a change in relations between the state and civil society,[1] and which led to an eleven-year dictatorship.

[16] There was an attempt to restore constitutional order by Colonel Samuel del Alcázar, who commanded an Army battalion that was deployed through the streets surrounding the main square.

For his part, the chief of the General Staff, Colonel Pedro Pablo Martínez, tried to gather the troops quartered in the Santa Beatriz barracks to assault the palace, but the soldiers had joined the coup, cheering on Leguía.

[17] On July 21, Leguía published a manifesto in the official newspaper El Peruano, justifying his actions: The consideration that it is an unavoidable duty to ensure that the popular vote already cast is not frustrated forces me to assume the Supreme Headquarters of the Republic as Provisional President.

He also called for elections to be held in September to form a new constituent congress, which would take the name of the National Assembly, whose mission would be to give a new Political Constitution, replacing that of 1860, which was the one in force at that time.