Editing Eva Perón (section)

===Juan Perón's arrest===
{{History of Argentina}}
[[File:17deoctubre-enlafuente.jpg|thumb|left|[[Loyalty Day (Argentina)|Demonstration]] for Perón's release, on 17 October 1945. The [[Casa Rosada]] is seen in the background.]]

By the early 1940s, a group of Army officers called the GOU for "[[United Officers' Group|Grupo de Oficiales Unidos]]" (United Officers' Group), nicknamed "The Colonels", had gained considerable influence within the Argentine government. President [[Pedro Pablo Ramírez]] became wary of Juan Perón's growing power within the government and was unable to curb that power. On 24 February 1944, Ramírez signed his own resignation paper, which was drafted by Juan Perón himself; [[Edelmiro Julián Farrell]], a friend of Juan Perón, became president, and Juan Perón returned to his job as Labor Minister, at which point he was the most powerful man in the Argentine government.<ref name="Fraser 39">{{harvp|Fraser|Navarro|1996|p=39}}.</ref> On 9 October 1945 Juan Perón was arrested by his opponents within the government who feared that, with the strong support of his base, largely unskilled unionized workers that had recently moved from rural areas to industrialized urban centers and several allied trade unions, Perón would attempt a power grab.

Six days later, between 250,000 and 350,000 people<ref>{{cite news |last1 = Anguita |first1 = Eduardo |last2 = Cecchini |first2 = Daniel |title = 17 de octubre de 1945 |url = https://www.infobae.com/sociedad/2019/10/17/17-de-octubre-de-1945-como-se-gesto-la-movilizacion-que-cambio-para-siempre-la-vida-de-juan-domingo-peron-y-la-historia-argentina/ |access-date = 13 December 2020 |work = Infobae.com |publisher = Infobae |date = 17 October 2019 |language = es }}</ref> gathered in front of the [[Casa Rosada]], Argentina's government house, to demand Juan Perón's release. At 11 pm, Juan Perón stepped onto the balcony of the Casa Rosada and addressed the crowd. Biographer Robert D. Crassweller claims that this moment was particularly powerful because it dramatically recalled important aspects of Argentine history. Crassweller writes that Juan Perón enacted the role of a ''[[caudillo]]'' addressing his people in the tradition of Argentine leaders [[Juan Manuel de Rosas|Rosas]] and [[Hipólito Yrigoyen|Yrigoyen]]. Crassweller also claims that the evening contained "[[Mysticism|mystic]] overtones" of a "quasi-religious" nature.<ref name="Crassweller 170-1">{{harvp|Crassweller|1987|pp=170–171}}.</ref>

After Perón won the elections of 1946, his administration started circulating a highly fictionalized version of the 17 October demonstration where Eva Perón was portrayed as knocking on every door in Buenos Aires in order to bring out people to the street. This version of events was popularized in the movie version of the [[Evita (musical)|Lloyd Webber musical]]; historians agree that this version of events is false.<ref>{{Cite episode |title = Evita: The Woman Behind the Myth |publisher = A&E |series = Biography |year = 1996 }}</ref> At the time of Perón's imprisonment, Eva Perón was solely an actress; she had no political influence with any of the various [[trade union|labor unions]], and she was not well liked within Perón's inner circle, nor was she particularly popular within the film and radio business. The rally that freed Perón from prison was organized by various unions, particularly the [[General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)|CGT]], which was Perón's main base.

On 18 October 1945, a day after he was released, Perón married Eva discreetly in a civil ceremony in [[Junín, Buenos Aires|Junín]]. A church wedding was held on 9 December 1945 in [[La Plata]]. In the modern day, 17 October is still celebrated as a holiday by the [[Justicialist Party]] (celebrated as ''Día de la Lealtad'', or "[[Loyalty Day (Argentina)|Loyalty Day]]").