ABSTRACT
In Ecuadorean history, the July Revolution of 1925 stands out as the first institutional intervention of the armed forces in national politics, the objective on this occasion being to introduce substantial reforms in the fiscal and economic structure of the country. In the words of historian Luis Robalino Davila, suddenly, the army no longer wished to be the servant of politicians who dictated military behavior and who exploited to their advantage the institution's passivity. The military has over time become more familiar with national problems and issues. The institutionalization of the armed forces was a decisive factor in predisposing the military to take a more active role in politics and to look with favor on socioeconomic reform. The Liberal Revolution can be credited with having initiated the changes that later would cause the Catholic Church to abandon its traditional identification with privileged economic groups and with the institutions spawned in the hacienda system.
