ABSTRACT
The October 1956 coup marked the entry of a refurbished, professionalized military into Honduran politics. Factions in the traditional political parties also had much to gain with Lozano absent, and it seemed unlikely that the armed forces would have acted totally on their own initiative at this point in Honduran history. Evolution of a military institutional identity had been developing and was a new aspect within Honduran politics. Structural change was underway and had helped to spawn new social and economic strata in Honduras; a war with neighboring El Salvador jolted the nation and its armed forces; the obsolescence of traditional caudillo politics was to become much more evident. The elites of the National and Liberal parties had never responded adequately to rapidly evolving pressures for modernization. The creation of the Civil Guard numbered the days left for the Liberals' "Second Republic."
