New Evidence Suggests Lobotomy On Evita Might Have Been Done To Quiet Her Rebellious Spirit

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1. Intriguing - although Perón wasn't worried about a civil war, but rather a coup d'état.

Argentina had all manner of acute political crises since the last civil war (actually a series of intermittent conflicts) ended there in 1861, and they never erupted into war. The country had already gone though two military coups though, and the prospect of a third is what worried Perón most - not to mention the political persecution that would surely follow.

Evita's stubbornness - and some would argue, her mere presence - was threatening to trigger such a coup, and in fact almost did shortly before the November 1951 election (which Perón won in a landslide). Perón was ultimately, and as he had long feared, overthrown 4 years later.

It's worth noting that despite being arguably the most divisive single event in Argentine history, no civil war erupted after the 1955 coup against the populist leader. Many Peronists though were in fact rounded up, jailed, had their property absconded, and in about 30 cases actually executed - in short what Perón actually feared and was probably trying to prevent if he in fact had a hand in this. I guess we'll never know.