Saber noise
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Saber-noise or saber-rattling (Spanish: ruido de sables) refers to a historical incident in Chile, when a group of young military officers protested against the Chilean political class by rattling their sabers within their scabbards. The term is now applied generally to cover any indication of military unrest.
In 1924, Chile was in the throes of an economic and political crisis. The economy, heavily dependent on the export of nitrates, was suffering the effects of the discovery of artificial nitrates during World War I. On the other hand, Chile was politically paralyzed by a conflict between President Arturo Alessandri and the conservatively controlled congress, who refused to discuss any of the laws-drafts that he sent them.
At the beginning of September of that year, Congress decide provide congressmen with a salary for the first time. In the Army, the news were specially bitter since they had been waiting for a salary increase for a long time.
On September 3, 1924, a group of 56 young military officers (mostly lieutenants and sub-lieutenants), led by Colonel Marmaduque Grove and Major Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, attended the session were the congressional salary discussion was to take place. They quietly sat in the public tribunes, and waited for the topic to be breached. At that point the president of the chamber, feeling intimidated, demanded that the public be cleared, as the discussion was to be secret. As the officers silently started to leave, they began to rattle their sabers within their scabbards, to indicate their discontent with all the political class in general.
