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History of the Formation of the Argentine State

Political History

The Territory of the R�o de la Plata, comprised mainly by the area where today one finds the Provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre R�os, Corrientes, Santa Fe, Chaco, Formosa, Misiones and Paraguay and Uruguay, had an insignificant role in the colonising process which went on in the 16th and 17th centuries. This was primarly due to a ruling of the King of Spain which prohibited traffic on the Rio de la Plata, almost all trade going through Panama and then Chile, Bolivia and Peru and into the NW corner of Argentina.
In this time, whilst the above-mentioned territory was part of the Peruvian viceroy, Tucuman developed a healthy agricultural industry, whilst Cordoba became known for learning, especially after the founding of a Jesuit university there in 1613.

As pressure for direct transatlantic traffic grew and the Andean mining industry weakened, the Spanish Crown decided to create the Viceroyalty of the R�o de la Plata in 1776. This new Viceroy included Uruguay, Paraguay and parts of upper Peru. Buenos Aires saw an explosive growth, from around 2,200 in 1726 to over 33,000 by 1778. Thatperiod is commonly known as the Hispanic Period, and saw a crude organisation of power.
Following the destructon of the Spanish fleet, the British dabbled in South America and invaded Buenos Aires twice, once in 1806 and again in 1807. On both occasions the Spanish proved ineffectual, but the invaders were repelled by a local militia helped by the inhabitants of the city and some of the Spanish troops. Although militarily small moves, these successful local interventions saw people beginning to develop ideas separate from the Spanish crown.

In May 1810, due to the success of the Napoleonic invasion in Spain, Buenos Aires called for an 'cabildo abierto' (open town council), to agree on appropriate actions targeted at the dissolution of the Viceroy�s government and the transference of sovereignty rights to the local people. As an immediate consequence, a new government was formed.
Between 1810 and 1816 different regimes and authorities took power, starting with the appointment of the First Junta (a collegiate type government, regulated mainly by two documents: the Ruling of May 25 - sanctioned by the Cabildo - and the Ruling of May 28 - sanctioned by the Junta itself). According to the Ruling of May 25 the deputies from the interior were incorporated to the Junta, which in turned constituted the Big Junta, the institution that later established the Provincial Juntas and decreed the creation of a Triumvirate. Subsequently, the Provisional Statute of the Superior Government of the United Provinces of the R�o de la Plata and the decrees on press freedom and individual security were sanctioned. In October 1812, the Second Triumvirate called for a General Constitutional Assembly, convened the following year, which was the first congress in Argentine history that took on the representation of the United Provinces of the R�o de la Plata sovereignty.
Although the Assembly of 1813, as a representative body, did not comply with its fundamental objective of sanctioning a constitution, it developed a significant legislative activity pro individual freedom and started the opening of new institutional modes. With regard to political organization, it established an individual Executive Power, creating the position of Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the R�o de la Plata. It declared May 25 as a patriotic date, established a Coat of Arms and an Anthem and ordered the minting of its own coins, actions through which it demonstrated its will to create a sovereign state.

Finally, in 1816, the General Constitutional Congress held in Tucum�n declared the independence of the United Provinces and sanctioned the Provisional Statute of 1816, the Provisional Ruling of 1817 and the Constitution of the United Provinces of South America.
The period from the declaration of independence to the start of the period of Rosas was a difficult one. The main character at that time was Bernardino Rivadavia, who tried to form a single nation, but many forces were at play with different groups backing different aims, and little success was had. He was also hindered by a war with Brasil regarding the status of Uruguay which lasted from 1825 to 1828. In 1827 Rivadavia resigned and left the country, leaving a power vacuum which was promptly filled by Juan Manuel de Rosas.
Rosas was a wealthy landowner and a federalist. He became govenor of the Province of Buenos Aires in 1929 and in 1931 signed the Federal pact which bound the provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Rios, Corrientes and Santa Fe together. The opposition to the Federalists, the Unitarians, were weakened by several defeats and subsequently severely repressed by Rosas police and military network. In 1832 Rosa declined a second term as govenor since the council of representatives did not give him the almost absolute powers he desired. So he went off to fight (and massacre) the natives in the South of the country, returning in 1835 when the junta acquiesced to his demands.
The years under Rosas were not economically or politically rosy ones, and Argentina stagnated with international blockades, wars with Uruguay and internal dissent which was quelled with an almosphere of fear. In 1852 an ex-supporter of Rosas, Justo Jose de Urquiza gathered a rebel force and defeated Rosas at the battle of Caseros.

After the battle of Caseros, which brought about the resignation of Juan Manuel de Rosas as governor of Buenos Aires, the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Corrientes and Entre R�os signed the Palermo Protocol. Afterwards, the San Nicol�s Agreement, signed in presence of the majority of the provincial governors, ratified the character of fundamental law of the Federal Agreement. Shortly afterwards, in 1852, a General Constitutional Congress was called, with the goal of dictating a constitution for the Confederation. The constitution was promulgated by Urquiza on May 25, 1853 and the Republic was born on July 9, but still without the city of Buenos Aires, which remained separate until 1862 when it was finally agreed that Buenos Aires would be both the capital of the province and of the republic.
The next president was Bartolome Mitre, followed in 1868 by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. He was in turn, in 1874, followed by Nicolas Avellaneda who survived a n attempted coup by Mitre, the latter fearing the rising power of non-portenos (residents of Buenos Aires). The period from the 1860s was a boom period for Argentina as the interior was opened up, farming and hence exports increased dramatically, and an influx of immigrants arrived.

Social and political unrest came to Argentina early in the 20th century, including violently quelled strikes. Hipolito Yrigoyen led the country for most of the years from 1916 to 1930 as the head of the Radical Civic Union, but was toppled by the military with the arrival of the Great Depression. 1937 saw the Radicals come back under the leadership of Ortiz, succeeded by Castillo who was again removed by the military in 1943. This time, an officer by the name of Peron was involved, and he went on to win the presidential election in 1946 and again in 1951. However, the death of Eva Peron, his wife and one of his main organisers, saw his organisation weakened and in 1955 opponents saw their opportunity. Chaos, where the airforce bombed the presidential palace and the army then attacked the airforce, followed, but Peron fled to Paraguay and peace returned, albeit a relatively unstable one. Several presidents came and went, sometimes pushed by an interventionist military, whilst civil unrest was always around the corner.
1958 saw Frondizi elected, 1962 saw him ousted by the military. Illia was the next president elected in 1963, ousted by a coup led by General Ongania. Severe civil unrest, principally in Cordoba, saw Ongania ousted by another General, Lanusse. The latter, however, remained hidden as a puppet president (another General) was installed. However 9 months later, Lanusse took the title and led the country until the nxt elections on 1973. Campora, running as a proxy for Peron, won then promptly resigned as Peron returned from exile. In the subsequent election Peron won easily but died the following year, leaving power in the hands of his second wife, Isabel. Extreme repression and corruption saw the military intervene once again and remove Isabel from power in 1976.

The next six years, from 1977 to 1983, saw a repressive military regime attempt to elimiate the left-wing opposition through the now-famous dirty war. Led initially by General Videla, then General Viola nad then finally by General Galtieri, the regime grew more and more extreme in repression, censorship, torture and illegal killings. With a collapsing economy and unhappy people, Galtieri decided in 1982 to try to rally the nation by invading the Malvinas (Falklands).

The failure of that venture led to the resignation of Galtieri, replaced by General Bignone. However, the days of the military were numbered and in 1983 a new presidential election was won by Raul Alfonsin. However, he took over control of an almost ruined state and struggled with massive debt, inflation and other hangovers from the years of mismanagement under the military. In the prsidential election of 1989 his Radical party lost to the Peronists led by Carlos Menem. Menem followed a drastic recovery plan which in the short term worked well and led to a great boom in the early 1990s and to his re-election in 1995. However, problems, both economic and social began to increase and in 1999 the opposition were victorious, led by De la Rua. Unfortunately for De la Rua, economic storm clouds were gathering and he proved incapable of stopping them, resulting in his resignation in 2001. Severe instability saw four presidents in wo weeks at the end of that year, until Duhalde, the leader of Congress, was appointed interim president. Harsh measures were necessary but proved unpopular and the 2003 election proved inconcisive, with Kirchener emerging winner after Menem withdrew from the second round of voting.

The name 'Argentina'

This is derived from the Latin term "argentum", which means silver. The story behind this name goes back to the first voyages made by the Spanish explorers to the R�o de la Plata. The survivors of a shipwrecked expedition mounted by Juan D�az de Sol�s found indigenous people in the area who gave them objects made of silver as presents. In around 1524 news reached Spain of the legendary Sierra del Plata - a mountain rich in silver. From that date, the Portuguese named the river of Sol�s, R�o de la Plata (River of Silver), and two years later the Spanish used the same name. The National Constitution adopted in 1853 included the name "Rep�blica Argentina" (Argentine Republic) among the official names to designate the government and the country's territory.