ArgentinaNon-West 2014

Colonial Argentina before the arrival of the Spanish, was inhabited by nomadic tribes.

The Spanish led by Pedor de Mendoza entered in 1536 looking for gold and silver.

In 1580 the Spanish founded Buenos Aires to give access to the sea; the southern part of Argentina was left in the hands of the natives.

Pedor de Mendoza

Colonial Although the Spanish had control of the area, their trade restrictions on the locals led to a revolt 1808 Napoleon forced the Spanish king to abdicate and made his own brother king of Spain Argentina then made a declaration of independence in 1816.

Independence

As Argentina developed a rift developed between the capital (Buenos Aires) and the provinces. The Unitarists wanted a strong central government and federalists wanted a loose federation of provinces. 1820 Argentina broke up. Bolivia became independent in 1825 Uruguay was created as a buffer state between Argentina and Brazil in 1828 after these two countries went to war

Independence 1829 Juan Manuel de Rosas came to power. He was a federalist but ironically he introduced a strong (and repressive) central government. In addition to using the military he also used the infamous mazorca (secret police). Rosas eventually alienated many people in the provinces and in 1852 a rebellion removed him from power.

Modern Argentina

Until the late 19th century the natives of Southern Argentina lived in their traditional way. However; in 1879 General Julio Rica led an army to conquer them.The Conquest of the Desert was over by 1880. Meanwhile the first railroad was built in 1857. It was followed by many others. By 1900 there were over 10,000 miles of railroad in Argentina and by 1912 over 20,000 miles. The railways made it much easier to transport produce to the coast for export

General Julio Rica

Modern Argentina

Argentina exported meat, wool and grain and by 1900 was the richest country in South America. The population of Argentina boomed partly due to immigrants from Spain and Italy. By the end of the century the population of Argentina was about 4 million.

20th Century

In the 1920s Argentina was the 7th richest country in the world. The wealth however was in the hands of a minority. Poverty grew and mass migration from the rural areas to the cities began which intensified the wealth gap. However, Argentina, like the rest of the world, was affected by the Wall Street Crash

20th Century 1930 the army staged a coup 1943 the army staged another coup. In 1944 Argentina severed diplomatic relations with Germany and Japan and declared war on Germany in 1945. 1946 colonel Juan Domingo Peron begins to tackle the wealth inequality. He introduces a number of welfare measures and nationalized industries.

Colonel Juan Domingo Peron

20th Century Peron is re-elected in 1951 but loses support and in 1955 the “Revolution of Liberation” forced Peron to flee abroad. Several short-lived governments followed Military dictatorship did not bring peace and in 1969 rioting broke out in Cordoba and spread throughout Argentina. Inflation raged. In 1973 Peron returned from Spain and the then President Hector Campor resigned to allow Peron to take over.

20th Century

However, Peron died soon after in 1974 and the country fell into a turbulent period of history that ended in 1976 when the military again took power. Argentina then suffered a brutal military dictatorship during which thousands of people ‘disappeared’ during a ‘dirty war’ (Guerra Sucia). Inflation continued to rage and Argentina became heavily indebted. Dirty War

20th Century

In the early 1980s, despite the repression protests spread across Argentina. In 1981, as a means of diverting attention from economic problems and general discontent, General Roberto Viola decided to invade the British island of The Falklands (Islas Malinas). The brief occupation brought brief nationalistic zeal but soon ended once British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent in her troops which took only 74 days to regain the island.

The Falklands War

20th Century

The Argentinian economy is in dire straits and the junta allowed elections in 1983 – Raul Alfonsin is elected Alfonsin succeeded in many ways; solving territorial disputes with Chile , and trying military officers for violating people’s human rights. However; he was unable to solve the problem of hyperinflation. 1989 Alfonsin handed over power to Carlos Saul Menem and then Fernando de la Rua in 1999 took over. All had to face severe economic troubles.

Raul Alfonsin

Carlos Saul MenemFernando de la Rua

21st century

In 2001-2002 Argentina suffered a very bad recession. However, the economy then grew strongly for a few years. Like the rest of the world Argentina suffered in the recession of 2009. However; Argentina is recovering 2007 Cristina Kirchner is the first elected woman president of Argentina.