History
In the early 16th century the first Europeans came to Argentina, the native Indians had already halted the Inca road south from Peru through Bolivia into Northern Argentina. The Spaniard Juan de Solis landed on the shores of the Río de la Plata in 1516, but he was killed and the expedition failed. Magellan touched the estuary four years later, but turned south to make his way into the Pacific. In 1536, Pedro de Mendoza, well supplied with equipment and horses, founded a settlement at Buenos Aires. The natives soon made it too difficult for him so the settlement was abandoned and Mendoza returned home. There were only a few further expeditions from Spain to colonize what is now called Argentina, and it was not until 11th June 1580 that Juan de Garay refounded the settlement at Buenos Aires and under his successor; Hernando Arias de Saavedra the new colony became safe.
In the meantime, there had been successful expeditions into Argentina both from Peru and from Chile. These expeditions led to the foundation of the oldest towns in Argentina: Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Córdoba, Salta, La Rioja and Jujuy. This took place at the eastern foot of the Andes in the second half of the 16th century. Spaniards from Chile settled in the cities of Mendoza, San Juan, and San Luis. Buenos Aires, however, remained a backwater in comparison to the Andean settlements.
Though isolated and legally prohibited from direct European commerce for nearly two centuries, the people of Buenos Aires pursued a flourishing smuggling trade with Portuguese Brazil. When Buenos Aires became capital of the new Viceroyalty of the River Plate in 1776, it was explicitly acknowledged that the region had outgrown the political and economic domination from Spain.
When the British, following the alliance between Spain and Napoleon, attacked Buenos Aires in 1806 and again in 1807 before being repulsed by local levies, there was no inkling of its future potential. But the defeat of these attacks, known as the Reconquista, had one important result: a great increase in the confidence of the porteños (the name given to those born in Buenos Aires) to deal with all comers, including the mother-country, whose restrictions were increasingly unpopular. On 25th May 1810, the Cabildo of Buenos Aires deposed the viceroy and announced that it was governing henceforth on behalf of King Ferdinand VII, then a captive of Napoleon. Six years later, when Buenos Aires was threatened by an invasion from Peru and a blockade by a Spanish fleet in the River Plate, a national congress held at Tucumán declared independence on 9th July 1816. The declaration was reinforced by the genius and devotion of José de San Martín, who boldly marched an Argentine army across the Andes to free Chile, and embarked his forces for Peru, where he captured Lima, the first step in the liberation of Peru.
After achieving independence, the provinces were united in name only. With no truly effective central authority, the regional disparities that Spanish rule had obscured, became more obvious. This resulted in the rise of the Caudillos, or local strongmen, who resented and resisted Buenos Aires as strongly as Buenos Aires had resisted Spain. The Federalists, associated with conservative provincial landowners but supported by most of the rural working class, resented Buenos Aires as much as Madrid. The Unitarists, led by intellectuals, were more cosmopolitan and looked towards Europe for capital, immigrants and ideas. For nearly two decades, bloody and vindictive conflicts between the two factions left the country nearly exhausted.
After 1880, Argentina became a major producer of cereal crops for export, and it is still today. The Humid Pampa was the focus of this development, the origins of which lay in mid-century colonization projects focused on attracting European settlers. Such developments did not eliminate latifundios. The government sold public lands at bargain prices to pay its debts, which encouraged speculators and reduced independent farming opportunities for immigrants, whose only agricultural alternatives were sharecropping or seasonal labour. Many remained in Buenos Aires, steadily increasing the city share of the country population. British capital, amounting to one-third of Britain’s total Latin American investment by 1890, dominated the Argentine economy. Most went to infrastructural improvements such as railroads, which rapidly made the cart roads of the Pampas obsolete. From mid-1890 until WW II, Argentina’s economy recovered enough to take advantage of the enormous opportunities presented by beef, mutton, and wheat export.
In the 1940s, Juan Domingo Perón emerged from obscurity to become Argentina’s most despised, political figure. As Perón grew to maturity, Argentina was one of the world’s most prosperous countries, but its prosperity was narrowly based. The elite benefited most from the export economy and resisted attempts to promote diversification through domestic industrialization. Perón associated a new economic order for Argentina with domestic industrialization and economic independence. In his sense, he appealed to conservative nationalists, who distrusted the cosmopolitan landowning elite, and to radical working class elements, who objected to the role of foreign capital.
His wife Evita Perón, a most controversial personality, never filled a political position, but her influence was quite important. She was as wildly adored by the lower and middle class people as hated by the people of the upper class. J. D. Perón won the presidency of Argentina in 1946 and again in 1952. Until he was ousted in 1955, his reforms and programs benefited working-class interests in matters of wages, pensions, job security, and working conditions. The living conditions of the workers were greatly improved, but at the expense of the economic state of the country. By the time a military coup unseated Perón in 1955, serious harm had been done. An uneasy alternation of three military and two constitutional regimes followed between 1955 and 1973. Perón came back from exile 1973 and again became President, but died on 1st. July 1974, leaving the Presidency to his widow, Vice-President Isabel Perón. A chaotic political situation with a high level of violence followed his death. In 1976, a military junta took over and the following 6 years became known as the Dirty War.
The military government instituted a reign of terror, which claimed thousands of victims. Argentina’s economy continued to decline during military rule and the burden of debt made the economy collapse in chaos. Ironically, the Dirty War ended only when the Argentine military attempted a real military objective in order to stay in power.
In April 1982, Argentina launched an invasion to dislodge the British from the Malvinas (Falkland Islands), claimed by Argentina for nearly a century and a half. Underestimating the determined response of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Argentine forces had to surrender after 74 days only and the military meekly prepared to return government to civilian hands.
In 1983, Raul Alfonsín was elected to the presidency and in 1990, the power was handed over to Carlos Menem. He was President over a decade. In 1999, Fernando de la Rúa won the presidential elections but he was forced out of power by the Argentine people in December 2001. The interim president Eduardo Duhalde took office and led the country out of chaos and instability.
In May 2003, Néstor Kirchner from the Peronist-party assumed as democratically elected President for four years.