History
Europeans arrived in the region with
the 1502 voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. Spanish navigator Juan Diaz de Solias
visited what is now Argentina in 1516. Spain established a permanent colony
on the site of Buenos Aires in 1580, although initial settlement was primarily
overland from Peru. The Spanish further integrated Argentina into their
empire by establishing the Vice Royalty of Rio de la Plata in 1776, and
Buenos Aires became a flourishing port. Buenos Aires formally declared
independence from Spain on July 9, 1816. Argentines revere Gen. Jose de
San Martin, who campaigned in Argentina, Chile, and Peru as the hero of
their national independence. Following the defeat of the Spanish, centralist
and federationist groups waged a lengthy conflict between themselves to
determine the future of the nation. National unity was established, and
the constitution promulgated in 1853. Two forces combined to create the
modern Argentine nation in the late 19th century: the introduction of
modern agricultural techniques and integration of Argentina into the world
economy. Foreign investment and immigration from Europe aided this economic
revolution. Investment, primarily British, came in such fields as railroads
and ports. As in the United States, the migrants who worked to develop
Argentina's resources--especially the western pampas--came from throughout
Europe.
From 1880 to 1930 Argentina became
one of the world's 10 wealthiest nations based on rapid expansion of agriculture
and foreign investment in infrastructure. Conservative forces dominated
Argentine politics until 1916, when their traditional rivals, the Radicals,
won control of the government. The Radicals, with their emphasis on fair
elections and democratic institutions, opened their doors to Argentina's
rapidly expanding middle class as well as to groups previously excluded
from power. The Argentine military forced aged Radical President Hipolito
Yrigoyen from power in 1930 and ushered in another decade of Conservative
rule. Using fraud and force when necessary, the governments of the 1930s
attempted to contain the currents of economic and political change that
eventually led to the ascendance of Juan Domingo Peron (b. 1897). New
social and political forces were seeking political power, including a
modern military and labor movements that emerged from the growing urban
working class.
The military ousted Argentina's constitutional
government in 1943. Peron, then an army colonel, was one of the coup's
leaders, and he soon became the government's dominant figure as Minister
of Labor. Elections carried him to the presidency in 1946. He aggressively
pursued policies aimed empowering the working class and greatly expanded
the number of unionized workers. In 1947, Peron announced the first 5-year
plan based on the growth of industries he nationalized. He helped establish
the powerful General Confederation of Labor (CGT). Peron's dynamic wife,
Eva Duarte de Peron, known as Evita (1919-52), played a key role in developing
support for her husband. Peron won reelection in 1952, but the military
sent him into exile1955. In the 1950s and 1960s, military and civilian
administrations traded power, trying, with limited success, to deal with
diminished economic growth and continued social and labor demands. When
military governments failed to revive the economy and suppress escalating
terrorism in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the way was open for Peron's
return.
page 2... Argentina History
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