History History

Juan Díaz de Solís, a navigator in the service of the Spanish Crown, was the first European to cross the estuary of the "Río de la Plata" (Silver River) in 1516, in search of a route to the East. However, his unexpected encounter with the Amerindians was the reason for his expedition and he died the same year.

On September 20, 1520, Magellan, a Portuguese navigator who had served Spain, left Sanlúcar, Andalusia, accompanied by five ships. He then hopes to discover a western passage to the Indies. One month later, on October 21, the fleet entered a sort of pass that would be called the Strait of Magellan. For the first time, a route was mapped out to link the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

It was not until 1536 that the official foundation of Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre was established by Pedro de Mendoza, Spanish admiral and conquistador. When he arrived, the local Amerindians, the Querandíes, were rather hospitable: however, this lasted only two weeks. Mendoza's men were then attacked and after a few laborious years marked by massacres and epidemics, the site was finally abandoned in June 1541.

Juan de Garay, who took part in the civil wars in Peru and in the foundation of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia), left Asunción and founded Santa Fe on the banks of the Paraná River in 1573. Seven years later, Captain General of the Viceroyalty, he advanced into the delta and planted the Tree of Justice near the old site, which today corresponds to the Plaza Mayor. Buenos Aires is born a second time.

Conquistador, Governor of the Rio de la Plata and founder of the first city of Buenos Aires, Pedro de Mendoza was born in 1487 in the city of Guadix in Spain. Close to King Charles V, he was sent to America by the Spanish Crown as Adelantado (governor and military leader of the future lands he would discover). His mission was to protect the Spanish possessions against the advance of the Portuguese troops. He embarked on August 24, 1535, at the head of a fleet of 14 ships and entered the Rio de la Plata in January 1536. A month later, he founded the city of Buenos Aires in homage to the Virgin of the Sailors of Sardinia.

Spain decides to reorganize its American kingdoms, and creates a new entity, detached from the trusteeship of Lima, composed of Argentina, Upper Peru and Paraguay. Buenos Aires became the capital of the new viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and finally began to prosper.

On June 11, 1806, eleven English frigates commanded by General William Beresford set sail for the capital. Viceroy Sobremonte fled and Beresford settled quietly in the city. Santiago de Liniers, a Frenchman in the service of Spain, refused to surrender, won Montevideo and then set out to reconquer Buenos Aires. The insurgents, supported by an enraged people, managed to drive Beresford out of the fort after a week of fighting. In February 1807, the English troops again won the Río de la Plata and occupied Montevideo. Liniers took the opportunity to dismiss Viceroy Sobremonte, who had returned in the meantime. In June, General Whitelocke, who had landed with 8,000 men, finally capitulated.

In 1810, Spain was caught up in the conflict between itself and the French Empire, which at the time was driven by Napoleon's expansionist ambitions. The Portenegas thought it was time to take advantage of this international situation to put an end to Spain's trade monopoly. Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, viceroy of Spain and representative of Joseph Bonaparte, the king imposed by Napoleon I, was expelled by the bourgeoisie from Buenos Aires on May 25, 1810, after the famous Revolución de Mayo. A Creole junta replaced him at the head of the Río de la Plata colony, but effective independence did not come until six years later.

The terrible War of Independence that began lasted until July 9, 1816. The liberators of the country were Belgrano, Pueyrredón and, first and foremost, General San Martín, who is still considered the national liberator today. In the years that followed, Buenos Aires tried hard to impose its power on the provinces of the interior. The caudillos of the provinces won the victory of Cepeda, a conflict between unitarists (for a central state and full powers in Buenos Aires) and federalists (defending the independence of the provinces) that would last for decades. The capital then became a prefecture like the others and announced in 1820 the autonomy of the United Provinces.

The man nicknamed the Argentine Libertador is also the great liberator of South America. Between 1810 and 1816 he fought six years of battles against the Realistas, loyal to the Spanish crown, before liberating the territory of the Viceroyalty of La Plata. A revolutionary and supporter of independence, he then left Argentina for Chile and Peru, which he would later liberate as well. Faced with a young Argentine Republic weakened by the conflicts between federalists and unitarists, the so-called Father of the Fatherland ended up going into exile in France where he died in 1850 at the age of 72.

Secular and centralist, Rivadavia is not convincing, and the uprisings begin in the provinces. Pressed by internal unrest, the President decided to negotiate with Brazil, with whom Buenos Aires was at war, and proposed the creation of an independent state. This decision is strongly criticized by the population of the Port reign. The president, unable to cope, resigned in 1828.

Manuel Dorrego's government is forced to sign peace with Brazil, and the project of a neutral country is born: the Banda Oriental becomes Uruguay. General Lavalle, who had fought alongside San Martín, revolted and had the president shot. This was the first of a long series of military coups d'état that would strangle the city until the end of the 20th century.

Juan Manuel de Rosas, a young and wealthy landowner from the province of Buenos Aires, in turn revolts against Lavalle. He rallied the federalists, landowners and other gauchos, and eventually laid siege to the city in 1829. Lavalle was deposed and Rosas was elected president. He proclaimed himself the "restorer" of laws and institutions and demanded extraordinary powers justified by the situation in the country.

The Caudillo Rosas was re-elected governor of the city in 1835, endowed with exceptional powers. The history of the country then becomes linked to the destiny of this controversial character. Rosas will ruin the city and pursue an aggressive policy throughout the territory. Unitary units, already unpopular, are pursued and relations become tense with foreigners, when a first French blockade, then a second, Franco-British this time, threaten to suffocate Buenos Aires.

Rosas, whose name is historically both revered and hated in Argentina, was a wealthy landowner. As leader of the Federalist Party, he overthrew the government of the province of Buenos Aires and established a totalitarian dictatorship. Close to the indigenous people, he maintained intimate relations with many communities, which enabled him to defend himself against the Lavalle and Dorrego insurrection in 1828: this victory gave him tremendous prestige in Buenos Aires, and led him to lead the province some time later. As a conservative attached to colonial values, he clashed on several occasions with the Unitaryists, supporters of a centralized state. He was the first to decide to colonize the "virgin lands" and at the same time to group the indigenous communities in the estancias for agricultural work, but he still did not manage to ensure peace at the country's borders.

The federal caudillo of the province of Entre Ríos, Justo José de Urquiza, rallies the opponents and a battle is started in Caseros (a former suburb of the capital) in January 1852. Rosas' supporters were defeated and the dictator fled. Urquiza then re-established the federal pact. However, the new strongman turned out to be as dictatorial as his predecessor. Thus, on September 11, 1852, during his absence, Buenos Aires seceded from the Argentine Confederation. This situation lasted for 10 years. Urquiza took refuge in Paraná, from where he governed the country.

The Unitarians, after being defeated by Urquiza in 1859, won a decisive victory the following year in Pavón. This military victory ensured national unity and Bartolomé Mitré was elected president in 1862.

A cholera epidemic killed 8,000 people in 1867. Three years later, an appalling yellow fever epidemic killed thousands of people. Everyone flees Buenos Aires, which has only 25,000 inhabitants left.

Colonel Julio Argentino Roca decides to go and subdue the natives who are hindering the homogeneous development of the nation, and he undertakes an expedition to eradicate the lands of the Pampa and Patagonia from the savages. This project is also based on economic considerations: it becomes time to expand livestock farming. This abominable and monstrous "Desert Campaign", begun in 1879 and completed five years later, was to be, in the words of the Minister of War, "Argentina's contribution to civilization". The Tehuelche and Mapuche Indians were the main victims. Historians today speak of a veritable genocide.

From 1880 to the First World War, the city underwent unprecedented development. It is finally officially recognized as the capital of the country. It is the most populated city on the Latin American continent, ahead of Mexico City or Río, and is recognized worldwide as one of the most beautiful cities of the New World. Some even speak of a "southern Paris". Argentina then became one of the richest countries in the world, and in any case the main supplier of raw materials and meat to England.

A young son of a Basque immigrant begins to make a name for himself: Hipólito Yrigoyen, who chooses a radical path and refuses to enter into dialogue with the government. In 1905, he foments a coup d'état against Manuel Quintana's conservative Republic, but it will fail. What matters is that radicalism came to power through the ballot box in the presidential elections of 1916.

Buenos Aires has entered the modern age well and is becoming a true intellectual center. However, the Argentinean capital does not enjoy a solid reputation abroad: it is said to be involved in white slave trade networks. This sulphurous reputation forced governments to take action: in 1919, a law was passed that forced the closure of brothels. Unemployment and inflation hit Port-au-Prince society hard, electoral fraud became a principle, and politics became the business of lawless thugs: the military now ran the country's affairs.

Oil has been discovered in Comodoro Rivadavia where workers are sent to "shape" the national manufacturing landscape. In January 1919, 800 workers went on strike to demand higher wages and better working conditions: military repression left four dead and thirty wounded. The army invaded the most troubled sectors: it is estimated that between 800 and 1,500 people were killed during these crazy days, and around 4,000 were wounded. This bloody and terrible episode during the week of January 7 to 14, 1919 will be called "Tragic Week".

While Yrigoyen was re-elected in 1928, the Wall Street crash of 1929 plunged the country into economic stagnation. And, inevitably, a new coup d'état by the military loomed, bringing to power an old general, José Félix Uriburu. But not all conservatives liked Uriburu, who was an extreme right-winger. Elections are announced. Electoral fraud brings Augustín Justo to the presidency: it is the beginning of what is called the "Infamous Decade". The persecution of political opponents, corruption and fraud will mark this period in the country's political history.

Juan D. Perón was elected President of the Republic.

President of the Argentine Republic from 1946 to 1955, Juan D. Perón was the founder of Peronism, a movement and political ideology that was extremely popular in the country. An alternative to socialism and communism, Peronism was embodied by this character who was sometimes revered as a hero and sometimes perceived as a dictator. Driven from power by a military putsch, he went into exile, particularly in Europe. He was re-elected in 1973 before dying the following year, in July 1974. Today, more than 45 years after his death, Peronism remains the majority political force in Argentina.

Peronism begins to appropriate all national symbols, commemorative dates, anthem or flag. The creation of Peronism, both a party and a political ideology, signals a resounding return of Latin American, Andean or Guaraní mestizos and agricultural workers. Numerous reforms were undertaken: women's votes, pensions for pensioners, hospitals, schools, summer camps... But when Evita, the president's wife, who was suffering from cancer, died on July 26th, it was a capital asset that abandoned Perón: the Madonna of the "Shirtless" assured him a certain popularity among the poor and the proletarians. In 1953, serious incidents occurred, led by extreme right-wing commandos. Then in 1955, three planes dropped bombs on the Plaza de Mayo. Tension was extreme and a civil war loomed: it was finally the Navy that forced the General to resign in September, before fleeing to Paraguay and then to Panama and Madrid.

The repression of Peronism is as harsh as Peronism itself. They seek to completely erase the memory of the general (his residence is destroyed) or even his wife, and they torture the militant workers. A certain confusion is taking hold of the intellectuals: a marginal movement is beginning to emerge within Argentine culture, that of the absent generation. Artists regained the right to speak out, and the city regained its predominant place as the emblem of Latin American culture. For the first time, the indigenous reality of Latin America was being examined for the first time, and the Cuban revolution made students aware of new problems, mainly agrarian and ethnic.

The military still dominates political life, and the waltz of presidents follows their pleasure. On June 18, 1966, General Onganía overthrew the regime; this fundamentalist Catholic was the guardian of strict morality. There is a growing fear of the suppression of autonomies. On the evening of August 5, tanks burst into the university premises while the students were inside. This "Night of the Long Sticks" sounded the death knell for a prosperous period for literature and the arts in general. A large number of students or professors choose to leave their country for abroad. Argentina, once again, sinks into chaos.

On the other side of the Río, in Uruguay, the Tupamaros guerrillas are giving ideas to the revolutionary youth of Argentina. Uprisings ignite Córdoba and Rosario. The president declares a state of siege. Attacks abound, as do arbitrary arrests, the customary madness of an authoritarian regime. In 1970, the Montoneros, an extreme left-wing, Catholic and Peronist group, kidnapped former President Aramburu. They put him to death. The army intervened, deposed Onganía and replaced him with General Roberto Levingston.

On the political side, trade unions, Peronists and the army are seeking power in the face of Onganía's presidency. Perón's image is revered by the rebellious youth, and the former dictator is now seen as a true Latin American revolutionary. The army, at the head of power, places Alejandro Lanusse. The latter seeks to reconcile Peronism, and invites the general to stay in Buenos Aires. The former president arrives with his new wife Isabel, and appoints his candidate, Héctor Cámpora, for the next elections in 1973. Cámpora was elected and, spurred on by a wave of exalted militants, even decreed a general amnesty. The guerrillas lay down their arms. On 20 June 1973, Perón had to return for good from his golden exile to regain power. The day Perón was due to arrive at Ezeiza International Airport, millions of people responded and never in the history of Argentina has there been such a gathering. Shortly before the plane landed, an explosion was followed by gunfire: rumours that the guerrillas were preparing an attack against Perón. The shootings will kill more than 100 people. In October the old general is elected president for the third time. Argentina, and all of Latin America as a whole, plunges into the darkest hours the continent has known since the Spanish conquest. The paramilitaries adopt the acronym Triple A (Argentinean Anti-Communist Alliance). Their plan is very simple: to suppress all left-wing opponents... but in the shadows, so as not to wake up international opinion, which is caught up in the oil crisis. Perón, Isabel (his wife) and López Rega are terrorists: kidnappings, torture and assassinations. When Perón died in July 1974, a truce was declared. The disappearance of the "Old Man" disempowers the population. Isabel became the first woman president in Argentine history.

In March 1976, a military junta headed by Rafael Videla seized power in a coup d'état.

General Galtieri thinks that it is necessary to gather the people, to restore the coat of arms of a country on the brink of the abyss. He also wants to rally public opinion to the army. Thus, on 2 April 1982, an Argentinian detachment left to occupy the Falklands (Falklands in English), which are still under British mandate. The military masquerade of the Argentinians was supported by most Latin American countries, but some people sensed that the outcome could be painful. On 14 June, Argentina capitulated. In fact, 904 people were killed, 649 Argentinians and 255 British.

Argentina's defeat by Great Britain exposes the junta's appalling incompetence: Galtieri must resign just three days after the capitulation. The dictatorship collapses and Raúl Alfonsín, a member of the radical party, wins the 1983 presidential election.

The members of the three juntas were tried and convicted, but the military was outraged at these democratic trials and threatened the government. Alfonsín, in turn, had to give in, pushed by the armed forces, and put an end to the trials. The law will never be right, therefore, justice will never be done. Some criminals, wanted by police all over the world, are dismissed by the laws of finality and due obedience(leyes de Punto Final y Obediencia Debida), which aim at forgetting rather than justice.

Peronist Carlos Menem succeeds Alfonsín. The country, in economic difficulty, is still trying to get back on its feet: creation of a new currency, hyperinflation, precariousness, collapse of democracy... In agreement with the IMF, the new president succeeds in curbing inflation and stabilizing the currency. The peso is indexed to the dollar (in 1991), which will maintain for ten years the illusion that the country is rich, while it will only live beyond its means - until the final implosion. The country went into irretrievable debt and corruption plagued the sphere of power.

In 1999, Fernando de la Rua was elected: the middle class and intellectuals were very hopeful that the policies of his predecessor would come to an end with this (social-democratic) radical and that the plundering of the entire country would come to an end. Lost cause: nothing is moving. The following year, Domingo Cavallo, Menem's Minister of the Economy, was recalled to this post to bring the country out of its catastrophic situation. In fact, exports were in very bad shape, and in order to make up for this lack of resources, it was decided to borrow money. The IMF granted an additional $40 billion in December 2000, and, as the debacle loomed, the Fund decided to lend $8 billion in August 2001.

The figures speak for themselves: between 1970 and 2001, unemployment rose from 3% to more than 20%, extreme poverty from 1.2% to 20%, while the debt rose from $8 billion to $132 billion! Cavallo, urgently called back to the government in early 2001, decided to reduce civil servants' salaries and pensions by 13% and then chose to partially freeze financial withdrawals from bank or savings accounts. On December 19, 2001, the crisis erupted in all its force: popular indignation took to the streets. The incumbent president, Fernando de la Rua, first declared a state of emergency, then announced Cavallo's resignation before leaving the presidential palace by helicopter. Institutions collapse, banks close, accounts are partially frozen. And the waltz of presidents begins: no one seems able to stop the bleeding. It is finally Eduardo Duhalde who will finally stick to it.

The presidential elections of April and May 2003 were the first to oppose two candidates from the Peronist heritage, a movement with a tradition of social revolution. After Menem's withdrawal, who had won a majority in the first round but lost in the second round, Kirchner was elected President of the Republic with only 22% of the vote. However, the project of a new Argentina proposed by the government benefits from very good economic results, even if the foreign debt remains very worrying. Kirchner's government decided to pay the debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and succeeded in negotiating a debt reprogramming with international financial organisations, allowing the country's economy to catch its breath.

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo put an end to their annual Resistance marches because they finally feel supported in their quest for justice by President Kirchner. Kirchner has been able to assert himself as a true president by working for the improvement of human rights, by decreeing the unconstitutionality of Menem's amnesty laws and of the "End Point" and "Due Obedience" laws, and by recognising the role of the army in the dictatorship and the torture practiced, particularly at ESMA.

Nestor's wife won the election in the first round, winning over 44% of the vote. Her overwhelming victory shows that the Argentine people appreciated Nestor Kirchner's work and want to continue on the same path. The main issue that the President has to tackle in her early days is inflation (10.1% in 2010).

The president is engaged in a real arm wrestling with agricultural producers. She wants to increase export taxes on soybeans and sunflowers from 35% to 45%. The country is then divided into two camps, between supporters of the government and those of the campo. Giant demonstrations, road blockades... The crisis was resolved in Congress, where parliamentarians agreed with the position of agricultural producers.

In spite of the voices that are raised to reproach her for a certain authoritarian populism in the face of the crisis, the president continues along the path of justice traced by her husband in the trials of those responsible for torture and forced disappearances under the dictatorship. In January 2010, she signed a decree declassifying all the archives of the military dictatorship, which will allow the justice system to have access to them from now on. The events of 2010 changed things with the brutal death of Nestor Kirchner in October. Argentina is in shock. His wife was re-elected on 24 October 2011 in the first round, with 53.96% of the votes.

Two years after the cancellation of the amnesty enjoyed by Rafael Videla, then 85 years old, he was found guilty of executions of political prisoners, kidnapping, torture and theft of babies from opponents of the dictatorship from 1976 to 1983. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and died in his cell in 2013.

The Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio is elected Pope under the name of Francis.

The Kirchner era led to a policy of fiscal austerity, renationalisation and protectionism, which boosted the economy, but there are voices blaming it for a certain authoritarian populism. In addition, the problems of clientelism, corruption and dilapidated public services of which the Kirchners are accused persist. In a context in which the country finds itself strongly polarized, the pro-K (pro Kirchner) are opposed to the anti-K, made up of dissidents from the FPV, the UNA, but above all by the Cambiemos conservatives, led by Mauricio Macri. The latter, a successful businessman, former president of the Boca Juniors football club and mayor of Buenos Aires from 2007 to 2011, will be president of the Republic for four years. After a year 2016 of ultra-liberal reforms (opening up of imports and markets, reduction in public service provision, etc.), inflation remains galloping, but growth, although still timid, has indeed resumed in 2017 with a rate of 2.8%. However, major austerity measures and the overhaul of the system are triggering unprecedented social anger as Christmas 2017 approaches. Between deficit, debt and inflation, Argentina fears a new crisis caused by its financial turbulence. In 2018, the government begins a discussion with the IMF: financial support will aim to reassure the markets and stabilise the economic situation.

Candidate Alberto Fernandez won the presidential election in the first round against outgoing President Mauricio Macri. His investiture, on 10 December 2019, marks the return of a Peronist president eager to restore social justice and nationalism. Cristina Kirchner returned and was appointed Vice-President of the Nation. The government is trying to renegotiate the maturities of its debt (estimated at 90% of GDP) to the IMF. Argentina is on the verge of default.

Faced with the rapid progression of the Covid-19 pandemic, Argentina is implementing a mandatory containment, which began at the end of March, among the longest in the world. At the beginning of July, the containment was again tightened in the face of the worrying situation in Buenos Aires, where 90% of the country's cases of contamination are concentrated. Argentina crossed the threshold of 100,000 cases of Covid-19.

After an initial rejection by senators in 2018, the text allowing abortion up to the fourteenth week of pregnancy is approved in the Argentine Congress. Until now, abortion was only possible in cases of rape or mortal danger to the mother, according to a 1921 law. Argentina joins Uruguay, Cuba, Guyana, Mexico City and the Mexican state of Oaxaca as the only countries to allow abortion in Latin America.

After a match of great intensity in the final of the World Cup in Qatar, Argentina beats France on penalties and wins its third World Cup in its history. At the end of his career, Lionel Messi finally gets the great title that was missing from his list of achievements. After the victory of his team, he is also elected best player of the World Cup.