After Independence....

After Argentina's independence from the Spanish, the Argentine Civil Wars began from 1814 to 1876. It was a series of internecine wars. Politically, it was a fight between the Federal party and the Unitarian party. The main cause of the Civil Wars was to break the centralism in Buenos Aires (1). The Civil Wars helped form the modern Argentine Republic.  Argentina became an independent nation after the Argentine Constitution of 1853 (declared on May 1, 1853) (2). The Congress appointed Bartolome Mitre as the first president of the Argentine Republic (1). 
 

Argentina War of Independence

The Argentine War of Independence lasted from 1810 to 1818. The Argentine patriotic forces were led under Manuel Belgrano, Juan Jose Castelli and Jose de San Martin (1). They were up against the royal Spanish crown. One of the famous events in the Argentine War of Independence was the May Revolution which took place from May 18, 1810 to May 25, 1810 (1). Napoleon of France started his conquest in Spain and had conquered Andalusia and laid siege on Cadiz (2). The Argentine forces thought this was the perfect time for revolution. People in Buenos Aires considered Cadiz as all that was left of free Spain and started the May Revolution. People gathered in the City Hall of Buenos Aires and declared to suspend Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros from his office. As per changes, they newly created the First Junta which is a provisional government to rule the Viceroyalty while there is no king and an independent country established. Various armed conflicts followed the May Revolution. The First Upper Peru campaign (1810-1811) was commanded by Juan Jose Castelli with combats against the Spanish army at the Battle of Suipacha (2). The patriots won but they were defeated badly in the Battle of Huaqui with lots of casualties resulting in the end of the campaign. The Paraguay campaign (1810-1811) also took place at the same time commanded by Manuel Belgrano. They made their way up the Parana towards the Intendency of Paraguay (1). The first battle at Campichuelo was a victory but lost at the battles of Paraguari and Tacuari. The campaign ended but Paraguay broke their relationship with the Spanish government. The Second Upper Peru campaign (1812-1813) started against the powerful royalist army led by General Pio de Tristan. Manuel Belgrano who became the commander of the Northern Army decided to burn everything left behind to stop the enemy forces from getting supplies or taking prisoners from the city of San Salvador de Jujuy (Jujuy Exodus) (3). Belgrano led his Northern Army to triumph at the battles of Tucuman and Salta. General Tristan was captured but released. Later, the patriot army lost in the Upper Peru at the battles of Vilcapugio and Ayohuma. The Campaign of Jose de San Martin arose among other various military conflicts. On January 31, 1813, a Spanish army coming from Montevideo landed near the town of San Lorenzo. The Spanish army forced San Martin to stop further raids on the west bank of Parana River and led up to the Battle of San Lorenzo which he triumphed that earned him the rank as a General (3). In fear of major Spanish attack, a general assembly called the Asamblea del Ano XIII was help in Buenos Aires on February 27, 1813 in order to discuss future military campaigns and provisions for the Constitution (1). The assembly elected Antonio de Posadas as the First Supreme Director forming a proper line of patriot forces. The Third Upper Peru Campaign came across in 1815 and during this campaign; the Upper Peru was lost but later became the modern nation of Bolivia. Later, San Martin attempted to invade Peru again but didn’t put to action. The Chile Campaign in 1817 was considered to be the last of the Argentine War of Independence (4). More battles continued after until 1824 but the last remaining Spanish forces were coerced to surrender in the battle of Ayacucho when Peru finally proclaimed their independence. Argentina declared their independence on July 9, 1816 (1).

Experience under Spanish Viceroyalty

The Spanish Viceroyalty can’t really be described as straightforward colonization. But under the Spanish rule, Buenos Aires became flourishing port by the Spaniards. There was dramatic increase in maritime activity. The production of cattle for export increased and the port development also led to political power (5). But the large mass of territories and land created really hard situations to rule them all under one control. The Spanish rule had no designated regions divided up and some parts of land were isolated. Part of the issue was the slow communication. Andes Mountains also became a natural barrier (1). People spoke Spanish under the control of Viceroyalty and the authorities were not chosen by the people but designated by the Spanish government. They were mainly sent from Spain. Buenos Aires held the customs of the new political subdivision by the Spanish (5). Buenos Aires was also highly militarized due to the invasion of the British during Anglo-Spanish War and later in 1800s. People in Buenos Aires had militaristic powers which really helped the Argentinian War of Independence.

Initial Conquest in Argentina

To start with, there was the British conquest of Rio de la Plata as part of the Anglo-Spanish War that lasted from 1585 to 1660 including the Eighty Years’ War and Thirty Years’ War (1). The British attacked Buenos Aires with the two battles of Reconquista and Defensa. The British eventually failed their invasion of the Rio de la Plata. Then came the Spanish viceroyalty in 1776 of the Rio de la Plata included Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and some parts of Bolivia (3). The Spanish Viceroyalty did not form simply in one day. In 1502, explorer and merchant, Amerigo Vespucci voyaged to parts of Argentina (2). Then Spanish navigator Juan Diaz de Solis visited Argentinian territories in 1516. On 1536, Pedro de Mendoza successfully established a small settlement in Buenos Aires but abandoned in 1541 (2). The Spanish didn’t give up and came back with the second establishment by Juan de Garay and Cordoba in 1580 (4). The natural ports in Rio de la Plata could not be used since all ships were not able to pass through. Eventually, other cities such as Asuncion, Buenos Aires and Montevideo became alternate commerce cities (1). Spain raised the status of that region by establishing the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. It was an overall slow process and the Viceroyalty did not last long due to lack of internal cohesion among many region that lacked the Spanish support. In early 1800s, the British launched another attack in order to capture Buenos Aires and Montevideo but they were defeated by Santiago de Liniers in 1806 and 1807 (3). It was the first victory without the Spanish military help. Argentina gained their identity in 1806 (1).