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).