Argentina’s Transformation: Oligarchy to World War I Impact
Modern Argentina
Oligarchic Regime (“Conservative” Government)
Government based on an elite of notables (intellectually prepared and economically powerful).
The elite ensured its hold on power in two ways:
a) Control of Succession: Complex, involving a small group of notables (e.g., president, senators, provincial governors).
b) Electoral Fraud: Intimidation of opponents, pressure on voters, ballot manipulation, double voting, voting by the deceased, etc.
“The Generation of 80”
Concept: The group that shaped and executed Argentina’s political project of their time.
Philosophical Idea: Science as objective knowledge could modernize institutions and society for indefinite progress.
Political Ideas: Very conservative, elitist, but maintained formal aspects of democracy.
Presidency of Julio A. Roca: Key Legislation
a) Creation of a national paper currency.
b) Establishment of compulsory military service (1891).
c) National Territories Act: Nine governorates established in conquered Indigenous territories (Chaco, Formosa, La Pampa, Misiones, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego).
d) “Lay” Laws: Law 1420 (mandatory, free, and secular primary education), Civil Registry Law, Civil Marriage Law.
Law 1420
Mandatory, free, and secular primary education. Aimed to teach Argentine children to read and write in Castilian, along with Argentine history and geography. The law led to the expulsion of the Apostolic Nuncio and the breakdown of relations with the Vatican due to the elimination of compulsory religious education.
Economic Growth
Based on the agro-export model.
Natural Advantages: The Pampas offered ideal conditions for producing raw materials for Europe.
Exports: Rapid growth of agricultural exports, including mutton and beef. The introduction of refrigeration allowed for the export of preserved and chilled meats, completing the wool cycle.
Transformations
- Immigration impacted both rural areas and cities.
- Land colonization in the Pampas and railroad expansion created new agricultural villages in previously unpopulated areas. Santa Fe is a prime example of rural landscape modification.
World War I (1914-1918)
Late 19th-century competition for markets and rising nationalism set the stage.
France: Sought revenge for the loss of Alsace and Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War.
Germany: Aimed for continental prominence.
European Conflicts: Baltic peoples, Poles, and Finns sought independence from Russia. Social unrest plagued Tsar Nicholas II. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Romanians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Croats, and Slovenes sought autonomy. The Ottoman Empire faced internal conflicts with Armenians and Greeks and competed with Russia for control of the straits connecting the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Two Balkan Wars resulted from the Ottoman Empire’s decline and tensions between Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Serbia.
Cause: Assassination of the Austro-Hungarian crown prince in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by a Serbian nationalist group.
War Development
Warring Factions
Allies: France, Russia, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the U.S.
Central Powers: Austria-Hungary, Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria
Schlieffen Plan: Germany’s plan to quickly defeat France by crossing neutral Belgium, then focus on Russia. This led Britain to join France and Russia, forming the Triple Entente. The German advance was halted at the Marne River, leading to trench warfare. Germany initially defeated Russia in the East. The war expanded; the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in 1914, and Italy joined the Allies in 1915 in exchange for territorial promises.
Trench Warfare: Soldiers endured hunger, cold, thirst, rain, mud, and the sight of corpses. They also suffered from dust, dirt, and lice.
Naval Warfare: Germany launched a submarine campaign against British merchant ships. The sinking of the Lusitania (1915) and the Sussex (1916), both with American passengers, led the U.S. to enter the war in 1917, along with Russia’s withdrawal.
End of the War
The war ended in 1918 with the surrender of the Central Powers. The Treaty of Versailles (Paris, 1919) dictated peace terms, negotiated by the “Big Four”:
Executive Committee: Woodrow Wilson (U.S.), David Lloyd George (UK), Georges Clemenceau (France), Vittorio Orlando (Italy)
Wilson’s 14 Points: Aimed for self-determination, free trade, freedom of movement, arms reduction, and a League of Nations to ensure peace. These were largely ignored by the victors, who sought to punish Germany and secure their own interests.
Treaty of Versailles: Germany lost colonies, territory, and military power; had to pay reparations; and was deemed solely responsible for the war.
Treaty of Saint-Germain: Reduced Austria’s borders, disarmed it, prohibited union with Germany, and forced recognition of the independence of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia.
League of Nations: An international organization for mediation and peacekeeping.