During the reign of the Incas
The area now known as Argentina was relatively sparsely populated to European colonization. The Diaguitá of northwestern Argentina lived on the edges of the expanding Incan Empire; the Guaraní lived farther east.
Spanish colonial era
Europeans arrived in the region with the 1502 voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. Spanish navigator Juan Diaz de Solís visited what is now Argentina in 1516. Spain established a permanent colony on the site of Buenos Aires in 1580 as part of the Viceroyalty of Peru; initial settlement was primarily overland from Peru. The Spanish raised the status of this region in 1717 by establishing the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata in 1776. This viceroyalty embraced what are now Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, as well as much of present-day Bolivia.
During this era, Buenos Aires became a flourishing port.
Growth of a nation state
News of the French Revolution and the American Revolutionary War brought liberal ideas to Latin America. An 1810 declaration of independence in Buenos Aires had only local effect; other regions of the Río de la Plata were just as concerned with independence from Buenos Aires as with independence from Spain. In 1811 Paraguay made its own declaration of independence.
Military campaigns led by Generals José de San Martín and Simón de Bolívar between 1814 and 1817 made independence increasingly a reality, with independence now generally dated from Buenos Aires formal declaration of independence from Spain on July 9, 1816. Argentines revere San Martín - who campaigned in Argentina, Chile, and Peru - as the hero of their national independence.
Following the defeat of the Spanish, centralist unitarios and federalist mazorqueros waged a lengthy conflict between themselves to determine the future of the nation. Bolivia declared itself independent in 1825 as did Uruguay in 1828. The dominant figure of this period was General Juan Manuel de Rosas, generally accounted a tyrant. He ruled Argentina from 1829 to 1852 and, while nominally a federalist, was far more concerned with establishing his own dominance in Buenos Aires than with any principled federalism.
After a revolution under General Justo Urquiza, supported by Uruguay and Brazil, Argentine national unity was at least nominally established, and a constitution promulgated in 1853.
During the early part of this period Argentina was largely a country of Spanish immigrants and their descendants, known as criollos, some of them gathered in the Buenos Aires and other cities, others living on the pampas as gauchos. The rural economy at this time was based almost entirely in animal husbandry (cattle and sheep). Meanwhile Indians continued to menace the Western frontier. As Borges has written, Argentina had achieved its independence from Spain, but the Spanish conquest of Argentina was still incomplete.
The emergence of modern Argentina
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. The migrants who worked to develop Argentina's resources--especially the western pampas--came from throughout Europe, just as in the United States.
By 1859 the unity of Argentina was generally secured, although it would be two decades before the centralists completed their victory over the federalists. In 1862 the National Assembly selected the liberal politician Bartolomé Mitre as president; in 1868 he was succeeded by Domingo Sarmiento.
During this period (1865 - 1870) the bloody War of the Triple Alliance was fought by Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay against Paraguay. In the following decade General Julio Roca established Buenos Aires's dominance over the pampas and the unitarios victory over the federalists; in 1880 Roca became president.
The years from 1880 to 1929 brought Argentina economic prosperity and intensified, mainly from Europe. The economy was increasingly oriented toward export of raw materials and import of manufactured products.
Roca's government and those that followed were aligned with the Argentine oligarchs, especially the great land owners. From about 1900 Argentine nationalism began to identify Argentina with Europe and the United States of America rather than with the rest of Latin America. Conservative forces dominated Argentine politics until 1916, when their traditional rivals, the Radicals, led by Hipólito Yrigoyen, won control of the government. The Radicals, with their emphasis on fair elections and democratic institutions, opened their doors to Argentina's expanding middle class as well as to elites previously excluded from power.
The Great Depression and World War II
These years of proserity ended with the Crash of 1929 and the ensuing worldwide economic crisis. The Argentine military forced aged Hipolito Yrigoyen from power in 1930 and ushered in another decade of Conservative rule.
The collapse of international trade led to an industrial policy focused on import substitution, leading to stronger economic independence. At the same time a climate of increasing political conflict arose, with confronation between right-wing fascists leftist radicals, with military-oriented conservatives controlling the government. Roberto Ortiz was elected president in 1936, followed by Ramón Castillo. Argentina was officially neutral during most of the Second World War; much of the public sympathized with the Axis Powers, but towards the end of the war Argentina entered on the Allied side.
The rise of Juan Perón
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 Perón (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. Perón, then an army colonel, was one of the coup's leaders, and soon became the government's dominant figure as Minister of Labor. Mass protests in 1945 led to Perón's victory in elections on February 20, 1946. He aggressively pursued policies aimed at giving an economic and political voice to the working class and greatly expanded the number of unionized workers. In 1947, Perón announced the first 5-year plan based on the growth of nationalized industries. He helped establish the powerful General Confederation of Labor (CGT). Perón's dynamic wife, Eva Perón, known as Evita (1919-52), was a former actress from a working class background. Evita helped her husband develop strength with labor and women's groups; women obtained the right to vote in 1947.
In 1949 Perón pushed through a constitutional amendment to allow him to run for a second term, which he won in 1952, but a military coup led by Eduardo Lonardi deposed him in 1955. He went into exile, eventually settling in Spain. Even in exile, he remained popular with the Argentine masses.
Struggle between Peronist and anti-Peronist forces
Through the 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 (Montoneros) in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the way was open for Perón's return.
Lonardi held power only briefly and was succeeded by Pedro Aramburu, who gave Argentina a wholly new constitution, replacing the Constitution of 1853. In 1956, Radical Party under Ricardo Balbin won a majority, although 25% of all ballots were turned in blank as a protest by the banned Peronist party. The new parliament restored the Constitution of 1853. The Left Radical party, led by Arturo Frondizi won the election of 1958 with support from Peronists and Communists.
Frondizi's government ended in 1962 with intervention yet again by the military, who accused him of Peronist sympathies. They installed José María Guido, chairman of the senate, as his successor. In new elections in 1963 neither Peronists not Communists were allowed to participate. Arturo Illia of the Radical People's Party won these elections; regional elections and by-elections over the next few years favored Peronists. Along with worker unrest, this led to another coup in June 1966.
This led to a series of military-appointed presidents. The last of these, Alejandro Lanusse, was appointed in 1971 and attempted to re-establish democracy amidst an atmosphere of continuing Peronist worker protests.
On March 11, 1973, Argentina held general elections for the first time in 10 years. Perón was prevented from running, but voters elected his stand-in, Dr. Hector Campora, as President. Perón's followers also commanded strong majorities in both houses of Congress. Amidst escalating terror from right and left alike and with Perón back from exile, Campora resigned in July 1973, paving the way for new elections. Perón won a decisive victory and returned as President in October 1973 with his third wife, Maria Estela Isabel Martínez de Perón, as Vice President. Terrorist acts continued to threaten public order. The government resorted to a number of emergency decrees, including the implementation of special executive authority to deal with violence. This allowed the government to imprison persons indefinitely without charge.
Perón died on July 1, 1974. His wife succeeded him in office, but her administration was undermined by economic problems, Peronist intraparty struggles, and growing terrorism. A military coup removed her from office on March 24, 1976.
The "Dirty War"
Following the coup against Isabel Perón, the armed forces formally exercised power through a junta led consecutively by Videla, Viola, Galtieri and Bignone until December 10, 1983. The armed forces applied harsh measures against terrorists and against the large number of people suspected or accused of being terrorist sympathizers. They restored basic order, but the costs of what became known as the "Dirty War" were high in terms of lives lost and basic human rights violated. Conservative counts list over 10,000 persons as "disappeared" (i.e. arrested and executed without trial) during the 1976-83 period; still others went into exile. Few dared to speak out, until finally in 1978 the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, mothers of the dead and disappeared, began holding vigils and demanding (unsuccessfully) an accounting for these crimes.
Serious economic problems, mounting charges of corruption, public revulsion in the face of human rights abuses and, finally, the country's 1982 defeat by the U.K. in an unsuccessful attempt to seize the Falklands/Malvinas Islands all combined to discredit the Argentine military regime. Under strong public pressure, the junta lifted bans on political parties and gradually restored basic political liberties.
A return to democracy
On October 30, 1983, Argentines went to the polls to choose a president; vice president; and national, provincial, and local officials in elections found by international observers to be fair and honest. The country returned to constitutional rule after Raul Alfonsín, candidate of the Radical Civic Union (UCR), received 52% of the popular vote for president. He began a 6-year term of office on December 10, 1983.
In 1985 and 1987, large turnouts for mid-term elections demonstrated continued public support for a strong and vigorous democratic system. The UCR-led government took steps to resolve some of the nation's most pressing problems, including accounting for those who disappeared during military rule, establishing civilian control of the armed forces, and consolidating democratic institutions. However, constant friction with the military, failure to resolve endemic economic problems, and an inability to maintain public confidence undermined the effectiveness of the Alfonsín government, which left office 6 months early after Peronist candidate Carlos Saul Menem won the 1989 presidential elections.
As President, Menem launched a major overhaul of Argentine domestic policy. Large-scale structural reforms dramatically reversed the role of the state in Argentine economic life. Ironically, the Peronist Menem oversaw the privatization of many of the industries Perón had nationalized. A decisive leader pressing a controversial agenda, Menem was not reluctant to use the presidency's extensive powers to issue decrees when the Congress was unable to reach consensus on his proposed reforms. Those powers were curtailed somewhat when the constitution was reformed in 1994 as a result of the so-called Olivos Pact with the opposition Radical Party. That arrangement opened the way for Menem to seek and win reelection with 50% of the vote in the three-way 1995 presidential race.
The 1995 election saw the emergence of the moderate-left FREPASO political alliance. This alternative to the two traditional political parties in Argentina is particularly strong in Buenos Aires but as yet lacks the national infrastructure of the Peronists and Radicals. In an important development in Argentina's political life, all three major parties in the 1999 race espoused free market economic policies. In October 1999, the UCR-FREPASO Alliance's presidential candidate, Fernando de la Rua, defeated Peronist candidate Eduardo Duhalde. Taking office in December 1999, De la Rua has only continued the previous administration's free market economic policies but followed an IMF-sponsored program of government spending cuts, revenue increases, and provincial revenue-sharing reforms to get the federal deficit under control. De la Rua pursued labor law reform and business-promotion measures aimed at stimulating the economy and increasing employment. Despite these measures, Argentine economic growth remained nearly flat in 2000 and on November 14, 2002 Argentina defaulted on a US$805 million World Bank load payment.
Towards the end of 2001, Argentina faced a grave economic crisis. The IMF pressed Argentina to service its debt, effectively forcing Argentina to devalue the Argentine peso, which had been pegged to the US dollar. On November 1, 2001, as it became clear that the peso would be devalued, de la Rua severely limited bank withdrawals, effectively freezing the peso-denominated assets of the Argentine middle class, while the dollar-denominated foreign accounts of the wealthy were shielded from devaluation. The resulting riots led to dozens of deaths. Resignations of successive Ministers of the Economy (Jorge Remes Lenicov, Roberto Lavagna) were followed by an even more dramatic series of resignations and brief reigns of Presidents: de la Rua himself resigned December 20, 2001, followed by brief terms for Adolfo Rodríguez Saa and two others, with the Peronist Eduardo Duhalde, losing candidate in the most recent presidential election, ultimately gaining office.
Elections in February 2003 brought Néstor Kirchner to power. He took office in May 2003.
See also: List of Presidents of Argentina.
Reference
Much of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.