Federalists and Unitarists
The great liberator Jose de San Martin - who was instrumental in obtaining independence for Argentina as well as for Chile and Peru - soon became disillusioned with the new independent nation. When discontent between the cities and the provinces continued unabated and no agreement could be reached as to whether the government should be centralized or federal, San Martin left for France, never to return to Argentina. His remains were, however, repatriated and lie entombed in Buenos Aires’ Catedral Metropolitana. Finally in 1826 the Unitarist Bernardino Rivadavia was named president of the United Provinces of South America, only to resign the following year. His reform movement, which hoped to replace the Spanish-Catholic culture with a more secular, scientific model like that of France and Britain, collapsed along with him. Fighting continued among the Unitarists, who backed central control, and Federalists, who favored local autonomy. The latter were mostly made up of caudillos (provincial leaders), estancia owners and gauchos from the provinces. Hostility between the two sides only abated when Juan Manuel de Rosas was elected governor of Buenos Aires in 1829. Ironically, de Rosas set about eliminating all his rivals to become master of the Argentine and to rule as a Unitarist rather than a Federalist.

De Rosas was helped by an organization set up in 1833, the Mazorca, whose members came from all ranks of society and who organized rallies and processions advocating his rule while many of his opponents were murdered. De Rosas was nationalistic and despised foreign cultural influences which only served to suppress the economy. He seized land from the indigenous peoples in his 1833 desert campaign and gave it away in large lots to the conquerors who then became his strongest allies. But finally many turned against him for imposing higher taxes on provincial trade and he was overthrown in 1852 - de Rosas fled to England where he died 25 years later - by former ally and governor of the province of Entre Rios, Justo Jose de Urquiza.

Urquiza helped devise a constitution that was agreed on for the entire country, similar to that of the United States, albeit with two differences. The president would serve a six-year term and could not be re-elected and the government was obliged to support the Roman Catholic Church. Buenos Aires refused to be part of the new union. War broke out in 1859 but the portenos (those born in Buenos Aires) were soon defeated and they acceded to ratify the constitution after a few amendments when the governor of Buenos Aires Bartolome Mitre succeeded Urquiza. Mitre was subsequently elected the first president of the new Argentine Republic in 1862.

Economic Boom
Mitre was instrumental in initiating Argentina’s program of economic and cultural development – he created a national army, postal network and expanded the rail network with foreign capital and technology. The British helped invest and construct railways across the Pampas which served to access and unite the country. The wool trade was the first to flourish with a sharp increase in the number of sheep farms. The arrival of alfafa, barbed-wire fencing, new breeds of cattle and sheep and new refrigeration technology helped transform Argentina into a large-scale agricultural exporter, mainly to Europe. Mitre’s successor Domingo Faustino Sarmiento encouraged waves of European immigrants who subsequently changed the cultural make-up of Buenos Aires and other cities in the Plata estuary. At the same time, government revenue helped forge the foundations of a state education system, almost unrivalled in all Latin America, and enhanced by foreign scholars and scientists.

In 1879 General Julio Roca, the last of the conquistadors, finally defeated the remaining indigenous peoples of the Pampas, largely Mapuches and Tehuelches. The disappearance of wild herds and the increasing number of colonists had made their lifestyle almost impossible. Roca effectively wiped out most of the indigenous groups leaving the remaining land open for further settlement. A year later he was elected president which marked the start of a new reigning oligarchy. It lasted for over 30 years, during which time political power remained largely in the hands of a small number of estancieros or wealthy landowners. Speculators bought up vast tracts of land, latifundismo, which they hoped to sell to the railway companies, before which they rented it out to sheep farmers and sharecroppers.

Suffrage for all Men
Subsequent economic difficulties and political discontent in the 1890s led to the formation of the Radical Party aspiring to represent all Argentines, and the Socialist Party seeking to represent only the workers. Political unrest continued for years and finally in 1912 the reformist conservative president Roque Saenz Pena forced the start of free and honest elections with secret balloting and obligatory suffrage for all men, whatever their background. Before this, only the privileged elite had the right to vote.

Striking Workers
The oligarchy was then ousted in 1916 by the first radical president Hipolito Irigoyen. The growth in the manufacturing industry helped the economy but the new wealth was unevenly distributed leading to widespread discontent and the Semana Tragica (tragic week) in 1919 when many striking workers were killed in confrontations with the police. More strikes followed in Patagonia culminating in the bloody massacre of 121 men at Estancia Anita after which working conditions were improved and social security introduced.

By the end of the 1920s Argentina had become one of the world’s richest nations. But the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which was followed by world depression, devastated export markets. In 1930 Irigoyen was overthrown in a military coup and within a few decades Argentina had plunged to third world status. The country continued to alternate between civilian and military governments up until the late 1980s.

Peronism
Although Argentina’s stance on the Second World War was one of neutrality, the story was quite different within the armed forces. One group backed the Allies while a larger proportion backed the Axis powers. In 1943 a military dictatorship made up of high ranking army officers took power, which later turned into a constitutional regime headed by Colonel Juan Domingo Peron. He was backed by many younger officers and his following of descamisados (shirtless, referring to the working class). Peron went on to create the Partido Unico de la Revolucion otherwise known as the Peronist Party. When he stood for the presidency in 1946 he won an overwhelming majority. He amended the constitution a few years later so that he could be re-elected for a second term. Meanwhile, in 1951 Argentine women were given the vote for the first time. Peron’s wife Eva Duarte de Peron was instrumental in determining the president’s political strategy and it was she who liaised with the descamisados. But shortly after Peron began his second term in office, she died, and without her by his side he went on to make some appalling political blunders; he stopped giving wage increases, attacked the Catholic Church, and signed an agreement with the Standard Oil Company of California to exploit oil reserves, gravely offending the Argentine people themselves. Needless to say, Peron’s support crumbled and in 1955 a military junta once again took power. Peron was exiled in the Revolucion Libertadora. But that was not the end. The ideals of Peronism remained strong particularly among the working class and up until the early 1970s Argentina alternated between weak civilian and soft military regimes which paved the way for the return of Peron.

Political unrest continued until 1973 when the Peronist Hector Campora was elected president. The 78-year-old and slightly ailing Peron returned from exile in Spain and was re-elected president. But he died some nine months later and his third wife and vice-president Maria Estela Martinez, a former dancer, known as Isabelita, succeeded him as the world’s first woman president. Isabelita ruled through chaos. She proved to be inept and out of her depth. Inflation rocketed; civil unrest and guerrilla warfare ensued.

The Dirty War
Within three years Isabelita was ousted by another military junta headed by General Jorge Videla. His government banned political parties and started the Process of National Reorganisation. It later became known as El Proceso or the Dirty War which he raged against opponents, leftist sympathizers or anyone deemed to be a threat. Tens of thousands are thought to have disappeared – los desaparecidos - in what was undoubtedly one of Argentina’s bleakest periods. Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo organized weekly demonstrations in order to bring world attention to the human rights’ atrocities being committed in their country.

The Falklands War
General Videla was succeeded by General Roberto Viola who was subsequently overthrown by General Leopoldo Galtieri. In April 1982 he invaded the British-ruled Falkland Islands (Las Islas Malvinas) in the South Atlantic. But he had not quite bargained for the reaction of Britain’s then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who ordered her navel fleet to retake the islands. Britain regained control three months later when the Argentines surrendered - its troops were largely young conscripts who were poorly trained and badly equipped. Galtieri had hoped to rally support for his ailing government; instead he was discredited and replaced when democracy was restored in 1983.

Restoration of Democracy
The Radical government of Raul Alfonsin established a National Commission on Disappeared People which went on to document some ten thousand cases where people had disappeared or been tortured. These were published in its report Nunca Mas (never again), although some say numbers could have been three times that stated. Alfonsin’s government was also successful in putting Generals Videla, Viola and Galtieri behind bars for atrocities committed while they were in power. In 1986, giving in to military pressure, Alfonsin passed the Punto Final. This stipulated a final date for submission of writs against those who had allegedly committed human rights’ crimes. But Alfonsin had underestimated the response and within a few months the courts were inundated with such writs. The following year the law Obediencia Debida granted amnesty to all those involved aside from the leaders, which incensed victims’ relatives. By 1989 Alfonsin, unable to deal with hyperinflation and the economic crisis that had by that stage gripped the country, called a state of siege and stepped down from office six months ahead of term.

Democracy follows Democracy
In 1989, the leader of the Justicialist Party Carlos Saul Menem, a lawyer and the son of Syrian immigrants, was elected president and for the first time in over 50 years one democratically elected government was succeeded by another. Menem faced hyperinflation and a rebellious military. In 1992 with advice from his finance minister Domingo Cavallo, he decided to peg the Argentine peso to the US dollar, one for one, in the Plan de Convertibilidad, which successfully forced down inflation. He also cut government spending, dismantled protectionist barriers and implemented a privatization program that was scorned by traditional Peronists. Electricity, gas, oil and telephones were bought up by large Spanish companies - even Aerolineas Argentinas and YPF, the state-owned petroleum company were sold off. In 1989 Menem issued executive amnesties to all those convicted of human rights’ crimes in the 1970s. The public were outraged. Those granted amnesties were subsequently released – after which Menem could count on full military support.

In 1995 when the Mercosur trading agreement became live, creating a free-trade block, local industry found it simply couldn’t compete with cheap imported goods. While the wealthier Argentines saved in dollars, bought luxury goods and traveled abroad, the rest suffered increasing poverty and escalating unemployment. Menem amended the constitution in 1994 so he could run for a second four-year term and although he managed to get re-elected his honeymoon period was cut short when the country plunged further into economic crisis, one that that it would not recover from until years later.

Economic Collapse
In 1999 the Radical Fernando de la Rua took office but he, too, was unable to address the economic crisis and Argentina slipped still further into recession. It was then that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stepped in with what turned out to be insufficient emergency aid. Young people started to leave and they took their savings with them. In 2001, Domingo Caballo, the re-instated finance minister imposed restrictions on private peso accounts nicknamed the corralito (playpen). With the country on the brink of economic collapse, protestors took to the streets in their thousands - made up of the unemployed and the pot-banging middle classes chanting “que se vayan todos” (that is the politicians).

De la Rua resigned, only to be succeeded by various incongruous presidents until the election of the Peronist Eduardo Duhalde. Duhalde cut the peso’s link with the dollar. The value of the peso depreciated and inflation rocketed, plunging the banks into crisis and wiping out the savings of the middle class. Unrest and widespread discontent continued until the end of 2002 when the economy started to stabilize. With a more competitive exchange rate, exports started to increase and some re-industrialization took place.

Menem stood for re-election in 2003 but, fearing defeat, stood down in favor of his opponent, the little-known Nestor Kirchner, ex-governor of the oil-rich province of Santa Cruz in the far south. Many consider Kirchner to be the most powerful president since democracy was restored. He revived the economy, increased wages, pensions and the minimum salary. In 2007 he declared, in an unprecedented move, his wife Cristina Fernandez his successor. She won 45 per cent of the vote and became president in December that same year, but her popularity was short-lived. By May 2008 her government was already in disarray, the economy in crisis, and there was widespread social discontent. Nestor Kirchner, who was head of the Peronist Party, died suddenly in 2010.