Argentine Civil Wars

Argentine Civil Wars

Argentine Civil Wars

From top left: Battle of Arroyo Grande, execution of Manuel Dorrego, Battle of Pavn, death of Juan Lavalle, murder of Facundo Quiroga, Battle of Caseros, Battle of Famaill, Battle of Vuelta de Obligado. Date 18141880

Location Argentina Uruguay Result Federalization of Buenos Aires Sanction of a federal Constitution

Belligerents
Federales Blancos Unitarios Colorados

Commanders and leaders

Juan Manuel de Rosas Manuel Dorrego Justo Jos de Urquiza Francisco Ramrez Facundo Quiroga Chacho Pealoza Manuel Oribe Bartolom Mitre Bernardino Rivadavia Juan Lavalle Jos Mara Paz (POW) Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Fructuoso Rivera

The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of internecine wars that took place in Argentina from 1814 to 1880. These conflicts were separate from the Argentine War of Independence (18101820), though they first arose during this period. During this time Argentina was a failed state. The main antagonists were, on a geographical level, Buenos Aires Province and the other provinces of modern Argentina, and on a political level, between the Federal Party and the Unitarian Party. The central cause of the conflict was the excessive centralism advanced by Buenos Aires leaders and, for a long period, the monopoly on the use of the Port of Buenos Aires as the sole means for international commerce. Other participants at specific times included Uruguay, and the British and French empires, notably in the French blockade of the Ro de la Plata of 1838 and in the Anglo-French blockade of the Ro de la Plata that ended in 1850.

Argentine Civil Wars

Overview
Early conflicts against centralized rule
Regionalism had long marked the relationship among the numerous provinces of what today is Argentina, and the wars of independence did not result in national unity. The establishment of the League of the Free Peoples by the Eastern Bank of the Uruguay River and four neighboring provinces in 1814 marked the first formal rupture in the United Provinces of South America that had been created by the 1810 May Revolution. The Battle of Cepeda (1820) thwarted the goal of Buenos Aires leaders to govern the country under the Argentine Constitution of 1819, and following a series of disorders and a short-lived Constitutional Republic led by Buenos Aires centralist Bernardino Rivadavia in 1826 and 1827, the United Provinces established in 1810 again became divided, and the Province of Buenos Aires would emerge as the most powerful among the numerous semi-independent states.

Rosas and the Unitarians

An understanding was entered into by Buenos Aires Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas and other Federalist leaders out of need and a shared enmity toward the still vigorous Unitarian Party, who advocated differing forms of centralized government. The latter's 1830 establishment of the Unitarian League by Crdoba leader Jos Mara Paz from nine western and northern provinces thus forced Buenos Aires, Corrientes and Entre Ros Provinces into the Federal Pact of 1831, following which the Unitarian League was dismantled. The Buenos Aires leader deposed by Rosas in 1829, General Juan Lavalle, also led a series of rebellions with different alliances against Rosas and the Federal Pact until Lavalle's defeat and assassination in 1841. Since the fall of Rivadavia and the lack of a proper head of state there was a dynamic whereby leaders (caudillos) from the hinterland provinces would delegate certain powers, such as foreign debt payment or the management of international relations to the Buenos Aires leader. In addition, Rosas was granted the sum of public power. These powers also enabled Rosas to participate in the protracted Uruguayan Civil War in favor of Manuel Oribe, though unsuccessfully; Oribe, in turn, led numerous military campaigns on behalf of Rosas, and became an invaluable ally in the struggle against Lavalle and other Unitarians. The Argentine Confederation thus functioned, albeit amid ongoing conflicts, until the 1852 Battle of Caseros, when Rosas was deposed and exiled.

Buenos Aires Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas secured the Confederation under Federalist rule.

The central figure in the overthrow of Rosas, Entre Ros Governor Justo Jos de Urquiza, failed to secure Buenos Aires' ratification of the 1852 San Nicols Agreement, and the State of Buenos Aires was declared. The secessionist state rejected the 1853 Constitution of Argentina, and promulgated its own the following year. The most contentious issue remained the Buenos Aires Customs, which remained under the control of the city government and was the chief source of public revenue. Nations with which the Confederation maintained foreign relations, moreover, kept all embassies in Buenos Aires (rather than in the capital, Paran).

A Rosas-era banner calling for "death to the brutal Unitarians" typified the ongoing conflict.

Urquiza and the secession of Buenos Aires

Argentine Civil Wars

The State of Buenos Aires was also bolstered by its numerous alliances in the hinterland, including that of Santiago del Estero Province (led by Manuel Taboada), as well as among powerful Liberal Party governors in Salta, Corrientes, Tucumn and San Juan. The 1858 assassination of San Juan's Federalist governor, Nazario Benavdez, by Liberals inflamed tensions between the Confederation and the State of Buenos Aires, as did a free trade agreement between the chief Confederate port (the Port of Rosario) and the Port of Montevideo, which undermined Buenos Aires trade. The election of the intransigent Valentn Alsina further exacerbated disputes, which culminated in the Battle of Cepeda (1859). Buenos Aires forces, led by General Bartolom Mitre, were defeated by those led by the President of Argentina, Justo Jos de Urquiza. Ordered to subjugate Buenos Aires separatists by force, Urquiza instead invited the defeated to a round of negotiations, and secured the Pact of San Jos de Flores, which provided for a number of constitutional amendments and led to other concessions, including an extension on the province's customs house concession and measures benefiting the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires, whose currency was authorized for use as legal tender at the customs house (thereby controlling much of the nation's foreign trade). Mitre ultimately abrogated the Pact of San Jos, leading to renewed civil war. These hostilities culminated in the 1861 Battle of Pavn, and to victory on the part of Mitre and Buenos Aires over Urquiza's national forces. President Santiago Derqui, who had been backed by Urquiza, resigned on November 4, 1861. Mitre, who despite victory reaffirmed his commitment to the 1860 constitutional amendments, was elected the republic's first president in 1862.

Justo Jos de Urquiza's 1852 overthrow of Rosas fanned Buenos Aires secessionists

National unification

Bartolom Mitre wrested concessions toward Buenos Aires and became a staunch defender of national unity.

President Mitre instituted an limited suffrage electoral system known as the voto cantado ("intoned vote"), which depended on a pliant electoral college and would be conditioned to prevent the election of secessionists to high office through electoral fraud, if necessary. The 1874 election of Catamarca Province Nicols Avellaneda, who had been endorsed by an erstwhile Buenos Aires separatist, Adolfo Alsina, led to renewed fighting when Mitre mutineed a gunboat to prevent the inaugural. He was defeated, however, and only President Avellaneda's commutation spared his life. Vestigial opposition to the new order continued from Federalists, notably La Rioja leader Chacho Pealoza, who was killed in 1863 following a long campaign of internecine warfare, and Entre Ros leader Ricardo Lpez Jordn, whose Jordanist rebellion of 1870 to 1876 marked the last Federalist revolt. The 1880 election of the leader of Conquest of the Desert, General Julio Roca, led to a final armed insurrection by Buenos Aires Governor Carlos Tejedor. Its quick defeat and a truce brokered by Mitre quieted the last source of open resistance to national unity (Buenos Aires autonomists), and resulted in the Federalization of Buenos Aires, as well as the hegemony of Roca's PAN and pro-modernization Generation of '80 policy makers over national politics until 1916[citation needed].

Argentine Civil Wars

Main conflicts
War between the Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Ro de la Plata and Jos Artigas' League of the Free Peoples (18141820) Battle of Cepeda (1820) Conflicts with La Rioja leader Facundo Quiroga (18261835) Federalist war against the Unitarian League (1831) Revolution of the Restorers against Buenos Aires Governor Juan Ramn Balcarce (1833) Conflicts with La Rioja leader Chacho Pealoza (1835 1845; 1860 1863) French blockade of the Ro de la Plata (1838) Free Men of the South revolt, quelled at Chascoms in 1839 Pedro Ferr's Corrientes revolt (18391842) Involvement in the Uruguayan Civil War by Rosas on behalf of Manuel Oribe (18391851) War with the Northern Coalition (18401841) Revolt by Juan Lavalle against Juan Manuel de Rosas (1841) Battle of Caaguaz and defeat of Unitarian forces in Corrientes (1841) Joaqun Madariaga's Corrientes revolt (18431847) Battle of Vuelta de Obligado (1845) and Anglo-French blockade of the Ro de la Plata (18451850) Entre Ros leader Justo Jos de Urquiza's break with Rosas (1851) Battle of Caseros (1852) Revolution of September 11, 1852, creating State of Buenos Aires Siege of Buenos Aires (1853) Battle of Cepeda (1859) Battle of Pavn (1861) Felipe Varela's Revolucin de los Colorados in Catamarca and other western provinces (1867) Entre Ros leader Ricardo Lpez Jordn's rebellion (18701876) Bartolom Mitre's insurrection against Autonomist Party and President-elect Nicols Avellaneda (1874) Buenos Aires Governor Carlos Tejedor's rebellion against President-elect Julio Roca (1880)

References
Levene, Ricardo. A History of Argentina. University of North Carolina Press, 1937. Luna, Flix. Los caudillos. Buenos Aires: Editorial Pea Lillo, 1971. Historical Dictionary of Argentina. London: Scarecrow Press, 1978.

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Argentine Civil Wars Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=592164353 Contributors: Anotherclown, Aymatth2, Cambalachero, Courcelles, DagosNavy, Dentren, Edward J. Picardy, GcSwRhIc, Hchc2009, IANVS, In ictu oculi, MIKHEIL, Magioladitis, Nick Number, Pol098, Sebasbronzini, Sherlock4000, Tassedethe, The Illusive Man, Title punk3, Vrenator, Who is like God?, 15 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Guerra Civil.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Guerra_Civil.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: La_conduccin_del_cadver_de_Lavalle_en_la_quebrada_de_Humahuaca.JPG: Nicanor Blanes Batalla_de_Arroyo_Grande.jpg: Carlos Descalzo (1813 - 1879) Fusilamiento_de_Dorrego.jpg: Augusto Ballerini (1857 - 1897) Batalla_de_Pavon.jpg: Ignacio Manzoni Barranca_Yaco_2.jpeg: Gaetano Descalzi (1809-1886) Caseros.jpg: Austrian writer Alejandro Bernheim and the Italian cartoonist Carlos Penutti. Alejandro Bernheim founded together with the Chilean writer Manuel Bilbao (1827-95) the newspaper "La Repblica" in 1868. IMPORTANT: Even if both were only 18 years old in 1852 (that is, were born in 1834) and had lived up to 100 years old and had died in 1934, even so more than 75 years has passed. Famaill.jpg: Batalla_de_la_Vuelta_de_Obligado.jpg: Manuel Larravide (1871-1910) derivative work: Belgrano (talk) File:Flag of Artigas.svg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Artigas.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: User:Jordevi Image:Flag of the National Party (Uruguay).svg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_National_Party_(Uruguay).svg License: Public Domain Contributors: UberHalogen File:Flag of Unitarian Party (Navy).svg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Unitarian_Party_(Navy).svg License: Public Domain Contributors: ALE!, Cycn, Fma12, Guilherme Paula, 1 anonymous edits File:Flag of Colorado Party (Uruguay).svg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Colorado_Party_(Uruguay).svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Vectorised by Froztbyte File:Skull and crossbones.svg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Skull_and_crossbones.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Andux, Andy0101, Bayo, Coyau, D0ktorz, Derbeth, Eugenio Hansen, OFS, Franzenshof, Ies, J.delanoy, JMCC1, Jahoe, Juliancolton, Karelj, Ksd5, MarianSigler, Natr, Sarang, Silsor, Stepshep, Str4nd, Sven Manguard, The Evil IP address, Tiptoety, Trelio, W!B:, Wknight94, 21 anonymous edits File:Rosas 2.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Rosas_2.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Fernando Garca del Molino (18131899) (attributed) File:Mueran los salvajes unitarios.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mueran_los_salvajes_unitarios.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Juan Manuel de Rosas File:Justo jos de urquiza.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Justo_jos_de_urquiza.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Fadesga, LeoDavid File:Bartolom Mitre 3.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bartolom_Mitre_3.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Original uploader was ALE! at de.wikipedia

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