The beginning of the state is situated during the
May Revolution (specifically on 24 or 25 May 1810), when the
viceroy of the Río de la Plata,
Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, was dismissed by the
Open Cabildo. The reason behind this decision was a very complex political context originating after the
capture of King
Ferdinand VII of Spain by
Napoleon: the people of the
Iberian Peninsula organised a provisional government known as
Supreme Central Junta, which ended up being acknowledged by
Spanish America, and appointed Cisneros as viceroy; however, this junta was
disestablished by French forces, so the Viceroy legitimacy was in danger, as he had been elected not by the King, but by a spontaneous
junta that did not exist anymore. The
criollos, people with Peninsular Spanish ancestry born in the Americas, were legally considered Spanish, but in practice were excluded from important government offices. Many of them were influenced by
Enlightenment and
liberal ideas, and wanted to change their situation and their society. Besides, Spanish America had a history of indigenous and criollo rebellions, such as the
Rebellion of Tupac Amaru II and the
Revolutions of La Paz and
Chuquisaca. Therefore, when the Peninsular government fell, they demanded the dismissal of Cisneros and the creation of a
government junta, sustained by the
principle of retroversion of sovereignty to the people, which says that, in absence of a legitimate sovereign, such as the King, sovereignty must return to the people. They were supported by Buenos Aires' urban militias such as the
Regiment of Patricians, commanded by
Cornelio Saavedra. Nevertheless, other
criollos oppossed the Revolution, especially those who benefited from the Spanish commercial monopoly and the bureaucratic elite. The
Primera Junta (the government created by the May Revolution) swore loyalty to Ferdinand VII and did not declare independence, but refused to recognise the authority of the
Council of Regency of Spain and Indies —which was the new provisional government in the Iberian Peninsula— since it had not been chosen by Spanish American citizens. This created a
huge debate among historians, which is usually divided between those who think that the initial discretion was a strategy of the revolutionaries while they were waiting for a better international context, and those who say that the 1810 was the best context for the revolutionaries to declare independence, but they did not do it since it was not the goal at first, and became the only option when Ferdinand VII returned to the throne and turned extremely conservative.
Political context After the May Revolution, there were two main political positions in the Provinces. The first one was composed of those who wanted to preserve the Old Regime, such as the ecclesiastical elite, bureaucrats related to the viceregnal administration and rich merchants who benefited from the Spanish commercial monopoly; they were entrenched in the
Royal Audiencia and the
Cabildo of Buenos Aires. On the other hand, the revolutionaries encompassed a petty bourgeoisie and a new merchant bourgeoisie. The first one was integrated by lawyers (Moreno, Castelli, Belgrano and Paso), popular priests (Alberti,
José Ignacio Grela and
Juan Manuel Aparicio), common workers (
Domingo French,
Antonio Beruti,
Agustín José Donado,
Buenaventura de Arzac,
Francisco Mariano de Orma, etc.) and doctors (
Cosme Argerich); primarily influenced by Enlightenment and popular sovereignty ideas. The second group (the merchant bourgeoisie) was related to the free trade sanctioned in 1809, but also to smuggling. There were
criollo families (Riglos, Aguirre, Sarratea, Escalada, García, Rivadavia, etc.) and British ones (Miller, Parish, Bellinghurst, O'Gorman, Wilde, Craig, Dillon, Twaites, Gowland, Lynch, Robertson, Mackinson, Brittain, Armstrong, Ramsay, etc.).
Primera Junta The Primera Junta, founded on 25 May 1810, was a government
junta similar to the ones from the Iberian Peninsula. It was integrated by Cornelio Saavedra as
chairman,
Manuel Belgrano,
Juan José Castelli,
Manuel Alberti,
Miguel de Azcuénaga,
Juan Larrea and
Domingo Matheu as voting members, and
Mariano Moreno and
Juan José Paso as secretaries. However, one of the debated issues in creating an spontaneous
junta in Buenos Aires was the lack of representation of the other provinces, so one of the first measures of the Primera Junta was to send a circular to each city of the former Viceroyalty announcing its creation and requesting them to send deputies. As the news spread, the Primera Junta started to work as the new government immediately. Although Saavedra was the chairman, the Junta’s political measures were chosen by Moreno and his friends, such as Belgrano and Castelli (known as a whole as Morenism), who had greater influence and were considered to be extremists, since they were inspired by the
French Revolution. On the other hand, Saavedra and his followers (Saavedrism) had more moderate ideas. There is a document called
Operations Plan which is attributed to Moreno and contains a list of policies in order for the provisional government to win the war against absolutism. Some authors, like Diego Bause, claim that the
Plan is apocryphal, and a copy of a French play called
The Cemetery of Magdalena, while others, such as
Norberto Galasso, say that it is an authentic document that correlates with the Junta’s measures under Moreno’s influence. Regarding the economy, the Primera Junta established a fund to promote the mining industry, redistributed lands in the
Pampas, and imposed limits to prevent the concentration of large estates. It maintained tariffs on imported goods despite pressure from British merchants and launched an enterprise to manufacture rifles in Buenos Aires and Tucumán, as well as another to produce gunpowder in Córdoba. Nevertheless, there was not enough time for Moreno’s policies to take effect, and some of them, such as the maintenance of tariffs on imported goods, put him at odds with one of the social classes that supported the revolution (the
criollo and British merchants). This strengthened support for Saavedrism as an alternative to Morenism. When the cities of the other provinces (intendacies) and political-military governments received the news about the dismissal of Cisneros, some of them acknowledged the authority of the new government, while others refused to do so. There was a counterrevolution in Córdoba led by former viceroy of the Río de la Plata
Santiago de Liniers, but it was suppressed and he was executed. On the other hand, the
Viceroyalty of Peru, which had recognised the authority of the Council of Regency, considered the new Buenos Aires government to be illegitimate and annexed the intendancies and governments of Upper Peru. The
Intendancy of Paraguay refused to accept the new Junta as well and swore loyalty to the Council of Regency. The Political and Military Government of Montevideo did the same. This forced the Junta to launch military campaigns to
Paraguay,
Upper Peru and
Banda Oriental, marking the beginning of the
Argentine War of Independence. Eventually, the deputies from the provinces arrived in Buenos Aires to join the Junta. Moreno did not want to admit them, arguing that it would slow down the government and that they should participate in a General Congress to decide the permanent organization of the State instead. On 18 December 1810, the deputies were accepted after a vote, marking the beginning of the
Junta Grande. Moreno submitted his resignation, but it was refused; instead, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to the United Kingdom and died in
International Waters under strange circumstances.
Junta Grande The Junta Grande was integrated by the same members of the previous
junta, along with the deputies that had come from the provinces. Morenism lost its majority and became a minor political force, while Saavedrism rose to prominence with a more moderate political agenda. The military expeditions that the Primera Junta had launched to Upper Peru and Paraguay, commanded by Morenists Castelli and Belgrano respectively, were defeated, and the
Banda Oriental campaign had significant defeats such as the
Battle of San Nicolás. This worsened the situation of Morenism and the government. On 5 and 6 April 1811, the Saavedrist party positioned people across the Plaza de la Victoria (modern-day
Plaza de Mayo), right in front of the Fort of Buenos Aires (where the
Casa Rosada is now located), to demand the dismissal of the last Morenist members of the Junta. Larrea, Azcuénaga,
Hipólito Vieytes and
Nicolás Rodríguez Peña were expelled from the government, consolidating Saavedrist control over the Junta’s politics. Many Morenists were exiled: Azcuénaga and
Gervasio Antonio de Posadas to
Mendoza, Larrea to
San Juan, Rodríguez Peña to
San Luis, and French, Beruti and Vieytes to
Patagonia. It is debated among historians whether this revolution was a popular movement or not. The Banda Oriental campaign escalated with a
siege and even a
Portuguese attack called by Viceroy
Francisco Javier de Elío of Montevideo. Since the conflict surrounded the
Río de la Plata, it affected commercial interests of those whose wealth depended on the ports of
Buenos Aires and
Montevideo. The Junta Grande did not reach an agreement with the government of Montevideo about signing a treaty, so it was accused of ineptitude by the Cabildo (mainly composed of British and criollo merchants). An assembly was convened —taking advantage of the fact that Saavedra had been sent to reorganise the
Army of the North and was being replaced as chairman by Matheu— and a new government was established on 23 September 1811: the
First Triumvirate. The Junta continued to exist with the name of
Junta conservadora de la soberanía del señor don Fernando VII y de las leyes nacionales (Junta for the Preservation of the Sovereignty of Lord Don Ferdinand VII and the National Laws) but without the executive power, and was dissolved months later.
First Triumvirate The First Triumvirate was established on 23 September 1811 with
Feliciano Antonio Chiclana,
Manuel de Sarratea and Paso as triumvirs, but the aforementioned was replaced by
Juan Martín de Pueyrredón later.
Bernardino Rivadavia,
Vicente López y Planes and
José Julián Pérez were appointed as ministers. This new government was somewhat reluctant to continue the war (probably due to the way it complicated trade, since it had been established primarily by merchants, according to historians such as Norberto Galasso), so it signed treaties with both Paraguay and Montevideo on 12 and 20 October respectively. The first one acknowledged Paraguay's independence from Buenos Aires, while the second treaty recognised the authority of the new viceroy appointed by the Council of Regency (
Francisco Jaiver de Elío) over Banda Oriental and Montevideo, but not the rest of the former Viceroyalty; logically, this implied the cessation of hostilities between the two governments, so
José Gervasio Artigas, the main leader of Banda Oriental (Uruguay) struggle for independence, was left alone. The officers secretly created a lodge, known as the
Lautaro Lodge, in which they discussed the politics of the provinces and supervised the Triumvirate's actions. Nonetheless, after this measure, the lawyer decided to create a flag with the cockade colours and raise it while he was in
Rosario supervising the
Paraná River, as well as to administer the oath to the new flag to his soldiers. When the Triumvirate found out, it ordered Belgrano to hide the flag and sent him a
Spanish red and yellow one, but he had already departed for the north with the duty of reorganising the
Army for a second Upper Peru campaign, so he did not receive the message. Belgrano held another ceremony when he arrived in
San Salvador de Jujuy, in which a priest blessed the flag. The Triumvirate sanctioned him, and Belgrano said that he would hide the flag until a significant victory was achieved. A few weeks later, the collegiate government ordered Belgrano to withdraw from the north and return to Córdoba. The lawyer obeyed the order despite his strong disagreement —since it meant abandoning a lot of territory—, but when he and his soldiers arrived in Tucumán, the population supported the struggle, so Belgrano stopped there and successfully defended the city in the
Battle of Tucumán. This event affected the government’s reputation and marked a promising beginning for the
Second Upper Peru campaign. The news about Belgrano’s victory in Tucumán after ignoring government orders arrived in Buenos Aires during the first days of October and ruined the Triumvirate’s reputation. San Martín, along with the other members of the Lautaro Lodge, wanted to gain participation in the government in order to take more radical measures than the Triumvirate was willing to adopt, and waited until the election of new triumvirs. Nevertheless, their candidate —
Bernardo de Monteagudo— was rejected, and a sympathiser of Rivadavia and his policies was chosen instead. Therefore, on
8 October 1812, San Martín and the Logia Lautaro deployed the grenadiers and other soldiers across the Plaza de la Victoria to protest, while the Patriotic Society brought people to do the same. The First Triumvirate resigned and the Cabildo created the
Second Triumvirate. Artigas was offered to send deputies in the name of Banda Oriental. He accepted and sent them with the duty of demanding the declaration of independence, the establishment of a federal system, civil and religious freedom, etc. These ideas, considered radical by the government of Buenos Aires, led to his representatives being rejected from the Assembly. In response to this and other decisions, Artigas abandoned the siege of Montevideo, which he maintained along with Rondeau. Some historians claim that the rejection of Artigas' deputies was a shift to
Enlightened absolutism by the old Morenists, who had radical ideas but wanted to govern without the people. Others say that the
caudillos (such as Artigas) were barbarians, and therefore it was a good choice not to let them in. This last-minute replacement of Rondeau by Alvear in the besieging army led some people to think that it was intended to concede Alvear the glory of entering Montevideo. Within that framework, Posadas appointed Rondeau as
general-in-chief of the Army of the North in place of San Martín, who had leave in order to recover from a stomach
ulcer; Rondeau spent the rest of the year reorganising and preparing the army for a third Upper Peru campaign. Meanwhile, Posadas appointed San Martín as governor of Cuyo at his request. Cuyo was a former Argentine province that included present-day territories of
Mendoza,
San Juan and
San Luis provinces), and limited with Chile. San Martín spent two years there creating an army for the Crossing of the Andes with local help. On the other hand, in February 1814 the
Province of Entre Ríos rebelled against Buenos Aires authority, following Artigas, and achieved autonomy after the
Battle of El Espinillo. Posadas declared Artigas a traitor to the nation, but this did not stop his movement. The
Province of Corrientes rebelled against its Cabildo, declared autonomy and adhered to the “federation system, with General Artigas as Protector”.
Misiones embraced federalism as well, with Andresito Artigas (Artigas’ adopted son) as governor. These rebel provinces, with Artigas as their leader, marked the beginning of the
Union of the Free Peoples, commonly referred to as the Federal League, which became an alternative to Buenos Aires’ government for the provinces of the Río de la Plata.
Alvear Directorship Alvear was appointed as supreme director on 9 January 1815 after the resignation of his uncle Posadas. His directorship was marked by a strong persecution of political dissent and adversaries; he organised an espionage network, executed people without prior trial and ended up decreeing death penalty for anyone who criticized his government. Alvear was primarilly supported by the members of the Lautaro Lodge (except San Martín, who was already at odds with him and opposed his directorship). This government is considered the final ideological degeneration and shift to
elitism of the old Morenists by some historians. There is no consensus about him being a dictator since he only exercised power for 95 days. Regarding his federal opponents, Alvear was seen as the ultimate expression of unitarianism and centralism. The Supreme Director also had aristocratic opponents who objected his French ideas and considered him a traitor to his class, because he came from an aristocratic family. Alvear responded this group not only with persecution but by imposing high taxes as well. He also seized funds from factories belonging to churches and pious confraternities and, faced with the danger of an absolutist expedition sent by Ferdinand VII, who had just returned to the Spanish throne, Alvear allowed slaves to enlist in the army in exchange for freedom. The governor of Córdoba,
Francisco Ortiz de Ocampo, resigned after being threatened by Artigas, and was replaced by
José Javier Díaz. Although he declared himself as an ally of the
caudillo, he did not break off relations with the Directory. The intendant of
La Rioja —which at that time, was part of Córdoba—, for his part, refused to acknowledge Artigas' authority and remained under the control of the Directory. Alvear, willing to terminate the conflict, offered Artigas the independence of the Oriental Province, but the
caudillo refused, since he was compromised with the entire Federal League, which encompassed most of the Argentine littoral, and his project was not about separatism, but bringing federalism to the all the provinces. Due to the desperate situation, on 28 February, Alvear sent the diplomatic
Manuel José García to
Rio de Janeiro to negotiate with the British consul
Lord Strangford the possibility of making the United Provinces part of the United Kingdom as a protectorate, hoping to end the civil in that way and reestablish a central government without Artigas. This plan, known as
la misión García (the García Mission), did not succeed because the United Kingdom and Spain had become allies against Napoleon, and the United Provinces were still part of the Kingdom of Spain formally. A few weeks later, another federal revolution broke out, this time in
Santa Fe, which appointed
Francisco Candioti as governor and included the province in the Federal League. In response, Alvear launched an army commanded by
Ignacio Álvarez Thomas with the duty of taking over Santa Fe, crossing Entre Ríos and trying to attack the Oriental Province. However, they refused to march towards Santa Fe and issued a proclamation against the Supreme Director during the
Mutiny of Fontezuelas. Alvear resigned and went into exile in a British frigate, the Lautaro Lodge was dissolved and its supporters were arrested or exiled. Rondeau was chosen as supreme director, but he could not exercise power since he was in Upper Peru; therefore, Álvarez Thomas was appointed instead.
Rondeau-Álvarez Thomas Directorship Rondeau was appointed as Supreme Director on 20 April but he could not exercise power properly as he was in Upper Peru, so the next day the Cabildo appointed Álvarez Thomas as interim supreme director. Four days earlier, the
Third Upper Peru campaign, which Rondeau had been organising, had begun.
Antonio Álvarez de Arenales, with 500 men and the help of
Martín Miguel de Güemes, defeated
Francisco Fernando de la Cruz and his army. Thereafter, Rondeau moved forward to Yavi, where royalist
Pedro Antonio Olañeta had been located before withdrawing.
Joaquín de la Pezuela ordered a retreat to Oruro and the majority of Upper Peru was annexed by the United Provinces by July. Nonetheless, Pezuela's army received reinforcements while encamped in Oruro, and counterattacked on 29 November in the
Battle of Viluma. Rondeau was defeated in that battle and the campaign was sealed as a failure, meaning the loss of the majority of Upper Peru once again. Güemes and his troops had split from Rondeau’s army due to differences with him, and were stationed around the north of the
Province of Salta and the
Puna de Atacama. Güemes took with him weapons left by the Army of the North during its march. He arrived in Salta, which was going through a difficult situation due to the absence of the governor and the demands of Buenos Aires on the province for resources for the Army of the North. Güemes, who had strong popular support, was appointed governor of Salta, marking the first time that the people of that province elected their own governor; Salta achieved political independence without resigning their belonging to the United Provinces as a country. When Rondeau lost the Battle of Viluma, he retreated to Salta with his army, occupied the provincial capital and declared Güemes as a traitor. Güemes deliberately allowed Rondeau and his men to pursue him, gradually wearing them down and ultimately forcing him to sign a treaty recognising him as governor of Salta. As a consequence of this treaty, Rondeau was formally removed from the office of supreme director. Meanwhile, Artigas sent representatives to sign a peace treaty with Buenos Aires, but Álvarez Thomas ordered their arrest. Then, in order to finish the work that he refused to continue with during the Mutiny of Fontezuelas, he launched an army under
Juan José Viamonte's command, which recovered the Province of Santa Fe from Artigas. However, on 2 March 1816, the
caudillos Mariano Vera and
Estanislao López rebelled and besieged the city of Santa Fe. On 21 March, Viamonte surrendered and provincial sovereignty was proclaimed, as well as the formal entry into the Federal League. In response, Álvarez Thomas launched another army, but General Díaz Vélez made an agreement with the federals, and the Supreme Director ended up resigning in circumstances similar to the mutiny which had allowed his appointment.
Pueyrredón Directorship Rondeau Directorship Declaration of independence Liga Federal The Liga Federal (1815–1820), or Liga de los Pueblos Libres (League of the Free Peoples), was an alliance of provinces in what is now Argentina and Uruguay, organised under democratic federalist ideals strongly advocated by its leader,
José Gervasio Artigas. The government of the United Provinces of South America felt threatened by the growing appeal of the Liga Federal, so they did nothing to repel the incoming
Portuguese invasion of
Misiones Orientales and the
Banda Oriental, the stronghold of Artigas. Brazilian General
Carlos Frederico Lecor, thanks to their numerical and material superiority, defeated Artigas and his army and occupied
Montevideo on 20 January 1817, but the struggle continued for three long years in the countryside. Infuriated by the passivity of Buenos Aires, Artigas
declared war on Buenos Aires while he was losing to the Portuguese. On 1 February 1820, Federal League governors
Francisco Ramírez of
Entre Ríos and
Estanislao López of
Santa Fe,
defeated a
Supreme Directorship diminished army, ending the centralized government of the United Provinces, and established a
federal agreement with
Buenos Aires Province. Similarly, the Federal League effectively came to an end when its constituent provinces rejoined the United Provinces. Artigas, defeated by the Portuguese, retreated to Entre Ríos. From there, he denounced the
Treaty of Pilar and entered into conflict with his former ally governor Ramírez, who crushed the remnants of Artigas' army. The former Protector of the Free Peoples was exiled in
Paraguay until his death. The
Eastern Province was annexed by
Portugal to its
Brazilian dependences in 1821.
Anarchy of the year XX First presidency War with Brazil and Independence of Uruguay Resumption of the Civil War == Downfall ==