IB HL History Mr. Blackmon Skidmore and Smith: Outline And
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IB HL History Mr. Blackmon Skidmore and Smith: Outline and SFI: Argentina: From Skidmore and Smith pp. 68-113 All citations are from Skidmore and Smith unless otherwise noted In other words, this is sort of a glorified book report I. Struggle over Nationhood A. Major theme: type of government 1. Unitarians a. Supporters from Buenos Aires b. Nationalize Buenos Aires, strip it of autonomy, and use it to eliminate trade barriers and permit greater foreign trade. 2. Federalists a. Supporters from the interior b. Nationalize Buenos Aires, divide customs receipts among all provinces, retain local political autonomy, especially the power to levy interprovincial tariffs to protect local industry 3. Federalists (but not the same as above) a. Supporters from Buenos Aires b. Opposed nationalization of Buenos Aires, keep customs monopoly, and support free trade. B. Caudillo Juan Manuel de Rosas 1829-1852 1. From the provinces, and a federalist (1) 2. Favored estancieros 3. Extended power over Buenos Aires 4. Used a terror squad, the Mazorca, to repress all opposition 5. Trade policies were protectionist C. Gen. Justo José de Urquiza overthrows Rosas in 1852 1. 1853 he promulgates a new federalist constitution 2. Buenos Aires refuses to join, and is defeated in 1859 3. In 1861, Buenos Aires again revolts, and this time wins D. Bartolomé Mitre becomes president 1. Followed by Domingo Sarmiento a. Paraguayan War (1865-1870) (1) Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano López attemted to seize the Paranán River basin, provoking a war with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay 2. Followed Nicolá Avellaneda (1874-1880) a. Gen. Julio Roca conquers the pampas, :”subduing or exterminating” (71) the indigenous population (1) Sort of an Argentine George Armstrong Custer b. 1880 Buenos Aires takes a status rather like Washington DC 3. Followed by Julio Roca IB HL History Mr. Blackmon Skidmore and Smith: Argentina Page 2 a. “The symbolism could hardly have been better: the Indian fighter presiding over the Europeanization of a South American republic.” (71) b. Influence of Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism II. Overview: Economic Growth and Social Change A. Prosperity in the 1880-1914 era depended upon the ability to provide agricultural goods to Europe B. Argentina produces beef and grain for the growing European market. 1. They are aided by steam ships and refrigeration.. C. Argentina lacks capital and labor. 1. The British invest in railroads, docks, packing houses and utilities. 2. From 1857-1930, Argentina receives 3.5 million immigrants, 46% from Italy and 32 % from Spain. African and native American populations are very small. 3. This labor force is very fluid, esp. from rural to urban. a. Italians and Spaniards become colonists, tenant farmers, laborers, transport workers, processing plant workers, and service industry workers. D. Industry involved processing agricultural products. 1. Processors identify with the export economy E. Argentina’s “Golden Age” F. Integration into the world economy exposed Argentina to sharp fluctuations in world prices of agricultural products, which meant that the fate of its economy was decided outside its borders. G. Argentina also dependant upon the international scene financially 1. Argentina’s peso tied to the gold standard, which made for sharp variations in gold results 2. Foreign capital and foreign businessmen provided 35% of the capital between 1900-1929 3. Foreign capital was so prevalent that it become a target of the nationalists 4. Buenos Aires remains much more prospterous than the interior. Prosperity unequally divided 5. Rural estancieros prospered, tenant farmers struggled. 6. Urban growth creates large discrepancies in income s a target for the nationalists H. Nationalist protest 1. Ricardo Rojas rebels against European emphasis by pointing to native Americans and the soil– Martín Fiero, a poem about the gauchos --and Ezequiel Martínez’ X-Ray of the Pampas also objects to European dominance. 2. Working class culture produces a Spanish-Italian dialect, lunfardo, and the tango. IB HL History Mr. Blackmon Skidmore and Smith: Argentina Page 3 I. Argentina never developed a peasantry; land in the pampas was never given to small families, unlike the US in the Great Plains. 1. There is no potential peasant power base or peasantry with whom to form a coalition J. Wage laborers were numerous in cities, 1. development of parliamentary Socialist party, the anarachists (Federación Obrera Regional Argentina FORA). 2. In response to FORA strikes, gov’t passes a. La Ley de Residencia, allowing deportation of agitators. b. La Ley de Defensa Social made it easier to arrest labor leaders. III. The Political System: Consensus and Reform A. Dominant liberal politicians drawn from the landowning class, and monopolized instruments of power, including the army and elections (via vote fraud), 1. Controlled only party, Partido Autonomista Nacional) PAN 2. Key decisions made by informal agreement, or acuerdo. B. Radical Party emerges from three discontented groups: 1. (1) newly prosperous landowners, 2. (2) old aristocratic families from interior who did not benefit from export growth 3. (3) middle classes who are cut off from power. 4. They are led by Hipólito Yrigoyen; 5. they are committed to government economic poliices–they just want to share power C. Sáenz Peña Law extended vote to middle classes, leading to Yrigoyen’s election as President in 1916. D. Organized labor emerges as a genuine force. Post-War strikes wrack the nation 1918-19 over wartime inflation.. 1. The syndicalists called for a general strike, which led to the ultra-rightist Líga Patriótica Argentina. 2. Strikes mobilized upper- and middle-class fear of the proletariat: class warfare. a. Labor is suppressed violently. E. The Confederición General del Trabajo (CGT) is founded in 1930 1. The Socialists push political action in the 1920s, the Communists the labor movement, but the decade is not successful for either. F. Electorate enlarged again, including all 18 year old males. 1. Increased political participation made parties more important, whose vehicle is the Congress. 2. Reforms help the middle-classes since few immigrants became naturalized. 3. The Radicals employ machine politics to dominant the country; 4. Conservatives are disillusioned at limited democracy. IB HL History Mr. Blackmon Skidmore and Smith: Argentina Page 4 G. The Great Depression: 1. Argentina’s export earnings fell 34% in 1932, aggregate output fell 14% between 1929 and 1932, and immigration ceased. (Rock 220) 2. Nevertheless, Argentina was not hit as badly as many other Latin American countries. IV. The Military Turns Back the Clock A. Evolution of the military: The liberals of 1852 wanted a professional military that could crush the caudillos. 1. Professional schools were established in the 1870's, and in 1899, 2. German officers were brought in to teach the new technology. By 1910, promotion was by merit and mastery of the technology. 3. This opened up careers to middle-class officers, who identified themselves closely with the honor and autonomy of the military and who were often suspicious and scornful of the civilian leadership, whom they regarded as corrupt and inefficient. 4. The military could see itself as apolitical and as an agent of modernization. B. Yrigoyen is overthrown by the military, who are not, however, united. 1. Gen. Agustin Justo led a faction that wanted to return to pre-Sáenz Peña oligarchy; 2. Gen. José Uriburu led a faction that “wanted a hierarchical order based on social function . a. Uriburu envisioned a ‘functional democracy’ where the elected legislators would represent functional (or ‘corporate’) interests, such as ranchers, workers, merchants, and industrialists.” (84-85) b. This “corporatist model” is heavily influenced by Mussolini 3. Justo emerged as a winner in 1932, and sought “to form a broad, national government that would give him the authority to respond to the socioeconomic effect of the world depression.” (85) C. The Military and the Great Depression 1. Justo’s initial response was quite orthodox: cut public spending, devalue the peso (1933) to ease pressure on foreign debt payments; increase tariffs to reduce imports, exchange controls. 2. Roca-Runciman Agreement 1932: Great Britain, responding to the crisis and pressure from the Empire, agrees to give preference to the Commonwealth in trading. This threatened Argentine exports to Great Britain. a. Roca-Runciman protected the level of Argentine beef exports to Great Britain, but on terms that gave most advantages to the British with preferential treatment in other areas. Roca-Runciman thus became very unpopular with nationalists. 3. The war led to the disruption of normal trading patterns–the continent was cut off by blockade, and the British redirected all resources into the war IB HL History Mr. Blackmon Skidmore and Smith: Argentina Page 5 effort rather than trade. 4. This led to Import-Substituting Industrialization. ISI attempts to promote the growth of consumer industry to replace manufactured products previously imported from abroad, such as textiles. a. Typically, this involves higher import tariffs to protect local industry, direct investment in companies, government companies, and favoritism to local companies.. (54) b. Among ISI’s weaknesses is the fact that the machinery needed to produce the consumer goods must still be imported (thus altering but not eliminating the dependency) and the fact that consumer demand will eventually hit a limit unless a more general prosperity increases the buying power of the bulk of the population 5. Loss of income from imports meant a fiscal revolution was necessary: Justo passed an income tax. Justo then seeks price supports for farmers (a policy similar to Brazil and the U.S.) \ a. “Supports were administered by regulatory boards (juntas), which were createc for grains, meat, cotton, wines, milk and other goods. Throughout the 1930s these boards performed like their counterparts in such countries as Brazil and the United States: financing production, puchasing surpluses, and seeking to promote price stability.” (Rock 223) 6.