Argentina History

While the first Spaniards landed in modern-day Argentina in 1516, the settlement of the Mendoza region would have to wait until 1561, when the first trickle of settlers arrived over the Andes from Chile.  Explorers like Pizzaro and Cortes had found massive amounts of gold and silver in other parts of South and Central America, and the lure of easy wealth in places like Mexico and Peru ensured that Argentina remained an afterthought for Spain throughout much of the colonial period. 

The Spanish settlers who did make the journey over the Andes found the region inhabited by three different native tribes, the Huarpes, Puelches and Incas.  The Huarpes, a peaceful, agricultural people had already constructed an irrigation system on their land which the Spanish co-opted and is still in use today.  Despite Mendoza’s isolated position, this irrigation system created a vast area of fertile land that spurred population growth.  Local peoples were employed (either through slavery or otherwise) and evangelized as Spanish dominance grew.  As in many other Spanish colonies, the Jesuits played a large role in this transformation.  By the late 18th century, Spanish authorities realized that given the growth of this region, Argentina could no longer be contained within the bureaucratic structure based in Peru.  As a result, Spain created the Viceroyalty of the Rio Plata.  This demonstrated the growing importance of the Plata River basin as a separate center in South America and set the table for the establishment of Argentina, a state with its capital, Buenos Aires, on the Rio Plata, dominating the hinterland up to the Andes mountains.

When Spain was invaded by Napoleon in 1808, this sudden loss of Spanish prestige and military authority further weakened Argentina’s already tenuous ties to the mother-country.  The recent American and French Revolutions had brought new liberal ideas to the colonists, and in 1810, a faction of Argentines in Buenos Aires organized its own colonial government.  Led by Argentine hero, Jose de San Martin, colonial armies won great victories over Spanish and loyalist forces in not only Argentina, but in Chile and Peru as well.  In 1816, the region declared independence.  Victory over Spain did not bring peace.  Factional disputes between the colonists caused a string of wars lasting into the 1850’s, leading to the creation of Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The establishment of a widely accepted Argentine government in the middle of the 19th century cleared the way for economic growth.  Argentina experienced large foreign investment in railroads and the cattle industry in the late 19th and early 20th century, and immigrants from all over Europe flocked to one of the world’s most bustling economies.  Many of these immigrants, escaping European vineyards destroyed by the phylloxera bug, brought their wine-making background to the New World. 

While Argentina remained effectively neutral in both the 20th century’s world wars, the country did not escape the century’s charged political climate.  Leftist radicals clashed with right-wing fascists as both sides alternated at the helm of the government.  The rise of Juan Peron in 1946 with his particular blend of authoritarianism and heavy government spending on social policies caused massive inflation and his removal via coup started a period of successive coups in the 50’s and 60’s that was only ended by the establishment of a military dictatorship in 1966.  Except for a short interlude when Peron returned to power in 1974, the military controlled the government until 1983, ruling with a heavy hand.  In their campaign to eliminate left-wing terrorism, thousands of Argentines disappeared.

Democratic rule returned with the election of 1983, and has remained in place until today. Following a collapse of the peso in 2001, the country is on the rebound with the wine and tourism industries enjoying fantastic growth in the last decade.