Generation of '80
Encyclopedia
The Generation of '80 was the governing elite in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 from 1880 to 1916. Members of the oligarchy
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...

 of the provinces
Provinces of Argentina
Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...

 and the country's capital
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, they first joined the League of Governors (Liga de Gobernadores), and then the National Autonomist Party. They filled the highest public political, economical, military and religious positions, staying in power through electoral fraud.

In spite of the growing opposition politically centred around the Radical Civic Union
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...

 (Unión Cívica Radical, UCR), and anarchist and socialist groups workers formed mainly by immigrant workers, the Generation of '80 managed to stay at the government until the sanction of the Sáenz Peña Law
Sáenz Peña Law
The Sáenz Peña Law was Law 8871 of Argentina, sanctioned by the National Congress on 10 February 1912, which established the universal, secret and mandatory male suffrage though the creation of an electoral list...

 of secret, universal, and obligatory male suffrage.

Economical liberalism and social conservatism

The project of the Generation of '80 consisted of keeping the country free of any kind of unrest, with harsh responses towards any kind of revolts, to maintain a stability that would attract foreign investment, while centering the economy of the country in the production of primary food products to support the import of the needed manufactured goods.

On the social level, the concept of progress was linked to the creation of public, free and compulsory primary education
Argentine Law 1420
The Law 1420 of General Common Education of Argentina was a landmark national law that dictated public compulsory, free and secular education. It was passed in 1884 during the administration of President Julio Argentino Roca, after a number of similar laws of provincial scope and the conclusions of...

, and the incentive of European immigration.

The fall

The positive international balance of trade
Balance of trade
The balance of trade is the difference between the monetary value of exports and imports of output in an economy over a certain period. It is the relationship between a nation's imports and exports...

 of the country was not re-inverted in modernization and industrialisation of the basic production of the country, but expended by the richest groups with luxury items and impotent constructions.

The European immigration brought not only educated people (in comparison with the uneducated gaucho
Gaucho
Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...

s and Native Americans, as seen by Domingo Sarmiento), but also several political ideologies that were rising in Europe: socialism and anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

, which clashed with the liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 position of the governing elite.

During the second presidency of Julio A. Roca
Julio Argentino Roca
Alejo Julio Argentino Roca Paz was an army general who served as President of Argentina from 12 October 1880 to 12 October 1886 and again from 12 October 1898 to 12 October 1904.-Upbringing and early career:...

, Law 4144 or Law of Argentine Residence was sanctioned, which allowed the immediate expulsion of any activists opposing the national government. Juárez Celman
Juárez Celman
Miguel Angel Juárez Celman was President of Argentina from 12 October 1886 to 6 August 1890. A lawyer and politician, his career was defined by the influence of his kinsman, Julio Argentino Roca, whom propelled him into a legislative career...

 had to resign after the Revolución del Parque (Revolution of the Park, because it started with the capture of the Buenos Aires Artillery Park). In 1905 the UCR coordinated an armed rebellion between several provinces.

Even though there were a few mild changes towards the conciliation with the workers, such as the creation of the National Work Department in 1907, such enterprises were merely decorative.

In 1910, as celebration of the centenary of the National Independence
Argentine Declaration of Independence
What today is commonly referred as the Independence of Argentina was declared on July 9, 1816 by the Congress of Tucumán. In reality, the congressmen that were assembled in Tucumán declared the independence of the United Provinces of South America, which is still today one of the legal names of the...

 approached, the Law of Social Defense was sanctioned, which allowed arrests for the prevention of revolts.

But the increasing number of workers' strikes and press criticism forced the sanction of the Sáenz Peña Law
Sáenz Peña Law
The Sáenz Peña Law was Law 8871 of Argentina, sanctioned by the National Congress on 10 February 1912, which established the universal, secret and mandatory male suffrage though the creation of an electoral list...

 in 1912. In the following elections of 1916, the first ones open to every male Argentine citizen, radical candidate Hipólito Yrigoyen
Hipólito Yrigoyen
Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Irigoyen Alem was twice President of Argentina . His activism became the prime impetus behind the obtainment of universal suffrage in Argentina in 1912...

was elected president.
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