History of Argentina (The Radicals in Power, 1916-1930)
Encyclopedia
The period spanning from 1916 to 1930 in Argentina
is known as the Radical Phase (la Etapa Radical), as it began with the election of the Radical Civic Union
(UCR) candidate Hipólito Yrigoyen
, ending the conservative Generation of '80
's domination on politics. Yrigoyen's second term, which started in 1928, was interrupted by Argentina's first military coup, which established José Félix Uriburu
in power and initiated the Infamous Decade
.
, won control of the government through the first national elections made at universal male suffrage, due to the 1912 Sáenz Peña Law
. 745,000 citizens were allowed to vote, on a total population of 7,5 millions (immigrants, who constituted much of the population, were not allowed to vote), of which 400,000 abstained themselves. Yrigoyen, however, only obtained 45% of the votes, which did not allow him a majority in Parliament, where the conservatives remained the first force. Thus, on 80 draft laws proposed by the executive, only 26 were voted by the conservative majority. The moderate agricultural reform was refused by the Parliament, as well as a tax on interests and the creation of a Bank of the Republic (which was to have the missions of the current Central Bank).
Despite this conservative opposition, the Radical Civic Union
(UCR), with their emphasis on fair elections and democratic institutions, opened their doors to Argentina's expanding middle class as well as to social groups previously excluded from power. Yrigoyen's policy was to "fix" the system, by enacting necessary reforms which would enable the agroindustrial export model to preserve itself. It alterned moderate social reforms with repression of the social movements. In 1918, an estudiantine movement started at the University of Córdoba
, which eventually led to the University Reform, which quickly spread to the rest of America. In May '68, French students recalled the Córdoba movement.
Thus, on one hand, the Tragic Week
of January 1919, during which the Argentine Regional Workers' Federation
(FORA, founded in 1901) had called for a general strike after a police shooting, ended up in 700 killed and 4,000 injured. General Luis delle Piane
marched on Buenos Aires to re-establish civil order. Despite being called for by some to initiate a coup against Yrigoyen, he remained loyal to the President, at the sole condition that the latter would allow him a free hand on the repression of the demonstrations. Social movements thereafter continued in the Forestal British company, and in Patagonia
, where Hector Varela headed the military repression, assisted by the Argentine Patriotic League
, killing 1,500.
On the other hand, Yrigoyen's administration enacted the Labor Code establishing the right to strike in 1921, implemented minimum wage
s laws and collective contracts. It also initiated the creation of the Dirección General de Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF), the oil state company, in June 1922. Radicalism rejected class struggle
and vouched for social conciliation.
. Neutrality enabled Argentina to export goods to Europe, in particular to Great Britain, as well as to issue credit to the belligerent powers. Germany sank two Argentine civilian ships, Monte Protegido on April 4, 1917 and the Toro, but the diplomatic incident only ended with the expulsion of the German ambassador, Karl von Luxburg
. Yrigoyen organized a Conference of Neutral Powers in Buenos Aires, to oppose the United States' attempt to bring American states in the European war, and also supported Sandino's resistance in Nicaragua.
In September 1922, Yrigoyen's administration refused to follow the cordon sanitaire
policy enacted against the Soviet Union, and, basing itself on the assistance given to Austria after the war, decided to send the USSR 5 million pesos in assistance.
, an aristocrat, who defeated Norberto Piñero
's Concentración Nacional (conservatives) with 458,457 votes against 200,080. Alvear brought to his cabinet personalities belonging to the traditional ruling classes, such as José Nicolás Matienzo
at the Interior Ministry, Ángel Gallardo
at Foreign Relations, Agustín P. Justo at the War Ministry, Manuel Domecq García at the Marine and Rafael Herrera Vegas at the Haciendas. Alvera's supporters founded the Unión Cívica Radical Antipersonalista, opposed to Yrigoyen's party.
Alvear retroceded many of Yrigoyen's social reforms and labor laws, as well as the University Reform.
In 1922, the poet Leopoldo Lugones
, who had turned towards fascism
, made a famous speech in Lima
, known as "the time of the sword", in presence of the War Minister and future dictator Agustín P. Justo, which called for a military coup and the establishment of a military dictatorship. The preceding year, the counter-revolutionary Logia General San Martín was founded, and diffused nationalist ideas in the military until its dissolving in 1926. Three years later, the misnamed Liga Republicana (Republican League) was founded by Roberto de Laferrere
, on the model of Benito Mussolini
's Black shirts in Italy. The Argentinian Right found its major influences in the 19th century Spanish writer Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo
and in the French royalist Charles Maurras
.
On the other hand of the political spectrum, the Italian anarchist Severino Di Giovanni
headed a propaganda of the deed
campaign in support of Sacco and Vanzetti
, as well as directing bombings against Fascist Italy's interests in Argentina. He was executed in 1931, after having perpetrated the most important bombing in Argentina, against the Italian consulate in May 1928.
History of Argentina
The history of Argentina is divided by historians into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time, or early history , the colonial period , the independence wars and the early post-colonial period of the nation and the history of modern Argentina .The beginning of prehistory in the present territory of...
is known as the Radical Phase (la Etapa Radical), as it began with the election of 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...
(UCR) 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...
, ending the conservative Generation of '80
Generation of '80
The Generation of '80 was the governing elite in Argentina from 1880 to 1916. Members of the oligarchy of the provinces and the country's capital, they first joined the League of Governors , and then the National Autonomist Party...
's domination on politics. Yrigoyen's second term, which started in 1928, was interrupted by Argentina's first military coup, which established José Félix Uriburu
José Félix Uriburu
General José Félix Benito Uriburu y Uriburu was the first de facto President of Argentina, achieved through a military coup, from September 6, 1930 to February 20, 1932.-Biography:...
in power and initiated the Infamous Decade
Infamous Decade
The Infamous Decade in Argentina is the name given to the period of time that started in 1930 with the coup d'état against President Hipólito Yrigoyen by José Félix Uriburu...
.
The First Yrigoyen Administration (1916-1922)
Conservative forces dominated Argentine politics until 1916, when their traditional rivals, the Radicals, led by Hipólito YrigoyenHipólito 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...
, won control of the government through the first national elections made at universal male suffrage, due to the 1912 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...
. 745,000 citizens were allowed to vote, on a total population of 7,5 millions (immigrants, who constituted much of the population, were not allowed to vote), of which 400,000 abstained themselves. Yrigoyen, however, only obtained 45% of the votes, which did not allow him a majority in Parliament, where the conservatives remained the first force. Thus, on 80 draft laws proposed by the executive, only 26 were voted by the conservative majority. The moderate agricultural reform was refused by the Parliament, as well as a tax on interests and the creation of a Bank of the Republic (which was to have the missions of the current Central Bank).
Despite this conservative opposition, 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...
(UCR), with their emphasis on fair elections and democratic institutions, opened their doors to Argentina's expanding middle class as well as to social groups previously excluded from power. Yrigoyen's policy was to "fix" the system, by enacting necessary reforms which would enable the agroindustrial export model to preserve itself. It alterned moderate social reforms with repression of the social movements. In 1918, an estudiantine movement started at the University of Córdoba
National University of Córdoba
The National University of Córdoba, , is the oldest university in Argentina, and one of the oldest in the Americas. It is located in Córdoba, the capital of Córdoba Province. Since the early 20th century it has been the second largest university in the country in terms of the number of students,...
, which eventually led to the University Reform, which quickly spread to the rest of America. In May '68, French students recalled the Córdoba movement.
Thus, on one hand, the Tragic Week
Tragic Week (Argentina)
Tragic Week was a series of riots and massacres that took place in Buenos Aires, during the week of January 7, 1919. The riot was led by anarchists and communists, and was fought by both the police and the army...
of January 1919, during which the Argentine Regional Workers' Federation
Argentine Regional Workers' Federation
The Argentine Regional Workers' Federation , founded in 1901, was Argentina's first national labor confederation...
(FORA, founded in 1901) had called for a general strike after a police shooting, ended up in 700 killed and 4,000 injured. General Luis delle Piane
Luis delle Piane
General Luis J. Dellepiane , born in Buenos Aires, was a civil engineer, militarist and politician of Argentina.With the title of Lieutenant General he participated in the politics linked to the Radical Civic Union following Hipólito Yrigoyen...
marched on Buenos Aires to re-establish civil order. Despite being called for by some to initiate a coup against Yrigoyen, he remained loyal to the President, at the sole condition that the latter would allow him a free hand on the repression of the demonstrations. Social movements thereafter continued in the Forestal British company, and in Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
, where Hector Varela headed the military repression, assisted by the Argentine Patriotic League
Argentine Patriotic League
The Argentine Patriotic League was a Nacionalista paramilitary group, officially created in Buenos Aires on January 16, 1919, during the Tragic week events. Presided over by Manuel Carlés, a professor at the Military College and the Escuela Superior de Guerra, it also counted among its members the...
, killing 1,500.
On the other hand, Yrigoyen's administration enacted the Labor Code establishing the right to strike in 1921, implemented minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
s laws and collective contracts. It also initiated the creation of the Dirección General de Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF), the oil state company, in June 1922. Radicalism rejected class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
and vouched for social conciliation.
World War I and Foreign Relations
Meanwhile, the Radicals continued Argentina's neutrality policy during World War I, despite the United States' urge to push them into declaring war on the Triple AllianceTriple Alliance (1882)
The Triple Alliance was the military alliance between Germany, Austria–Hungary, and Italy, , that lasted from 1882 until the start of World War I in 1914...
. Neutrality enabled Argentina to export goods to Europe, in particular to Great Britain, as well as to issue credit to the belligerent powers. Germany sank two Argentine civilian ships, Monte Protegido on April 4, 1917 and the Toro, but the diplomatic incident only ended with the expulsion of the German ambassador, Karl von Luxburg
Karl von Luxburg
Karl von Luxburg was German chargé d'affaires at Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1917, during World War I.-Incident:...
. Yrigoyen organized a Conference of Neutral Powers in Buenos Aires, to oppose the United States' attempt to bring American states in the European war, and also supported Sandino's resistance in Nicaragua.
In September 1922, Yrigoyen's administration refused to follow the cordon sanitaire
Cordon sanitaire
Cordon sanitaire — or quarantine line — is a French phrase that, literally translated, means "sanitary cordon". Though in French it originally denoted a barrier implemented to stop the spread of disease, it has often been used in English in a metaphorical sense to refer to attempts to prevent the...
policy enacted against the Soviet Union, and, basing itself on the assistance given to Austria after the war, decided to send the USSR 5 million pesos in assistance.
The Alvear Administration (1922-1928)
The same year, Yrigoyen was replaced by his rival inside the UCR, Marcelo Torcuato de AlvearMarcelo Torcuato de Alvear
Máximo Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear Pacheco , better known as Marcelo T. de Alvear was an Argentine politician and President of Argentina from October 12, 1922 to October 12, 1928.-Biography:...
, an aristocrat, who defeated Norberto Piñero
Norberto Piñero
Norberto Piñero was a prominent Argentine lawyer, writer and conservative politician.-Life and times:Norberto Piñero was born to a landed family in the Province of Buenos Aires, in 1858. He enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires and received a juris doctor in 1882...
's Concentración Nacional (conservatives) with 458,457 votes against 200,080. Alvear brought to his cabinet personalities belonging to the traditional ruling classes, such as José Nicolás Matienzo
José Nicolás Matienzo
José Nicolás Matienzo was a prominent Argentine lawyer, writer, academic and policy maker.-Life and times:José Nicolás Matienzo was born in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, in 1860. He enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires Law School, where he was mentored by Professor José Manuel Estrada,...
at the Interior Ministry, Ángel Gallardo
Angel Gallardo
Ángel Gallardo is a Spanish professional golfer.Gallardo was a member of the European Tour from its first official season in 1972 until 1982. He finished in the top one hundred of the European Tour Order of Merit in each of those eleven seasons, with a best ranking of tenth in 1977...
at Foreign Relations, Agustín P. Justo at the War Ministry, Manuel Domecq García at the Marine and Rafael Herrera Vegas at the Haciendas. Alvera's supporters founded the Unión Cívica Radical Antipersonalista, opposed to Yrigoyen's party.
Alvear retroceded many of Yrigoyen's social reforms and labor laws, as well as the University Reform.
In 1922, the poet Leopoldo Lugones
Leopoldo Lugones
Leopoldo Lugones Argüello was an Argentine writer and journalist.-Early life:Born in Villa de María del Río Seco, a city in Córdoba Province, in Argentina's Catholic heartland, Lugones belonged to a family of landed gentry...
, who had turned towards fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, made a famous speech in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, known as "the time of the sword", in presence of the War Minister and future dictator Agustín P. Justo, which called for a military coup and the establishment of a military dictatorship. The preceding year, the counter-revolutionary Logia General San Martín was founded, and diffused nationalist ideas in the military until its dissolving in 1926. Three years later, the misnamed Liga Republicana (Republican League) was founded by Roberto de Laferrere
Roberto de Laferrère
Roberto de Laferrère was an Argentinean writer and political activist. He was one of the leading figures in the nationalist movement active amongst a group of leading intellectuals in the 1930s-Nationalism:...
, on the model of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's Black shirts in Italy. The Argentinian Right found its major influences in the 19th century Spanish writer Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo
Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo
Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo was a Spanish scholar, historian and literary critic. Even though his main interest was the History of ideas, and Hispanic philology in general, he also cultivated poetry, translation and philosophy.He was born at Santander where he showed that he was an infant prodigy...
and in the French royalist Charles Maurras
Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras was a French author, poet, and critic. He was a leader and principal thinker of Action Française, a political movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist, and counter-revolutionary. Maurras' ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and "nationalisme...
.
On the other hand of the political spectrum, the Italian anarchist Severino Di Giovanni
Severino Di Giovanni
Severino Di Giovanni , was an Italian anarchist who immigrated to Argentina, where he became the best-known anarchist figure in that country for his campaign of violence in support of Sacco and Vanzetti and antifascism.- Italy :Di Giovanni was born on March 17, 1901, in the town of Chieti, in the...
headed a propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed is a concept that refers to specific political actions meant to be exemplary to others...
campaign in support of Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
, as well as directing bombings against Fascist Italy's interests in Argentina. He was executed in 1931, after having perpetrated the most important bombing in Argentina, against the Italian consulate in May 1928.
Yrigoyen's return to power (1928-1930)
Yrigoyen was re-elected in 1928, and toppled by a military coup in 1930.See also
- History of ArgentinaHistory of ArgentinaThe history of Argentina is divided by historians into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time, or early history , the colonial period , the independence wars and the early post-colonial period of the nation and the history of modern Argentina .The beginning of prehistory in the present territory of...
- Generation of '80Generation of '80The Generation of '80 was the governing elite in Argentina from 1880 to 1916. Members of the oligarchy of the provinces and the country's capital, they first joined the League of Governors , and then the National Autonomist Party...
- Infamous DecadeInfamous DecadeThe Infamous Decade in Argentina is the name given to the period of time that started in 1930 with the coup d'état against President Hipólito Yrigoyen by José Félix Uriburu...
- 1924 Napalpí massacreNapalpí massacreThe Napalpí massacre occurred on July 19, 1924 in Napalpí in the Chaco Province of Northeast Argentina. It involved the massacre of 200 indigenous people of the Toba ethnicity by the Argentine Police and ranchers.-Historical context:...