Historia Argentina y Latinoamericana Siglo XIX PDF

## El quiebre del mundo colonial ### La Primera Década Revolucionaria The revolution of May 25, 1810, began with the replacement of Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros by a junta of government, which was called the First Junta. This transfer of power followed the usual forms and was done in the n...

## El quiebre del mundo colonial ### La Primera Década Revolucionaria The revolution of May 25, 1810, began with the replacement of Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros by a junta of government, which was called the First Junta. This transfer of power followed the usual forms and was done in the name of the King of Spain, but it did not have general acceptance. It had been decided by a small group of Buenos Aires residents, gathered in an open town council. Thus, along with the revolution, war also came. A long war that, over half a century, ended up becoming a way of life for the men and women of the Río de la Plata. Between 1810 and 1820, the issue of emancipation from Spain was central to this war, although not always explicitly. The First Junta governed in the name of Fernando VII, King of Spain. In this decade, two very different periods can be delimited, in which the greatest changes were a consequence of the political events in the Iberian Peninsula, although the adhesions and internal oppositions to the revolution also influenced them. The first period spans from the revolution of 1810 to 1814, when the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire and the restoration of Fernando VII as King of Spain occurred. From then on, the second period begins, in which the king tried to recover his colonies. The Río de la Plata revolutionaries faced this new danger in two different ways: they doubled the military bet and at the same time responded with political proposals that were increasingly conservative. ### La revolución audaz (1810-1814) The first local government, the First Junta, was made up of an alliance between military leaders and political leaders. For example, Cornelio Saavedra, the junta's president, was the head of the Patricios Regiment, while Secretary Mariano Moreno was one of the most radical revolutionaries of the political class formed in those years. The members Manuel Belgrano and Juan José Castelli also represented these new politicians who, as lawyers, had become improvised soldiers. This variety within the junta was reflected in the disagreements among its members. To a large extent, the changes in government between 1810 and 1814 originated in the struggle between the different power groups. The first test that the junta had to pass was to be recognized and obeyed outside of Buenos Aires. To achieve this objective, it sent armed expeditions that had to report on the organization of the new government. The results, in general, were not encouraging. In Paraguay, the army under Belgrano's command was defeated in Paraguary and on the banks of the Tacuarí River. In the Interior, the expedition under Balcarce's command had to put down the plot led by former Viceroy Santiago de Liniers in Córdoba. The ringleaders, with the exception of the Bishop of Córdoba, who was also among the conspirators, were executed. In Upper Peru, Castelli did not gain support from the most powerful groups in the region. His speech in favor of the indigenous people (who made up most of the Upper Peruvian population) alarmed the royalists, who armed themselves militarily to defeat the forces from Buenos Aires. Lastly, in the Banda Oriental, the town council did not recognize the Buenos Aires junta. This was doubly serious, given the proximity of Montevideo and the strength of its fleet. The members of the First Junta were: Cornelio Saavedra (president), Juan José Paso and Mariano Moreno (secretaries), Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli, Miguel de Azcuénaga, Juan José Larrea, Domingo Matheu and Manuel Alberti (members). ### Divisions internas en los gobiernos patrios To these external problems, the internal divisions confronting the members of the junta were added. From the very beginning, two opposing factions emerged. Saavedra represented the moderate faction, with support from the army and urban popular sectors. Meanwhile, Moreno led the radical faction that supported an immediate break with Spain. In 1811, Saavedra obtained his first victory over Moreno by incorporating into the junta the delegates of the Interior. Representatives of the provinces were conservative and forced Moreno's removal. He was sent on a diplomatic mission to England and died at sea. The incorporation of the delegates of the Interior gave rise to the so-called Junta Grande, made up of twenty-two members, which lasted less than a year. The Patriot defeat at Huaqui in 1811 implied the loss of Upper Peru and forced Saavedra to leave Buenos Aires to reorganize the troops. This event gave the supporters of Moreno, who were conspiring from the town council, the opportunity to lead a kind of coup d'état. Under the pretext of improving the efficiency of government, the management of Executive Power was taken from the Great Junta, falling to a Triumvirate. The Great Junta was transformed into a Conservative Junta, which acted as the Legislative Power. All these political changes reflected the profound transformations taking place in the army. The militias from the English invasions had completely changed their structure to respond to an increasingly demanding war. The army was now massive, with poorly prepared soldiers who were not always eager to be recruited, especially when it became clear that the war would last much longer than expected. To these changes imposed by the revolution, very soon others encouraged by two soldiers trained in Spain and who had returned to the Río de la Plata to participate in the War of Independence were added: José de San Martín and Carlos María de Alvear. Both promoted a reform to professionalize the army. For this, it was necessary to obtain government support, for which strong commitment was required. This explains why San Martín and Alvear, at that time close to the Morenista group, forced the replacement of two members of the Triumvirate in October 1812. The Second Triumvirate represented the interests of the Lautaro Lodge, a secret organization where San Martín and Alvear were members and who aimed to formally declare the independence of the American colonies from Spain. ### Terminología - **Vecino:** In colonial times, the neighbor was the Spaniard who lived in the city and had the right to hold positions in the town council. From the independence onwards, neighborhood was also extended to the countryside. - **Open town council:** Extraordinary sessions of the town council where neighbors not part of the institution were invited. They met to discuss urgent issues or issues of great importance. - **Faction:** Political pressure group that does not become a political party due to the indefiniteness of its doctrines or principles. ### En segunda lecturas... 1. What are the two periods into which the Río de la Plata revolution can be divided? 2. What groups competed for control of the revolutionary government?