En Unión y LibertAAR
La Plata Kaiserreich AAR
Chapter 2: Argentina in rapidly changing times, 1914-1933
German infantry marches into Luxembourg
The Great European War of 1914 was brought into full swing as the United Kingdom, France, and Russia on one side against Germany, Austria-Hungary and the later addition of the Ottoman Empire on the other. The war was of interest to Argentina, which leaned slightly in favor of the United Kingdom and her Empire, although she also enjoyed excellent relations with the German Empire.
Whilst the Old Continent sent its young men to die in waves, Argentina prospered from ever-increasing agricultural profits and constant waves of European immigrants eager to flee the war. The country advanced, slowly but surely to the electoral reforms promised in the 1916 elections, which would welcome increased participation by the political masses.
The 1916 electoral campaign saw participation on a scale never before experienced in Argentina
The Union Civica Radical (UCR), promising a vast amount of change and idealism, won the elections in 1916 through the new system of secret, mandatory and universal suffrage for all males.
Jubilant crowds surround the new president
The elections saw vast amount of political power shift to the middle class, away from the landed upper class and the industrialists. The common worker still had no power, and the UCR, alike to the PAN in this respect, had no interest to give them any. Instead, the UCR, through favoring government employees, teachers, office-workers, journalists and other middle-class workers, could hope to hold and consolidate power away from the traditional conservative groups. Whilst the UCR held the presidency, and the Chamber of Deputies, the PAN still held several provinces and its stronghold of the Senate, meaning that there was constant political trouble between the two groups, especially as the President ordered federal interventions of opposing provinces. The government was rocked by further unrest from the usual workers organizations, as well as an emerging pressure group of students. The UCR conceded to the university student's demands in 1919, reforming and liberalizing the state university system, granting more autonomy to each university and increasing the amount of student participation in university government. The state also created YPF, the state-owned oil company, which greatly expanded Argentine industry.
The first democratically elected president, Hipólito Yrigoyen
Argentina grew and became ever more free, albeit slowly, a contrasting picture from the chaos and destruction of the European war. The Russian Empire had collapsed in 1917, initiating a profound conflict in that country, and, more important to the war, allowing the central powers to re-deploy troops to more critical fronts against the Entente, which had been joined by other nations, such as Italy, Romania, and even Japan in the Far East. In March of 1919 the German Spring Offensive succeeded in cracking the Entente lines in Northern France, allowing the Germans to roll up the front and push on past the exhausted Entente armies. As the German armies surrounded Paris and proceeded southwards, the French nation, with no more young men to throw into the bloodbath, sued for peace with the Central Powers. German troops, free from France, now reinforced the Austrians against the Italians and the Ottomans against the British.
The Argentine Republic, like much of the neutral world, was shocked at the quick collapse of the French nation and its land forces, which had fought bravely for 5 years. Following the French surrender, Yrigoyen declared once again that Argentina was still neutral, but now allowed Argentine merchants to trade with any nation, not just the Entente powers, adding that no attack or search of Argentine merchant shipping would be tolerated. The day after the declaration the entire Argentine Navy held a review in sight of Buenos Aires. Its two powerful Dreadnoughts were the strongest force in the South Atlantic, and neither the Germans nor the British and their battered navies sought any type of further conflict.
The Old Continent started to come apart, as the French fell into a communist revolution and the Russian Empire was rocked by civil war. The British and Japanese, exhausted of the was, sued for peace with a tired Germany in 1921. Its "Peace with Honor" however, further complicated British internal problems, and like their French counterparts, British workers overthrew the government, which fled to Canada.
The second Radical President, Marcelo T. de Alvear
The UCR remained in power and elected their second President, Marcelo T. de Alvear, in 1922. Social unrest was growing, particularly on the part of farmhands and urban laborers. A bloody incident occurred in 1922 when cavalry forces squished strikes in the Patagonia, executing anyone suspected of being a Syndicalist. These moves, although disgusting to the lower classes, were supported by the usual UCR base and even the conservative opposition.
Alvear's presidency oversaw the prosperous post-war economy. As the German economy got back up from the war, the entire world (save for the Syndicalist) enjoyed high economic fortunes. European immigrants flooded to Argentina, which had emerged as one of the most prosperous nations on Earth, sharing the stage with such powers as Germany and the USA. This was a spectacle which could've not possibly been imagined by those that celebrated the Centenary of 1910. One must remember, however, and some indeed did, that Argentina had her wealth due to exportation, not development, and was so high comparatively because the UK and France had fallen so low.
This prosperous decade was marked by political rifts inside the UCR, with one side supporting Yrigoyen and another Alvear. Some of the leftist parties supported the "Yrigoyenistas" and the conservatives tended to support the "Anti-personalistas" and Alvear. Such was the rift that there was no major conservative party in the 1928 elections, but rather two major camps. Yrigoyen won with more than 600,000 votes, whilst Alvear's candidate, Leopoldo Merlo, followed a close second with 500,000 votes. The socialist and left-wing parties were fractured amongst themselves, in total gathering 100,000 votes, but with deep internal differences between Socialists, Communists, Syndicalists and Anarcho-syndicalists.
The downturn of the world economy in 1930 saw increased social agitation and Yrigoyen began to loose power. As the conservatives and Alvear regained ground in the Provinces and the Senate, the more extremist elements of the opposition sought to take the government. Yrigoyen, however, managed to win the 1932 election and impose his Vice-President, Enrique Martínez, as President.
The Gran Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay started in 1932, increasing the strain on the Argentine economy due to lower regional trade. The large wave of bankruptcies of early 1933 as export-driven businesses crashed sent unemployment figures through the roof and production values plummeting.
In March, Enrique Martínez' faction, led by ex-President Yrigoyen, lost at the polls for Congress, as the Conservatives managed to obtain over 650,000 votes whilst Martínez attained only 500,000 as more radical voters defected to Syndicalist and Socialist parties. The government, therefore, lost its majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, leaving it unable to govern. The last straw for the conservatives, who saw themselves as finally winning, was the Executive branch ordered intervention of YPF, the state oil company, in fixing the price of Oil and breaking the Trusts of other independent (mainly American) companies.
On the 6th of September of 1933 General Uriburu marched with the Officer Cadets from the Escuela de Officiales to the House of Government in downtown Buenos Aires and forced President Martínez to abdicate as Yrigoyen fled to Uruguay and UCR offices were looted across the city. The coup d'etat had the evident support of the upper and middle classes, and Uriburu was recognized as President by the Supreme Court.
The Argentine Republic was dealing with tough times, which could only get worse as Bolivian troops overran the Paraguayan forts on the border of the Chaco and approached Asunción in full force.
Coupist General Uriburu greets cheering crowds
