# The Chronicle of Argentina: From the Diaguita, Guarani and Mapuche worlds of the Rio de la Plata to a Spanish viceroyalty, the independence declared at Tucuman in 1816, an age of mass immigration, the Peron era, and a hard road back to democracy after the dictatorship of 1976-1983. History of Argentina: From the Diaguita, Guarani and Mapuche worlds of the Rio de la Plata to a Spanish viceroyalty, the independence declared at Tucuman… Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/ARG/chronicle Updated: 2026-08-22 Founding: Declaration of Independence at Tucuman — 9 July 1816. On 9 July 1816 the Congress meeting at San Miguel de Tucuman declared independence from Spain, proclaiming the United Provinces of South America (the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata), the political nucleus of modern Argentina; twenty-nine delegates signed the declaration, with Francisco Narciso de Laprida presiding. The break had been prepared by the May Revolution of 25 May 1810 in Buenos Aires, which deposed the Spanish viceroy and installed the Primera Junta, the first self-governing body, after Napoleon's invasion of Spain shattered royal authority. National organisation came only decades later, when the Constitution of 1853, sanctioned at Santa Fe after the fall of Juan Manuel de Rosas, established a federal, representative and republican state and laid the legal foundation of the country. Argentina's history begins with the many Indigenous peoples, from the Diaguita of the northwest and the Guarani of the riverine northeast to the Mapuche and the hunter-gatherers of the Pampas and Patagonia, who inhabited the land long before Spanish ships entered the Rio de la Plata in the sixteenth century. Buenos Aires was founded in 1536, abandoned, and refounded in 1580, and for two centuries the region was a remote corner of Spanish America until the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata was created in 1776. The May Revolution of 1810 set the country on the road to self-government, and on 9 July 1816 the Congress of Tucuman declared independence as the United Provinces. Decades of civil war between Buenos Aires and the provinces followed, resolved by the Constitution of 1853 and the rise of a liberal republic that drew millions of European immigrants between roughly 1880 and 1914. The twentieth century was dominated by the figure of Juan Peron and the movement he founded, and then by the military dictatorship of 1976 to 1983, whose Dirty War forcibly disappeared thousands of people and which collapsed after defeat in the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War, opening the way to the democracy restored in 1983. This file carries the chronicle's sourced event record — every event with its year, summary and source keys (resolved under References below). The full reading narrative lives on the canonical page. ## Indigenous Peoples and the Spanish Rio de la Plata — Pre-1536 - 1580 For thousands of years the land was home to many Indigenous nations, from the farming Diaguita of the northwest and the Guarani of the rivers to the Mapuche and the hunters of the Pampas and Patagonia, until Spanish expeditions reached the Rio de la Plata and founded, lost, and refounded Buenos Aires. - by c. 10,000 BCE: **Ancient peopling of the land** — Hunter-gatherer peoples occupy the Pampas, Patagonia and the Andean northwest over many millennia, leaving sites such as the painted hands of the Cueva de las Manos. [unesco-cueva-manos, britannica-argentina] - 1st millennium CE: **Diaguita and Guarani societies** — Settled Diaguita farmers flourish in the northwest within the Andean world, while Guarani-speaking peoples cultivate the riverine northeast. [britannica-argentina] - 1516 CE: **Spanish reach the Rio de la Plata** — European expeditions begin to explore the great estuary of the Rio de la Plata, opening the region to Spanish ambitions. [britannica-argentina] - 1536 CE: **First founding of Buenos Aires** — Pedro de Mendoza founds a first settlement on the Rio de la Plata, soon abandoned amid famine and Indigenous resistance, its survivors retreating to Asuncion. [britannica-mendoza, britannica-buenos-aires] - 1580 CE: **Refounding of Buenos Aires** — Juan de Garay leads an expedition from Asuncion and permanently re-establishes Buenos Aires, fixing the future capital on the estuary. [britannica-buenos-aires] Figures: - Pedro de Mendoza (c. 1487-1537) — Spanish conquistador. Adelantado of the Rio de la Plata who founded the first, short-lived settlement of Buenos Aires in 1536 before sickness and conflict forced its abandonment. - Juan de Garay (c. 1528-1583) — Spanish conquistador. Leader of the expedition that refounded Buenos Aires in 1580, securing the permanent Spanish presence at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. ## The Viceroyalty and the Colonial Era — 1580 - 1810 For two centuries the Rio de la Plata was a neglected frontier of Spanish America, until the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata in 1776 turned Buenos Aires into a thriving Atlantic capital whose defenders soon found they could stand without Spain. - 1609-1767: **Jesuit missions among the Guarani** — The Jesuit Order founds mission towns among the Guarani that flourish until the order's expulsion from Spanish lands in 1767. [unesco-jesuit-missions, britannica-argentina] - 1776 CE: **Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata created** — Charles III establishes the new viceroyalty with Buenos Aires as capital, routing Potosi silver through the port and spurring its rise. [britannica-viceroyalty-rdlp, britannica-argentina] - 1778 CE: **Free trade reforms** — Bourbon commercial reforms loosen Spain's trade monopoly, allowing Buenos Aires to trade more freely and accelerating its growth as an Atlantic port. [britannica-viceroyalty-rdlp] - 1806-1807: **British invasions repelled** — British forces seize Buenos Aires twice and are twice expelled by local militias, kindling creole self-confidence and a taste for autonomy. [britannica-argentina] ## May Revolution and the Wars of Independence — 1810 - 1820 The May Revolution of 1810 toppled the viceroy and set up the first home government; six years later the Congress of Tucuman declared independence, and the campaigns of San Martin carried the war for freedom across the Andes and into the heart of Spanish America. - 25 May 1810: **The May Revolution** — An open cabildo in Buenos Aires deposes the viceroy and forms the Primera Junta, the first home government, launching the war of independence. [britannica-may-revolution, britannica-argentina] - 27 Feb 1812: **Belgrano raises the flag** — Manuel Belgrano first flies the light-blue-and-white flag at Rosario; it is adopted by the Congress of Tucuman in 1816. [casarosada-flag, britannica-belgrano] - 9 July 1816: **Declaration of Independence at Tucuman** — The Congress of Tucuman declares independence from Spain as the United Provinces of South America, signed by twenty-nine delegates under the presidency of Laprida. [britannica-congress-tucuman, argentine-declaration] - Jan-Feb 1817: **San Martin crosses the Andes** — San Martin leads the Army of the Andes over the cordillera and defeats royalist forces at Chacabuco, opening the liberation of Chile. [britannica-san-martin, britannica-argentina] - 1820 CE: **Collapse of central authority** — The United Provinces fragment as central government breaks down and provincial caudillos contend for power, beginning decades of civil war. [britannica-argentina] Figures: - Jose de San Martin (1778-1850) — Liberator and general. Argentina's foremost soldier of independence, who forged the Army of the Andes, crossed the cordillera in 1817 to free Chile, and carried the war to Peru, where he was named Protector in 1821. He is revered across the southern continent as El Libertador. - Manuel Belgrano (1770-1820) — Patriot leader and creator of the flag. Lawyer, economist and general who first raised the national flag at Rosario in 1812 and won the battles of Tucuman and Salta, a central figure of the independence movement. ## Civil Wars, Unification and the Liberal Republic — 1820 - 1916 Decades of conflict between Buenos Aires and the provinces, and between centralists and federalists, were resolved by the Constitution of 1853; in the liberal republic that followed, Argentina conquered the Pampas, exported beef and grain to the world, and drew millions of European immigrants. - 1829-1852: **The rule of Rosas** — The Federalist caudillo Juan Manuel de Rosas dominates Argentina as governor of Buenos Aires until his fall, a period of strongman rule and conflict. [britannica-rosas, britannica-argentina] - 3 Feb 1852: **Battle of Caseros** — Justo Jose de Urquiza defeats Rosas at Caseros, opening the way to the constitutional organisation of the country. [britannica-urquiza, britannica-argentina] - 1 May 1853: **The National Constitution** — A constituent congress at Santa Fe sanctions the Constitution of 1853, establishing a federal, representative and republican state. [britannica-urquiza, britannica-argentina] - 1878-1885: **The Conquest of the Desert** — Military campaigns led by Julio Argentino Roca seize the Pampas and northern Patagonia from the Mapuche and other peoples through killing, subjugation and displacement. [britannica-argentina] - 1880-1914: **Mass European immigration** — Some four million immigrants, chiefly Italians and Spaniards, arrive to settle and work the land, so that by 1914 nearly a third of Argentines are foreign-born. [britannica-argentina, great-immigration-wave] Figures: - Juan Manuel de Rosas (1793-1877) — Federalist caudillo and governor. Dominant figure of Argentine politics from 1829 to 1852, ruling as governor of Buenos Aires with broad powers until his defeat at Caseros and exile to England. - Julio Argentino Roca (1843-1914) — General and president. Commander of the Conquest of the Desert against the Indigenous peoples of the south and twice president, a central figure of the Generation of 1880 and its model of export-led growth. ## The Peron Era and Political Turmoil — 1916 - 1976 The twentieth century brought democratic openings, military coups, and above all the towering figure of Juan Peron, whose movement reshaped Argentina around the working class and divided the nation between Peronists and their enemies for generations. - 1916 CE: **First election under universal male suffrage** — Hipolito Yrigoyen of the Radical Civic Union wins the presidency in the first vote under the secret universal male ballot of 1912. [britannica-argentina] - 1930 CE: **The first military coup** — Amid the Great Depression the army overthrows Yrigoyen, opening the fraud-ridden Infamous Decade and a century of military intervention. [britannica-argentina] - 1946 CE: **Peron elected president** — Juan Peron wins the presidency with broad working-class support, launching the Peronist movement that will dominate Argentine politics. [britannica-juan-peron, britannica-argentina] - Sept 1955: **Peron overthrown** — The Revolucion Libertadora ousts Peron, who goes into an exile of nearly two decades while Peronism is banned at home. [britannica-juan-peron] - 1973-1974: **Peron's return and death** — Peron returns from exile and is re-elected president in 1973, but dies on 1 July 1974, leaving power to his wife Isabel amid deepening crisis. [britannica-juan-peron, britannica-argentina] Figures: - Juan Domingo Peron (1895-1974) — President and founder of Peronism. Army officer who built a mass following among workers and was elected president in 1946, 1951 and 1973. His movement, Peronism, reshaped Argentina and remains a central force in its politics half a century after his death. - Eva Peron (1919-1952) — First Lady and political leader. Known as Evita, she championed the poor and the descamisados, helped win women the vote, and became an enduring icon before her death from cancer at thirty-three. ## Dictatorship, the Falklands/Malvinas, and Democratic Argentina — 1976 - present The military dictatorship of 1976 to 1983 waged a Dirty War that forcibly disappeared thousands of citizens; discredited by repression, economic ruin and defeat in the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War, it gave way to a democracy that has held, despite recurring crises, ever since. - 24 Mar 1976: **Military coup and the Dirty War** — The armed forces seize power and launch the National Reorganization Process, a dictatorship whose Dirty War forcibly disappears thousands of people; from 1977 the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo march weekly to demand their return. [britannica-dirty-war, britannica-desaparecidos] - Apr-Jun 1982: **The Falklands/Malvinas War** — Argentina invades the Falklands/Malvinas on 2 April; after ten weeks of war its forces surrender to Britain on 14 June, discrediting the junta. [britannica-falklands-war, britannica-argentina] - 10 Dec 1983: **Return to democracy** — Raul Alfonsin is inaugurated president, restoring civilian democratic rule after seven years of dictatorship. [britannica-alfonsin, britannica-argentina] - 1985 CE: **Nunca Mas and the Trial of the Juntas** — Following the CONADEP report Nunca Mas, civilian courts try and convict the junta leaders for the crimes of the Dirty War. [conadep-nunca-mas, britannica-dirty-war] - 2001-2002: **Economic and political crisis** — A severe financial collapse forces a sovereign default and topples several presidents in days, the gravest crisis of the democratic era. [britannica-argentina] Figures: - Raul Alfonsin (1927-2009) — President, restorer of democracy. First president after the dictatorship, inaugurated in December 1983. He established the CONADEP truth commission and brought the junta leaders to trial, anchoring Argentina's return to democracy. - Jorge Rafael Videla (1925-2013) — Junta leader and dictator. Army general who led the 1976 coup and headed the junta during the worst of the Dirty War. He was convicted of crimes against humanity and died in prison. Machine-readable claims — every event above as an addressable claim ID (TL:ARG:event::) with its sources and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/ARG/chronicle.claims.json ## References - [britannica-argentina] Argentina — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Argentina - [britannica-buenos-aires] Buenos Aires: History — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Buenos-Aires - [britannica-mendoza] Pedro de Mendoza — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pedro-de-Mendoza - [britannica-viceroyalty-rdlp] Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Viceroyalty-of-the-Rio-de-la-Plata - [britannica-may-revolution] May Revolution — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/May-Revolution - [britannica-congress-tucuman] Congress of Tucuman — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Congress-of-Tucuman - [argentine-declaration] Argentine Declaration of Independence — Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_Declaration_of_Independence - [britannica-san-martin] Jose de San Martin — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-de-San-Martin - [britannica-belgrano] Manuel Belgrano — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Manuel-Belgrano - [casarosada-flag] Flag Day: Homage to General Manuel Belgrano — Casa Rosada, Presidency of Argentina · https://www.casarosada.gob.ar/ - [britannica-rosas] Juan Manuel de Rosas — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Juan-Manuel-de-Rosas - [britannica-urquiza] Justo Jose de Urquiza — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Justo-Jose-de-Urquiza - [great-immigration-wave] Great European immigration wave to Argentina — Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_European_immigration_wave_to_Argentina - [britannica-juan-peron] Juan Peron — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Juan-Peron - [britannica-eva-peron] Eva Peron — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eva-Peron - [britannica-dirty-war] Dirty War (Argentina) — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/Dirty-War-Argentina - [britannica-desaparecidos] Desaparecidos — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/desaparecidos - [britannica-falklands-war] Falkland Islands War — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/Falkland-Islands-War - [britannica-alfonsin] Raul Alfonsin — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Raul-Alfonsin - [conadep-nunca-mas] National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP), Nunca Mas — Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Commission_on_the_Disappearance_of_Persons - [unesco-jesuit-missions] Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/275/ - [unesco-cueva-manos] Cueva de las Manos, Rio Pinturas — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/936/ - [statedept-argentina] A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition: Argentina — U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian · https://history.state.gov/countries/argentina Citation template: Terralore, "The Chronicle of Argentina: From the Diaguita, Guarani and Mapuche worlds of the Rio de la Plata to a Spanish viceroyalty, the independence declared at Tucuman in 1816, an age of mass immigration, the Peron era, and a hard road back to democracy after the dictatorship of 1976-1983.", terralore.co/country/ARG/chronicle, retrieved .