History

Indigenous Peoples (13,000 years ago – 1516)

Long before the European arrival, numerous indigenous peoples with completely different cultures lived in what is now Argentina:

• Mapuche in the south: Warlike riders who successfully resisted the Spaniards for over 300 years — the only South American people never fully conquered
• Guaraní in the northeast: Sedentary farmers who later lived in the Jesuit reductions (San Ignacio Miní)
• Diaguita and Quechua in the northwest: Under the influence of the Inca Empire, agriculture, terrace farming, complex societies
• Tehuelche in Patagonia: Nomadic hunters, referred to by Magellan as "Patagones" (Bigfeet) — they wore guanaco fur shoes that made their feet appear huge. This name gave the entire region its name: Patagonia
• Yámana (Yaghan) in Tierra del Fuego: The southernmost people on earth. They lived naked in canoes on the icy Beagle Channel (their metabolism was adapted to the cold!) and are now practically extinct — the last full-blooded Yámana, Cristina Calderón, died in 2022
• Selk'nam (Ona) in Tierra del Fuego: Hunters and gatherers who were systematically exterminated by European settlers in the 19th century — a genocide long kept silent

Spanish Colonial Era (1516–1816)

Juan Díaz de Solís discovered the Río de la Plata in 1516 — and was promptly killed by the Charrúa indigenous people. Buenos Aires was founded in 1536 by Pedro de Mendoza, but the Querandí indigenous people made life so difficult that the settlement had to be abandoned. It was not until 1580 that the final founding was carried out by Juan de Garay.

Argentina long remained a stepchild of the Spanish Empire: There was no gold, no silver (ironically, "Argentina" is derived from Latin "argentum" = silver — but the silver was found in Potosí, in present-day Bolivia). The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was not established until 1776 — 250 years after the arrival of the Spaniards. Buenos Aires was a sleepy port at the end of the world.

Independence and San Martín (1810–1860)

The May Revolution of 1810 (May 25 — now a national holiday) in Buenos Aires initiated the separation from Spain. The great hero: José de San Martín — the "Libertador del Sur" (Liberator of the South), Argentina's George Washington. San Martín's masterstroke: In 1817, he marched with an army of 5,000 men over the Andes (via the Paso Los Libertadores near Mendoza, 3,832 m!) to Chile and then on to Peru to drive out the Spaniards. The crossing of the Andes is considered one of the greatest military achievements in history — comparable to Hannibal's crossing of the Alps.

On July 9, 1816, independence was officially declared in Tucumán (today the second major national holiday). This was followed by decades of bloody civil wars between Unitarians (Buenos Aires, liberal, European-oriented) and Federalists (provinces, conservative, populist). The dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas ruled from 1829–1852 with an iron fist and secret police — his red beret-wearing supporters terrorized the opposition.

The Great Wave of Immigration (1880–1930)

Between 1880 and 1930, 6 million European immigrants came to Argentina — the country was literally repopulated. Most came from:

• Italy (approx. 44%): Hence, Argentine Spanish sounds like Italian! The singing intonation, the gesticulation, the love for pasta, pizza, and ice cream — all Italian heritage. Many Argentine surnames are Italian (Kirchner, Macri = Macrì, Messi). Buenos Aires is sometimes referred to as "the southernmost Italian city"
• Spain (approx. 32%): Mainly Galicians (hence all Spaniards in Argentina are called "Gallegos")
• Germany, Austria-Hungary (approx. 5%): The "Volga Germans" settled in the province of Entre Ríos. German colonies still exist in Patagonia (Bariloche, Villa General Belgrano)
• Eastern Europe (Poland, Ukraine, Russia): Mainly Jewish immigrants — Buenos Aires has the largest Jewish community in South America
• Syria, Lebanon: The "Turcos" (although they are not Turks) — Carlos Menem, an Argentine president, had Syrian roots

Argentina was around 1900 one of the richest countries in the world — the per capita income exceeded that of France, Germany, and Canada. Buenos Aires became the third-largest city in the world. The Belle Époque left behind the magnificent Art Nouveau palaces, the Teatro Colón, the wide boulevards — Buenos Aires wanted to be the "Paris of South America," and it succeeded. The famous phrase "Rich as an Argentine" was then a common saying in Europe.

What went wrong? The wealth was extremely unequally distributed: A tiny oligarchy owned vast estancias (landholdings) and lived in Parisian palaces, while the immigrants languished in the conventillos (tenement houses) of La Boca and San Telmo. From this gap emerged the Tango — and Peronism.

★★★ Eva "Evita" Perón (1919–1952) — Don't Cry for Me Argentina

Evita is not just a historical figure — she is an icon, a myth, a religion. No other person has divided Argentina so deeply and moved it so passionately. Even today, over 70 years after her death, people weep at her grave, and the debate about her is as heated as on the day of her death.

The Life:

• 1919: Eva María Duarte is born as an illegitimate child in Los Toldos, a village in the Pampas, in bitter poverty. Five siblings, the father an Estanciero who leaves the family
• 1935: At 15, she flees to Buenos Aires to become an actress. Years of hunger and small roles follow
• 1944: She meets Colonel Juan Domingo Perón — at a benefit concert for earthquake victims. From this encounter emerges the most powerful love story in Argentine politics
• 1945: Perón is arrested and exiled to an island. Evita mobilizes the unions. On October 17, 1945, hundreds of thousands of workers (the "Descamisados" — shirtless ones) march on the Plaza de Mayo and force Perón's release. It is the founding moment of Peronism
• 1946: Perón becomes president. Evita becomes — without an official position — the most powerful woman on the continent. She establishes the Fundación Eva Perón, which builds hospitals, schools, and social housing. She fights for women's suffrage (1947). She personally receives the poor and distributes sewing machines, houses, toys — often late into the night
• 1951: The most famous moment: From the balcony of the Casa Rosada, Evita tearfully announces to the hundreds of thousands on the Plaza that she is withdrawing from the vice-presidential candidacy — she is already terminally ill. The crowd pleads with her to stay. The scene was immortalized in the musical "Evita" (Andrew Lloyd Webber) and the film with Madonna
• July 26, 1952: Evita dies of cervical cancer. She is 33 years old. The country sinks into mourning: 3 million people line up at the funeral. 8 people are crushed to death in the crowd. Evita becomes a legend

The Corpse: The story after her death is almost more dramatic: The body was so perfectly embalmed by Spanish embalmer Pedro Ara that she looked as if she were sleeping. When Perón was overthrown in 1955, the military government stole the body — fearing it would become a political weapon. The body was hidden for 16 years: first in a military camp, then in a truck, finally under a false name in a cemetery in Milan, Italy. It was not until 1974 that it was returned to Argentina. Today, Evita rests in the Duarte family mausoleum at the Cementerio de la Recoleta — in a bomb-proof underground vault, so that no one can ever steal her body again.

The Division: For one half of Argentina, Evita is a saint — the voice of the poor, the mother of the nation, the woman who did the impossible. For the other half, she is a demagogue — a populist seductress who drove the country into dependence on the state. This division defines Argentina to this day.

The Perón Era (1946–1974)

Juan Domingo Perón — equally loved and hated — changed Argentina forever. As president (1946–55, 1973–74), he expanded the welfare state, strengthened the unions, and created a mass movement (Peronism) that still — over 70 years later — dominates Argentine politics. Every major party is either Peronist or defines itself as the antithesis to Peronism. There are left-wing Peronists and right-wing Peronists, liberal and conservative — Peronism is less an ideology than a political identity.

★★★ The Dirty War (1976–1983) — The Darkest Era

On March 24, 1976, a military junta under General Jorge Rafael Videla overthrew the weak government of Isabel Perón (Juan's third wife) and began the "Proceso de Reorganización Nacional" — a systematic state terror that went down in history as the "Dirty War" (Guerra Sucia).

What followed was one of the worst human rights violations of the 20th century:

• Up to 30,000 people "disappeared" — abducted by death squads, taken to secret torture centers (over 340 across the country, including the ESMA in Buenos Aires), tortured and secretly murdered
• Many victims were drugged and thrown from airplanes over the Río de la Plata — the infamous "death flights" (vuelos de la muerte)
• The victims: students, union leaders, journalists, artists, priests, lawyers — anyone deemed "subversive." Many were not guerrillas but ordinary people with the wrong opinion
• Stolen Babies: Children of imprisoned pregnant women were "distributed" to military families after birth. The organization Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo) has identified over 130 of these children to date — many only learned of their true identity as adults

★★★ The Madres de Plaza de Mayo

The Madres de Plaza de Mayo are the world's best-known symbol of resistance against the dictatorship. Starting in April 1977, mothers of the disappeared — recognizable by their white headscarves (Pañuelos Blancos) — marched every Thursday at 3:30 PM in a circle around the pyramid on the Plaza de Mayo. They demanded information about the fate of their children — despite arrests, threats, and the murder of their founder Azucena Villaflor (herself "disappeared" in 1977, body identified only in 2005). The Madres marched throughout the dictatorship and continue to do so to this day — every Thursday, for over 45 years. If you are in Buenos Aires on a Thursday: Go to the Plaza de Mayo at 3:30 PM. It is one of the most moving moments you can experience in Argentina.

The Falklands War / Malvinas War (1982)

To distract from the economic crisis and human rights violations, the junta under General Leopoldo Galtieri occupied the Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands) on April 2, 1982, which had been controlled by Britain since 1833. Margaret Thatcher sent the Royal Navy. The ensuing war lasted 74 days and ended with a crushing Argentine defeat. 649 Argentine and 255 British soldiers died — many of the Argentines were conscripts aged 18–19, poorly equipped and unprepared.

The defeat accelerated the end of the dictatorship — democracy returned in 1983. The Malvinas remain Argentina's open wound to this day: "Las Malvinas son argentinas" (The Malvinas are Argentine) is written on signs throughout the country, in schoolbooks, and even in the constitution. Approach the topic with caution — it is emotionally charged.

Democracy & Economic Crisis (1983–present)

Since 1983, Argentina has been a democracy. The economic crisis of 2001 (hyperinflation, bank collapse, frozen bank accounts, five presidents in two weeks!) was traumatic and shapes the distrust of banks to this day — hence the cash culture and the Blue Dollar. The Kirchner era (Néstor 2003–2007, Cristina 2007–2015) brought stability but also corruption allegations. Argentina chronically struggles with inflation (often over 100% per year!), currency crises, and the gap between rich and poor. Nevertheless, Argentines maintain their humor, passion, and indomitable pride.