The Argentine Revolution was a worker's revolution against the government of
King Robert I. Though the revolution ended inconclusively, it worked to foster a sense of joint nationalism against the squabbling nobility.
The Conflict
Prelude
Ever since the unification of Italy into one kingdom, Argentina had been a refuge for deposed Sicilian and Neapolitan nobles, including that of the former king of the Two-Sicilies, Francis II. With this, Sicilian became the lingua franca of most of the nobility. This created an elite class of land owning Sicilians over their Spanish speaking workers, where they began to feel disenfranchised. After Argentina's defeat in the War of the Pacific to Chile, much of the population had become disillusioned with the monarchy. An economic recession began in large part by the results of the conflicts.
The Argentine government sought to recuperate their losses of resource rich land, and thus formulated a plan to conquer Patagonia to the south. Minister for War, and then Prime Minister, Julio Argentino Roca, successfully conquered the southern tip of the Continent. Meanwhile, he governed in a way that angered the Catholic Church, and by extension the deeply Catholic Italian Nobles. The Italians worked with the Church to win the 1892 elections. While in government, they awarded the southern lands to Italian officers, gaining further control of the oligarchical voters. They also enacted measures to teach Sicilian in public schools in an attempt to italicize the population.
In the 1898 elections, the oligarchy was split between the greatly agricultural land owning Italians and the industry owning Spanish. Furthermore, the Spanish were divided among the conservatives led by Roca and his successor Miguel Juaraz Clemen. Due to this, the Italians were able to secure the votes in exchange for industrial rights in the southern territory dominated by Italian land owners. However, this deal proved unfruitful as the Italians were unable to form a government. DIssent among them had grown, and resulted in instability. It wasn't until 1900 that a fully formed government was established, and even then the corrupt bargaining bred infighting. This results in a deepening of economic turmoil that had left the nation in a severe lack of foreign investment.
In 1904, Argentina elected its first deputy ise from the Socialist Party, Alfredo Palacios. Palacios fought for child and women labor rights, a 40 hour work week, and Sunday rest. His efforts were viewed favorably by the Argentine working class. The working class began to see themselves less as Spanish and Italians and more as Argentines, who began to grow tired of the feuding nobility. Both the Spanish and Italian citizenry began to unite against the aristocracy.
The revolution began in the farmlands beginning in 1905, where the Spanish workers began to go on strike in Italian owned lands. At the start, the lands were restaffed from the unemployed from the cities. This included many immigrants from European nations.
When the cities began to get effected by the lack of supplies and food, the hungry factory workers began to demand higher wages to sustain a living. When the owners declined, the workers walked out in protest.
The police were brought in to supress the protests, and the situation turned violent. Eventually, the police began to side with the protesters, refusing to do their duty. The army was then deployed to handle the situation, as many of the the commanders were from the Italian elite as well. However, even the Italians in the military began to mutiny, and a full scale revolt began to take place.
No formal battles were fought, though many times demonstrations turned violent. Revolutionaries were armed often with makeshift weapons, while many others carried firearms. While many in the military mutinied against their superiors, most of the military was held firmly by the government. This meant they were able to outmatch the revolutionaries in almost every engagement.
Though the revolutionaries lacked a clear cohesion at the start, many prominent members of the Radical and Socialist Parties began to emerge as leaders, posting manifestos on demands. Even then, many of the leaders could not agree on the end goals. The more radical amongst them sought the absolution of the monarchy and nobility system entirely, while the more moderate leaders sought an end to the oligarchical system. This ultimately stalled and disorganized the movement, which the army was able to take advantage of. Many of the leaders were arrested and brought on charges of treason, insurrection, and sedition, while many others fled to Chile or
Brazil.
Wishing to not repeat their losses in Italy, many of the Italian nobles placated to the demands of the revolutionaries of their respective regions, including higher living wages and rest days. In response, those in lands and factories owned by the Spanish nobles and more conservative Italians were emboldened. In these areas, unrest continued, and often times turned violent.
In order to secure his title as king, Robert's third son,
Elias, agreed to further concesions to the Argentine people. In 1910, he was made to support the appointment and election of Roque Saenz Pena as Prime Minister. Saenz Pena championed a law granting universal, secret, and compulsary male suffrage in 1912. As a result, much of the Spanish and Italian nobles and aristocrats lost their seats in government in the 1916 elections. Much of the legislation that had previously been enacted in measures to divide along ethnic lines were rescinded. However, Spanish and Sicilian remained joint official languages.
Historical Significance
Though it is seen largely as a failure, the Argentine Revolution was later seen as a step towards Argentine nationalism, with the working class of both Spanish and Italian origins working together against the elites.
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