Page 58 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Argentina

56  INTRODUCING ARGENTINA

Battle of Tuyutí depicting the bloody Triple Alliance War in 1866, by 19th-century artist Cándido López
The Argentinian Boom and foreign inves tors, responding to
The decades that followed Rosas’s over­ European demand, built nume rous sheep
throw saw the ratification of Argentina’s ranches; wool exports increased tenfold
federal constitution, which estab lished a between 1850 and 1880.
strong central govern ment with auto no­ Post­1880, foreign investment, trade, and
mous provinces, and the crea tion of the immigration exploded. Railroads built by
Argentinian Republic, which came under the British linked rural areas to Buenos Aires
the rule of a con ser vative oligarchy. The and other port cities. Grain farming and
War of the Triple Alliance (1865–70) against ranching turned into fabulous successes,
Paraguay created a national army out of with Argentina becoming the world’s
the provincial militias. pri mary cereal expor ter and the second­
Along with political stability came largest meat exporter. Prosperity sparked
expansionism. The government’s Conquest demogra phic growth: Argentina’s popu­
of the Desert military cam paign against the lation grew from about 2 million in 1869 to
indigenous popu la tion annihilated resis­ almost 8 million by 1914. Cities embodied
tance in the Pampas and Patagonia by the era’s ambition. New metropolises
1880. Great tracts of land were opened up sprang up and great public buildings and
parks were built. The capital city became
synonymous with sophistica tion: its news­
papers gained inter national prestige; its
theaters were vibrant and numerous; its
new buildings, such as the Teatro Colón,
were monuments to progress.
The boom, however, was fragile and
interrupted by a severe financial crisis in
1890 that caused the collapse of the
A 19th-century painting showing the grand Teatro Colón
in Buenos Aires Argentinian currency. Progress also hid

1878–9 Conquest of the Desert campaign ends indigenous
1865–70 War of the Triple Alliance pits resistance across the Pampas and Patagonia
Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay against
Paraguay 1880 Buenos Aires becomes
Federal Capital
1860 1870 1880 1890 1900
1862 Bartolomé Mitre 1877 First shipment of 1890 Financial crisis
elected first president frozen beef from Argentina leads to the
of the Argentinian to Europe Revolution of 1890
Republic Bartolomé Mitre

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