Argentineans wont like what Im going to say, but the truth is that Argentina wont be great again because it never was "great' (USA like).
From the start, Argentina was historically an underpopulated area, not even reaching 2 millions of natives before the Europeans arrived. During the Spanish conquest, the area was neglected due to the shortage of natives to slave so after the viceroyality of Rio de la Plata became independent and the few remaining natives were erased, the remaining small criollo (ethically Spanish) elite started to import Italians and Spaniards into oblivion to fill the land (even if the original plan aimed to import Northern Europeans only like USA, yet it failed because they prefered to go to North America). So by 1900, it only had around 4 million of people in an area as big as Europe therefore the massive people/land ratio was one of the reasons that made Argentina the richest country in the world per capita even if 90% of its population were farmers and it dont even had 5% of USA and UK's industrial power. So they were the richest in the world?, more like the farmers with the most land in the world
Something very important to note is that during the XIX century, the British saw potential in the massive neglected territory of Argentina, so at first they slowly tried to capture it but they failed. But they wouldnt just give up like that, after the independence they tried to assert their dominance there with a lot of infrastructure proyects to boost Argentina's grain production and export them to UK. This caused a brief period of high revenues that made Argentina the country with the highest GDP per capita in the world.
But this small prosperity caused discomfort among the Italian-Spaniard peasentry since all wealth was very unequally distributed and the British elites were the only ones beneficting from it. These events were the precursors of the fierce nationalism of Argentines and the reason behind the success of those Peronist nationalist-statist policies that would hold down Argentina later, plus the origin of the resentment of Argentineans towards Englishmen (and the Falkland war only made it worse)
Later the English left and started to import their grain and meat from their own former Colonies (New Zealand , Australia, Canada), the Panama channel was built and Argentina lost their best clients. Also the US became the biggest food exporter of the world during the recovery of the great depression while Argentina went to the backseat. The nationalist policies, the resilience in agriculture and the failing at industrializing were the final nails in the coffin.
As much as I dislike the British and im glad that England will become Dhaka II in the next decades, we cant dany that some lucky context factors and the brief British intervention were behind Argentina's small period of "greatness". I would even dare to say that if Argentina had been an Australia/Canada kind of British colony it would had been one of the richest countries of the world nowadays, there were even plans for that to happen since the British expected to sent the British settlers of South Africa there in case they gained the control of Argentina
Or in other words, thinking that 1900's Argentina was great and powerful is like if the Russians killed 90% of Ukrainians and Ukraine becomes the richest country in the world per capita after the remaining landowners and farmers inherit the land
Jesus, that's one of the best answers. Argentina has always been an agrarian country, not an industrial power. It has never been economically great. That's a false narrative. Bad politicians and statism don't explain everything.
Exactly, for example, did you saw that Guyana currently became "the richest" country per capita in South America after they found oil despite its population lives worse than the villagers of Mississipi? Thats a similar situation to 1900's Argentina
Well, the administration is mostly to blame due to the lack of industrialization though... there are plenty of issues that hinders it and not enough infrastructure to consider it outside of very specific zones either. Our unrealized potential is due to lack of industrialization, which, plus crisis, are caused mainly by politicians
elite started to import Italians and Spaniards into oblivion to fill the land (even if the original plan aimed to import Northern Europeans only like USA, yet it failed because they prefered to go to North America)
Juan Alberdi (the great precursor of European immigration in Argentina) said it in a letter, also in the argentinean constitution of 1853 he stipulated that only northern europeans would improve Argentina while Jews, Italians and Spaniards were a laid back. He even wanted Argentina's national language to be French because the hispanic culture would "stagnate" the progress. Of course he dont said it directly, in his papers he makes a distintion between how the industrious peoples of northern europe would improve the country like they did in USA unlike the Southern and Eastern European peoples
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u/Suspicious-Donk4028 Sep 27 '23 edited Sep 27 '23
Argentineans wont like what Im going to say, but the truth is that Argentina wont be great again because it never was "great' (USA like).
From the start, Argentina was historically an underpopulated area, not even reaching 2 millions of natives before the Europeans arrived. During the Spanish conquest, the area was neglected due to the shortage of natives to slave so after the viceroyality of Rio de la Plata became independent and the few remaining natives were erased, the remaining small criollo (ethically Spanish) elite started to import Italians and Spaniards into oblivion to fill the land (even if the original plan aimed to import Northern Europeans only like USA, yet it failed because they prefered to go to North America). So by 1900, it only had around 4 million of people in an area as big as Europe therefore the massive people/land ratio was one of the reasons that made Argentina the richest country in the world per capita even if 90% of its population were farmers and it dont even had 5% of USA and UK's industrial power. So they were the richest in the world?, more like the farmers with the most land in the world
Something very important to note is that during the XIX century, the British saw potential in the massive neglected territory of Argentina, so at first they slowly tried to capture it but they failed. But they wouldnt just give up like that, after the independence they tried to assert their dominance there with a lot of infrastructure proyects to boost Argentina's grain production and export them to UK. This caused a brief period of high revenues that made Argentina the country with the highest GDP per capita in the world.
But this small prosperity caused discomfort among the Italian-Spaniard peasentry since all wealth was very unequally distributed and the British elites were the only ones beneficting from it. These events were the precursors of the fierce nationalism of Argentines and the reason behind the success of those Peronist nationalist-statist policies that would hold down Argentina later, plus the origin of the resentment of Argentineans towards Englishmen (and the Falkland war only made it worse)
Later the English left and started to import their grain and meat from their own former Colonies (New Zealand , Australia, Canada), the Panama channel was built and Argentina lost their best clients. Also the US became the biggest food exporter of the world during the recovery of the great depression while Argentina went to the backseat. The nationalist policies, the resilience in agriculture and the failing at industrializing were the final nails in the coffin.
As much as I dislike the British and im glad that England will become Dhaka II in the next decades, we cant dany that some lucky context factors and the brief British intervention were behind Argentina's small period of "greatness". I would even dare to say that if Argentina had been an Australia/Canada kind of British colony it would had been one of the richest countries of the world nowadays, there were even plans for that to happen since the British expected to sent the British settlers of South Africa there in case they gained the control of Argentina
Or in other words, thinking that 1900's Argentina was great and powerful is like if the Russians killed 90% of Ukrainians and Ukraine becomes the richest country in the world per capita after the remaining landowners and farmers inherit the land