Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
and briefly the
Argentine Confederation
The Argentine Confederation (Spanish: ''Confederación Argentina'') was the last predecessor state of modern Argentina; its name is still one of the official names of the country according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35. It was the name ...
. Although born into a wealthy family, Rosas independently amassed a personal fortune, acquiring large tracts of land in the process. Rosas enlisted his workers in a
private militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
, as was common for rural proprietors, and took part in the disputes that led to numerous
civil wars in his country. Victorious in warfare, personally influential, and with vast landholdings and a loyal private army, Rosas became a
caudillo
A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...
, as provincial warlords in the region were known. He eventually reached the rank of brigadier general, the highest in the
Argentine Army
The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander- ...
, and became the undisputed leader of the
Federalist Party
The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801.
De ...
.
In December 1829, Rosas became governor of the province of Buenos Aires and established a
dictatorship
A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...
backed by
state terrorism
State terrorism refers to acts of terrorism which a state conducts against another state or against its own citizens.Martin, 2006: p. 111.
Definition
There is neither an academic nor an international legal consensus regarding the proper def ...
. In 1831, he signed the
Federal Pact
The Federal Pact ( es, Pacto Federal) was a treaty first signed by the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe on 4 January 1831, for which a Federal military alliance was created to confront the Unitarian League. Other pr ...
, recognising provincial autonomy and creating the Argentine Confederation. When his term of office ended in 1832, Rosas departed to the frontier
to wage war on the indigenous peoples. After his supporters launched a ''coup'' in Buenos Aires, Rosas was asked to return and once again took office as governor. Rosas reestablished his dictatorship and formed the repressive ''Mazorca'', an armed
parapolice
Parapolice are law enforcement officers considered "beyond", "ancillary" or "subsidiary" to the regular police force (as in "Paramilitary", "Paramedic", or "Paralegal"). The term has been used in criminology to refer to private security with an exp ...
that killed thousands of citizens. Elections became a farce, and the legislature and judiciary became docile instruments of his will. Rosas created a
cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
and his regime became
totalitarian
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
in nature, with all aspects of society rigidly controlled.
Rosas faced many threats to his power during the late 1830s and early 1840s. He
fought a war against the
Peru–Bolivian Confederation
The Peru–Bolivian Confederation was a short-lived state that existed in South America between 1836 and 1839. The country was a loose confederation between the states of Peru, divided into the Republic of North Peru and the Republic of South Pe ...
, endured a
blockade by France, faced a
revolt in his own province and battled a major rebellion that lasted for years and spread to five northern Argentine provinces. Rosas persevered and extended his influence in the provinces, exercising effective control over them through direct and indirect means. By 1848, he had extended his power beyond the borders of Buenos Aires and was ruler of all of Argentina. Rosas also attempted to annex the neighbouring nations of
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
and
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
. France and Great Britain jointly retaliated against Argentine expansionism,
blockading Buenos Aires for most of the late 1840s, but were unable to halt Rosas, whose prestige was greatly enhanced by his string of successes.
When the
Empire of Brazil
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pe ...
began aiding Uruguay in its struggle against Argentina, Rosas declared war in August 1851, starting the
Platine War
The Platine War (, ; 18 August 1851 – 3 February 1852) was fought between the Argentine Confederation and an alliance consisting of the Empire of Brazil, Uruguay, and the Argentine provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes, with the parti ...
. This short conflict ended with Rosas being defeated and absconding to Britain. His last years were spent in exile living as a
tenant farmer
A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...
until his death in 1877. Rosas garnered an enduring public perception among Argentines as a brutal tyrant. Since the 1930s, an authoritarian, anti-Semitic, and racist political movement in Argentina called Revisionism has tried to improve Rosas's reputation and establish a new dictatorship in the model of his regime In 1989, his remains were repatriated by the government in an attempt to promote national unity, seeking to rehabilitate Rosas and the
1970s military dictatorship. Rosas remains a controversial figure in Argentina in the 21st century.
Early life
Birth
![Juan Manuel de Rosas as a child (transparent)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Juan_Manuel_de_Rosas_as_a_child_%28transparent%29.png)
Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas was born on 30 March 1793 at his family's town house in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, the capital of the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ( es, Virreinato del Río de la Plata or es, Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called "Viceroyalty of the River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in ...
. He was the first child of
León Ortiz de Rosas and
Agustina López de Osornio. León Ortiz was the son of an immigrant from the Spanish
Province of Burgos
The Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Valladolid. ...
. A military officer with an undistinguished career, León Ortiz had married into a wealthy ''
Criollo
Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to:
People
* Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants)
Animals
* Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...
'' family. The young Juan Manuel de Rosas's character was heavily influenced by his mother Agustina, a strong-willed and domineering woman who derived these character traits from her father
Clemente López de Osornio
Clemente López de Osornio (1720–1783) was a Spanish military leader. He served during the Viceroyalty of Peru as Captain of the :es:Blandengues de Buenos Aires, Regiment of Blandengues of Buenos Aires.
Biography
He was baptized on November 25, ...
, a landowner who died defending his estate from an Indian attack in 1783.
As was common practice at the time, Rosas was schooled at home until the age of 8, and then enrolled in what was regarded the best private school in Buenos Aires. Though befitting the son of a wealthy landowner, his education was unremarkable. According to historian John Lynch, Rosas' education "was supplemented by his own efforts in the years that followed. Rosas was not entirely unread, though the time, the place, and his own bias limited the choice of authors. He appears to have had a sympathetic, if superficial, acquaintance with minor political thinkers of French
absolutism."
In 1806, a
British expeditionary force invaded Buenos Aires. A 13-year-old Rosas served distributing ammunition to troops in a force organised by Viceroy
Santiago Liniers to counter the invasion. The British were defeated in August 1806, but returned a year later. Rosas was then assigned to the ''Caballería de los
Migueletes'' (a militia cavalry), although he was probably barred from active duty during this time due to illness.
''Estanciero''
![Gauchos resting in the pampas by Rugendas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Gauchos_resting_in_the_pampas_by_Rugendas.jpg)
After the British invasions had been repelled, Rosas and his family moved from Buenos Aires to their ''
estancia
An estancia is a large, private plot of land used for farming or raising cattle or sheep. Estancias in the southern South American grasslands, the ''pampas'', have historically been estates used to raise livestock, such as cattle or sheep. In Pu ...
'' (
ranch
A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...
). His work there further shaped his character and outlook as part of the
Platine region's social establishment. In the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, owners of large landholdings (including the Rosas family) provided food, equipment and protection for families living in areas under their control. Their private defence forces consisted primarily of labourers who were drafted as soldiers. Most of these
peon
Peon (English , from the Spanish ''peón'' ) usually refers to a person subject to peonage: any form of wage labor, financial exploitation, coercive economic practice, or policy in which the victim or a laborer (peon) has little control over emp ...
s, as such workers were called, were
gaucho
A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...
s.
The landed aristocracy of Spanish descent considered the illiterate, mixed-race gauchos, who comprised the majority of the population, to be ungovernable and untrustworthy. The gauchos were tolerated because there was no other
labour force
The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic regio ...
available, but were treated with contempt by the landowners. Rosas got along well with the gauchos in his service, despite his harsh, authoritarian temperament. He was known to dress like them, joke with them, take part in their horse-play, and pay them well, but he never allowed them to forget that he was their master rather than their equal. Shaped by the colonial society in which he lived, Rosas was conservative, an advocate of hierarchy and authority, like the other great landowners in the region.
Rosas acquired a working knowledge of administering ranch lands and, beginning in 1811, took charge of his family's ''estancias''. In 1813, he married
Encarnación Ezcurra
María de la Encarnación Ezcurra (March 25, 1795 – October 20, 1838) was an Argentine political activist, wife of Juan Manuel de Rosas.
She was the daughter of Juan Ignacio Ezcurra and Teodora de Arguibel. She married Juan Manuel de Rosas, Ro ...
, daughter of a wealthy family from Buenos Aires. He soon afterwards sought to establish a career for himself, leaving his parents' estate. He produced salted meat and acquired landholdings in the process. As the years passed he became an ''estanciero'' (rancher) in his own right, accumulating land while establishing a successful partnership with second cousins from the politically powerful Anchorena clan. His hard work and organisational skills in deploying labour were key to his success, rather than creating new or applying nontraditional approaches to production.
Rise to power
Caudillo
![Gauchos and feral horses by Rugendas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Gauchos_and_feral_horses_by_Rugendas.jpg)
The
May Revolution
The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...
of 1810 marked the early stage of a process which later led to the disintegration of Spain's Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, independence and the eventual formation of
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. Rosas, like many landowners in the countryside, was suspicious of a movement advanced primarily by merchants and bureaucrats in the city of Buenos Aires. Rosas was specially outraged by the execution of Viceroy
Santiago de Liniers
Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, Order of Montesa, KOM, Order of Malta, OM (July 25, 1753 – August 26, 1810) was a French People, French officer in the Spain, Spanish military service, and a viceroy of ...
at the hands of the revolutionaries. Rosas felt nostalgic about colonial times, seeing them as stable, orderly and prosperous.
When the
Congress of Tucumán
The Congress of Tucumán was the representative assembly, initially meeting in San Miguel de Tucumán, that declared the independence of the United Provinces of South America (modern-day Argentina, Uruguay, part of Bolivia) on July 9, 1816, fro ...
severed all remaining ties with Spain in July 1816, Rosas and his peers accepted independence as an accomplished fact. Independence resulted in a breakup of the territories that had formed the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. The province of Buenos Aires
fought a civil war with the other provinces over the degree of autonomy which the provincial governments were to have. The
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians (in Spanish, ''Unitarios'') were the proponents of the concept of a unitary state (centralized government) in Buenos Aires during the civil wars that shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1 ...
supported the preeminence of Buenos Aires, while the
Federalist Party
The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801.
De ...
defended provincial autonomy. A decade of strife over the issue destroyed the ties between capital and provinces, with new republics being declared throughout the country. Efforts by the Buenos Aires government to quash these independent states were met with determined local resistance. In 1820 Rosas and his gauchos, all dressed in red and nicknamed "''Colorados del Monte''" ("Reds of the Mount"), enlisted in the army of Buenos Aires as the Fifth Regiment of Militia. They repulsed invading provincial armies, saving Buenos Aires.
At the end of the conflict, Rosas returned to his ''estancias'' having acquired prestige for his military service. He was promoted to cavalry colonel and was awarded further landholdings by the government. These additions, together with his successful business and fresh property acquisitions, greatly boosted his wealth. By 1830, he was the 10th largest landowner in the
province of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
(in which the city of the same name was located), owning 300,000 cattle and of land. With his newly gained influence, military background, vast landholdings and a private army of gauchos loyal only to him, Rosas became the quintessential
caudillo
A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...
, as provincial warlords in the region were known.
Governor of Buenos Aires
![Juan Manuel de Rosas 1829](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Juan_Manuel_de_Rosas_1829.jpg)
National unity crumbled under the weight of a continuous round of civil wars, rebellions and coups. The Unitarian–Federalist struggle brought perennial instability while caudillos fought for power and laid waste to the countryside. By 1826, Rosas had built a power base, consisting of relatives, friends and clients, and joined the Federalist Party. He remained a strong advocate of his native province of Buenos Aires, with little concern for political ideology. In 1820, Rosas fought alongside the Unitarians because he saw the Federalist invasion as a menace to Buenos Aires. When the Unitarians sought to appease the Federalists by proposing to grant the other provinces a share in the customs revenues flowing through Buenos Aires, Rosas saw this as a threat to his province's interests. In 1827, four provinces led by Federalist caudillos rebelled against the Unitarian government. Rosas was the driving force behind the Federalist takeover of Buenos Aires and the election of
Manuel Dorrego
Manuel Dorrego (11 June 1787 – 13 December 1828) was an Argentine statesman and soldier. He was governor of Buenos Aires in 1820, and then again from 1827 to 1828.
Life and politics
Dorrego was born in Buenos Aires on 11 June 1787 to José An ...
as provincial governor that year. Rosas was awarded with the post of general commander of the rural militias of the province of Buenos Aires on 14 July, which increased his influence and power.
In December 1828
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo Lavalle (17 October 1797 – 9 October 1841) was an Argentine military and political figure.
Biography
Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José Lavalle, general accountant of rents and t ...
, the Unitarian governor of Buenos Aires had Dorrego seized and executed without trial. With Dorrego gone, Rosas filled the vacant Federalist leadership and rebelled against the Unitarians. He allied with
Estanislao López
Estanislao López (26 November 1786 – 15 June 1838) was a ''caudillo'' and governor of the , between 1818 and 1838, one of the foremost proponents of provincial federalism, and an associate of Juan Manuel de Rosas during the Argentine Civ ...
, caudillo and ruler of
Santa Fe Province
The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco Province, Chaco (divided by the 28th ...
, and they defeated Lavalle at the
Battle of Márquez Bridge
The Battle of Márquez Bridge (located on the border between current-day Villa Udaondo and Paso del Rey, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina), fought on 26 April 1829, during the civil war between Unitarians and Federalists, resulting in a victory ...
in April 1829. When Rosas entered the city of Buenos Aires in November of that year, he was hailed both as a victorious military leader and as the head of the Federalists. Rosas was considered a handsome man, standing tall with blond hair and "piercing blue eyes".
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
, who met Rosas
during the ''Beagle'' survey expedition, assessed him as "a man of extraordinary character". British diplomat
Henry Southern said that in "appearance Rosas resembles an English gentleman farmer—his manners are courteous without being refined. He is affable and agreeable in conversation, which however nearly always turns on himself, but his tone is pleasant and agreeable enough. His memory is stupendous: and his accuracy in all points of detail never failing."
On 6 December 1829, the House of Representatives of Buenos Aires elected Rosas governor and granted him ''facultades extraordinarias'' (extraordinary powers). This marked the beginning of his regime, described by historians as a dictatorship.
[See:
*,
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*,
*,
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*,
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*,
*,
*,
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*,
*,
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*.] He saw himself as a
benevolent dictator
A benevolent dictatorship is a government in which an authoritarian leader exercises absolute political power over the state, but is perceived to do so with regard for benefit of the population as a whole, standing in contrast to the decidedly ma ...
, saying: "For me the ideal of good government would be paternal autocracy, intelligent, disinterested and indefatigable ... I have always admired the autocratic dictators who have been the first servants of their people. That is my great title: I have always sought to serve the country." He used his power to censor his critics and banish his enemies. He later justified these measures, stating: "When I took over the government I found the government in anarchy, divided into warring factions, reduced to pure chaos, a hell in miniature ..."
Desert Campaign
![Primer Conquista del Desierto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Primer_Conquista_del_Desierto.jpg)
Rosas' early administration was preoccupied with the severe deficits, large public debts and the impact of currency devaluation which his government inherited. A great drought that began in December 1828, which would last until April 1832, greatly impacted the economy. The Unitarians were still at large, controlling several provinces that had banded together in the
Unitarian League
The Unitarian League ( es, Liga Unitaria) also referred to as the League of the Interior () was a league of provinces of Argentina led by José María Paz, established in 1830, aiming to unite the country under Unitarian Party, unitarian princip ...
. The capture of
José María Paz
Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo (September 9, 1791 – October 22, 1854) was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil Wars.
Childhood
Born in Córdoba, Argentina, the so ...
, the main Unitarian leader, in March 1831 resulted in the end of the Unitarian–Federalist civil war and the collapse of the Unitarian League. Rosas was content, for the moment, to agree to recognize provincial autonomy in the
Federal Pact
The Federal Pact ( es, Pacto Federal) was a treaty first signed by the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe on 4 January 1831, for which a Federal military alliance was created to confront the Unitarian League. Other pr ...
. In an effort to alleviate the government's financial problems, he improved revenue collection while not raising taxes and curtailed expenditure.
By the end of his first term, Rosas was generally credited with having staved off political and financial instability, but he faced increased opposition in the House of Representatives. All members of the House were Federalists, as Rosas had restored the legislature that had been in place under Dorrego, and which had subsequently been dissolved by Lavalle. A liberal Federalist faction, which accepted dictatorship as a temporary necessity, called for the adoption of a constitution. Rosas was unwilling to govern constrained by a constitutional framework and only grudgingly relinquished his dictatorial powers. His term of office ended soon after, on 5 December 1832.
While the government in Buenos Aires was distracted with political infighting, ranchers began moving into territories in the south inhabited by indigenous peoples. The resulting conflict with native peoples necessitated a government response. Rosas steadfastly endorsed policies which supported this expansion. During his governorship he granted lands in the south to war veterans and to ranchers seeking alternative pasture lands during the drought. Although the south was regarded as a virtual desert at the time, it had great potential and resources for agricultural development, particularly for ranching operations. The government gave Rosas command of an army with orders to subdue the Indian tribes in the coveted territory. Rosas was generous to those Indians who surrendered, rewarding them with animals and goods. Although he personally disliked killing Indians, he relentlessly hunted those who refused to yield. The
Desert Campaign lasted from 1833 to 1834, with Rosas subjugating the entire region. His conquest of the south opened many possibilities for further territorial expansion, which led him to state: "The
fine territories, which extend from the
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
to the coast and down to the
Magellan Straits
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...
are now wide open for our children."
Second governorship
Absolute power
![Rosas por Molino](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Rosas_por_Molino.png)
While Rosas was away on the Desert Campaign in October 1833, a group of ''Rosistas'' (Rosas's supporters) laid siege to Buenos Aires. Inside the city, Rosas's wife, Encarnación, assembled a contingent of associates to aid the besiegers. The
Revolution of the Restorers
The Revolution of the Restorers ( es, Revolución de los Restauradores) was a rebellion that took place in Buenos Aires in 1833. The governor Juan Ramón Balcarce was ousted from office and replaced by Juan José Viamonte. The rebellion was motiv ...
, as the ''Rosista'' coup came to be known, forced the provincial governor
Juan Ramón Balcarce
Juan Ramón González de Balcarce (16 March 1773 – 12 November 1836) was an Argentine military leader and politician.
Biography
Juan was the older brother of Antonio González de Balcarce and of Marcos González de Balcarce. He fought agai ...
to resign. In quick succession, Balcarce was followed by two others who presided over weak and ineffective governments. The ''Rosismo'' (Rosism) had become a powerful faction within the Federalist Party, and pressured other factions to accept a return of Rosas, endowed with dictatorial powers, as the only way to restore stability. The House of Representatives yielded, and on 7 March 1835, Rosas was reelected governor and invested with the ''suma del poder público'' (
sum of public power).
A plebiscite was held to determine whether the citizens of Buenos Aires supported Rosas's reelection and resumption of dictatorial powers. During his governorship from 1829 to 1832, Rosas had reduced the election process to a farce. He had installed loyal associates as justices of the peace, powerful officeholders with administrative and judicial functions who were also charged with tax collection, leading militia and presiding over elections. Through the exclusion of voters and intimidation of the opposition, the justices of the peace delivered any result Rosas favored. Half of the members of the House of Representatives faced reelection each year, and the opposition to Rosas had quickly been eliminated through rigged elections, allowing him to control the legislature. Control over finances had been stripped from the legislature, and its approval of legislation turned into a
rubber stamp
A rubber stamp is an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized onto a sheet of rubber. Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to rubber ...
to preserve a semblance of democracy. The result of the 1835 election was a predictable 99.9 percent "yes" vote.
Rosas believed that the manipulation of elections were necessary for political stability, because most of the country's population was illiterate. He acquired absolute power over the province with the assent and support of most ''estancieros'' and businessmen, who shared his views. The ''estancia'' formed the power base on which Rosas relied. Lynch said that there "was a great deal of group cohesion and solidarity among the landed class. Rosas was the center of a vast kinship group based on land. He was surrounded by a closely knit economic and political network linking deputies, law officers, officials, and military who were also landowners and related among themselves or with Rosas."
Totalitarian regime
![Rosas arenga a los morenos](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Rosas_arenga_a_los_morenos.jpg)
Rosas's authority and influence spread far beyond the House of Representatives. He exercised tight control over the bureaucracy as well as his cabinet, stating: "Do not imagine that my Ministers are anything but my Secretaries. I put them in their offices to listen and report, and nothing more." His supporters were rewarded with positions within the state apparatus, and anyone he deemed a threat was purged. Opposition newspapers
were burned in public squares. Rosas created an elaborate
cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
, presenting himself as an almighty and fatherlike figure who protected the people. His portraits were carried in street demonstrations and placed on church altars to be venerated. ''Rosismo'' was no longer a mere faction within the Federalist ranks; it had become a political movement. As early as 1829, Rosas had confided to an Uruguayan diplomatic envoy: "I tell you I am not a Federalist, and I have never belonged to that party." During his governorship, he still claimed to have favoured Federalism against Unitarianism, although in practice Federalism had by that time been subsumed into the ''Rosismo'' movement.
Rosas established a
totalitarian regime
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
, in which the government sought to dictate every aspect of public and private life. It was mandated that the slogan "Death to the Savage Unitarians" be inscribed at the head of all official documents. Anyone on the state payroll—from military officers, priests, to civil servants and teachers—was obliged to wear a red badge with the inscription "Federation or Death". Every male was required to have a "federal look", i.e., to sport a large moustache and sideburns, leading many to wear false moustaches. The red colour—symbol of both the Federalist Party and of ''Rosismo''—became omnipresent in the province of Buenos Aires. Soldiers wore red ''chiripás'' (blankets worn as trousers), caps and jackets, and their horses sported red
accoutrements
Accoutrements are the personal/individual equipment of service people such as soldiers, sailors, police and firemen and employees of some private organizations such as security guards, other than their basic uniform and weapons.In American English ...
. Civilians were also required to wear the colour. A red waistcoat, red badge and red hat band were required for men, while women wore ribbons in that colour and children donned school uniforms based upon ''Rosismo'' paradigms. Building exteriors and interiors were also decorated in red.
Most Catholic clergy in Buenos Aires willingly backed Rosas' regime. The
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, the only ones who refused to do so, were expelled from the country. The lower social strata in Buenos Aires, which formed the vast majority of its populace, experienced no improvement in the conditions under which they lived. When Rosas slashed expenditures, he cut resources from education, social services, general welfare and public works. None of the lands confiscated from Indians and Unitarians were turned over to rural workers, including gauchos.
Black people
Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...
did not experience any improvement in their conditions either. Rosas was a slave-owner, and helped revive the
slave trade
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. Despite doing little to promote their interests, he remained popular among blacks and gauchos. He employed blacks, patronized their festivities and attended their ''
candombles''. The gauchos admired his leadership and willingness to fraternize with them to some extent.
State terrorism
![Rosas y Calaveras](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Rosas_y_Calaveras.jpg)
In addition to purges, banishments and censorship, Rosas took measures against the opposition and anyone else he deemed a threat that historians have considered
state terrorism
State terrorism refers to acts of terrorism which a state conducts against another state or against its own citizens.Martin, 2006: p. 111.
Definition
There is neither an academic nor an international legal consensus regarding the proper def ...
. Terror was a tool used to intimidate dissident voices, to shore up support among his own partisans and to exterminate his foes. His targets were denounced, sometimes inaccurately, as having ties to Unitarians. Those victimised included members of his government and party who were suspected of being insufficiently loyal. If actual opponents were not at hand, the regime found other targets that were punished to make an example. A climate of fear was used to create unquestioning conformity to Rosas' dictates.
State terrorism was carried out by the ''Mazorca'', an armed
parapolice
Parapolice are law enforcement officers considered "beyond", "ancillary" or "subsidiary" to the regular police force (as in "Paramilitary", "Paramedic", or "Paralegal"). The term has been used in criminology to refer to private security with an exp ...
unit of the ''
Sociedad Popular Restauradora The Sociedad Popular Restauradora ( es, Popular Restorer Society) was an Argentine security agency that worked for Juan Manuel de Rosas in the mid-nineteenth century. It is usually equated to the organization called the "Mazorca", which was actually ...
'' political organization. The ''Sociedad Popular Restauradora'' and the ''Mazorca'' were creations of Rosas, who retained tight control over both. The tactics of the ''mazorqueros'' included neighborhood sweeps in which houses would be searched and occupants intimidated. Others who fell into their power were arrested, tortured and killed. Killings were generally by shooting, lance-thrusting or throat-slitting. Many were castrated, or had their beards
scalped
Scalping is the act of cutting or tearing a part of the human scalp, with hair attached, from the head, and generally occurred in warfare with the scalp being a trophy. Scalp-taking is considered part of the broader cultural practice of the tak ...
or their tongues cut out. Modern estimates report around 2,000 people were killed from 1829 until 1852.
Although a judicial system still existed in Buenos Aires, Rosas removed any independence the courts might have exercised, either by controlling appointments to the judiciary, or by circumventing their authority entirely. He would sit in judgement over cases, issuing sentences which included fines, service in the army, imprisonment, or execution. The exercise of state terror as a tool of intimidation was restricted to Rosas himself; his subordinates had no control over it. It was used against specific targets, rather than randomly. Terrorism was orchestrated rather than a product of popular zeal, was targeted for effect rather than indiscriminate. Anarchic demonstrations, vigilantism and disorderliness were antithetical to a regime touting a law and order agenda. Foreigners were exempted from abuses, as were people too poor or inconsequential to serve as effective examples. Victims were selected for their usefulness as tools of intimidation.
Struggle for dominance
Rebellions and foreign threat
![Raymond Monvoisin - Retrato de Juan Manuel de Rosas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Raymond_Monvoisin_-_Retrato_de_Juan_Manuel_de_Rosas.jpg)
Throughout the late 1830s and early 1840s, Rosas faced a series of major threats to his power. The Unitarians found an ally in
Andrés de Santa Cruz
Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calahumana (; 30 November 1792 – 25 September 1865) was a Bolivian general and politician who served as interim president of Peru in 1827, the interim president of Peru from 1836 to 1838 and the sixth president of B ...
, the ruler of the
Peru–Bolivian Confederation
The Peru–Bolivian Confederation was a short-lived state that existed in South America between 1836 and 1839. The country was a loose confederation between the states of Peru, divided into the Republic of North Peru and the Republic of South Pe ...
. Rosas declared war against the Peru–Bolivian Confederation on 19 March 1837, joining the
War of the Confederation
The War of the Confederation ( es, Guerra de la Confederación) was a military confrontation waged by Chile, along with Peruvian dissidents, and the Argentine Confederation against the Peru–Bolivian Confederation between 1836 and 1839. As ...
between Chile and Peru–Bolivia. The ''Rosista'' army played a minor role in the conflict, which resulted in the overthrow of Santa Cruz and the dissolution of the Peru–Bolivian Confederation. On 28 March 1838, France declared a blockade of the
Port of Buenos Aires
The Port of Buenos Aires ( es, Puerto de Buenos Aires) is the principal maritime port in Argentina. Operated by the ''Administración General de Puertos'' (General Ports Administration), a state enterprise, it is the leading transshipment point fo ...
, eager to extend its influence over the region. Unable to confront the French, Rosas increased internal repression to forestall potential uprisings against his regime.
The blockade caused severe damage to the economy across all the provinces, as they exported their goods through the port of Buenos Aires. Despite the 1831
Federal Pact
The Federal Pact ( es, Pacto Federal) was a treaty first signed by the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe on 4 January 1831, for which a Federal military alliance was created to confront the Unitarian League. Other pr ...
, all provinces had long been discontent with the ''de facto'' primacy that Buenos Aires province held over them. On 28 February 1839, the
province of Corrientes revolted and attacked both Buenos Aires and
Entre Ríos provinces. Rosas counterattacked and defeated the rebels, killing their leader, the governor of Corrientes. In June, Rosas uncovered a plot by dissident ''Rosistas'' to oust him from power in what became known as the
Maza conspiracy. Rosas imprisoned some of the plotters and executed others.
Manuel Vicente Maza
Manuel Vicente Maza (1779 – June 27, 1839) was an Argentine lawyer and federal politician. He was governor of Buenos Aires, and was killed after the discovery of a failed plot to kill Juan Manuel de Rosas.
Biography
Even though Maza was bor ...
, president of both the House of Representatives and the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, was murdered by Rosas's ''Mazorca'' agents within the halls of the parliament on the pretext that his son was involved in the conspiracy. In the countryside, ''estancieros'', including a younger brother of Rosas, revolted, beginning the
Rebellion of the South. The rebels attempted to ally with France, but were easily crushed, many losing their lives and properties in the process.
In September 1839,
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo Lavalle (17 October 1797 – 9 October 1841) was an Argentine military and political figure.
Biography
Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José Lavalle, general accountant of rents and t ...
returned after ten years in exile. He allied with the governor of Corrientes, which revolted once again, and invaded Buenos Aires province at the head of Unitarian troops armed and supplied by the French. Emboldened by Lavalle's actions, the provinces of
Tucumán,
Salta
Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
,
La Rioja
La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and N ...
,
Catamarca and
Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in Argentine Northwest, northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Depa ...
formed the
Coalition of the North and also rebelled against Buenos Aires. Great Britain intervened on behalf of Rosas, and France lifted the blockade on 29 October 1840. The struggle with his internal enemies was hard-fought. By December 1842, Lavalle had been killed and the rebellious provinces subdued, except for Corrientes, which was only defeated in 1847. Terrorism was also employed on the battlefield, as the ''Rosistas'' refused to take prisoners. The defeated men had their throats cut and their heads put on display.
Ruler of Argentina
![Candombe federal, época de Rosas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Candombe_federal%2C_%C3%A9poca_de_Rosas.jpg)
Around 1845, Rosas managed to establish absolute dominance over the region. He exercised complete control over all aspects of society with the solid backing of the army. Rosas was raised from colonel to brigadier general (the highest army rank) on 18 December 1829. On 12 November 1840 he declined the newly created and higher rank of grand marshal (''gran mariscal''), which had been bestowed on him by the House of Representatives. The army was led by officers who had backgrounds and values similar to his. Confident of his power, Rosas made some concessions by returning confiscated properties to their owners, disbanding the ''Mazorca'' and ending torture and political assassinations. The inhabitants of Buenos Aires still dressed and behaved according to the set of rules Rosas had imposed, but the climate of constant and widespread fear greatly diminished.
When Rosas was elected governor for the first time in 1829, he held no power outside the province of Buenos Aires. There was no national government or national parliament. The former Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata had been succeeded by the
United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata ( es, link=no, Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata), earlier known as the United Provinces of South America ( es, link=no, Provincias Unidas de Sudamérica), was a name adopted in 1816 by the Cong ...
, which by 1831, following the Federal Pact and officially from 22 May 1835, had increasingly been known as the
Argentine Confederation
The Argentine Confederation (Spanish: ''Confederación Argentina'') was the last predecessor state of modern Argentina; its name is still one of the official names of the country according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35. It was the name ...
, or simply, Argentina. Rosas's victory over the other Argentine provinces in the early 1840s turned them into satellites of Buenos Aires. He gradually put in place provincial governors who were either allied or too weak to have real independence, which allowed him to exercise dominance over all the provinces. By 1848, Rosas began calling his government the "government of the confederacy" and the "general government", which would have been inconceivable a few years before. The next year, with acquiescence of the provinces, he named himself "Supreme Head of the Confederacy" and became the indisputable ruler of Argentina.
As Rosas aged and his health declined, the question of who would succeed him became a growing concern among his supporters. His wife Encarnación had died in October 1838 after a long illness. Although devastated by his loss, Rosas exploited her death to raise support for his regime. Not long after, at the age of 47, he began an affair with his fifteen-year-old maid, María Eugenia Castro, with whom he had five illegitimate children. From his marriage to Encarnación, Rosas had two children: Juan Bautista Pedro and
Manuela Robustiana. Rosas established a hereditary dictatorship, naming the children from his marriage as his successors, stating that "
ey are both worthy children of my beloved Encarnación, and if, God willing, I die, then you will find that they are capable of succeeding me." It is unknown whether Rosas was a closet
monarchist
Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
. Later during his exile, Rosas declared that
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
Princess Alice (Alice Maud Mary; 25 April 1843 – 14 December 1878) was Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from 13 June 1877 until her death in 1878 as the wife of Grand Duke Louis IV. She was the third child and second daughter of Queen ...
would be the ideal ruler for his country. Nonetheless, in public he stated that his regime was republican in nature.
Apogee and downfall
Anglo-French blockade
![Juan Manuel de Rosas 1845](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Juan_Manuel_de_Rosas_1845.jpg)
The breakup of the old Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata during the 1810s eventually resulted in the emergence of independent nations of
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
,
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
and
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
in the northern portion of the Viceroyalty, while its southern territories coalesced into the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. Rosas planned to restore, if not all, at least a considerable part of the former borders of the old Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He never recognized the independence of Paraguay and regarded it a rebel Argentine province that would inevitably be reconquered. He sent an army under
Manuel Oribe
Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana (August 26, 1792 – November 12, 1857) was the 2nd Constitutional president of Uruguay and founder of Uruguay's National Party, the oldest Uruguayan political party and considered one of the two Uruguayan "tr ...
who invaded Uruguay and conquered most of the country, except for its capital
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
that
endured a long siege starting in 1843. When pressed by the British, Rosas declined to guarantee Uruguayan independence. In
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, all potential foreign threats to Rosas's plans of conquest collapsed, including
Gran Colombia
Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), or Greater Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 18 ...
and the
Peru–Bolivian Confederation
The Peru–Bolivian Confederation was a short-lived state that existed in South America between 1836 and 1839. The country was a loose confederation between the states of Peru, divided into the Republic of North Peru and the Republic of South Pe ...
, or were troubled by internal turmoil, as was the
Empire of Brazil
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pe ...
. To reinforce his claims over Uruguay and Paraguay, and maintain his dominance over the Argentine provinces, Rosas blockaded the port of Montevideo and closed the interior rivers to foreign trade.
The loss of trade was unacceptable to Britain and France. On 17 September 1845 both nations established the
Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata
The Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata was a five-year-long naval blockade imposed by France and Britain on the Argentine Confederation ruled by Juan Manuel de Rosas. It was imposed in 1845 to support the Colorado Party in the Urug ...
and enforced the free navigation in the
Río de la Plata Basin
The Río de la Plata basin ( es, Cuenca del Plata, pt, Bacia do Prata), more often called the River Plate basin in scholarly writings, sometimes called the Platine basin or Platine region, is the hydrographical area in South America that drains ...
(or Platine region). Argentina resisted the pressure and fought back to a standstill. This
undeclared war
An undeclared war is a military conflict between two or more nations without either side issuing a formal declaration of war. The term is sometimes used to include any disagreement or conflict fought about without an official declaration. Since ...
caused more economic harm to France and Britain than to Argentina. The British faced increasing pressure at home once they realised that the access gained to the other ports within the Platine region did not compensate for the loss of trade with Buenos Aires. Britain ended all hostilities and lifted the blockade on 15 July 1847, followed by France on 12 June 1848. Rosas had successfully resisted the two most powerful nations on Earth; his standing, and Argentina's, increased among
Hispanic America
The region known as Hispanic America (in Spanish called ''Hispanoamérica'' or ''América Hispana'') and historically as Spanish America (''América Española'') is the portion of the Americas comprising the Spanish-speaking countries of North, ...
n nations. The Venezuelan
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
Andrés Bello
Andrés de Jesús María y José Bello López (; November 29, 1781 – October 15, 1865) was a Venezuelan- Chilean humanist, diplomat, poet, legislator, philosopher, educator and philologist, whose political and literary works constitute an ...
, summarizing the prevailing opinion, considered Rosas among "the leading ranks of the great men of America".
Although his prestige was on the rise, Rosas made no serious attempts to further liberalise his regime. Every year he presented his resignation and the pliant House of Representatives predictably declined, claiming that maintaining him in office was vital for the nation's welfare. Rosas also allowed exiled Argentines to return to their homeland, but only because he was so confident of his control and that no one was willing to risk defying him. The execution in August 1848 of the pregnant
Camila O'Gorman
Maria Camila O'Gorman Ximénez (9 July 1828 – 18 August 1848) was a 19th-century Argentine socialite executed over a scandal involving her relationship with a Roman Catholic priest. She was 20 years old and allegedly eight months pregnant whe ...
, charged with a forbidden romance with a priest, caused a backlash throughout the continent. Nonetheless, it served as a clear warning that Rosas had no intention of loosening his grip.
Platine War
![Residencia de Juan Manuel de Rosas (1876)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Residencia_de_Juan_Manuel_de_Rosas_%281876%29.jpg)
Rosas failed to realize that discontent was steadily growing throughout the country. Throughout the 1840s he became increasingly secluded in his country house in
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, some miles away from Buenos Aires. There he ruled and lived under heavy protection provided by guards and patrols. He declined to meet with his ministers and relied solely on secretaries. His daughter
Manuela replaced his wife at his right hand and became the link between Rosas and the outside world. The reason for Rosas's increasing isolation was given by a member of his secretariat: "The dictator is not stupid: he knows the people hate him; he goes in constant fear and always has one eye on the chance to rob and abuse them and the other on making a getaway. He has a horse ready saddled at the door of his office day and night".
Meanwhile, Brazil, now ascendant under Emperor
Dom Dom or DOM may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Dom (given name), including fictional characters
* Dom (surname)
* Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto
* Dom people, an et ...
Pedro II, provided support to the Uruguayan government that still held out in Montevideo, as well as to the ambitious
Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.
Life
Justo José de Urquiza y García was b ...
, a caudillo in Entre Ríos who rebelled against Rosas. Once one of Rosas' most trusted lieutenants, Urquiza now claimed to fight for a constitutional government, although his ambition to become head of state was barely disguised. In retaliation, Rosas declared war on Brazil on 18 August 1851, beginning the
Platine War
The Platine War (, ; 18 August 1851 – 3 February 1852) was fought between the Argentine Confederation and an alliance consisting of the Empire of Brazil, Uruguay, and the Argentine provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes, with the parti ...
. The army under Oribe in Uruguay surrendered to Urquiza in October. With arms and financial aid given by Brazil, Urquiza then marched through Argentine territory heading to Buenos Aires.
Uncharacteristically, Rosas remained passive throughout the conflict. The Argentine ruler lost heart once he realized that he had fallen into a trap. Even if he defeated Urquiza, his forces would probably be weakened enough to prevent him from challenging the Brazilian army that was ready to invade Argentina. With no other alternative, Rosas remarked: "There is no other way; we have to play for the high stakes and go for everything. Here we are, and from here there is no retreat." After an
unsuccessful battle against Urquiza on 3 February 1852, Rosas fled to Buenos Aires. Once there, he disguised himself and boarded a ship that took him to Britain to live in exile. Embittered, he remarked: "It is not the people who have overthrown me. It is the monkeys, the Brazilians."
Later years
Exile and death
![Juan Manuel de Rosas exiled](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Juan_Manuel_de_Rosas_exiled.JPG)
Rosas arrived in
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, Great Britain, on 26 April 1852. The British gave him asylum, paid for his travel and welcomed him with a
21-gun salute
A 21-gun salute is the most commonly recognized of the customary gun salutes that are performed by the firing of cannons or artillery as a military honor. As naval customs evolved, 21 guns came to be fired for heads of state, or in exceptiona ...
. These honours were granted because, according to the British Foreign Secretary
James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury
James Howard Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury, GCB, PC (25 March 1807 – 17 May 1889), styled Viscount FitzHarris from 1820 to 1841, was a British statesman of the Victorian era.
Background and education
James Howard Harris was born on 25 Mar ...
, "General Rosas was no common refugee, but one who had shown great distinction and kindness to the British merchants who had traded with his country". Months before his fall, Rosas had arranged with the British
chargé d'affaires
A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...
Captain
Robert Gore for protection and asylum in the event of his defeat. Both his children by Encarnación followed him into exile, although Juan Bautista soon returned with his family to Argentina. His daughter Manuela married the son of an old associate of Rosas, an act which the former dictator never forgave. A domineering father, Rosas wanted his daughter to remain devoted to him alone. Although he forbade her from writing or visiting, Manuela remained loyal to him and maintained contact.
The new Argentine government confiscated all of Rosas' properties and tried him as a criminal, later sentencing him to death. Rosas was appalled that most of his friends, supporters and allies abandoned him and became either silent or openly critical of him. ''Rosismo'' vanished overnight. "The landed class, supporters and beneficiaries of Rosas, now had to make their peace—and their profits—with his successors. Survival, not allegiance, was their politics", argued Lynch. Urquiza, a one-time ally and later an enemy, reconciled with Rosas and sent him financial assistance, hoping for political support in return—although Rosas had scant political capital left. Rosas followed Argentina's developments while in exile, always hoping for an opportunity to return, but he never again insinuated himself into Argentine affairs.
In exile Rosas was not destitute, but he lived modestly amid financial constraints during the remainder of his life. A very few loyal friends sent him money, but it was never enough. He sold one of his ''estancias'' before the confiscation and became a
tenant farmer
A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...
in
Swaythling
Swaythling is a suburb and electoral ward of the city of Southampton in Hampshire, England. The ward has a population of 13,664.
Swaythling is predominantly residential in character, and noted for its large student population due to its proxi ...
, near
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
. He employed a housekeeper and two to four labourers, to whom he paid above-average wages. Despite constant concern over his shortage of funds, Rosas found joy in farm life, once remarking: "I now consider myself happy on this farm, living in modest circumstances as you see, earning a living the hard way by the sweat of my brow". A contemporary described him in final years: "He was then eighty, a man still handsome and imposing; his manners were most refined, and the modest environment did nothing to lessen his air of a great lord, inherited from his family." After a walk on a cold day, Rosas caught pneumonia and died at 07:00 on the morning of 14 March 1877. Following a private mass attended by his family and a few friends, he was buried in the
town cemetery of Southampton.
Legacy
![Recoleta 112](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Recoleta_112.jpg)
Serious attempts to reassess Rosas's reputation began in the 1880s with the publication of scholarly works by
Adolfo Saldías and
Ernesto Quesada. Later, a more blatant "Revisionist" movement would flourish under ''
Nacionalismo'' (Nationalism). ''Nacionalismo'' was a political movement that appeared in Argentina in the 1920s and reached its apex in the 1930s. It was the Argentine equivalent of the authoritarian ideologies that arose during the same period, such as
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
,
Fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
and
Integralism
In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism (french: intégrisme) is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues for an authoritarian and anti- pluralist Catholic state, wherever the preponderance of Catholics within t ...
. Argentine Nationalism was an authoritarian,
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
, racist and
misogynistic
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
political movement with support for racially based pseudo-scientific theories such as
eugenics
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
. ''Revisionismo'' (Revisionism) was the historiographical wing of Argentine ''Nacionalismo''. The main goal of Argentine ''Nacionalismo'' was to establish a national dictatorship. For the ''Nacionalismo'' movement, Rosas and his regime were idealized and portrayed as paragons of governmental virtue. ''Revisionismo'' served as a useful tool, as the main purpose of the revisionists within the ''Nacionalismo'' agenda was to rehabilitate Rosas's image.
Despite a decades-long struggle, ''Revisionismo'' failed to be taken seriously. According to Michael Goebel, the revisionists had a "lack of interest in scholarly standards" and were known for "their institutional marginality in the intellectual field". They also never succeeded in changing mainstream views regarding Rosas. William Spence Robertson said in 1930: "Among the enigmatical personages of the 'Age of Dictators' in South America none played a more spectacular role than the Argentine dictator, Juan Manuel de Rosas, whose gigantic and ominous figure bestrode the Plata River for more than twenty years. So despotic was his power that Argentine writers have themselves styled this age of their history as 'The Tyranny of Rosas'." In 1961, William Dusenberry said: "Rosas is a negative memory in Argentina. He left behind him the black legend of Argentine history—a legend which Argentines in general wish to forget. There is no monument to him in the entire nation; no park, plaza, or street bears his name."
![ID 076 Vta de Obligado, Monumento de la batalla - CAZ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/ID_076_Vta_de_Obligado%2C_Monumento_de_la_batalla_-_CAZ.jpg)
In the 1980s, Argentina was a fractured, deeply divided nation, having faced
military dictatorships
A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer.
The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
, severe
economic crises
A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...
and a defeat in the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
. President
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...
decided to repatriate Rosas's remains and take advantage of the occasion to unite the Argentines. Menem believed that if the Argentines could forgive Rosas and his regime, they might do the same regarding the more recent and vividly remembered past. On 30 September 1989, an elaborate and enormous cortege organized by the government was held, after which the remains of the Argentine ruler were interred in his family vault at
La Recoleta Cemetery
La Recoleta Cemetery ( es, Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a cemetery located in the Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Recoleta Barrios and Communes of Buenos Aires, neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, includi ...
, Buenos Aires. Closely allied with neorevisionists, Menem (and his fellow
Peronist
Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of Ar ...
presidential successors
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, Secretary General of UNASUR and ...
and
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...
) have honoured Rosas on
banknotes
A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand.
Banknotes w ...
, postage stamps and monuments, causing mixed reactions among the public. Rosas remains a controversial figure among Argentines, who "have long been fascinated and outraged" by him, as historian John Lynch noted.
Notes
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosas, Juan Manuel De
Governors of Buenos Aires Province
Argentine brigadiers
Federales (Argentina)
Argentine Roman Catholics
Argentine people of Spanish descent
People from Buenos Aires
Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery
1793 births
1877 deaths