Junta Grande (), or Junta Provisional Gubernativa de Buenos Aires, is the most common name for the executive government of 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 Co ...

(modern-day

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 ...

), that followed the incorporation of provincial representatives into the

Primera Junta The Primera Junta ( en, First Junta) or ''Junta Provisional Gubernativa de las Provincias del Río de la Plata'' (''Provisional Governing Junta of the Provinces of the Río de la Plata''), is the most common name given to the first government of ...

(First Junta).

Origin

The

, created on May 25 1810 out of 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 ...

, was meant to be a provisional government until a Junta representative of all the cities 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, i ...

was integrated. Reactions from the provinces, however, were not homogeneous. Some of them recognised the Buenos Aires Junta and the outcome of the events of the

, while others sought to exercise exclusive control over their own affairs, and still others continued to recognize the Regency Council in Spain. Thus, in order to avoid

royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

taking political advantage of the situation, the Buenos Aires Junta sought to quickly assert its power. On May 27 1810, it delivered messages to every one of the Viceroyalty municipal councils ( es, cabildos), asking them to elect representatives to join the Junta at Buenos Aires. By early December, most delegates had already arrived in the capital city, and they were asking for their effective incorporation into the governing body (that was being held up due to the infighting between ''centralists'' led by the Junta's Secretary of War

Mariano Moreno Mariano Moreno (; September 23, 1778March 4, 1811) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution. Moreno was b ...

, and ''federalists'' led by the Junta's President,

Cornelio Saavedra Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez (September 15, 1759 in Otuyo – March 29, 1829 in Buenos Aires) was a military officer and statesman from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He was instrumental in the May Revolution, the firs ...

). Ultimately, Saavedra managed to orchestrate Moreno's resignation and on December 18 1810, the Junta Grande was at last established. It governed until September 23 1811 (since August 26 1811 under the presidency of

Domingo Matheu Domingo Bartolomé Francisco Matheu (4 August 1765, in Mataró. Spain – 28 March 1831, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was a Spanish-born Argentine businessman and politician. He was a member of the Primera Junta, the first national government ...

), when it was replaced as the executive authority by the

First Triumvirate The First Triumvirate was an informal political alliance among three prominent politicians in the late Roman Republic: Gaius Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus. The constitution of the Roman republic had many ve ...

. However, reorganized as a ''Conservative Junta'', it retained some controlling functions over the Triumvirate.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata Argentine War of Independence 1810s in Argentina 1810s in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata Colonial Uruguay Political history of Argentina Provisional governments 1810 establishments in Argentina 1812 disestablishments in Argentina {{Argentina-hist-stub