1.
May Revolution
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The May Revolution 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 territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, the result was the removal of Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros and the establishment of a local government, the Primera Junta, on May 25. It was the first successful revolution in South American Independence process, the May Revolution was a direct reaction to Spains Peninsular War. In 1808, King Ferdinand VII of Spain abdicated in favor of Napoleon, on February 1,1810, French troops took Seville and gained control of most of Andalusia. The Supreme Junta retreated to Cadiz and dissolved itself, and the Council of Regency of Spain, news of these events arrived in Buenos Aires on May 18, brought by British ships. Viceroy Cisneros tried to maintain the status quo, but a group of criollo lawyers. Delegates denied recognition to the Council of Regency in Spain and established a junta to govern in place of Cisneros, to maintain a sense of continuity, Cisneros was initially appointed president of the Junta. However, this caused much popular unrest, so he resigned under pressure on May 25, the newly formed government, the Primera Junta, included only representatives from Buenos Aires and invited other cities of the Viceroyalty to send delegates to join them. This resulted in the outbreak of war between the regions that accepted the outcome of the events at Buenos Aires and those that did not. As similar events occurred in other cities of the continent. A formal declaration of independence was issued at the Congress of Tucumán on July 9,1816. The United States declaration of independence from Great Britain in 1776 led criollos to believe that revolution, the fact that Spain aided the colonies in their struggle against Britain weakened the idea that it would be a crime to end ones allegiance to the parent state. The ideals of the French Revolution of 1789 spread across Europe, the overthrow and execution of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette ended centuries of monarchy and removed the privileges of the nobility. Liberal ideals in the political and economic fields developed and spread through the Atlantic Revolutions across most of the Western world, however, the spread of such ideas was forbidden in the Spanish territories, as was the sale of related books or their unauthorized possession. Spain instituted those bans when it declared war on France after the execution of Louis XVI, news of the events of 1789 and copies of the publications of the French Revolution spread around Spain despite efforts to keep them at bay. Many enlightened criollos came into contact with authors and their works during their university studies. Books from the United States found their way into the Spanish colonies through Caracas, owing to the proximity of Venezuela to the United States, the Industrial Revolution started in Britain, with the use of plateways, canals and steam power. This led to increases in the productive capabilities of Britain
2.
Manuel Belgrano
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Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano, usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina and he is regarded as one of the main Libertadores of the country. Belgrano was born in Buenos Aires, the child of Italian businessman Domingo Belgrano y Peri. He came into contact with the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment while at university in Spain around the time of the French Revolution and this rejection led him to work towards a greater autonomy for his country from the Spanish colonial regime. He favoured the May Revolution, which removed the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros from power on 25 May 1810 and he was elected as a voting member of the Primera Junta that took power after the ouster. As a delegate for the Junta, he led the ill-fated Paraguay campaign and his troops were defeated by Bernardo de Velasco at the battles of Campichuelo and Paraguarí. Though he was defeated, the initiated the chain of events that led to the Independence of Paraguay in May 1811. He retreated to the vicinity of Rosario, to fortify it against a possible royalist attack from the Eastern Band of the Uruguay River, while there, he created the flag of Argentina. The First Triumvirate did not approve the flag, but because of communications, Belgrano would only learn of that many weeks later. His counter-offensive at the Battle of Tucumán resulted in a key strategic victory, by then, the Asamblea del Año XIII had approved the use of Belgranos flag as the national war flag. Belgrano then went on a mission to Europe along with Bernardino Rivadavia to seek support for the revolutionary government. He returned in time to part in the Congress of Tucumán. He promoted the Inca plan to create a monarchy with an Inca descendant as Head of State. This proposal had the support of San Martín, Martín Miguel de Güemes, and many provincial delegates, the Congress of Tucumán approved the use of his flag as the national flag. When Buenos Aires was about to be invaded by José Gervasio Artigas and Estanislao López, he moved the Army southwards, Belgrano died of dropsy on 20 June 1820. His last words reportedly were, ¡Ay, Patria mía. Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano was born in Buenos Aires on 3 June 1770, at his fathers house. It was located near the Santo Domingo convent, at Santo Domingo street, though the city was still rather small, the Belgranos lived at one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods. Manuel Belgrano was baptised at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral the following day, as he was born in the Americas he was considered a criollo, a social class below the Peninsulars
3.
Manuel Alberti
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Manuel Máximiliano Alberti was a priest from Buenos Aires, when the city was part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He had a curacy at Maldonado, Uruguay during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata and he was chosen as one of the seven members of the Primera Junta, which is considered the first national government of Argentina. He supported most of the proposals of Mariano Moreno and worked at the Gazeta de Buenos Ayres newspaper, the internal disputes of the Junta had a negative effect on his health, and he died of a heart attack in 1811. Manuel Alberti was born in Buenos Aires on 28 May 1763 to Antonio Alberti and he was baptized on the following 1 June at the Concepción parish, his godparents were Juan Javier Dogan and Isabel de Soria y Santa Cruz. He had three brothers, Isidoro, Manuel Silvestre and Félix, and three sisters, Casimira, Juana María and María Clotilde, the Alberti family became benefactor of the House of Spiritual Works of Buenos Aires by donating them a land plot so it could move its headquarters. He made his first studies at the Real Colegio de San Carlos in February 1777, graduating in philosophy, logic and he studied with Hipólito Vieytes, and ended his secondary education on 17 February 1779. He moved to Córdoba the following year, to get university studies of theology at the National University of Córdoba, despite a brief return to Buenos Aires during his second year because of health problems, he could finish all the syllabus. He got his doctorate in theology and physics on 16 July 1785 and he got his degree at the Church of the Company from interim provost Fray Pedro Gaitán. He received the presbyterate in the first months of 1786, and was appointed for the Concepción parish and he also worked at the aforementioned House of Spiritual Works of Buenos Aires. He got the curacy of Magdalena on 12 September 1790, and he returned in 1793, and resigned definitively on 21 February 1794. After this, he moved to Maldonado, there are few historical records of his activities in those curacies. The territory fell briefly under British rule during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata, there was looting after the failed resistance, and Alberti hid all the valuable things from the half-built parish. As a result, he was jailed and he was released by the British Juan Jaime Backhouse in order to restore religious practices, but under military escort. The British would be defeated by Santiago de Liniers, and driven away from the viceroyalty and he returned to Buenos Aires in 1808, and got the curacy of San Benito de Palermo. This was supposed to be a new split from the one of San Nicolás de Bari. He became involved with politics as well, joining the groups of Miguel de Azcuénaga and those groups sought to generate great political and social changes, and would lead to the May Revolution. He was selected to take part in the open cabildo celebrated on 22 May to decide the fate of Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros and he was among the nineteen that voted for the removal of the viceroy, supporting the proposal of Cornelio Saavedra. He also supported Juan Nepomuceno Solá and Ramón Vieytes, who proposed the calling of deputies from the cities of the viceroyalty
4.
Mariano Moreno
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Mariano Moreno was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina. Moreno was born in Buenos Aires in 1778 and his father was Manuel Moreno y Argumosa, born in Santander, Spain, who arrived in the city in 1776 and married María del Valle. Mariano was the firstborn of the Moreno family, and had thirteen brothers, during his youth he studied Latin, logic, and philosophy at San Carlos Royal College, followed by college studies of law at Chuquisaca. During these studies, he learned the new ideas of the Spanish Enlightenment and he married María Guadalupe Cuenca and returned to Buenos Aires, becoming a prominent lawyer for the Cabildo. Unlike most other criollos, he rejected the Carlotist project and the administration of Santiago de Liniers and he worked for the next viceroy, Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros. He wrote the economic paper The Representation of the Landowners, which persuaded the viceroy to open trade with Britain, although he was not prominently involved in the May Revolution that deposed Cisneros, he was appointed as secretary of war of the new government, the Primera Junta. Along with Juan José Castelli, he promoted harsh policies against the supporters of the former government and these policies were detailed at a secret document, the Operations plan, some historians dispute its authorship. Moreno organized military campaigns to Paraguay and Upper Peru, and ensured the execution of Santiago de Liniers after the defeat of his counter-revolution and he established the first Argentine newspaper, La Gazeta de Buenos Ayres, and translated Jean-Jacques Rousseaus The Social Contract into Spanish. When the Junta achieved the first military victories, President Cornelio Saavedra opposed Moreno, allied with Gregorio Funes, Saavedra expanded the number of members of the Junta to leave Morenism in a minority. With disputes still going on, Moreno was appointed to a mission to Britain. His brother Manuel Moreno alleged that he was poisoned and his supporters were still an influential political party for some years after his death. Historians hold several perspectives about the role and historical significance of Moreno and he is considered the precursor of Argentine journalism. Mariano Moreno was the son of parents, Manuel Moreno y Argumosa and Ana Maria Valle. He studied at Colegio Grande de San Carlos, but without living in it and he graduated with an honor diploma. He met influential people within the field, who helped him to continue his studies at the University of Chuquisaca. This was the big university in South America at the time. He studied the books of Montesquieu, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and he studied English and French languages as well, to understand authors from Britain and France
5.
Casa Rosada
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La Casa Rosada is the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina. The palatial mansion is known officially as Casa de Gobierno, normally, the President lives at the Quinta de Olivos, the official residence of the President of Argentina, which is located in Olivos, Buenos Aires Province. The characteristic color of the Casa Rosada is baby pink, and is considered one of the most emblematic buildings in Buenos Aires, the building also houses a museum, which contains objects relating to former presidents of Argentina. It has been declared a National Historic Monument of Argentina and its 1713 replacement by a masonry structure complete with turrets made the spot the effective nerve center of colonial government. Under the direction of British Argentine architect Edward Taylor, the Italianate structure functioned as Buenos Aires largest building from 1859 until the 1890s, an alternative explanation suggests that the original paint contained cows blood to prevent damage from the effects of humidity. Following works to integrate the two structures, Roca had architect Francesco Tamburini build the iconic Italianate archway between the two in 1884. The resulting State House, still known as the Pink House, was completed in 1898 following its eastward enlargement, a Historical Museum was created in 1957 to display presidential memorabilia and selected belongings, such as sashes, batons, books, furniture, and three carriages. The remains of the fort were partially excavated in 1991. Located behind the building, these led to the rerouting of Paseo Colón Avenue. Plans were announced in 2009 for the restoration of surviving portions of Taylors Customs House, the Casa Rosada itself is currently undergoing extensive renovation delayed by the 2001 economic crisis. The work is scheduled for completion on the 2010 bicentennial of the May Revolution that led to independence, in 1536, Don Pedro de Mendoza established a settlement near the mouth of the Riachuelo de los Navíos, called Nuestra Señora del Buen Ayre. It was replaced in 1713 by a solid construction with turrets, sentry boxes, a moat. President Bernardino Rivadavia modified the fort in 1820, and the drawbridge was replaced by a neoclassical portico, the site which was for defence purposes at that time and also seat of the Spanish and Home governments, is where Government House currently stands. In the Pink House Museum one of its cannon holes can be found in part of a room of the Royal Treasurys warehouse. Under the direction of the English architect, Edward Taylor, the New Customs House was built in 1855 back to back with the walls of the Fort. From the central tower at the top of there was a clock. Via two side ramps carts, loaded with goods, accessed the manoeuvring dock and it was used for almost forty years and it was demolished down to the first floor by the Madero Port project and its foundations are buried under what is today Colón Park. President Domingo Sarmiento ordered the construction of the Postal headquarters in 1873 on open ground that had remained after the wing of the Buenos Aires Fort had been demolished
6.
Ferdinand VII of Spain
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Ferdinand VII was twice King of Spain, in 1808 and again from 1813 to his death. He was known to his supporters as the Desired and to his detractors as the Felon King and he reestablished the absolutist monarchy and rejected the liberal constitution of 1812. He suppressed the liberal press 1814-33 and jailed many of its editors and writers, under his rule, Spain lost nearly all of its American possessions, and the country entered into civil war on his death. His reputation among historians is very low, historian Stanley Payne says, He proved in many ways the basest king in Spanish history. Cowardly, selfish, grasping, suspicious, and vengeful, seemed almost incapable of any perception of the commonwealth and he thought only in terms of his power and security and was unmoved by the enormous sacrifices of Spanish people to retain their independence and preserve his throne. Ferdinand was ostensibly the eldest surviving child of Charles IV of Spain, Ferdinand was born in the palace of El Escorial near Madrid. The Queens confessor Fray Juan Almaraz wrote in his last will that she admitted in articulo mortis that none, none of her sons and daughters, none was of the legitimate marriage. In his youth Ferdinand occupied the position of an heir apparent who was excluded from all share in government by his parents and their advisor and Prime Minister. National discontent with the government produced a rebellion in 1805, in October 1807, Ferdinand was arrested for his complicity in the El Escorial Conspiracy in which the rebels aimed at securing foreign support from the French Emperor Napoleon. When the conspiracy was discovered, Ferdinand submitted to his parents, following a popular riot at Aranjuez Charles IV abdicated in March 1808. Ferdinand ascended the throne and turned to Napoleon for support and he abdicated on 6 May 1808. Napoleon kept Ferdinand under guard in France for six years at the Chateau of Valençay, while the upper echelons of the Spanish government accepted his abdication and Napoleons choice of his brother Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain, the Spanish people did not. Uprisings broke out throughout the country, marking the beginning of the Peninsular War, provincial juntas were established to control regions in opposition to the new French king. After the Battle of Bailén proved that the Spanish could resist the French, on 24 August, Ferdinand VII was proclaimed king of Spain again, and negotiations between the Council and the provincial juntas for the establishment of a Supreme Central Junta were completed. Subsequently, on 14 January 1809, the British government acknowledged Ferdinand VII as king of Spain, the Spanish people, blaming the policies of the Francophiles for causing the Napoleonic occupation and the Peninsular War by allying Spain too closely to France, at first welcomed Fernando. Ferdinand soon found that in the years a new world had been born of foreign invasion. In his name Spain fought for its independence and in his name as well juntas had governed Spanish America, Spain was no longer the absolute monarchy he had relinquished six years earlier. Instead he was now asked to rule under the liberal Constitution of 1812, before being allowed to enter Spanish soil, Ferdinand had to guarantee the liberals that he would govern on the basis of the Constitution, but, only gave lukewarm indications he would do so
7.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
8.
Peninsular War
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The Peninsular War was a military conflict between Napoleons empire and the allied powers of Spain, Britain and Portugal, for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war started when French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807, the Peninsular War overlaps with what the Spanish-speaking world calls the Guerra de la Independencia Española, which began with the Dos de Mayo Uprising on 2 May 1808 and ended on 17 April 1814. The French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas, the British Army, under the then Lt. Gen. Arthur Wellesley, guarded Portugal and campaigned against the French in Spain alongside the reformed Portuguese army. The demoralised Portuguese army was reorganised and refitted under the command of Gen, in the following year Wellington scored a decisive victory over King Josephs army at Vitoria. The years of fighting in Spain were a burden on Frances Grande Armée. The Spanish armies were beaten and driven to the peripheries. This drain on French resources led Napoleon, who had provoked a total war. War and revolution against Napoleons occupation led to the Spanish Constitution of 1812, the burden of war destroyed the social and economic fabric of Portugal and Spain, and ushered in an era of social turbulence, political instability and economic stagnation. Devastating civil wars between liberal and absolutist factions, led by officers trained in the Peninsular War, persisted in Iberia until 1850. The cumulative crises and disruptions of invasion, revolution and restoration led to the independence of most of Spains American colonies, the Treaties of Tilsit, negotiated during a meeting in July 1807 between Emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon, concluded the War of the Fourth Coalition. With Prussia shattered, and Russia allied with France, Napoleon expressed irritation that Portugal was open to trade with the United Kingdom, furthermore, Prince John of Braganza, regent for his insane mother Queen Maria I, had declined to join the emperors Continental System against British trade. After a few days, a large force started concentrating at Bayonne, meanwhile the Portuguese governments resolve was stiffening, and shortly afterward Napoleon was once again told that Portugal would not go beyond its original agreements. After he received the Portuguese answer, he ordered Junots corps to cross the frontier into Spain, while all this was going on, the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau had been signed between France and Spain. The document was drawn up by Napoleons marshal of the palace Géraud Duroc and Eugenio Izquierdo, the treaty proposed to carve up Portugal into three entities. Porto and the part was to become the Kingdom of Northern Lusitania. The southern portion, as the Principality of the Algarves, would fall to Godoy, the rump of the country, centered on Lisbon, was to be administered by the French. According to the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Junots invasion force was to be supported by 25,500 men in three Spanish columns, Gen. Taranco and 6,500 troops were ordered to march from Vigo to seize Porto in the north. Capt. Gen. Solano would advance from Badajoz with 9,500 soldiers to capture Elvas, Gen. Caraffa and 9,500 men were instructed to assemble at Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo, and cooperate with Junots main force
9.
Age of Enlightenment
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The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement which dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century, The Century of Philosophy. In France, the doctrines of les Lumières were individual liberty and religious tolerance in opposition to an absolute monarchy. French historians traditionally place the Enlightenment between 1715, the year that Louis XIV died, and 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution, some recent historians begin the period in the 1620s, with the start of the scientific revolution. Les philosophes of the widely circulated their ideas through meetings at scientific academies, Masonic lodges, literary salons, coffee houses. The ideas of the Enlightenment undermined the authority of the monarchy and the Church, a variety of 19th-century movements, including liberalism and neo-classicism, trace their intellectual heritage back to the Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment was preceded by and closely associated with the scientific revolution, earlier philosophers whose work influenced the Enlightenment included Francis Bacon, René Descartes, John Locke, and Baruch Spinoza. The major figures of the Enlightenment included Cesare Beccaria, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin visited Europe repeatedly and contributed actively to the scientific and political debates there and brought the newest ideas back to Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson closely followed European ideas and later incorporated some of the ideals of the Enlightenment into the Declaration of Independence, others like James Madison incorporated them into the Constitution in 1787. The most influential publication of the Enlightenment was the Encyclopédie, the ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution, which began in 1789. After the Revolution, the Enlightenment was followed by an intellectual movement known as Romanticism. René Descartes rationalist philosophy laid the foundation for enlightenment thinking and his attempt to construct the sciences on a secure metaphysical foundation was not as successful as his method of doubt applied in philosophic areas leading to a dualistic doctrine of mind and matter. His skepticism was refined by John Lockes 1690 Essay Concerning Human Understanding and his dualism was challenged by Spinozas uncompromising assertion of the unity of matter in his Tractatus and Ethics. Both lines of thought were opposed by a conservative Counter-Enlightenment. In the mid-18th century, Paris became the center of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity challenging traditional doctrines, the political philosopher Montesquieu introduced the idea of a separation of powers in a government, a concept which was enthusiastically adopted by the authors of the United States Constitution. Francis Hutcheson, a philosopher, described the utilitarian and consequentialist principle that virtue is that which provides, in his words. Much of what is incorporated in the method and some modern attitudes towards the relationship between science and religion were developed by his protégés David Hume and Adam Smith. Hume became a figure in the skeptical philosophical and empiricist traditions of philosophy. Immanuel Kant tried to reconcile rationalism and religious belief, individual freedom and political authority, as well as map out a view of the sphere through private
