To build a whole new state on a blank piece of paper, "the emergence of idealism is therefore inevitable, and the disillusionment of ideals in the face of reality is equally inevitable."
Since its founding in 1810, the gifted Argentina has been oscillating between the two extremes of lofty idealism and passive cynicism, and finally fell from a developed country to a developing country whose government survives on debt in the 20th century, staging a national tragicomedy of "magical reality" for the world, which is touching, marveling and regrettable.
Maradona's jersey
On May 4, 2022, at the Sotheby's auction in London, a football jersey fetched a high price of 7.1425 million pounds, equivalent to about 60 million yuan, becoming the "most valuable jersey" in history.
Why is it so expensive? Because this is a "ball king" Maradona's World Cup match jersey.
On 22 June 1986, in Argentina's match against England in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Mexico, Maradona scored one of the most controversial goals in football history with the "Hand of God", and also scored a "goal of the century" that was won by five people.
The Hand of God
In this match, England midfielder Steve Hodge exchanged this precious shirt with Maradona on the way back to the dressing room after the game, making the "King of The Ball" no. 10 shirt more meaningful than football. Why?
In 1982, the Falklands War broke out between Britain and Argentina, and Argentina was defeated. For Argentina, the Malvinas Islands were lost, and the war seemed to have destroyed Argentina's spirit. After the Falklands War, you can imagine the relationship between Britain and Afghanistan.
Maradona Dou SAN "Ying"
Netizens who like football and Maradona know that Maradona is not only the "king of the ball", but the meaning he represents goes far beyond football itself. In this football match, Maradona was somehow shouldering the national significance of leading Argentina to victory over England, and Maradona and his teammates did it. At that World Cup, Argentina finally won the title for the second time, a moment when "a country got everything because of football".
British player Steve Hodge, who exchanged jerseys with Maradona after the game, also suffered a "cyber riot" from the British, with many British media, fans and the public accusing him of being a traitor. But Steve Hodge insisted it would promote "friendship between the two countries."
A football game is elevated to national heights, what is going on behind it in the Falklands War? The Falklands War was the last straw that crushed Argentina.
1982 Falklands War
Falklands War
In the South Atlantic Ocean, about 500 kilometers from the Argentine mainland, there is a place called the Malvinas Islands, which the British call the "Falkland Islands", which is more than 10,000 kilometers away from the British mainland, but both Argentina and the United Kingdom claim sovereignty over the island.
The dispute over sovereignty stems from argentina's history as a Spanish colony, as well as the history of the war between the Spanish Empire and the British Empire, which seized the Malvinas Islands in 1833. Since then, Argentina has been declaring itself to take it back.
On April 2, 1982, Argentine military president Galtieri sent troops to occupy the Malvinas Islands, and he naively believed that Britain would not go to great lengths for this "meaningless" island.
What Galtieri did not expect was that although the British Empire was already in the twilight of the west and was also facing a domestic economic and political crisis, the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom, "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher, immediately set up a "war cabinet" and traveled 20,000 kilometers, and the Falklands War broke out on both sides.
At the beginning of the war, many people, including Margaret Thatcher, thought that victory or defeat was unpredictable, and the British media reported that Margaret Thatcher had spent almost all night in the Prime Minister's residence in Downing Street for three consecutive months during the Falklands War, and had never changed into pajamas. However, "the skinny camel is bigger than the horse", the empire of the Nippon Mountains is also an empire, and the British "war cabinet" relies on force and multi-pronged political, diplomatic, economic and other aspects, and in just over two months, Argentina has no choice but to surrender, and it is like losing its soul.
Argentine soldiers surrendered
The Falklands War made Margaret Thatcher a success, but it made Galtieri "from heaven to hell", from a "national hero" to a "historical sinner" in just two months, losing the presidency for only half a year. This military president led to the complete collapse of the junta, which had always been dominant in Argentine politics, in 1983.
More seriously, the Falklands War wreaked havoc on the Argentine economy, almost depleting Argentina's only national strength. In the 40 years since the Falklands War, the Argentine government, which loves to go to extremes and sway left and right, no matter who comes to power, cannot let Argentina jump out of the abyss of sinking, and sometimes it seems to be "one breath", and as a result, it immediately encounters a blow to the head and falls down again.
Why did Galtieri start the Falklands War? His "original intention" may be good, for the development of Argentina. He remained silent about the Falklands War until his death, saying in only a rare interview that he had "no regrets."
In 1981, Argentina's inflation rate was as high as 600%, gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 11.4%, manufacturing output fell to 22.9%, while wage growth was only 19.2%, and there were many large-scale protests and strikes in the country, and the junta faced a crisis.
In January 1982, Galtieri, a military strongman who was commander-in-chief of the army, became president of Argentina and launched the Falklands War to divert the domestic crisis.
In fact, in 1980, Argentina's economic strength still ranked 10th in the world, and argentina's GDP was worth 209 billion US dollars that year, while China only had 301.5 billion US dollars. But Argentina's total population is just over 40 million, and Argentina's gdp per capita in 1980 was still high.
In this case, Argentina's domestic crisis continues for historical reasons, that is, the "three mountains" that history has formed on Argentina - populism, the division between rich and poor and political chaos. What kind of country is Argentina?
Argentina is located in the southeast of South America, with a population of about 45.377 million people, ranking 31st in the world; with a land area of about 2.7804 million square kilometers, ranking 8th in the world.
Latin American independence movement
Before the 16th century, Argentina, like the rest of the American continent, was home to Indians. After Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, Argentina soon became a colony of the Spanish Empire. The word Argentina is of Latin origin and means the same thing as "La Plata" in Spanish, both "silver", which also means "money" and "wealth". Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, served as a Spanish colonial center for nearly 300 years until Argentina's independence in 1810.
In May 1810, the Argentine people, who had been under Spanish colonial rule for 300 years, launched the "May Revolution" against Spanish colonial rule, and on May 25, the citizens of Buenos Aires came to the square and announced their independence from Spanish colonial rule and established the Provisional Government of La Plata, thus beginning the process of building an independent state. Later, May 25 was designated as the national day of Argentina, and the "Plaza de Mayo" in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina today, also commemorates the "May Revolution".
Latin American independence movement
Geography is the stage of history. Argentina's independence should be thanks to Napoleon, who invaded Spain in 1808, when the Spanish Empire was already at dusk, and Napoleon's French Empire was trying to unify Europe. Two distinguished independent leaders emerged in the Spanish Colonies of America, one in Bolivar in the north and one in San Martin in Argentina in the south. Under their leadership, a series of independent states emerged in the south, stretching from Argentina and Chile to the north, laying the groundwork for today's South America. By 1833, only Cuba and Puerto Rico were still under Spanish colonial rule.
Thousands of miles of wilderness, the land of heaven's choice
In 1527, after the Spanish colonial explorer Sebastián Cavoto led an expedition to the South American continent, he traced up from a wide estuary and found that the local Indians wore a lot of silver ornaments, thinking that the local silver was abundant, so he named the river La Plata, in fact, this vast land did not produce silver, but had fertile land and good climate, this land is today's Pampas.
"Pampas" is derived from the Indian Quechua language, meaning "prairie without trees". The Pampas includes Uruguay, eastern Argentina, southern Brazil and other regions, with an area of about 760,000 square kilometers. Here the summer is hot and the winter is warm, the annual rainfall is 1000 to 250 mm, decreasing from northeast to southwest, bounded by a 500 mm equal precipitation line, called "dry Pampa" in the west, salt marsh and saltwater river; the east is called "moist Pampa", with fertile reddish "black soil".
There are three major black lands in the world, all of which are fertile granaries, namely the "granary of Europe" The Plain of Ukraine, the Mississippi Plain of the United States, and the Northeast Plain of China. The Pampas is a subtropical reddened "black land", the same fertile land, and there are no trees and stones here, especially suitable for planting, grazing, beekeeping and other agricultural and animal husbandry development.
As rich as the Argentines
It is for this reason that Argentines call it the "Chosen Land", they are the "Chosen People".
After Argentina's independence, it relied on the geographical advantages of the "Chosen Land" to vigorously develop agriculture and animal husbandry. At the same time, the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century was in full swing in Western European countries such as Britain. In Argentina, due to the 300-year rule of the Spanish Empire, more than 90% of them were white immigrants from Spain and Italy, and they had natural roots with the European homeland. With this "favorable time and place", Europe became the market for Argentine agriculture and animal husbandry, and Argentines grew barbarically for 100 years.
By 1910, Argentina celebrated the 100th anniversary of its independence, the most glorious year in its history. This year, Argentina's economy reached the eighth largest in the world, and the growth rate and national income growth level even exceeded that of the United States, Australia and most countries in Europe at that time.
This is Argentina's "highlight moment". Argentines have become the dream of immigrants all over the world, and Argentines have become the envy of the whole world. At that time, Europeans who claimed to be the center of the world would describe a rich man as saying , "as rich as an Argentine"!
The charm of "magical reality" is that you can't grasp it, like a dream. The export of beef to Europe gave Argentines 100 years of dreams, and even world war I failed to wake them up. Instead, they invented tango and introduced football in the seafaring trade with Europe, and rich Argentines played football and danced tango until 1929, and everything came to an abrupt end.
The wildness of sorrow
In determining the title of this paragraph, I hesitated between "wild and sad" and "sad wild" until I studied the origin and history of tango again, and I felt that "wild of sorrow" was the most suitable for Argentina.
Whether it is Argentine tango or football, they are wild on the inside, sad on the outside, wild and sad are the character of Argentina.
You look at Argentine football, they cheer wildly when they win, they cry when they lose, of course they play more crazy, otherwise Maradona would not be able to become the king of the ball.
You see the Argentine tango, noble and gorgeous, but it stems from the sad hearts of immigrants from all over the world who poured into Argentina in the 19th century. In the era of immigration, immigrants who had nowhere to turn to and were temporarily stranded at the port terminals of Buenos Aires, when they indulged in bars and borrowed wine to pour sorrow, immigrants from Europe and Africa integrated the song and dance forms they brought with the local indigenous culture to form a tango.
On October 29, 1929, the U.S. stock market crashed, and the Great Depression and economic crisis swept the world. Europeans have no money to buy beef, and the good times for Argentines are coming to an end.
They vent in football, they soothe in tango.
Their government and policies also rampaged like football, swinging violently like tango, with the result being a wild post with only a faint hint of sadness left, and then another one.
Until the Great Depression, Argentina has struggled with inflation, economic decline and a debt crisis. Argentina's inflation rate was as high as 53.6% in 2019, 42% in 2020 and 45% in 2021. International agencies' expectations for Argentina's 2022 inflation rate remain widely above 50 percent.
The people complained, and the government wandered.
Argentinian beef
In the minds of many, Argentina is too far away, and the understanding of Argentina may only be limited to football, tango, beef and wine. However, in today's era of globalization and the Internet, the development and changes in Argentina will not only affect the price of beef and red wine on our table, but also have an impact on the national development level.
In 2020, 75% of Argentina's beef exports were sold to China, and the Falklands War was the largest and most fierce confrontation since the end of World War II, and the operation between Haiden Island and anti-deng island, there were serious mistakes in the strategic decision-making of both Britain and Argentina, which has practical reference significance for studying island operations far from the mainland at the military level.
Therefore, it is necessary to deeply understand Argentina's past and present lives, and then understand why Argentina has fallen to where it is today. Is it the ultimate hero shortness of breath? Or can you phoenix nirvana?
Barbaric growth for 100 years
In 1810, Argentina broke away from Spanish colonial rule and achieved complete national independence. However, after independence, Argentina still did not get rid of the old colonial colonial plundering of raw materials as the economic structure, still feudal farmers agricultural economy, and did not form a national unified market in the country.
Politically, at the beginning of independence, the contradictions between the bourgeoisie on the Argentine coast and the feudal lords in the interior were sharp, and the domestic political situation was turbulent. In the decades after independence, Argentina was in the "governor era", with a long and fierce struggle and civil war between the centralized and local federalists. While the totalitarians advocated a strong centralized state, the federalists demanded federalism in which the provinces maintained broad autonomy. The federalists were basically representatives of the feudal landlords in various places, each holding a certain amount of military power, controlling the local government, establishing its own checkpoints, and forming a situation of division.
In this case, the economy as a whole of Argentina is extremely slow. In search of political stability, the coastal bourgeoisie and the inland feudal lords sought a compromise, and both sides elected Rosas, an iron-fisted figure of the federalists, to power.
Roses
Iron-fisted General Rosas
When the situation creates a hero, or a hero, Rosas can be counted as a hero.
Born into a large landowner family in 1793, Rosas had nothing to do with Argentina's war of independence against Spanish colonial rule. At that time, Rosas concentrated on running his own ranch, and in 1815 opened Argentina's first cured meat factory, amassing a huge fortune.
Rosas didn't go to school much, and he liked to dress up as a Gaucho and ride his horse around the Pampas. The Gauchos are landless mixed descendants of white Spanish immigrants and South American native Indians, who retain more of their Indian cultural traditions, speak Spanish, and are Catholic. Gaucho people are accustomed to living right away, and are active, enthusiastic, brave, brave, and very hospitable.
Argentine Gaucho people
"Gaucho" is transliterated from the Spanish word "Gaucho", which means homeless man and prodigal son. Gaucho is a "people on horseback", and the typical attire of the Gaucho is a wide-brimmed felt hat, riding boots, bloomers, wide belts and printed square scarves, which is similar to the dress style of riders in modern equestrianism. Gaucho has developed a unique spiritual temperament – solitude and freedom – over the course of their long history, which I think is the undertone of the Argentine character.
Rosas, who was wandering on horseback on the Pampas, wandered into politics in 1820, was appointed commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the province of Buenos Aires in 1827, and was elected governor in 1829. In 1833, Rosas led an army south to carry out the "Conquest of the Desert" campaign, killing the southern Indians all the way to the Negro River and occupying a large amount of land.
At the same time, Rosas, with the help of his wife Enkarasson Escula, founded the "People's Restoration Society" terrorist organization, launching a restoration movement with the active participation of the Catholic Church forces, and playing "Long live religion!" "Long live the Restoration!" "Kill the infidels!" and other slogans, paving the way for Rosas dictatorship.
In 1835, Rosas again became governor of the province of Buenos Aires, gaining unlimited power, becoming the representative of Cordillo, the first indigenous dictatorship in South America that combined the trinity of warlords, large landowners, and churches.
The rule of the tyrant Rosas had a profound impact on Argentina.
After Rosas came to power, he did not mediate in the center, but relied on and defended the feudal lords economically, pursued a land policy favorable to the large landlord class, and dealt a huge blow to the weak and small emerging bourgeoisie. Under his iron fist rule, the feudal lords represented by large livestock owners and large manor owners became the decisive force in The political and economic life of Argentina, and the animal husbandry they monopolized also became the economic pillar of Argentina. This profoundly affected argentina's economic structure and policy direction for more than 100 years.
Politically, it relied on the dictatorship of the church and the military. Rosas restored the privileges of the Catholic Church such as tithes and church education to satisfy the Church's desire for restoration, and he also restored the Jesuit organization, using the power of the Church to carry out deceptive propaganda and hoodwink many Gaucho, black and Indian people to fight for his life. The Roses government was known for its reign of terror. In order to maintain his rule, Rosas brutally suppressed the resistance of the people at home, and he famously said, "Whoever does not stay with me is my enemy."
In terms of diplomacy, Rosas's policy was to defect to Britain and resist France. At that time, both Britain and France were eager to replace Spain in controlling the entire la Plata region in order to obtain raw material supply and commodity sales markets. Roses adopted a policy of defecting to Britain, making Britain Argentina's main trading partner and creditor. Investment and real estate in Britain are increasing, and according to statistics, 1/4 of the 193 large landowners in the province of Buenos Aires in 1840 were British. Moreover, it was during Roses's rule that the British invaded the Malvinas Islands in 1833, sowing the seeds of the Falklands War 150 years later.
Roses went into exile in England in 1852 after being overthrown by his political enemy Urquiza. He lived a long life, ran a ranch in England, and died on 14 March 1877 in Southampton, England, at the age of 84.
Later generations received mixed reviews of Rosas's iron-fisted rule and domestic and foreign policy. He established order by powerful means during the years of unrest, united the provinces, but killed many people; he opposed foreign aggression but sowed the seeds of the Falklands War; he caused land annexation, but let Argentine beef be exported in large quantities to Europe.
The Industrial Revolution in Europe
European market
After the fall of the Rosas regime, Argentina's livestock industry continued to flourish and grow barbarically. In 1862, the federal provinces elected Mitre, who opposed President Urquiza, as president, who promoted the unification of Argentina and designated Buenos Aires as the temporary capital. Since then, Argentina has ended the long-term turmoil and division after independence, become a formally unified country, and establish a unified domestic market.
The unification of the Argentine state is catching up with the "outlet" of the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the United States in the 19th century. After the 1850s, the textile industry in Europe and the United States developed rapidly, and a large number of wool and other light spinning raw materials were needed, and the Argentine animal husbandry industry began to vigorously develop the sheep industry, rapidly surpassing the cattle industry and the cured meat industry. At the same time, Argentina's crop industry also rose rapidly, and from the 1860s onwards, Argentina became an exporter of wheat.
In 1865, Argentina's wool exports reached the world's largest, and the export of beef, grain and other agricultural products was also booming. The Argentine economy entered a "golden age" of export prosperity, and the European market became argentina's largest market.
In the 19th century, Britain, France, and Germany successively underwent the "Industrial Revolution", Europe became the center of world development, and the world economy, technology, science and culture entered the fastest growing 100 years. The global market has also entered a new era because of the invention of steam power, and railways are the hallmark of this era.
However, Europe lacks all kinds of raw materials needed for the "Industrial Revolution", and the former colonies of the European powers, such as the United States, Argentina, and Australia, are "rich in products", and because of colonial history, they are closely related to the original European suzerainty. As a result, these countries vigorously export raw materials to the suzerainty.
At the same time, the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the social upheavals in Europe in the mid-19th century led to a massive exodus of people. The fertile soils of the Pampas and the booming economic boom made Argentina a "paradise" for European immigrants, forming the largest wave of migration in Argentine history for half a century, until the outbreak of World War I in 1914, which laid the structure of the Argentine population.
Statue of Maradona, home of Naples
Argentina was originally a Spanish colony, and southern Italy and other places were once the territory of the Spanish Kingdom of Aragon, so most Argentines came from Spain and Italy, becoming the only white country in South America, of which the Italians were the most. Because of this origin, most Argentine football stars such as Maradona and Messi have landed in Europe, and the first choice is also Spain and Italy.
On the other hand, due to the close relations with britain during the reign of the iron-fisted general Rosas, Argentina both received a lot of British investment and seized the most important market in Britain.
Argentine railway network
Exports grew barbarically, as did Argentine rail traffic, with a large influx of money into railway infrastructure. In 1870, Argentina's national railway was only 740 kilometers, and by 1914, a complete railway network had been formed with the capital Buenos Aires as the center and radiating the entire Pampas, with a total mileage of more than 34,000 kilometers.
From the 1870s to the beginning of the 20th century, money, technology, and talent poured into Argentina, and Argentina's economic growth rate was more than 6% every year, which was the fastest growing economy at that time. By 1913, Argentina's GDP was 80 percent of that of the United States, and per capita income reached a staggering $3,797, up from $3,485 in France and $3,648 in Germany.
At this time, Argentina had all the characteristics of a prosperous country in that period, and everything was so beautiful.
Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina
There is the United States to the north and Argentina to the south
1910 was the highlight of Argentina.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Argentina's independence, and Argentina's total economic output has reached the eighth largest in the world! Ranked among the 10 most developed economies in the world, Argentina has become a developed country.
At that time in Europe, a rich man was described as such: he was as rich as an Argentine! Argentines are synonymous with the world's rich, the envy of all. Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, known as the "Paris of South America", is a world city full of lights and greenery.
At that time, Argentina was the most desirable country in the Americas and even in the entire Western Hemisphere. The preferred place of choice for many European immigrants is not the United States but Argentina. There is the United States to the north and Argentina to the south.
Incredible, right? That was the case at the time. There are four main reasons why Europeans like to immigrate to Argentina.
The first is geography and climatic environment. Argentina is a blessed place on earth, the capital "Buenos Aires" the name means "good weather", here four distinct seasons, the climate is suitable, there is no high temperature, no long cold winter; followed by Spain's 300 years of colonial history; the third is based on the economic model of animal husbandry that does not require a large number of labor. The economy of plantations such as sugarcane in the United States required large numbers of black slaves, which Argentina did not need. The fourth is the immigration policy, according to the Argentine immigration policy, all children born in Argentina enjoy personal freedom.
That is to say, if you buy a black slave, you can only use it for one generation, and the descendants of the black slave are free people. Under this policy, Argentine magnates did not buy black slaves, which may be the main reason why Argentina became the only white country in South America. Argentine immigrants, mainly from Italy and Spain, as well as Germany, France, Sweden and other countries, they are purebred white.
Today's Argentines, more than 60% of the population are of Italian immigrant descent, followed by Spanish descent, at about 25%. The Germans in Argentina ranked third, but they mainly fled to Argentina, which was closer to Germany at that time, to seek a place to live during World War I and World War II, especially after World War II, accounting for about 8% of the local population.
According to statistics, Argentine immigrants come from more than 40 ethnic groups, and Argentina's large-scale acceptance of immigrants has also made it the most immigrant country along with the United States, Canada and Australia. From 1850 to 1970, Argentina received up to 6 million immigrants, which is why 97% of Argentina's population is European immigrants.
When talking about the origin of the Latin American nation, it is often said: "Mexicans are of Aztec origin, Peruvians are of Inca origin, and Argentines are from ships." ”
However, even the largest ship encounters icebergs and winds and waves, and needs to adjust its course in time, otherwise, it is easy to sink.
Swing declines for 100 years
During the 100 years of barbaric growth, Argentina has continuously supplied the world's best beef for the European table, a large amount of wool for the European market, and has gained great wealth. At the same time, through immigration, Argentines blended the noble romance of Europeans with the enthusiasm of South American Indians.
The Argentines of this period lived a life of full luxury, the rich people sat on a large scale of ranches and factories, spacious villas, they spent all over the world, the world's luxury market, Argentines are endless, is the biggest customer. At that time, Argentina's dream was to compete with the United States for dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
The Great Depression of 1929 shattered Argentina's dreams and stunned it, and it has not yet found its way.
In the past 100 years, Under the toss of rollercoaster-like political changes and economic policies, Argentina has fallen from a developed country that everyone aspires to to become a "third-rate country" without a sense of existence. In the magic, it interprets to the world the glory and decline of a developed country, victory and sorrow.
Indulge in agriculture and animal husbandry, and repeatedly miss out on industrialization
Due to the history of Spanish colonization of Argentina, the argentine character inherits the "romance, rambling and arrogance" of southern Europeans.
Argentines who dream of competing with the United States for hegemony in the Western Hemisphere firmly believe that no matter how the world changes, no matter how science and technology progress, no matter how society changes, people must eat, so the world's best quality Argentine beef must always have its market and will not change. Argentina will continue to prosper, develop and be rich.
After Argentina's independence in 1810, although the domestic turmoil continued in the first few decades, it had 700,000 square kilometers of the world's unique reddish "black land" Pampas, which was particularly suitable for the development of cattle and sheep and other animal husbandry. Argentina was in turmoil, but ranchers tasted the sweetness of agriculture and animal husbandry for the country's economy from the start. The Argentine government, dominated by these ranchers, has always adhered to the conservative thinking of agriculture and animal husbandry in economic policy, indulged in agriculture and animal husbandry, and missed the first industrialization.
In the second 50 years of the 19th century, the United States successfully completed the first industrial revolution, and by 1895, the United States had become the world's largest industrial country, laying a solid foundation for world domination.
In contrast, in Argentina at the same time, after the fall of Rosas in 1852, federalism became the embodiment of barbarism and anarchism and withdrew from history, and Argentina entered the process of liberal modernization. However, the government leadership is full of idealism, and Argentina has only developed some light industries around agriculture and animal husbandry on the basis of the agricultural and animal husbandry export economy, and the industrial base is very weak.
The Argentine economy remains extremely dependent on livestock exports and still sleeps on it. The Argentine government did not realize that what allowed Argentine beef to open up more and larger markets was the cutting-edge technologies of the time, "rail", navigation and "freezing technology". For example, the use of steamboats in 1851 shortened the voyage from Buenos Aires to London from two months to 35 days. In 1876, the successful trial of transporting frozen meat between France and Argentina, since then, frozen meat has replaced cured meat, which has greatly promoted the supply of Argentine beef to the European market.
1910 was the highlight of Argentina. Ostensibly, Argentina's economy is prosperous and vibrant, and in the capital, Buenos Aires, the Columbus Theater, which opened in 1907, became a symbol of Argentina's prosperity and affluence.
But the world is no longer the world of the 19th century. The world of the 20th century was already dominated by the industrialized countries of the capitalist world system. The fragility of the Argentine economy, which is based on agricultural and pastoral exports, is so obvious that if Europe's demand for food falls, it will lead to the collapse of the entire Argentine economy.
The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 severely weakened the strategic position of the Strait of Magellan, and the number of ships passing through the Strait of Magellan was greatly reduced, which also led to a sharp reduction in transit fees, one of Argentina's important sources of revenue. However, when World War I broke out in 1914, Argentina's exports had been so strong that it could not be quietly thought about.
As mentioned earlier, the First World War did not wake up Argentina. The First World War brought heavy disasters to mankind, especially Europeans, but it also promoted the progress of science and technology, and the power of industrialization shined in the war.
After the end of World War I, many European and American countries paid more attention to industrialization in economic construction and began to build modern industrial countries. Although industrialization has been huge and slow to achieve results, it can lay a solid foundation for the long-term sustainable development of the country. Established industrial powers such as Britain and the United States have a deeper understanding of industrialization, so Continental countries such as Germany and France quickly rebuilt their industrial systems on the ruins of World War I, which is equivalent to upgrading the industrial version.
Argentina was addicted to the agricultural and livestock export economy and continued to miss out on industrialization.
Compared with agricultural products such as sucrose and coffee, the demand for meat and cereals in the world market is relatively stable. As a result, during the world economic crisis of the 1930s, the Argentine economy, although also hit hard, was not as severe as other Latin American countries. Argentina survived the crisis on foreign investment, but its external debt was high and it began to run a serious balance of payments deficit. In this case, Argentina is still "obsessed" and does not have the patience to firmly carry out the industrialization transformation.
That is, after the First World War, Argentina once again missed industrialization.
Pride and self-esteem, do not do not die
Argentines are full of pride and self-respect. They compose their inner pathos as tango, but they sneer at other people's music. More than a hundred years of prosperity, the influence of European civilization, and the brainwashing of Western democratic politics have made Argentines think highly of themselves in the process of awakening.
As a result of the massive borrowings of government agencies, a considerable part of the government budget was used to repay the foreign debt after the First World War, and even though the government's revenue fell due to the economic crisis, the external debt burden remained unchanged, the government had to reduce other aspects of investment, and the Argentine people, who were accustomed to a prosperous life, began to protest against the government.
In September 1930, José Felix Urivulu overthrew the then Free Government of Ippolito Irigoyen as President in a military coup, and the Argentine military junta began to take the stage of history. Since then, the Argentine government has taken a roller coaster, left and right, and the national policy has been in a vicious circle between the left and right extremes.
The economic situation is not good, the people are dissatisfied, the trust of the civilian government has declined, the military coup, the military regime is in power, the economy is depressed, the military government is down, and the civilian government is back in power. Political turmoil has become the main theme of Argentina's political economy and society.
For more than 60 years, Argentina was controlled either by an authoritarian military government or by corrupt civilian politicians. A variety of fashionable political theories and a variety of economic policies have led the way for three or five years. At that time, Argentina's dream was not to one day become a "third-rate" country like an Asian country. However, even the most powerful economy could not withstand such a toss, and the debt crisis of the 1980s finally made Argentina "third-rate".
Populism and the third way
The "king of the ball" Maradona is talented, energetic, untamed and passionate, which is part of the national character of the Argentines who call themselves the "Chosen People", which is a strong populist temperament in politics.
In the 1930s, after the outbreak of the economic crisis, the Argentine government abandoned its liberal economic policy in order to get out of the crisis and instead implemented a policy of import substitution and industrial autonomy. If Argentines can be patient and live a few years of hard life, when the process of industrialization catches up, it is still possible to get out of the predicament. But it will take a long time, which is absolutely unacceptable for Argentines who have become accustomed to economic prosperity and high consumption, and the mood of unrest has repeatedly erupted.
Argentines never give up on their illusions, but they also do not learn from disillusionment.
In 1946, Perón was elected President of Argentina
Known as the "Third Way", "Peronism" was supposed to cater to the people at the bottom and populism, and the Perón government put forward the slogan of "political sovereignty, economic independence, social justice", but the Argentine people lacked patience and persistence. Although by 1950 Argentina was still affluent than Japan and roughly equal to Italy, Austria, and Germany, in 1955 Perón was unable to escape the fate of stepping down and was forced into exile.
After the 1970s, neoliberalism in the Western world became mainstream.
The pit of neoliberalism
Compared with the glory of the past, the gap is very large, and the phrase "he is as rich as an Argentine" now seems more like a great irony. Proud and self-respecting Argentines are certainly reluctant to accept it.
Argentines were desperate to seek medical treatment, but they also turned to witches. The "Latin American Spring" and neoliberalism of the 1980s became the "panacea" for reform in Latin American countries, and Argentina did not hesitate to jump into the pit.
Neoliberalism is the theoretical system of international monopoly capital controlling the international economy in the era of globalization, which has been thoroughly matured by the practice of the wave of privatization in Western capitalist countries in the 1980s and the summary of the "Washington Consensus". Capitalists, financiers who manage wealth, and the top managers of large companies have formed a new, narrow alliance of liberal classes, which rejects government intervention, labor coordination, border control, and all other forces that may constrain capital, so that capital occupies a dominant position in the game with the state and society, and obtains "bargaining power" that is not checked and balanced in the political and interest patterns.
The latest theories are not necessarily the best. Everyone knows what the economic reforms in Latin American countries based on the "Washington Consensus" and russia's "shock therapy" have produced. During the magical Argentine government during the Menem period, both methods were experimented with!
As a result, Argentina's external debt grew sharply from $61.3 billion in 1991 to $146.6 billion at the end of 2000, accounting for 138 percent of that year's GDP, or five times the total exports of goods and services that year. Despite the argentine government's ongoing negotiations with creditor countries to restructure its external debt, the total debt service of Argentina's external debt each year still amounts to about half of its total exports of goods and services.
To this day, inflation, the debt crisis and the credit downturn are still the three mountains that weigh on Argentines, and there is no day to come out. In fact, from 1965 to 1990, Argentina's per capita GDP fell by 15 percent, while some Asian economies grew fivefold during those 25 years.
Can the Pampas Eagle fly high again?
Argentines are exaggerated and unrestrained, and their views and actions can go from one extreme to the other.
In the past 100 years, whether it is democratic politics or military dictatorship; whether it is nationalization or privatization; whether it is nationalism or popularism; whether it is protectionism or liberalization, it has been popular and experimental in Argentina. But it was all a result, and it did not allow Argentina's ambitions to be fulfilled and re-developed.
Every Argentine is a genius, but it is difficult for geniuses to live in harmony with geniuses.
Argentina never seems to have integrated its theories and policies with the realities of national development. This is precisely what any country's development needs to do.
The world is facing major changes unprecedented in a century, and the fourth industrial revolution has arrived.
Can Argentina seize the opportunity in their third 100 years? Can the Pampas Eagle fly high again?
The answer lies in Argentina no longer wavering, united, united.
— Tail —