Rise of the modern nation

Main articles: List of Presidents of Argentina, Generation of '80, and Infamous Decade
See also: Argentine–Chilean naval arms race and South American dreadnought race

People gathered in front of the Buenos Aires Cabildo during the May Revolution

Immigrants from Italy arriving in Buenos Aires, during the great European immigration wave to
Argentina

Overpowering Urquiza in the 1861 Battle of Pavón, Bartolomé Mitre secured Buenos
Aires' predominance and was elected as the first president of the reunified country. He
was followed by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Nicolás Avellaneda; these three
[64]
presidencies set up the basis of the modern Argentine State.

Starting with Julio Argentino Roca in 1880, ten consecutive federal governments
emphasized liberal economic policies. The massive wave of European immigration they
promoted—second only to the United States'—led to a near-reinvention of Argentine
[65]
society and economy that by 1908 had placed the country as the seventh wealthiest
[66]
developed nation in the world. Driven by this immigration wave and decreasing
[67]
mortality, the Argentine population grew fivefold and the economy 15-fold: from 1870
to 1910, Argentina's wheat exports went from 100,000 to 2,500,000 t (110,000 to
2,760,000 short tons) per year, while frozen beef exports increased from 25,000 to
 [68]
365,000 t (28,000 to 402,000 short tons) per year, placing Argentina as one of the
[69]
world's top five exporters. Its railway mileage rose from 503 to 31,104 km (313 to
[70]
19,327 mi). Fostered by a new public, compulsory, free and secular education
system, literacy quickly increased from 22% to 65%, a level higher than most Latin
[69]
American nations would reach even fifty years later. Furthermore, real GDP grew so
fast that despite the huge immigration influx, per capita income between 1862 and 1920
[70]
went from 67% of developed country levels to 100%: In 1865, Argentina was already
one of the top 25 nations by per capita income. By 1908, it had surpassed Denmark,
Canada and the Netherlands to reach 7th place—behind Switzerland, New Zealand,
Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Belgium. Argentina's per capita
income was 70% higher than Italy's, 90% higher than Spain's, 180% higher than
[65]
Japan's and 400% higher than Brazil's. Despite these unique achievements, the
[71]
country was slow to meet its original goals of industrialization: after the steep
development of capital-intensive local industries in the 1920s, a significant part of the
[72]
manufacturing sector remained labour-intensive in the 1930s.

Conquest of the Desert, by Juan Manuel Blanes (fragment showing Julio Argentino Roca, at the
[73]
front, a major figure of the Generation of '80)

Between 1878 and 1884, the so-called Conquest of the Desert occurred, with the
purpose of tripling the Argentine territory by means of the constant confrontations
[74]
between natives and Criollos in the border, and the appropriation of the indigenous
territories. The first conquest consisted of a series of military incursions into the Pampa
[75]
and Patagonian territories dominated by the indigenous peoples, distributing them
[76]
among the members of the Sociedad Rural Argentina, financiers of the expeditions.
[77]
The conquest of Chaco lasted up to the end of the century, since its full ownership of
the national economic system only took place when the mere extraction of wood and
[78]
tannin was replaced by the production of cotton. The Argentine government
considered indigenous people as inferior beings, without the same rights as Criollos and
[79]
Europeans.

In 1912, President Roque Sáenz Peña enacted universal and secret male suffrage,
which allowed Hipólito Yrigoyen, leader of the Radical Civic Union (or UCR), to win the
1916 election. He enacted social and economic reforms and extended assistance to
small farms and businesses. Argentina stayed neutral during World War I. The second
administration of Yrigoyen faced an economic crisis, precipitated by the Great
[80]
Depression.

Crowds outside the Argentine National Congress during the 1930 Argentine coup d'état which
marked the start of the Infamous Decade

In 1930, Yrigoyen was ousted from power by the military led by José Félix Uriburu.
[65]
Although Argentina remained among the fifteen richest countries until mid-century,
this coup d'état marks the start of the steady economic and social decline that pushed
[81]
the country back into underdevelopment.

Uriburu ruled for two years; then Agustín Pedro Justo was elected in a fraudulent
election, and signed a controversial treaty with the United Kingdom. Argentina stayed
neutral during World War II, a decision that had full British support but was rejected by
the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1943 a military coup d'état led by
General Arturo Rawson toppled the democratically elected government of Ramón
Castillo. Under pressure from the United States, later Argentina declared war on the
Axis Powers (on 27 March 1945, roughly a month before the end of World War II in
Europe).

During the Rawson dictatorship a relatively unknown military colonel named Juan Perón
was named head of the Labour Department. Perón quickly managed to climb the
political ladder, being named Minister of Defence by 1944. Being perceived as a political
threat by rivals in the military and the conservative camp, he was forced to resign in
1945, and was arrested days later. He was finally released under mounting pressure
[82]
from both his base and several allied unions. He would later become president after
a landslide victory over the UCR in the 1946 general election as the Laborioust
[83]
candidate.