Editing Foreign relations of Argentina (section)

== History ==

=== From isolation to nationhood ===
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Owing to its geographical remoteness, local authorities in what is today Argentina developed an early sense of autonomy. Based largely on economic needs, during colonial times their pragmatism led to a flourishing unofficial [[Contraband|market in smuggled goods]], out of the then-small port of [[Buenos Aires]], in blatant contravention of the Spanish [[mercantilist]] laws. With the [[Enlightenment Spain#Enlightened despotism (1759–1788)|Enlightened despotism]] of the late-eighteenth-century Bourbon kings and the creation of the [[Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata]] in 1776, trade increased as the political importance of the port-city of Buenos Aires soared. The urgency for a complete [[Laissez-faire|liberalization of commerce]] remained a powerful political cause for [[Criollo people|Criollos]] and [[Mestizo]]s, further stimulated by the politically egalitarian and revolutionary ideals spread by the [[French Revolution|French]] and [[American Revolution|Anglo-American]] revolutions. Ultimately, the actual experience of successfully defending without Spanish aid the viceroyalty from a foreign invader during the 1806–1807 [[British invasions of the Río de la Plata]], triggered a decisive quest for even greater autonomy from the colonial metropolis.

Between 1808 and 1810, the [[First French Empire|Napoleonic French Empire]] openly [[Peninsular War|invaded Spain]], after deposing King [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand VII]] and taking him prisoner. A Spanish resistance formed an emergency government, the [[Supreme Central and Governing Junta of the Kingdom (Spain)|Supreme Central and Governing Junta of the Kingdom]] in order to govern themselves and the Spanish Empire in the absence of Ferdinand VII. But, when the Supreme Central Junta dissolved itself on 29 January 1810, under extreme pressure from Napoleonic forces, most of the [[Spanish American wars of independence|main cities of Spanish America]] refused to acknowledge its successor, a Regency Council, as the legitimate depositary of sovereignty. They proceed to name their own local [[junta (Peninsular War)|junta]]s, as a means to exercise government in the absence of the prisoner king.

On [[May Revolution|25 May 1810]], a Criollo-led ''[[Open cabildo|cabildo abierto]]'' formally assumed the authority from Viceroy [[Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros]]. However, the ensuing [[United Provinces of South America]] (formed on the basis of the former Viceroyalty) declared itself independent on 9 July 1816, after [[Ferdinand VII]] was restored in 1815. During the [[Argentine War of Independence|Independence Wars]] no sovereign state recognized the United Provinces.

Until the fall of the [[Royalist (Spanish American Revolution)|Royalist]] stronghold of [[Lima]] in 1821, and the [[Battle of Ayacucho]] of 1824, territorial integrity was solely sustained by the military brilliance of Generals [[José de San Martín]] and [[Manuel Belgrano]], the continuous efforts of northern provinces defenders [[Martín Miguel de Güemes]] and [[Juana Azurduy]], among many others. However, during this same period, internecine power conflicts among diverse leaders, and ideological and economical struggles developed between [[Buenos Aires Province]] and much of the rest of the United Provinces, with many of the Provinces bonding themselves into a [[Liga Federal|Federal League]], inspired by ''Federalist'' [[José Gervasio Artigas]]' leadership. In practice, each side treated the other's grievances as a "foreign policy" matter.

The ''[[centralized government|Unitarian]]'' Constitution of 1819 was immediately rejected by the provinces, and a state of anarchy ensued following the [[Battle of Cepeda (1820)|Battle of Cepeda]]. The only cause that could regain unity among the hostile factions was the 1825 invasion of what today is [[Uruguay]] on the part of [[Brazilian Empire]]. Uruguay, then known as the ''Province of the Eastern Bank of the Uruguay River'', was considered a somewhat breakaway Province, since [[Montevideo]] served as the seat of the [[Royalist (Spanish American Revolution)|Royalist]] Viceroy [[Francisco Javier de Elío]] during its war on the [[May Revolution]]; and that, after the independentists victory, the Province became the main stronghold of the [[Liga Federal|Federal League]] leader [[José Gervasio Artigas]], who waged a long and bitter dispute during the 1810s against the [[Unitarian Party|Unitarians]] about the shape the national organization would have.

The war crisis led to a new Constitution and a first semblance of a united national government, at the same time it represented the first foreign policy crisis of the young nation (known as ''República Argentina'', ''per'' the 1926 Constitution), as it forced the nation into war with Brazil.

The common cause the crisis provided did lead to enough institutional stability to have the [[British Empire]] recognize Argentina (as President [[James Monroe]] had the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] done in 1822) and led to the election of the first [[List of heads of state of Argentina|President of Argentina]]. The opportunity for unity, however, was wasted largely because the new President, [[Bernardino Rivadavia]], pushed a new Constitution even more biased towards Buenos Aires' agenda than the failed 1819 document. The war with Brazil, moreover, went badly. Land battles were won, early on, and despite some heroic feats on the part on Irish-born Admiral [[Guillermo Brown]], the war dragged on, resulting in bankruptcy. This and the hated new constitution led to the end of the first republic by 1828; it also led, however, to peace with Brazil and the formation of an independent [[Uruguay]].

26 September 1828 treaty itself became another foreign policy crisis, as it triggered a violent ''coup d'état'' by generals opposed to what they saw as a unilateral surrender. The murder of the man responsible for the treaty, Buenos Aires Governor [[Manuel Dorrego]], itself led to a countercoup that brought with it the promise of a lasting peace; but eventually led to destabilizing consequences.

The countercoup brought in a new governor for the [[Buenos Aires Province]], who would in time become the leading figure of a loose [[confederation]] of Argentine Provinces (the so-called [[Argentine Confederation]]). [[Juan Manuel de Rosas]] made it his mission to stabilize Argentina in a confederacy under the tutelage of Buenos Aires Province. This led to repression, massacres of Native Americans in the [[Pampas]] and, in 1838, an international embargo over the case of a French journalist tortured to death at Rosas' orders.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} An unyielding Rosas might have let the impasse continue for a decade or more; but, Admiral [[Guillermo Brown]] made his talents amenable once again, forcing the French blockade to be lifted in 1841.

Having come to power avenging the murder of a man who had decided to cease interference in Uruguay, Rosas invaded Uruguay upon the 1842 election of a government there antagonistic to his personal commercial interests (mainly centered in the export of cow hides and beef jerky, valuable commodities in those days). Commercially close with the French and British Empires, Uruguay's crisis met with swift reprisals against Rosas and the Argentine Confederacy from the two mighty powers. Slapped with fresh embargoes and a joint blockade, Argentina by 1851 found itself bankrupt and with "rogue nation" standing; on 3 February 1852, a surprise military campaign led by the Governor of [[Entre Ríos Province]], [[Justo José de Urquiza]], put an end to the Rosas regime and, until 1878, at least, serious Argentine foreign policy misadventures.

=== Constitution and conflict resolution ===
[[File:Abrazo del Estrecho (1899).jpg|thumb|left|President Julio Roca hosts Argentine and Chilean negotiators in an 1899 bid to avoid war.]]
The deposition of Rosas led to Argentina's present institutional framework, outlined in the [[Argentine Constitution|1853 constitution]]. The document, drafted by a legal scholar specializing in the interpretation of the [[United States Constitution]] put forth national social and economic development as its overriding principle. Where foreign policy was concerned, it specifically put emphasis on the need to encourage immigration and little else, save for the national defense against aggressions. This, of course, was forced into practice by Paraguayan dictator [[Francisco Solano López (politician)|Francisco Solano López]]'s disastrous 1865 invasion of northern Argentine territory, leading to an [[Paraguayan War|alliance]] between 1820s-era adversaries Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives (particularly Paraguay's own).

Setbacks notwithstanding, the policy was successful. Domestically, Argentina was quickly transformed by immigration and foreign investment into, arguably, the most educationally and economically advanced nation in Latin America. Whatever else was happening domestically, internationally, Argentine policy earned a reputation for pragmatism and the reliance of conflict resolution as a vehicle to advance national interests. The era's new strongman, Gen. [[Julio Roca]], was the first Argentine leader to treat foreign policy on equal footing with foreign investment and immigration incentives, universal education and repression as instruments of national development. His first administration occupied [[Patagonia]] and entered into an 1881 agreement with Chile to that effect and his second one commissioned archaeologist [[Francisco Moreno]] to survey an appropriate boundary between the two neighbors, which brought Chile into the historic [[Pactos de Mayo|1902 pact]], settling questions over Patagonian lands east of the [[Andes]]. Later that year, endorsed his Foreign Secretary's successful negotiation of a debt dispute between [[Venezuela]], France and Germany. Foreign Secretary [[Luis Drago]]'s proposal in this, a dispute among third parties, became the [[Drago Doctrine]], part of [[international law]] to this day.

[[File:Paz del Chaco.jpg|thumb|Signatories of the 1938 treaty ending the Chaco War gather in Buenos Aires. Foreign Minister Carlos Saavedra Lamas is at right]]
This success led to a joint effort between Argentina, Brazil and [[Chile]] to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the United States' [[Veracruz Incident|occupation of Veracruz, Mexico]] in April 1914. That May, the three nations' foreign ministers hosted U.S. officials in Canada, a conference instrumental in the withdrawal of U.S. troops that November. This also resulted in the 1915 [[ABC pact]] signed between the three and, like Brazil and Chile, Argentina thereafter pursued a pragmatic foreign policy, focused on preserving favorable trade relationships. This policy was in evidence during the 1933 [[Roca-Runciman Treaty]], which secured Argentine markets among British colonies, and in the Argentine position during the [[Chaco War]]. Resulting from the 1928 discovery of petroleum in the area, the dispute developed into war after [[Bolivia]]'s appeal for Argentine intervention in what it saw as Paraguayan incursions into potentially oil-rich lands were rejected. Bolivia invaded in July 1932 and, despite its legitimate claim to what historically had been its territory, its government's ties to [[Standard Oil of New Jersey]] (with whom the Argentine government was in dispute over its alleged pirating of oil in [[Salta Province]])<ref name=Wirth>Wirth, John. ''The Oil Business in Latin America''. Beard Books, 2001.</ref> led Buenos Aires to withhold diplomatic efforts until, in June 1935, a cease-fire was signed. The laborious negotiations called in Buenos Aires by Argentine Foreign Minister [[Carlos Saavedra Lamas]] yielded him Latin America's first [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1936 and a formal peace treaty in July 1938.