Buenos Aires Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===War of Independence=== {{see also|Argentine War of Independence}} [[File:General view of Buenos Ayres from the Plaza de Toros - Emeric Essex Vidal - Picturesque illustrations of Buenos Ayres and Monte Video (1820).jpg|thumb|[[Emeric Essex Vidal]], ''General view of Buenos Ayres from the Plaza de Toros'', 1820. In this area now lies the [[Plaza San Martín (Buenos Aires)|Plaza San Martín]].]] [[File:Pellegrini Buenos Aires Catedral.jpg|thumb|Impression of the [[Buenos Aires Cathedral]] by ''Carlos Pellegrini'', 1829.]] During the [[British invasions of the Río de la Plata]], British forces attacked Buenos Aires twice. In 1806 the British successfully invaded Buenos Aires, but an army from [[Montevideo]] led by [[Santiago de Liniers]] defeated them. In the brief period of British rule, the viceroy [[Rafael Sobremonte]] managed to escape to [[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba]] and designated this city as capital. Buenos Aires became the capital again after its recapture by Argentine forces, but Sobremonte could not resume his duties as viceroy. Santiago de Liniers, chosen as new viceroy, prepared the city against a possible new British attack and repelled a second invasion by Britain in 1807. The militarization generated in society changed the balance of power favorably for the [[criollo people|criollo]]s (in contrast to [[peninsulars]]), as well as the development of the [[Peninsular War]] in Spain. An attempt by the peninsular merchant [[Martín de Álzaga]] to remove Liniers and replace him with a [[Junta (Peninsular War)|Junta]] was defeated by the criollo armies. However, by 1810 it would be those same armies who would support a new revolutionary attempt, successfully removing the new viceroy [[Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros]]. This is known as the [[May Revolution]], which is now celebrated as a national holiday. This event started the [[Argentine War of Independence]], and many armies left Buenos Aires to fight the diverse strongholds of royalist resistance, with varying levels of success. The government was held first by two Juntas of many members, then by two [[triumvirate]]s, and finally by a unipersonal office, the [[Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata|Supreme Director]]. Formal independence from Spain was [[Argentine Declaration of Independence|declared]] in 1816, at the [[Congress of Tucumán]]. Buenos Aires managed to endure the whole [[Spanish American wars of independence]] without falling again under royalist rule. Historically, Buenos Aires has been Argentina's main venue of [[liberalism|liberal]], [[free trade|free-trading]], and foreign ideas. In contrast, many of the provinces, especially those to the city's northwest, advocated a more [[nationalism|nationalistic]] and [[Catholic]] approach to political and social issues. In fact, much of the internal tension in Argentina's history, starting with the centralist-federalist conflicts of the 19th century, can be traced back to these contrasting views. In the months immediately following said "May Revolution", Buenos Aires sent a number of military envoys to the provinces with the intention of obtaining their approval. Instead, the enterprise fueled tensions between the capital and the provinces; many of these missions ended in violent clashes. In the 19th century the city was [[blockade]]d twice by naval forces: by the [[French blockade of the Río de la Plata|French]] from 1838 to 1840, and later by an [[Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata|Anglo-French]] expedition from 1845 to 1848. Both blockades failed to bring the Argentine government to the negotiating table, and the foreign powers eventually desisted from their demands. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page