1. ARGENTINA
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Kirusan
Achuthan
Raeesah
Saakethiya

2. Government
 The Radical Party took the place of the
conservative National Autonous Party (PAN)
 Argentina grew as a democratic county until
1930 were a military coup occurred that kept
Argentina in a period of dictatorship until the
1980s

3. Government
 In 1916, Argentina became a full democracy
with the election of the Radical Party, lead by
Hipolito Yirigoyen.

4. Economy
 Between 1860 and 1930, Argentina had the
strongest economy in South America with an
annual growth that averaged at 6.3%.

5. Main Source of Income
 Argentina’s main source of income during this
time came from exports of beef and wheat but
the economy was modernizing with the
development of local industries and
handicrafts.

6. 1880s
 Beginning in the 1880s, Argentina began to
modernize and began to focus on domestic
buisnesses.

7. Views of the Public
 These people wanted the government to focus
on economic nationalism rather than the
traditional economic system which focused on
foreign trade (especially with the UK).

8. Economic Ties
 Argentina’s economy was closely tied with
the British economy because of Argentina’s
exports of meat and its imports of coal and
petroleum.

9. Exports
 Argentina had a variety of exports; wheat and
beef were its main export but it also exported
linseed and corn.

10. Reasons to Growth in Industrial
and Domestic sectors
 WWI stimulated industrial growth but after the
war the country fell into a depression as its
foreign market came to a halt. This lead to
further domestic growth.

11. Effects of Economic Growth
 With this economic growth came more urban
workers and immigrants. These people had
revolutionary ideas about the organization of labor
and the use of strike action to secure benefits.
Many of the immigrant leaders were expelled from
the country but the movement became larger
during the 20th century. Radical support for labor
varied but during its highest points, it was a
positive turning point of the working class.

12. EFFECTS OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION &
STRATEGIES TO
OVERCOME THE GREAT
DEPRESSION
Argentina

13. International Depression

14. Government
 Great Depression was one of the factors that led to the
dictatorship
 military took power in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala,
Honduras and Peru after the Wall Street Crash
 This “infamous decade” was a period of political
opposition, electoral fraud and political fraud
 In 1932, immigrants had to have proof of financial support
working before immigrating
 Essentially, the militarily enforced government continued
to exist throughout the Great Depression
Effects of the Great Depression

15. Foreign Relations/ Trade
 Immediate impact on Argentine
export due to dependency on foreign
trade
 Europe and the US implement
protectionist policies (keep their own
farmers)
 Co nco rdancia government followed
liberal trade until mid-1930s
Roca-Runciman Pact 1933
 Restrictions put on Argentina to
restore positive trade with the UK
 Argentina was to promise to choose
British manufactured goods and
protect British corporations from
nationalization
 Led to closing private bus companies
that had emerged in Buenos Aires,
which was a disadvantage to
Argentina
Import Substitution Industrialization
 Wanted to be reliant on industries
within the nation, thus tried to expand
internally
Effects of the Great Depression Strategies to Overcome Issues

16. Unemployment
 Businesses laid off workers
 Civil servants had to be
paid little; customs duties
provided the government
with no income due to lack
of exports/imports
 Was not a huge issue in
Argentina anyways
 Public works were set up
despite government costs
→ would benefit domestic
market
 32 000 mile highways were
built, in comparison to the
previous 5000 miles → led
to motor industry →
strayed away from
dependence on British-
owned railways
Effects of the Great Depression Strategies to Overcome Issues

17. Compare this situation to that of images that we have seen from the US,
Canada and other Latin American nations during the Great Depression.
Unemployed men of Villa 31 in Retiro
(Buenos Aires)

18. Agriculture
 A series of policies were
created to facilitate primary
areas of income (livestock
and agriculture) with
agricultural regulatory
boards that lobbied
protectionist policies
 Create a self-supporting
nation with a method
called Import Substitution
Industrialization (ISI)
 Caused situation to
worsen as
encouraging
industrial growth
overpowered
agricultural growth
Strategies to Overcome Issues Results of Strategies

19. Argentine Industries
YPF
 State run oil company
expanded production to
reduce dependency on oil
imports
 After seeing Mexico’s
nationalization of oil, private
companies dropped prices in
1934 in opposition to YPF
reform
 Eventually, the government
negotiated that half of Buenos
Aires market went to YPF to
continue economic
stimulation
 Argentine
entrepreneurs found
alternatives for lack of
imports by creating new
industries
 Government protected
these industries with tax
incentives and tariffs
 ISI and growth of
industries created jobs
for the unemployed
Effects of the Great Depression Strategies to Overcome Issues

20. Economy
 In 1929, had the world’s 4th
highest GDP
 Although sectors such as
unemployment were not as
affected as they were with the
other Americas, economic
expansion was permanently
brought to end
 Peso was devalued which
increased competition in
exports
 1929: $1537 million in exports
 1932: $561 million in exports
 Reforms to the
credit and banking
system took place
Effects of the Great Depression Strategies to Overcome Issues

21. Economic Trends
GRAPH2: Deposits, Loans (in Thousands of
pesos, left axis) and Shares Quotations
(right axis) 1925 – 1935

22. GOVERNMENT
Argentina

23. Political Leadership of
Argentina(1916-1943)
Leader Year
Hipolito Yrigoyen 1916-22, 1928-30
Marcello Torcuato de Alvear 1922-28
Jose Felix Uriburu 1930-32
Augustin Justo 1932-38
Jose Maria Ortiz 1938-42
Ramon Castillo 1942-43

24. Background info
 The period spanning from 1916 to 1930 in
Argentina is known as the Radical Phase , as it
began with the election of the Radical Civic Union
(UCR) candidate Hipólito Yrigoyen, ousting the
long term conservative National Autonnous Party.
 Yrigoyen's second term, which started in 1928,
was lasted until 1930 when a combo of forces
including the great depression lead to a military
coup that would intro a period of militarism and
dictatorship that lasted until the 1980s.

25. Background Info
 · The Infamous Decade in Argentina is the name given
to the period of time that started in 1930 with the coup d'état
(a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; e spe cially: the
violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a
small group) against President Hipólito Yrigoyen by José
Félix Uriburu.
 This decade was marked by many small rural landowners
leaving their towns since they had been ruined by the Great
Depression, which in turn pushed the country towards import
substitution industrialization (a trade and economic policy that
advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic
production) .
 The poor economic results of the policy and popular
discontent among the public led to another coup in 1943,
which was the "Revolution of '43", by the Grupo de Oficiales
Unidos , the nationalist faction of the Armed Forces, against
acting president Ramón Castillo, which finally put an end to
the Infamous Decade.

26. Uriburu
 On September 6 1930, a military coup, forced Hipólito Yrigoyen from power,
and replaced him with José Félix Uriburu. Support for the coup was
strengthened by the Argentinian economy which had been in bad shape for
quite a while now due to the depression,
 The military coup began the period known as the "Infamous Decade", which
was characterised by electoral fraud, persecution of the political opposition
and pervasive government corruption, against the background of the global
depression.
During his brief term as president, Uriburu cracked down heavily on
anarchists and other far-left groups, which resulted in nearly 2000 illegal
executions of members of anarchist and communist groups. One of the
most well-known and perhaps most symbolic of anarchism's decay in
Argentina at the time was the execution of Severino Di Giovanni an Italian
anarchist who immigrated to Argentina, who was captured in late January
1931 and executed on the first of February of the same year.
 After becoming president through the coup, Uriburu attempted to create a
constitutional reform that would include corporatism in the Argentinian
Constitution.

27. Justo
 As previously mentioned Uriburu attempted to create a
constitutional reform that would include corporatism in the
Argentinian Constitution. This move toward fascism was
viewed negatively by those who were conservative and part
of the coup and they turned their support to the more
moderate conservative general Agustín P. Justo, who won
the presidency in a 1932 election that was heavily fraudulent,
and where many accusations of election fraud were made.
 Justo initiated a policy of liberal economic changes that
advanced mostly the nation's upper classes and permitted
great political and industrial corruption at the expense of
national growth. One of his most infamous decisions was the
creation of the Roca-Runciman Treaty between Argentina
and the United Kingdom, which benefitted the British
economy and the wealthy beef
producers of Argentina at the expense of national interest.

28. Ortiz
 n the presidential elections of 1937, Jose Maria Ortiz was the
official government candidate and won, though the opposition
accused him of participating in fraud. Ortiz never denied
those charges but once he took office he tried to make
Argentine politics more open and truly democratic.
 During World War II, Argentina maintained the same
neutrality it had adopted during the first World War, which
was advantageous for Great Britain. Although the USA
attempted to push the country into the war, during the
January 1942 Rio de Janeiro Conference, with the support of
the British Argentina resisted. A few months later, in June
1942, Ortiz resigned because he was ill with diabetes and
died a month later.

29. Castillo
 Ramon Castillo was vice president at the time and
replaced Ortiz
 He began to work to launch the candidacy of
Robustiano Patrón Costas, vice-president of the
Senate and sugar entrepreneur, who had
supported him in 1938
 On 4 June 1943, the nationalist faction of the
army, gathered around the Grupo de Oficiales
Unidos (GOU, formed in March 1943) opposed
both to corruption and to the Left, overthrew
Castillo in a coup.

30. ECONOMIC DEPENDENCY &
MAIN TRADING PARTNERS
Argentina

31. Economic Dependency: Exports
 Exports were key to the Argentine reserves,
however the country was not reliant on one
sole crop
 Wheat & beef were the primary exports but
were not the only sources of income as the
economy was modernizing and diversifying
 linseed & corn were also key export crops

32. Economic Dependency:
Industries
 Industries that developed were logical
extensions of its agricultural sector: I.e. food
processing, meat packing, flour milling &
leather tanning
 Argentina’s industry was largely domestic,
thus there was limited foreign investment until
the 1920s

33. Foreign Trade
 foreign investment played a crucial role during the 1930s &
was 50 % of the total capital investment in the Argentine
industry
 As Europe and America suffered, protectionist policies were
implemented to keep their own farmers solvent
 This lead to an imbalance of trade in Argentina – the value of
cash crops fell 43%, accompanied by a 40% devaluation of
the Argentine peso
 When the economy hit rock bottom in 1933 the gov’t
responded with polices not meant to change the economy but
to bolster traditional areas of interest and income—livestock
and agriculture
 The gov’t established a number of agricultural regulatory
boards that lobbied for protectionist policies for agriculture
that included tariffs

34. Foreign Trade: Main Trading
Partners
 ·The new gov’t also tried to hold on to the relationship
with the UK to boost economic recovery --Argentina
tilted towards the British and the allies during WW1
 The result of this was the Roca-Runiciman Pact
(1933): the pact placed restrictions on Argentina in
order to restore positive trade relations with the UK --
the pact strengthened commercial ties
 British markets for Argentine goods would be
preserved if Argentina promised to give preference to
British manufactured goods and protect British
companies from nationalization
 US firms started businesses in Argentina b/c it was
difficult to export due to high tariffs

35. INDUSTRIES
Argentina

36. Domesticated Industries
 Before the 1920s, Argentina had largely
domesticated industries.
 Food processing, meat packaging, flour milling
and leather tanning were some of the industries
that developed in Argentina.

37. Main Industries
 The wheat and meat industries where two of
the main industries in Argentina.
 Linseed and corn were some other important
industries in Argentina during the 1920s.
However the linseed market collapsed during
the 1930s and Argentina severely lessened its
involvement in that sector.

38. Importance of Oil
 After World War I, oil became a very important
resource.
 The Yirigoyen administration wanted to lessen
its dependence on foreign oil.
 On June 3, 1922 Yirigoyen created the Fiscal
Petroleum Fields (YRP), a state run oil
company to compete against foreign interests.
Its first director was General Enrique Mosconi.

39. YRP
 The YRP would source, produce, refine and sell
petroleum.
 The first YRP oil refinery was inaugurated in
December 1925 in Ensenada, Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
 The YRP had some influence on other oil
companies. In May 1929, the YRP lowered the
price of oil forcing other companies to do the
same. This helped keep foreign gas prices
competitive.
 It was the first state-owned oil company created.

40. Class Structure
 - In the 1880s Argentina began a period of
modernization that brought social changes
that threatened the traditional landowning
creole elites
- Immigrants created new businesses that
challenged the traditional power base
- In terms of class structure during the Great
Depression, many people of the working class
were relatively unphased as the depression
had seemingly mild.

41. Class Structure
 - the working class developed in terms of
organizational strength and political importance
- the entrepreneurial capitalist class was formed
(industrial bourgeoisie)
 -The Great Depression had a relatively mild effect
on Argentina, although it did halt economic
expansion ( contributing factors - industrial
growth, foreign trade (traiffs made it difficult to
establish trades overseas), etc)
- unemployment rates never went below 10% --
working class did not have to suffer a great dea