Rosas, Juan Manuel de
Rosas, Juan Manuel de
(hwän mänwĕl` dā rô`säs), 1793–1877, Argentine dictator, governor of Buenos Aires prov. (1829–32, 1835–52). As a boy he served under Jacques de LiniersLiniers, Jacques de,Span. Santiago de Liniers y de Bremond , 1753–1810, French officer in Spanish service, viceroy of Río de la Plata. After a military and naval career in Europe, he was transferred to the Río de la Plata (1788) as a Spanish naval
..... Click the link for more information. against the British invaders of the Rio de la Plata (1806–7). Most of his youth was spent in the cattle country, where he built his fortune through large-scale ranching. As a full-fledged caudillocaudillo
, [Span.,= military strongman], type of South American political leader that arose with the 19th-century wars of independence. The first caudillos were often generals who, leading private armies, used their military might to achieve power in the newly independent states.
..... Click the link for more information. , he began his political career in 1820 by leading a force of gauchosgaucho
, cowboy of the Argentine and Uruguayan pampas (grasslands). The typical gaucho, a familiar figure in the 18th and 19th cent., was a daring, skillful horseman and plainsman.
..... Click the link for more information. in support of the conservatives and federalism. After the deposition and execution (1828) of Manuel DorregoDorrego, Manuel
, 1787–1828, Argentine statesman and soldier, governor of Buenos Aires province (1820, 1827–28). After serving for a time in the War of Independence, he returned (1816) to Buenos Aires and became a journalist.
..... Click the link for more information. , he became the federalist leader. His rise to power represented the rise of the estancieros, the new landed oligarchy based on commercial ranching. Together with Estanislao López, he defeated Juan LavalleLavalle, Juan
, 1797–1841, Argentine general, governor of Buenos Aires province (1828–29). He served (1816–24) in the War of Independence and (1826–28) in the war with Brazil. Returning to Buenos Aires, he led his troops in revolt (Dec.
..... Click the link for more information. , and became governor (1829) of Buenos Aires with dictatorial powers. Aided by López and Juan Facundo QuirogaQuiroga, Juan Facundo
, 1790–1835, Argentine caudillo. One of the most brutal of the early gaucho chieftains, he was called el tigre de los llanos (the tiger of the plains).
..... Click the link for more information. , he waged a sanguinary campaign against the unitarians, destroying their movement, at least temporarily. He surrendered office in 1832, and went on to wage a successful expedition against the indigenous peoples. In 1835, Rosas again became governor; by machinations and arrangements with other provincial chiefs, he assumed the dictatorship of most of Argentina. Rosas's politics were, in practice, antifederalist despite his formal allegiance. He came to represent the hegemony of Buenos Aires. His government became a ruthless tyranny. Assisted by spies, propagandists, and the Mazorca (a secret political society that degenerated into a band of assassins), he instituted a regime of terror. Though he was adulated in public, successive and continuous revolutions were organized against his rule. Secret revolutionary groups—notably the Asociación de Mayo, founded by Esteban EcheverríaEcheverría, Esteban
, 1805–51, Argentine romantic poet, prose writer, and revolutionary propagandist. After five years in Europe he introduced romanticism in Argentina in his poem Elvira (1832).
..... Click the link for more information. —were formed. Ironically, by driving into exile many of the fine minds in Argentina—Juan Bautista AlberdiAlberdi, Juan Bautista
, 1810–84, Argentine political philosopher, patriot, and diplomat. He opposed Juan Manuel de Rosas, and after 1838 he spent years of exile in Uruguay, Chile, and in Europe writing against Rosas.
..... Click the link for more information. , Bartolomé MitreMitre, Bartolomé
, 1821–1906, Argentine statesman, general, and author, president of the republic (1862–68). An opponent of Juan Manuel de Rosas, he was forced into exile and had a colorful career as a soldier and journalist in Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, and
..... Click the link for more information. , and especially Domingo F. SarmientoSarmiento, Domingo Faustino
, 1811–88, Argentine statesman, educator, and author, president of the republic (1868–74). An opponent of Juan Manuel de Rosas, he spent years of exile in Chile, becoming known as a journalist and an educational reformer.
..... Click the link for more information. —he contributed unwittingly to the creation of several classics of South American literature and social analysis. Rosas became involved in a dispute with the United States and Britain over the Falkland Islands. His ambition led him to interfere in Uruguay, where he supported Manuel OribeOribe, Manuel
, d. 1857, president of Uruguay (1834–38). After serving with José Gervasio Artigas, he became one of the Thirty-three Immortals who raised the standard of independence under Juan Lavalleja.
..... Click the link for more information. . His suspected designs to reduce Paraguay and Uruguay to dependent Argentine states led to two blockades by France and Great Britain (1838–40, 1845–50), greatly hurting Argentine commerce. Resentment against the dominance of Buenos Aires resulted in a final, successful revolution against Rosas. Aided by Brazil and Uruguay, Justo José de UrquizaUrquiza, Justo José de
, 1801–70, Argentine general and politician, president of the confederation (1854–60). As the caudillo of Entre Ríos prov., he helped sustain the power of Juan Manuel de Rosas.
..... Click the link for more information. crushed the tyrant's army at Monte Caseros (1852), and the dictator fled to England, where he lived in exile until his death. Rosas contributed greatly to the unification of Argentina.
Bibliography
See study by J. Lynch (1981).
Rosas, Juan Manuel De
Born Mar. 30, 1793, in Buenos Aires; died Mar. 14, 1877, in Swaythling, near Southampton, England. Argentine statesman.
Rosas entered the military in 1811 and in 1828 became a general. From 1829 to 1832 he was governor of the province of Buenos Aires, and in April 1835 he became de facto dictator of the country. Rosas established a regime based on terror. He restored the social order of colonial times and the privileges formerly enjoyed by the Catholic Church, and he encouraged the penetration of foreign, mainly British, capital into the country. In an attempt to bring Uruguay under his control, Rosas placed Montevideo under siege from 1843 to 1851. The growth of opposition and the conflicts between Buenos Aires and the other provinces led to the dissolution of his regime. After his overthrow in February 1852, Rosas went into exile in Great Britain.