Episode 6: The Will of the Majorities (1916-1930) - Watch History

The Rise of Hipólito Yrigoyen (1916 Election)
📌 The 1916 election was the first test of the electoral reform pushed by Roque Sáenz Peña, ensuring popular decision for the presidency.
🎩 Hipólito Yrigoyen, nominated by the Radical Civic Union (UCR), toured the entire country to campaign, a novel approach at the time.
🗳️ Although the Radicalism won the most votes in the April 2, 1916, election, they lacked the required number of electors until 19 Santa Fe UCR electors provided crucial support, securing Yrigoyen's victory by a single vote.
🎉 Following his October 12, 1916, inauguration, citizens unhitched the horses from his carriage, symbolizing the people taking the lead to the Government House.

Yrigoyen's First Presidency and Social Conflict (1916–1922)
🏛️ Yrigoyen governed with a personalist style, believing the Radicalism was a moral force whose mission was to build the true nation, delegitimizing anything outside the party.
⚖️ The UCR rapidly expanded its control, governing nearly all provinces within six years, leading to accusations of authoritarianism due to federal interventions and a strained relationship with the opposition-dominated Congress.
👨‍🏭 Yrigoyen initially mediated labor conflicts, favoring workers and proposing social legislation like minimum wage and collective contracts, though these were blocked by the conservative opposition.
💥 The economic impact of World War I ending, coupled with the arrival of Russian Revolution echoes, fueled massive social unrest culminating in the Semana Trágica (Tragic Week) in January 1919, featuring a general strike and violent state/parapolice repression that killed hundreds.

Social Unrest and Repression in the Interior (1919–1921)
🌲 Shortly after the Tragic Week, the La Forestal strike in Santa Fe province saw workers suppressed by the company's private Gendarmerie and the army over demands for 8-hour workdays and an end to dismissals.
🐑 In Patagonia (1920–1921), a workers' strike led by Antonio Soto in Río Gallegos against reduced wages escalated into an armed conflict, culminating in the military campaign led by Lt. Colonel Héctor Varela.
💀 Varela's second intervention resulted in the execution of over 1,000 workers between December 1921 and January 1922, a massacre largely ignored by mainstream media except for anarchist publications.

The Alvear Interlude and Yrigoyen's Second Term (1922–1930)
🤝 Due to constitutional restrictions on re-election, Yrigoyen handpicked Marcelo de Alvear (a patrician figure) to run in 1922, which stabilized relations with conservative elites and the military.
🛠️ Alvear's administration focused on economic stabilization, regulating women's and children's labor, and creating several pension funds, while advancing the state-owned oil company YPF under Enrique Mosconi to ensure national sovereignty.
⚔️ By 1924, the UCR split into Personalistas (pro-Yrigoyen) and Antipersonalistas (anti-Yrigoyen), though Yrigoyen won a landslide victory in the 1928 elections with Francisco Beiró, marking a return to power.
📉 Yrigoyen's second term was immediately hampered by the Great Depression, leading to reduced imports and exports, and increased pressure from opposition media, notably *Crítica* newspaper, which intensified attacks on his health and character.

The 1930 Coup d'État
💥 A key proposal during Yrigoyen’s second term—the nationalization of oil—failed when blocked in the Senate by oil-producing provinces, further eroding support.
💣 After an assassination attempt on December 24, 1929, by an anarchist, opposition (civil and military) intensified, fueled by rumors regarding the 78-year-old president's declining health.
🚨 The conspiracy, involving Agustín Justo and José Félix Uriburu (an admirer of European right-wing regimes), culminated on September 6, 1930, when Uriburu launched a coup, aided by leaflets printed by *Crítica*.
🕊️ Yrigoyen delegated power to Vice President Enrique Martínez, who declared a state of siege, but the military uprising quickly succeeded; Yrigoyen surrendered and was confined to Martín García Island, marking the first military interruption of Argentine democracy after 14 years of Radical rule.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ The 1916 election demonstrated the power of popular mobilization but also the necessity of political maneuvering (securing the Santa Fe electors) to overcome indirect voting hurdles.
➡️ Yrigoyen's governance prioritized moral and nationalistic goals over pure political consensus, leading to constant friction with established economic and political powers.
➡️ The Semana Trágica marked a decisive shift where the government abandoned mediation in favor of state repression against organized labor, supported by forces like the Liga Patriótica Argentina.
➡️ The 1930 coup was a confluence of economic crisis (Great Depression), political hardening (Yrigoyen's refusal to delegate power), and military ambition (Uriburu's admiration for European fascism).

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Oct 14, 2025, 13:48 UTC