The military aristocracy of the Rio de la Plata: Monarchy, republic, and military institutions in Argentina and Uruguay, 1806--1865

This dissertation examines the military and political history of Argentina and Uruguay from the years immediately preceding the revolution for independence to the beginnings of the Paraguayan War. Its central argument is that the professional military of these countries originated as a monarchic social group that kept an aristocratic structure until 1865. In order to make this argument, the dissertation studies not only military and political transformations, but also the intellectual and ideological framework of these transformations; it approaches military history from the perspective of intellectual history. In addition, it considers jointly the military and political evolution in Argentina and Uruguay, in contrast with the focus of national historiographies.;The conclusions of research establish that the professional military originated as a group in Buenos Aires, from 1806 to 1809. This origin made the military identify themselves with the centralist interests of this city, which exercised strong hegemony in the region. The military and political leaderships of Buenos Aires adopted constitutional monarchism during the revolution against Spain as a way to consolidate central administration. The military also refused to modify Spanish monarchic military institutions, which granted them significant privileges, and trusted that a monarchic political organization would guarantee that these institutions be maintained. The military led or supported several monarchic projects in the 1808 to 1850 period and only became republican when Europe withdrew support for monarchism in the region.;This dissertation also establishes that the first generation of republican military, which rose to political power in the 1860s, kept the aristocratic and centralist ideas of preceding generations. From 1860 to 1865, the Argentine and Uruguayan military adopted a unifying doctrine inspired by French monarchic thought. According to this doctrine, the military were defenders of the international cause of civilization, of which France was the leader. This doctrine gave the military a transcendental mission and became a source of unity and motivation that could substitute for monarchism. In the 1970s, the military would resort again to "the defense of civilization" to justify their involvement in the international struggle against communism.