Argentine dictator: Juan Manuel De Rosas, 1829-1852

Abstract

The work presents a comprehensive analysis of the life and absolute rule of Juan Manuel de Rosas (1829–1852), examining the origins of the caudillo tradition in Argentina. The study investigates the socio-economic forces that forged his dictatorship, focusing on the development of vast frontier estates and the subsequent rise to political power of the landowning elite. It reconstructs the social dynamics of this era, emphasizing the patron-client (master and peon) relationships that underpinned political allegiance. Rosas’s governance is portrayed as a transition from pervasive anarchy to a great dictatorship, utilizing the systematic application of terror as a detailed instrument of domestic policy. Although constituting a history of the River Plate region from independence to the mid-nineteenth century, the analysis also incorporates the extensive and often contradictory relationship with Great Britain, a power with whom Rosas traded, resisted blockades, protected nationals, and ultimately sought exile. – AI-generated abstract.