created by cakle12 on 07/02/2025 at 06:53 UTC
4 upvotes, 2 top-level comments (showing 2)
Argentina is considered one of the biggest failed countries in the world because it is today considered a failure in terms of economy and is considered an example of how a rich country can be. But Argentina itself did not have a unified government until 1880.
Argentina is the nightmare that Washington predicted to America. The country itself was divided into two factions or parties that fought in civil wars. The first are the Federalists (for Americans: similar to Democratic Republicans), and the Unitarians (for Americans: Federalists). This triggered various civil wars and even the secession of Buenos Aires between 1853-1880. In principle, the Unitarians won this war and finally defeated Buenos Aires in 1880, thus unifying Argentina.
What if this war did not happen? What if the Federalists and Unitarians came to an agreement and founded a unified Argentina without these conflicts and without secession!
How would Argentina look different? How would Buenos Aires be different? How would the world be different?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_Civil_Wars?wprov=sfla1[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_Party_%28Argentina%29?wprov=sfla1[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Party?wprov=sfla1[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Buenos_Aires?wprov=sfla1[4]
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_Civil_Wars?wprov=sfla1
2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_Party_%28Argentina%29?wprov=sfla1
3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Party?wprov=sfla1
4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Buenos_Aires?wprov=sfla1
Comment by shredditorburnit at 07/02/2025 at 08:01 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
If Argentina had gotten it's shit together and kept it that way back in 1814...it would probably be one of if not the richest country on earth right now. It's base was largely agricultural but if it had been more stable, industrialisation would have followed. With so much land available and good policy, abundance in both food, raw materials and manufactured products could have been easily maintained, enabling a much larger population.
If it had done that and managed to hold to strong democratic values, I see no reason why it wouldn't be the biggest economic power in the world, and would likely have increased the economy of various southern hemisphere nations by use of ocean currents travelling west to east between South America/Africa/Australasia.
Comment by Inside-External-8649 at 07/02/2025 at 16:08 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Keep in mind that that these civil wars didn’t ruin Argentina in a sense that it caused its decline. Keep in mind, Argentina could’ve moved on after 1880, right when the economy was rising.
The real problem is the fact that Argentina had a very limited history with practicing a healthy economy nor good leadership. If you didn’t know, Argentina’s Golden Age still had problems with corruption, and it hit really bad after the Great Depression.
In other words, you need a different PoD for a proper enrichment of Argentina. Since prevention of civil wars, and enriching earlier wouldn’t have prevented its downfall.
Similar things can be said with other Latin American countries.