Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata: Encyclopedia II - Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata - The viceroyalty's decline

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata - The viceroyalty's decline

Buenos Aires produced about 600,000 cattle a year, of which about one quarter was consumed locally, which considerably helped the development of the area.

But wars with Great Britain meant a great setback for the region's economy as maritime communications were practically paralyzed. The Alto Peru region started to show contempt as the expenses of administration and defense of the Río de la Plata estuary were mainly supported by the declining Potosí production. For instance, in the first years of the viceroyalty, around 75% of the expenses were covered with revenues that came from the north. The Alto Plata (mostly present Paraguay) also had problems with the Buenos Aires administration, particularly because of the monopoly of its port on embarcations.

By 1805, Spain had to help France because of their 1795 alliance, and had lost its navy in the Battle of Trafalgar, but the Spanish prime minister had warned the viceroyalty of the likelihood of a British invasion, and that in such an event the city of Buenos Aires would be on its own.

In June 27, 1806 a small British force of around 1,500 men under Col. William Carr Beresford successfully invaded Buenos Aires after a failed attempt to stop him from viceroy Rafael de Sobremonte, who fled to Córdoba. The British forces were thrown back by the criollos on December 1806, by a militia force under the leadership of Santiago de Liniers. In February 1807, British reinforcements of about 8,000 men under Gen. Sir Samuel Auchmuty captured Montevideo after a fierce fight, and in May Lt. Gen. John Whitelock arrived to take overall command and attacked Buenos Aires on July 5, 1807. After losing more than half his force killed and captured, Whitelock signed a cease-fire and left for Great Britain.

Thus, without the support of Spain and with newly gained confidence after prevailing in skirmishes over a world power, the region's independence feelings where certainly boosted. As of 1811, Argentina had been self-governed for about a year, Paraguay had already declared its independence and the viceroyalty was bound to be finished. It concluded with the independence of Argentina (1816), Uruguay (1822), and Bolivia (1825).

By the end, it was clear that the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was just several unrelated regions bound together in an attempt by the Spanish crown to maintain its power over the region. Lack of internal cohesion and support from Spain, among other reasons, led to the independence of a region which was initially loyal to the crown.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The viceroyalty's decline", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki