Argentina Independent

Following the abdication of the Spanish king during Napoleon's occupation of Spain, the May Revolution of 1810 in Buenos Aires deposed the Spanish viceroy and established a provisional governing junta in the name of the deposed monarch. This set the provinces of the Rio de la Plata on the path toward self-government and ignited prolonged warfare against royalist forces in the region.

After years of fighting and political division, delegates from the provinces gathered at the Congress of Tucuman. On July 9, 1816, they formally declared the independence of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata from Spain and from any foreign domination, giving the patriot cause a clear national purpose.

Independence still had to be secured by force of arms. General Jose de San Martin organized an army that crossed the Andes to liberate Chile and then carried the war to Peru, the stronghold of Spanish power in South America. The struggle continued until the royalists were finally defeated in the early 1820s, while internal conflicts over the form of government persisted long after.