The First Radical Presidencies of Hipólito Yrigoyen (1916-1930)

The Radical Party Program and the 1916 Elections

The period of the first Radical presidencies from $1916$ to $1930$ began with the administration of Hipólito Yrigoyen. The electoral formula was composed of Hipólito Yrigoyen and Pelagio Luna representing the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR). Before taking office, the Radicalism movement issued a manifesto to the population to convene the elections, establishing a clear set of purposes. They argued that the country required a profound renovation of its ethical values and a fundamental reconstitution of its moral and material structure. The UCR had been struggling for $25$ years to liberate the nation from what they described as usurping and regressive governments. Despite the name "Radical," the party leaders were aware that they were not proposing a revolutionary policy in a structural sense, but rather a restorative one.

In the elections of $1916$, the political landscape varied significantly by region. In the Capital Federal, the Socialist Party of Argentina had a strong presence, but it lacked the potential to triumph in the interior of the country. Competition in the interior was primarily between the UCR and the Conservative Party. The UCR's strength was rooted in the urban and rural middle classes of the coastal region, characterized as the cereal-growing area, as well as in the more industrialized provinces such as Mendoza and Tucumán. The party also drew support from some sectors of the working class. Conversely, the Conservatives dominated the other provinces of the interior and the livestock-rearing sectors. However, the Conservatives faced a disadvantage because they were divided between the Progressive Democratic Party and the Conservative Party of Buenos Aires. While the elections were closely contested and Yrigoyen finished in first place, he did not initially secure an absolute majority in the Electoral College.

Legislative Challenges and the Minority in Congress

When Yrigoyen assumed the presidency in $1916$, it was said that he reached the government but not necessarily the power. He faced a significant disadvantage in the legislative branch. In $1916$, there were only a handful of Radical deputies compared to $70$ opposition members, and in the Senate, there were only $4$ Radicals against $26$ opposition senators. Although the proportion of Radical deputies increased over time, the opposition maintained control of the Senate. Without the support of both chambers, the executive could not pass laws effectively.

This legislative blockade limited the Radical government significantly, especially as it operated with few funds. During Yrigoyen’s first presidency, out of the $89$ bills submitted to Congress, only $26$ were approved. Because of this persistent obstruction, Yrigoyen famously asserted that his government should be judged not only by its finished actions but also by its intentions, reflecting the difficulty of implementing his program under such political constraints.

Provincial Interventions and Social Reforms

One of the central promises of the UCR's electoral campaign was the respect for provincial autonomy. However, Yrigoyen interpreted this by stating that respect should be directed toward the people rather than the local governments. He believed that to ensure clean elections without fraud, it was necessary to intervene in the provinces to guarantee electoral freedom. These interventions were conducted by law, adhering to constitutional procedures. This reformist approach aimed to use state intervention to improve the social situation of unprotected classes.

The government implemented several partial social reforms, including the Rent Law (Ley de Alquileres) and retirement laws for specific sectors such as bank employees, public service workers, and railway workers. Other significant legislative efforts included the Home Work Law (Ley de Trabajo a Domicilio), regulations requiring salary payments to be made in national currency, the prohibition of night work in bakeries, and the establishment of an $8$-hour workday.

Labor Relations and Social Conflict

In contrast to previous governments, Yrigoyen modified the state's approach to labor unions by attempting to emphasize dialogue and arbitration. Despite these efforts, strikes began to emerge frequently. A notable conflict started in $1918$ in metalworking workshops. This was triggered by an increase in the price of raw materials, which led employers to lower wages to maintain their profit margins. The workers retaliated by demanding wage increases, an $8$-hour workday, overtime pay, and the abolition of piecework (trabajo a destajo). To combat these strikes, company directors hired strike-breakers (rompehuelgas) and armed thugs to prevent the labor actions from succeeding.

Agrarian Policy and Land Management

Yrigoyen had relied on the votes of settlers (colonos) and attempted to address their demands by requesting funds for colonization programs on state-owned lands and proposing a State Bank to assist farmers. However, he did not receive congressional approval for many of these measures. The most significant achievement in this sector was the creation of the Agricultural Mortgage Bank (Banco Hipotecario Agrícola) in $1920$, designed to allow settlers to purchase land in national territories through loans.

Yrigoyen set several key objectives for his agrarian policy: stopping the dilapidation of public land, proceeding with the rescue of land that had been illegitimately alienated, and defending small-scale producers across the country from dispossession. He halted the indiscriminate delivery of public lands to large landowners and recovered millions of hectares that had been sold incorrectly through a decree that established the expiration (caducidad) of concessions violating the law. He also ordered agronomic studies of the land so the government could understand the quality and characteristics of public territory.

Despite these efforts, the government could not satisfy the settlers quickly enough, and the situation remained difficult. During World War I, the demand for cereals decreased while the demand for meat increased. Consequently, half of the land previously used for cereals was converted into alfalfa fields for cattle feed, forcing many peasants to migrate to the cities. In $1919$, the agrarian organization Federación Agraria led a strike in the corn-growing zone due to low prices and a large surplus, demanding lower rents and the division of land.

The University Reform of 1918

At the start of the century, the first student centers were founded at the University of Buenos Aires in the fields of Medicine, Engineering, and Law. By $1918$, there were three national universities (Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and La Plata) and two provincial ones (Tucumán and Litoral) that would later become nationalized. The Argentine University Federation (Federación Universitaria Argentina) was consolidated in $1918$, uniting various student organizations.

The reformist student movement originated in Córdoba in $1918$ and spread to other Argentine and Latin American universities. The movement demanded that students be integrated into the functioning and government of the university, making the student the center of the educational act. Key pillars of the reform included university autonomy, the right of the university to govern itself, and the opening of teaching to various intellectual trends. They advocated for academic freedom (libertad de cátedra), free attendance, the periodicity of teaching chairs, competitive exams (concursos) for faculty positions, the public disclosure of university acts, and free tuition (gratuidad de la enseñanza). Additionally, they sought to implement seminars and forms of teaching where students could actively participate, as well as cultural extension programs beyond the university structure to democratize higher education.

World War I and Argentine Neutrality

World War I began in $1914$ between Austria and Serbia and eventually expanded into a global conflict. The causes included rivalries between European states, an arms race among major powers, aspirations for autonomy or independence by ethnic groups under imperial control, and revanchist nationalism between France and Germany. The opposing sides consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey against France, England, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Belgium, Japan, Italy, and the United States.

Argentina maintained a policy of neutrality, which did not imply equidistance but rather a refusal to participate in the armed conflict. This neutrality benefited Argentina economically. For example, Germany was forced to recognize Argentina's right to free navigation. During the war, the prices of manufactured goods increased significantly. Since Argentine industry was dependent on imported machinery and inputs, the government took protective measures. In $1918$, the export of unworked metals and scrap was prohibited to ensure raw materials remained available for domestic industry.

Industrial Strategy and State Intervention

The government launched advertising campaigns to modify consumption habits and discourage the use of foreign products. Due to the de facto protectionism caused by the war, sectors such as the food industry (meat packing plants and mills), livestock products (wool and hides), and the textile and mechanical industries grew significantly. This policy aligned with the aspirations of the Unión Industrial Argentina (UIA), which sought tariffs only for products that competed with national ones. Even without a formal, comprehensive industrial policy, the sector continued to grow, fueled in many cases by foreign capital investments, primarily from the United States.

Yrigoyen also pursued a nationalist policy regarding key economic sectors. He sought direct state participation in transport (railways) and oil. His proposal to create a national merchant fleet (flota mercante) was boycotted by Congress, and he only managed to purchase ships for transporting grain. He ordered the expiration of railway concessions that failed to comply with their contracts. While foreign and national pressure limited his ability to control tariff increases or expand the lines fully, he focused on extending railway branches to regions that needed them for development. Regarding oil, he boosted production to compete with imports, giving greater importance to the General Directorate of Petroleum, which in $1922$ was named Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF).

Nationalist Foreign Policy

Argentina initially accepted the formation of the League of Nations but maintained that a league intended to establish future peace must not distinguish between belligerents and neutrals. Argentina eventually left the League because Yrigoyen insisted the international organization should be based on absolute justice and equality for all nations. He was an opponent of the ABC Pact (Argentina-Brazil-Chile), which he felt placed those nations in a position of superiority over other Latin American states. Yrigoyen proposed a continental congress of neutral American republics, but the initiative failed after being boycotted by the United States. Finally, he demonstrated his nationalist stance by opposing the North American intervention in Santo Domingo.