page_title: Argentine Army
section_title: 1880–1960s
hierarchical_section_title: Argentine Army / History / 1880–1960s
caption_attribution_description: English: This photo was taken in 1938 in a military barracks in Argentina. The helmets are fiber parade versions in light green with decal on the right side (not visible in the photograph). The helmet is believed to me of Argentinean manufacture. Note the two soldiers wear uniforms and equipment patterned after German standards. Русский: Аргентинские солдаты в «штальхельмах» в казарме. Аргентина. 1938 год
context_page_description: The Argentine Army is the land armed force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the President of Argentina is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, exercising his or her command authority through the Minister of Defense.
  The Army's official foundation date is May 29, 1810, four days after the Spanish colonial administration in Buenos Aires was overthrown. The new national army was formed out of several pre-existent colonial militia units and locally manned regiments; most notably the Infantry Regiment "Patricios", which to this date is still an active unit.
  As of 2019, the active element of the Argentine Army numbered some 70,000 military personnel.
context_section_description: Between 1880 and 1930, the Army sought to become a professional force without active involvement in politics, even though many a political figure -President Julio Argentino Roca, for example- benefitted from a past military career. The Army prevented the fall of the government in a number of Radical-led uprisings. Meanwhile, the military in general and the Army, in particular, contributed to develop Argentina's unsettled southern frontier and its nascent industrial complex.
  The main foreign influence during this period was, by and large, the Prussian (and then German) doctrine. Partly because of that, during both World Wars most of the officers supported the Germans, more or less openly, while the Argentine Navy favored the British instead.
  In 1930, a small group of Army forces (not more than 600 troops) deposed President Hipólito Yrigoyen without much response from the rest of the Army and the Navy. This was the beginning of a long history of political intervention by the military. Another coup, in 1943, was responsible for bringing an obscure colonel into the political limelight: Juan Perón.
  Even though Perón had the support of the military during his two consecutive terms of office (1946–1952 and 1952–1955), his increasingly repressive government alienated many officers, which finally led to a military uprising which overthrew him in September 1955. Between 1955 and 1973 the Army and the rest of the military became vigilant over the possible re-emergence of Peronism in the political arena, which led to two new coups against elected Presidents in 1962 (deposing Arturo Frondizi) and 1966 (ousting Arturo Illia). Political infighting eroded discipline and cohesion within the army, to the extent that there was armed fighting between contending military units during the early 1960s.
caption: The Argentine army soldiers with standard uniform in 1938. Note the similarity with the uniforms of the Wehrmacht.
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