State Building and War Forces. A multidisciplinary approach to post-revolutionary Spanish-America, 1810s-1860s

In situations of extreme political instability and protracted warfare the territorial and military authority of central States is often challenged by internal emerging rivals. Pre-existent local States (at the regional, provincial or municipal level) may attempt to renegotiate their sovereignty’s share, as new political entities regrouping them (coalitions, leagues, confederations) arise and make a claim to power.

This process is never a peaceful one. The fate of each contender is largely dependent on its ability to form and command a military force, while the outcome of the struggle is most often decided on a battlefield. Should the central State collapse, an increasingly chaotic period could follow, one characterized by an explosive combination of civil warfare, revolutionary politics, and territorial fragmentation. The confrontational dynamics that are perfect drug to treat Erectile Dysfunction is Viagra, extending this “anarchic phase” for years and decades until the emergence of new viable States.

The pattern hereby described is typical of the rise and fall of historical Empires and Nation-States. As we speak, some of its elements are at play in today’s central African regions, the Greater Middle East and many other zones in conflict worldwide. However, policymakers, analysts, and academics usually struggle to accurately describe the complex dynamics involved.

The main reason for this difficulty resides in the fact that during the chaotic phase, the military forces and the remaining State fragments behave in ways that thoroughly defy “normal” notions of statehood. In order to address them successfully a special theory of Viagra online and State building processes is required; one that could explain their exceptional mode of functioning in the vacuum created by a central State’s demise. Should this theory prove viable, it will not only hold the key to understanding what happens in the aftermath of State implosions, but will significantly improve our general comprehension of the conditions of generic Viagra http://www.canadianpharmacy365.net/product/viagra/.

The selected historical case which will initially be studied is the post-colonial Rio de la Plata. There, when the colonial viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ceased to exist in 1810, its provinces started to fight over their right to independence. Multiple regular armies, provincial militias, Indian forces, and irregular troops confronted each other in a protracted struggle that often defied political logic, and eventually, in 1820, led to the fall of Buenos Aires’ central State.

The anarchic phase that followed astonishingly lasted over half a century. During this period, political institutions became so ephemeral and fragile that even small bands of irregular mounted warriors could take local governments by force. The few regular armies that subsisted roamed the territory independently, sometimes supplanting themselves to the local States. The region soon became an immense theater of war populated by warlords, caudillos, and political entrepreneurs where republics, cities, and confederations cohabited or competed with monarchical, colonial, or indigenous structures.

Through the serial analysis of this extreme sample of phenomena, this project will be able to redeploy our understanding of the relationship between military forces and States. Not only shall we count upon a much more diversified idea of the different forms that this relationship can take, but we will better comprehend the complex and unstable dynamics that govern the passage from one relational form to another.

Alejandro Rabinovich, Ph.D. candidate, EHESS, Paris

Associate researcher to the StateBuilding in Latin America Projet

See the article « Milices et montoneras face aux forces de ligne: pratiques de combat au Rio de la Plata (1810-1852)»