The South American Republics, Part I


Read by Piotr Nater

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The question most frequently asked me since I began my stay in South America has been: "Why do they have so many revolutions there?" Possibly the events recounted in the following pages may help the reader to answer this for himself. I hope that he will share my conviction that militarism has already definitely disappeared from more than half the continent and is slowly becoming less powerful in the remainder. Constitutional traditions, inherited from Spain and Portugal, implanted a tendency toward disintegration; Spanish and Portuguese tyranny bred in the people a distrust of all rulers and governments; the war of independence brought to the front military adventurers; civil disorders were inevitable, and the search for forms of government that should be final and stable has been very painful. On the other hand, the generous impulse that prompted the movement toward independence has grown into an earnest desire for ordered liberty, which is steadily spreading among all classes. Civic capacity is increasing among the body of South Americans and immigration is raising the industrial level. They are slowly evolving among themselves the best form of government for their special needs and conditions.

It is hard to secure from the tangle of events called South American history a clearly defined picture. At the risk of repetition I have tried to tell separately the story of each country, because each has its special history and its peculiar characteristics. All of these states have, however, had much in common and it is only in the case of the larger nations that social and political conditions have been described in detail. (Fragment of the Preface)

See the original text for the bibliography and numerous illustrations. (0 hr 20 min)

Chapters

INTRODUCTORY: THE DISCOVERIES AND THE CONQUEST part 1 21:23 Read by Piotr Nater
INTRODUCTORY: THE DISCOVERIES AND THE CONQUEST part 2 26:27 Read by Piotr Nater
ARGENTINA I: THE ARGENTINE LAND 13:13 Read by Piotr Nater
ARGENTINA II: THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 17:29 Read by Piotr Nater
ARGENTINA III: THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 19:49 Read by Piotr Nater
ARGENTINA IV. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 13:59 Read by Piotr Nater
ARGENTINA V. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION 26:36 Read by Piotr Nater
ARGENTINA VI. COMPLETION OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 27:05 Read by Piotr Nater
ARGENTINA VII. THE ERA OF CIVIL WARS 24:36 Read by Piotr Nater
ARGENTINA VIII. CONSOLIDATION 16:27 Read by Piotr Nater
ARGENTINA IX. THE MODERN ARGENTINE 32:15 Read by Piotr Nater
PARAGUAY I. PARAGUAY UNTIL 1632 18:02 Read by Piotr Nater
PARAGUAY II. THE JESUIT REPUBLIC AND COLONIAL PARAGUAY 15:27 Read by Piotr Nater
PARAGUAY III. FRANCIA'S REIGN 14:08 Read by Piotr Nater
PARAGUAY IV. THE REIGN OF THE ELDER LOPEZ 12:47 Read by Piotr Nater
PARAGUAY V. THE WAR 19:14 Read by Piotr Nater
PARAGUAY VI. PARAGUAY SINCE 1870 7:22 Read by Piotr Nater
URUGUAY I. INTRODUCTION 18:10 Read by Piotr Nater
URUGUAY II. PORTUGUESE AGGRESSIONS AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY 11:16 Read by Piotr Nater
URUGUAY III. THE REVOLUTION 16:45 Read by Piotr Nater
URUGUAY IV. INDEPENDENCE AND CIVIL WAR 8:07 Read by Piotr Nater
URUGUAY V. CIVIL WAR AND ARGENTINE INTERVENTION 11:09 Read by Piotr Nater
URUGUAY VI. COLORADOS AND BLANCOS 18:26 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL I. PORTUGAL 12:48 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL II. DISCOVERY 13:57 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL III. DESCRIPTION 16:19 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL IV. EARLY COLONISATION 15:24 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL V. THE JESUITS 10:09 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL VI. FRENCH OCCUPATION OF RIO 10:49 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL VII. EXPANSION 11:48 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL VIII. THE DUTCH CONQUEST 16:59 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL IX. EXPULSION OF THE DUTCH 16:20 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL X. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 10:15 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XI. GOLD DISCOVERIES—REVOLTS—FRENCH ATTACKS 12:32 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XII. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 20:46 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XIII. THE PORTUGUESE COURT IN RIO 14:51 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XIV. INDEPENDENCE 13:08 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XV. REIGN OF PEDRO I. 24:43 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XVI. THE REGENCY 19:44 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XVII. PEDRO II. 13:05 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XVIII. EVENTS OF 1849 TO 1864 14:39 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XIX. THE PARAGUAYAN WAR 13:02 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XX. REPUBLICANISM AND EMANCIPATION 20:27 Read by Piotr Nater
BRAZIL XXI. THE REVOLUTION—THE DICTATORSHIP—THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC 28:35 Read by Piotr Nater