Tragic Week ( Spanish : Semana Trágica ), also known as Bloody Week , was a series of riots and massacres that took place in Buenos Aires , Argentina , from January 7 to 14, 1919. An uprising led by anarchists and communists was eventually crushed by the Argentine Federal Police , the military , and the Argentine Patriotic League . Estimates of the death toll vary but are usually in the hundreds, mostly of workers at the hands of the government forces.
31-433: Tragic Week (Catalan: Setmana Tràgica , Spanish: Semana Trágica ) may refer to: Tragic Week (Argentina) , 1919 Tragic Week (Guatemala) , 1920 Tragic Week (Spain) , 1909 Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Tragic Week . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
62-568: A Franciscan convent. During his childhood he did a little bit of work, he sold newspapers, sweets and empanadas that were prepared by his mother. After this, he began working as an attorney and as a scribe . Subsequently he passed and examination before the Supreme Court of Justice, for which he obtained the title of rotary in 1859. He gained a scholarship granted by the government of the Confederation which allowed him to enter
93-411: A 4-hour gunbattle, leaving behind several dead when firemen armed with rifles and army reinforcements from the 4th Infantry Regiment arrived. Placing the city under martial law , President Hipólito Yrigoyen appointed General Luis Dellepiane as the commander of riot control forces, after which disturbances subsided. The 5th and 12th Army Cavalry Regiments arrived on 12 January, and 300 marines and
124-526: A Vicker's machine-gun detachment is disputed by historians. The leftist Vanguardia newspaper claimed that over 700 deaths were recorded on Tragic Week, as well as 2,000 injured. The leftist La Protesta newspaper claimed that 45,000 were arrested. According to the Argentine Federal Police Grouping ( Agrupación de la Policía Federal or AGPFA) Report the real number of arrests were 3,579. Professor Patricia Marchak estimates
155-826: A distinctly short military career. When the Triple Alliance War began, he abandoned his university studies to join an Artillery Regiment. He was chosen to be an assistant to General Julio de Vedia ; a member of the Argentinian military with a prominent role against the Mapuches and in the Triple Alliance War, who was also Governor of the Chaco National Territory. He fought in the Battles of Estero Bellaco , on 2 May 1866, and
186-631: A mountain artillery regiment also entered Buenos Aires. On the morning of 13 January 1919, a group of anarchists attempted to seize arms and ammunition from a local police station but were forced to retreat after coming under fire from a naval infantry detachment from the cruiser ARA San Martin . Another 600 naval infantry reinforcements also arrive from the cruisers ARA Belgrano , ARA Garibaldi and ARA Buenos Aires that lay anchor in Dársena Norte. The role of young army lieutenant Juan Domingo Perón , future president of Argentina, as commander of
217-405: Is also forced to come to the rescue of a police detachment holding out from rooftops that had been completely surrounded in the night fighting. Paramedics and ambulance drivers, transporting the badly wounded and injured in the hours of darkness to nearby hospitals, are forced to carry pistols in order to defend themselves from the out of control mobs. At the break of dawn, the 3rd Infantry Regiment
248-470: Is forced to deploy around the Vasena factory to prevent a huge crowd numbering in their thousands from burning down the building along with the 400 workers trapped inside that had refused to take part in the violent protests. Days later, reinforcements in the form of a rifle platoon from the 4th Infantry Regiment, including a Vickers machine-gun detachment, were sent to help defend the 28th Police Station that
279-729: The Battle of Tuyuti on 24 May of the same year. Subsequently the Government of Uruguay awarded him both the Silver Sol medal for his actions in the battle of Estero Bellaco and with the award of the Cords of Honor for his performance at the Battle of Tuyuti. Bartolome Mitre, promoted him to the rank of Captain , and have him a mention for his heroism. However, although he had performed exceptionally well he had to return to Buenos Aires due to
310-590: The Colegio de Uruguay. It is unknown exactly when he was admitted, but it is known that it was between 1859 and 1862. After this period of his education, he went to Buenos Aires , to enter Buenos Aires University . He proved to be an outstanding student and thus, this allowed President Mitre to appoint him to the position of Second Clerk, of the National Accounting Office. He was first appointed scribe, though, in 1864. Victorino De La Plaza had
341-612: The Manifestación Patriótica (Patriotic Manifestation) vigilante movement is also killed in this action. That night, militant workers gathered in Pueyrredón Street, shot and killed Army Sergeant Ramón Díaz. In nearby Corrientes Street, the commander of a rifle platoon, Second Lieutenant Agustín Ronzoni is shot and killed along with an innocent male civilian when surrounded and attacked by workers seeking revenge for their earlier losses. A rifle platoon from
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#1732764686635372-676: The Argentine Army is ambushed in Lavalle Street by hidden gunmen firing from inside houses. A night patrol under the command of Army Sergeant Bonifacio Manzo is also ambushed near the Constitución-Mármol Farm Estate. In the meantime, a company of the 7th Infantry Regiment is forced to use their Vickers machine-guns in order to keep the demonstrators at bay in Buenos Aires. A company of riflemen
403-559: The FORA ( Federacion Obrera Regional Argentina , founded by Italian immigrant Pietro Gori , an Italian anarchist of international renown) waged a long campaign of general strikes against both employers and anti-labour legislation. In May 1904, a clash between workers and police left two dead and fifteen injured. On 17 January 1908, bomb planted by an anarchist in a Buenos Aires train killed 35-year-old Salvador Stella and wounded several other passengers near Constitución Railway Station . By
434-562: The Spanish consulate in the city of Rosario , injuring an anarchist and damaging the building. A result of Falcón's assassination was the formation of the self-styled "Patriotic students" organisation (Juventud Autonomista) in late 1909. On 25 May 1910, in an effort to disrupt the Argentine centennial celebrations in Buenos Aires, an anarchist gave a bomb to an unsuspecting boy to carry into a cathedral. The bomb exploded prematurely, killing
465-533: The boy and costing another both arms. On 28 June 1910, another bomb exploded in the Teatro Colón , injuring 20 theatre-goers. As a result, the Senate and Chamber of Deputies passed a bill providing for capital punishment for those anarchists responsible for causing death. On 9 July 1916, an attempt to assassinate President Victorino de la Plaza was made by a gun-wielding self-confessed anarchist. The attempt
496-416: The end of the decade, police crackdowns and worker militancy had incited each to greater heights. Ultimately on May Day , 1909, a giant gathering marched through Buenos Aires and was broken up by police, resulting in 12 killed and 100 wounded. It was reported at the time that anarchists had provoked the violence. Argentine President José Figueroa Alcorta narrowly himself escaped death when an anarchist bomb
527-520: The labor movement". Nevertheless, on 20 January 1931, three anarchist bombs went off at three strategic places on the Buenos Aires railway network, killing three and wounding 17. On 29 January 1931, Severino Di Giovanni, mastermind of the railway bombings, was ambushed in downtown Buenos Aires and captured in a gun-battle with police, killing two officers and a five-year-old girl, then turned the gun on himself. Victorino de la Plaza Victorino de la Plaza (2 November 1840 – 2 October 1919)
558-491: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tragic_Week&oldid=1254143915 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing Catalan-language text Articles containing Spanish-language text Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Tragic Week (Argentina) From 1902 until 1909
589-492: The multiple injuries of twenty bank staff and customers. The Italian Consulate in Buenos Aires was bombed on 23 May 1928, and seven were killed and nearly 50 wounded in the anarchist bombing. On 24 December 1929, 44-year-old Italian-born anarchist Gualterio Marinelli was killed in his attempt to assassinate Argentine president Hipólito Yrigoyen (who had ordered the army to suppress the metalworkers' strike of 1919) but he manages to wound two policemen. On September 6, 1930, Yrigoyen
620-411: The picketing workers fired on and wounded three policemen who were escorting wagonloads of metal to the Vasena factory. On 4 January, a mortally Police NCO (Vicente Chávez) succumbs to his wounds. On 7 January an unrelated event took place: the maritime workers of the port of Buenos Aires voted a general strike for better hours and wages. That same day, at Vasena metal works, the police, who had surrounded
651-507: The police headquarters building in downtown Buenos Aires. In the meantime, 30 gunmen using the cover of darkness, attempt to ransack the armoury of the 8th Infantry Regiment in Campo de Mayo Army Barracks but the attackers are forced to retreat by the defenders in the form of a rifle platoon under Lieutenant Horacio Orstein. On 11 January, strikers in the suburb of Barracas tried to seize the local police station but were forced to retreat after
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#1732764686635682-556: The real number of workers killed at more than 100. La Nación newspaper reported the number of workers killed in the uprising at around 100 and 400 injured. In his official report, Police chief Octavio A. Pinero from the 9th Police Station, claims there were 141 killed in the uprisings and 521 wounded. The United States embassy reported that 1,500 people were killed in total, "mostly Russians and generally Jews," and that many women were raped. On 24 December 1927, anarchists planted bombs at two U.S. bank branches in Buenos Aires resulting in
713-438: The strikers, fought it out with the striking workers after they overturned and set fire to the car of the police chief Elpidio González, who had arrived to broker a deal with the union leaders, and the militant workers shot and killed Army Second Lieutenant Antonio Marotta, commander of the detachment protecting the police commander. Five workers were killed and twenty wounded in the resulting clashes. A student, Pascual Arregui, of
744-711: The writing of the Argentine Civil Code , and was Treasury Minister under Nicolás Avellaneda (1876), later Interventor in Corrientes Province (1878) and Foreign Minister (1882) and Treasury (1883–1885) during the first Julio Argentino Roca administration. He was elected vice president for the National Union presided by Roque Sáenz Peña in 1910, and assumed the presidency after the death of Sáenz Peña and governed between 1914 and 1916. He died of pneumonia after retiring from politics. He
775-518: Was an Argentine politician and lawyer who served as President of Argentina from 9 August 1914 to 11 October 1916. As the second son of José Roque Mariano de la Plaza Elejalde and Manuela Silva; his older brother, Rafael de la Plaza, was also a politician and acted as governor of Santiago del Estero Province . He studied law in Buenos Aires and obtained his doctorate in 1868, became secretary of Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield and collaborated on
806-447: Was deposed in a military coup led by General José Félix Uriburu . The Uriburu regime shut down Anarchist and Communist presses and made it difficult, if not impossible, for anarchists to spread their ideals. Uriburu ordered the mass deportation of Spanish and Italian workers that had joined the anarchists and the changing political, economic and social conditions "led to the decline of this movement, particularly in its manifestation within
837-489: Was made while reviewing troops during an Argentine independence centennial celebration. On 9 February 1918, violent strikes took place across Argentina and regular troops were rushed to the affected areas after anarchists wrecked trains, destroyed tracks, and burned carriages laden with wheat. The conflict began as a strike at the Vasena metal works, an English Argentine -owned plant in the suburbs of Buenos Aires . The strike at first attracted no attention, but on 3 January
868-687: Was on the verge of being overrun. In all 30,000 officers and men of the Argentine Army would take part in the fighting and subsequent mopping-up operations in Buenos Aires in January 1919. On Friday 10 January, Private Luis Demarchi from the 8th Cavalry Regiment is shot and killed defending the Once de Septiembre Railway Station. On the night of 10–11 January, two policemen, Corporal Teófilo Ramírez and Agent Ángel Giusti, were reported killed defending their police stations as thousands of strikers tried to storm 8 police stations and seize their armouries as well as
899-656: Was the last president of what was called the conservative period of Argentine history. This period began in 1880 and culminated with La Plaza's loss of the presidency to the Radical Civic Union . This was all thanks to the Sáenz Peña Law, which established secret, compulsory voting for all those on the electoral register, thanks to Compulsory military service. Victorino de La Plaza was born on 2 November 1840, in Payagosta, Salta Province , Argentina . He
930-455: Was the son of Jose Mariano Roque de La Plaza y Elejalde, and Maria Manuela Silva. His brother was Rafel de La Plaza, who was governor of the province of Santiago del Estero . Upon his Father's death, his mother took charge of raising the Children. Victorino began his scholastic education at an Argentine public school, yet he stayed in that school for a short period of time, because he entered
961-414: Was thrown at him while he was driving in Buenos Aires on 28 February 1908. Government officials were again thrown into panic by a 19-year-old anarchist, Ukrainian immigrant Simón Radowitzky . With a hand-held bomb, he killed the city's police chief, Ramón Falcón , and his aide, Alberto Lartigau, who were driving through Callao street in Buenos Aires on 15 November 1909. On 16 October 1909, bombs exploded at