Why Argentina celebrates May 25

May 25th is an important date in the history of Argentina. Before getti ng into this straight way let me give you a brief history about Argentina. South America was a huge attraction for the colonisers in Europe especially for the Spanish. It all started in the year 1526,Sebastin Cabot visited La Plata to make astronomical observations but somehow he lost his way and started to look into the rich resources in the country. His main objective which is to observe astranomy was overshadowed by his curiousity to learn about the country’s wealth, any human being would be tempted to be so and Cabot was not an exception. Having learnt about the the valuble resources in South America, many Spaniards decided to march towards this part of the world to explore. As a result of this, tiny colonial headquarters were formed but could not sustain long due to the internal pressures within the country. Other countries too started speculating about South American nations but Spain was determined enough to fight back for this newly found land. In 1534, Pedro de Mendoza organized an expedition and arrived at La Plata. He did try to lay a strong foundation of a Spanish Settlement in Bueno Aires in 1536 but could not hold upto the indigenious pressure and eventually suffered a great loss. Many like him tried to build a headquarters in the South America so that it would be of real help for the Spaniards but failed terribly in their attempts. Their fully fledged plans could not be executed the way they wanted it to be and the spanish empire’s attempt to capture these American nations saw a huge set back. It was only during the year 1580, the spaniards defeated the Indians. Sooner,many colonial headquarters were formed and Spanish rule was also imposed upon these people. Argentina along with other neighbouring nations like Paraguay suffered the imperial rule and was having tough times during the spanish regime. They were controlled by the viceroyalty of the Rio de la plata. This system of vice royalty was headed by Balstar Hidalgo de Cisneros. In May of 1810, things started to change in Argentina when a news reached Buenos Aires that the King of Spain, Ferdinand VII had been deposed by Napolean Bonaparte. Following this news, the government in Argentina had to face a lot of problems like unrest in Buenos Aires. When the main centre was attacked the other centres supported by the main centre was left without anything, like a ship let loose without an helmsman.

Using this oppurtinity local revolutionary parties tried to overthrow the imperial rule from their country but at the same time they were aware of the fact that every action they make will be closely monitored by the Spanish centres in Argentina so they made sure that even the slightest of their moves should not reveal anything that may affect the plan.

Amidst all these chaos in Argentina, the ruling government was forced to take some crucial decsions to prevent any further problems in Argentina. To change the whole scenario, a secret meeting was organised and it was also decided that people would request a public town meeting with Cisneros and this town meeting would later come to be called the Cabildo Abierto. On May 20, Cisneros met with the leaders of the Spanish military forces to discuss the issue but the military forces neatly clarified that they would not support him but encouraged to go ahead with the town meeting. The meeting was first held on May 22 and by May 24, a provisional ruling Junta which include Cisneros, Creole leader Juan Jose Castelli and commander Corneilo Saavedra was created.

May 25
The citizens of Buenos Aires did not want former Viceroy Cisneros to continue because was invlaid sine King Ferdinand, who had appointed the Vice royalty was not currently in power, so the original junta had to be disbanded and another Junta was created with other new members like Dr. Mariano Moreno. May 25 is the date celebrated in Argentina as the Dia de la Revolucion de Mayo or “May revolution day”. The May revolution actually started the process of independence for Argentina.On July 9, 1816 Argentina formally declared independence from Spain. Events in the week leading to the May 25th are celebrated as May week, Argentines celebrate their national holiday by abstaining from work. It is truly a huge week for Argentines.